The Passengers' Welfare Association of Bangladesh (PWAB) has demanded that the government withdraw its decisions to reduce motorcycle registration fees and increase engine capacity of motorcycle to 350cc from165cc.
The leaders of the association made the call, saying that these decisions won't help reduce road accidents or develop mass transport system.
In a statement on Saturday, Secretary General of PWAB Mozammel Hoque Chowdhury said around 0.3 million to 0.4 million new motorcycles hit the road every year, which would limit the movement of public buses.
He termed this practice a wrong policy which will ultimately disrupt smooth movement of vehicles in the future.
At present, the number of registered vehicles in the country is around 4.4 million and 3.0 million of them are motorcycles, he said.
Besides, 0.3 million to 0.4 million unregistered motorcycles are now plying the roads while there are only 1.8 million valid motorcycle driving licences, he added.
The association said a total of 6,736 vehicles met road accidents in 2020. Of them, 1,671 were motorcycles, which account for 24.8 per cent of the ill-fated vehicles.
In 2019, road crashes involved a total of 7,356 vehicles and 21.4 per cent of them or 1,563 were motorcycles, it said, adding that motorcycle accidents rose 3.4 percent in 2020, compared to 2019.
The association pointed out that except Dhaka-Mawa-Pacchar National Highway, there are no other highways in the country where bikers can ride the two-wheelers at 100 kmph.
Motorcycle tops the list of vehicles violating traffic rules in the capital as there was no separate lane for motorcycles, it added.
Every year, nearly seven to eight thousand victims of motorcycle accidents receive treatment from orthopedic hospital in the capital, said the statement.
Many countries in the world imposed restrictions on the plying of motorcycles on main roads, it added.
He called upon the government to control the growing number of motorcycles, easy bikes and motorised rickshaws to ensure discipline on roads.
