Over 77 per cent drivers in the country don't have driving licenses, said speakers on Saturday.
According to Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity (BJKS), out of seven million drivers in the country, only 1.6 million drivers have original driving license authorised by Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA).
The remarks were made at a roundtable discussion titled 'The way out of road mismanagement and chaos' at Jatiya Press Club.
The body also said at least 87 per cent of public transport drivers in the city drives recklessly and violates the traffic rules, as per a UNB report.
Secretary General of BJKS, Md Mozammel Haque Chowdhury said "We want to term the accidents as murders, because, we are forced to commute in such condition that lacks proper management and regulations."
Kazi Riazul Haq, Chairman of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said "In reality we don't have implementation of law in the country."
He urged the government to take opinion of general people before publishing the bill of proposed Road Transport Law.
The platform also proposed 10 recommendations to resolve the ongoing chaos in the transport sector.
The recommendations include
- One-colour bus service by all companies to avoid sickening competitions among drivers
- Forming a team with skilled persons named Public Transport Service Authority
- Bringing the activity of traffic department under accountability,
- Steps against passenger harassment and fare disputes
- Inclusion of professional and skilled persons in issuing route permit
- Submitting fines collected from traffic cases directly to the banks, stopping extortion, and freeing roads from hawkers.
Ganasanghati Andolan convener Zonayed Saki, Supreme Court lawyer Jatirmoy Barua, Design and Technology Centre (DTC) former executive director Dr Saleh Uddin Ahmed, prof of BUET Dr Mahbub Alam Talukdar also spoke at the programme.