Wrong lane driving goes on [ Tritiyo Matra News ]

Wrong lane driving goes on

Local August 06, 2016

Dhaka Metropolitan Police does not seem to have any control over the rampant driving on the wrong track in the capital in defiance of repeated directives against the malpractice.
Besides, many private vehicles are often seen to run on the city roads with occupational stickers and hooters, using hydraulic horns and beaconing lights, which the authorities banned recently.
According to experts, driving on the wrong side of the roads is a major reason behind the capital’s nagging traffic congestions.
Most of the time vehicles carrying ministers, MPs, senior bureaucrats, journalists and other influential people are found taking the wrong side.
Traffic police officials said sometimes the VIPs stop them from taking legal action against driving on the wrong lanes.
The situation gets much worse during the busy working hours when drivers of such VIP-carrying vehicles try to avoid traffic jam going taking the wrong side, especially at Karwan Bazar, Shahbagh, Tejgaon, Hatirjheel, Gulshan and Mirpur.
On May 5 this year, at a media briefing, DMP commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia pointed at some problems, including driving on wrong lane, reckless motorcycle driving and use of hooters, as reasons behind traffic chaos.
Expressing extreme annoyance over the issue, road transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader said that the VIPs must give up the practice of using the wrong side of the road first.
Since May 5 this year, traffic police has been operating a special drive against different irregularities on the city roads.
At least 8,500 cases were filed over wrong track driving from May 5 to last Wednesday, said DMP’s traffic department officials.
In the same drive, more than 1,700 cases were filed over use of hooters and hydraulic horns in private vehicles.
About 200 motorcycles had been dumped for not having fitness certificates and at least 31,000 cases were filed against motorcyclists for pillion riding, driving on footpaths and not using helmets.
DMP joint commissioner traffic Mosleh Uddin Ahmed said the result from traffic police’s regular drive against different irregularities was actually insignificant.
In the special drive, their special focus was on driving on the wrong lanes, which, if could be stopped, would ease the problem, he observed.
They had been instructed to continue the special drive for bringing back order in traffic, he added.
In May, 2014 the DMP set up a device, ‘Protirodh’ at a cost of about Tk 6 lakh on Hare Road in front of the state guest house Jamuna, which was designed to puncture wheels if any vehicle came from the wrong direction.
Just hours after it was installed, the car of a lawmaker had its tyres punctured by the device while it was passing over the device from the wrong side.
The device has been removed in early 2015 as it went out of order and the traffic division did not show any more interest to maintain the device.