Long beset with atrocious irregularities, Dhaka's traffic movement scenario has lately begun witnessing a new malady. The city's motorbikes have already provoked a lot of trepidation among the road users. Their defiant movement and the flouting of basic traffic rules is now virtually a normal sight. The latest menace related to motorcycles that has afflicted Dhaka is the reluctance of a section of these bikes to switch their headlights on, while on move. In the recent days, the spectacle of motorcycles speeding by night-time roads is fast becoming normal.
Few traffic movement-related offences could be graver. In the city's perennially chaotic traffic situation, the errant motorbikes as such trigger not only shock and fear; to the law abiding road users they emerge in the form of sheer incredulity. One finds it hard to believe that motor vehicles with their headlights off by night can move freely in a modern capital. The sight seems to be beyond the furthest stretch of imagination even in cities ravaged by war or natural calamities. Places having in place the minimum semblance of modern urban norms might shudder at the thought of resorting to this practice. Thanks to the recklessness of a section of motorcyclists, Dhaka appears destined to be hitting another bad record in traffic rule violations.
The most worrying aspect of the episode is the law enforcers' visible inaction in nabbing the offenders. Although the motorbikes plying without their headlights on still go largely unnoticed, they could be spotted frequently on roads with relatively thin traffic and insufficient lighting. Distressingly, their number is on the fast rise, creating trouble for other vehicle operators and pedestrians crossing a road. People, especially the elderly and those with poor eyesight, normally become victims of these bikes without a headlight. On finding a road clear and safe for crossing, many of these people make attempts to go to its other side without much worry. The sudden popping up of a speeding motorcycle without headlight virtually from nowhere catches them off guard. The bewildering situation carries all the elements that may lead to a mishap. Things turn grave if the motorcycles use the wrong side --- an act which has long been integral with a large section of the bikers. Given the rising number of these defiant motor-bikers, road-crossing for a lot of people has now become a veritable nightmare.
These motorcycles create trouble for the other vehicles as well. Due to their small shape, the drivers of the larger automobiles run the risk of not noticing them at poorly lit roundabouts and hitting them. Another highly troubling aspect of the menace has also been in the making. Perhaps following in the step of the law-flouting motorcycles, some auto-rickshaws have lately begun plying the city roads keeping their headlights off. To the great shock of road users, mid-size vehicles speeding along without headlights are also fleetingly seen on the Dhaka roads.
To call the terrible practice of driving motorised vehicles without headlights by night a mere violation of traffic rules is understatement. On delving into the menace, many find it symptomatic of a more miserable turn of Dhaka's traffic situation in the near future. The whole sector is plagued with scourges and drawbacks. Breaking traffic rules has become the norm. With the law enforcers adopting a laidback attitude towards the rule breakers, the latter's increasing recklessness is understood. All this is ominous, as the traffic sector careens towards worse times. This has to be stopped firmly.