All the efforts to keep the footpaths off-limit to motorcycles have almost proved futile. That's why everyone now appears at a loss to address the fast growing public nonsense. The traffic police literally give impunity to motorcyclists riding on the footpaths. The impunity turns the motorcyclists more arrogant and totally shameless.
How can the law enforcing agency turn a blind eye to this infringement? By allowing the motorcycles on footpaths as well as on the wrong side of the roads, the traffic police have already lost its moral right and authority to enforce the traffic rules and regulations for others. No doubt that the traffic police have their limitations and can't maintain discipline on roads without adequate cooperation from drivers and pedestrians as well as other related bodies.
But, it is the legally-bound responsibility of the traffic police to control unruliness on the roads. To do this effectively, the traffic police need to enforce traffic laws without discrimination. Here lies the root of the problem. Enforcement of traffic laws in the country is arbitrary, discriminatory and selective. That's why strict laws and higher penalties have so far failed to improve the discipline on roads. But the authority is yet to recognise the fact.
While inaugurating the latest traffic week in Dhaka, the chief of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) rather argued that all the efforts of the police to bring order in city traffic were going in vain for the culture of not complying with the traffic rules. He claimed that the police had no lack of efforts and sincerity to bring discipline on the roads and blamed the citizens for not obeying laws. He, however, finally admitted on Thursday that DMP and other authorities failed to ensure discipline on roads.
There is no denying the fact that a large number of pedestrians, drivers and commuters care little about traffic rules. But what prompts them to violate traffic rules regularly? It is the discriminatory enforcement of laws that becomes a reason for anger for many people. Every day they are watching how the police are simply ignoring the high government officials, political leaders and cadres and many influential people in their act of violating traffic rules. Even the police themselves are continuously violating traffic rules by driving motorcycles on footpaths and cars on wrong lanes or their vehicles releasing noxious fumes.
It is, however, not acceptable that if someone violate traffic rules with impunity, others have to follow it. Violators have to be penalised rightly and equally. That's why the police can't stop penalising and it is not at all permissible under law. But when considered from the ethical and moral perspective, the big discrimination makes people disappointed and angry. As a result, the tendency to violate traffic rules goes on.
Controlling the unruliness of motorcycle on roads thus require non-discriminatory enforcement of laws without any delay. Interestingly, the traffic police department has itself identified a number of troubles on traffic management due to rise of motorcycles and its unruliness. In a recommendation, forwarded to the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA), it has also asked to restrict registration of motorcycles especially on ride-sharing service.
Even strict enforcement of traffic laws alone can't substantially reduce the anarchy being created by the motorcyclists on the city streets unless the government stops incentivising import or assembling of the vehicle. Over the years, a number of fiscal incentives have been provided to push the growth of motorcycles across the country. In the latest move, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) has waived 20 per cent supplementary duty on import of CKD (completely knocked down) motorcycle. It will increase the number of motorcycles further and also make the traffic management more troublesome.
