President of the Bangladesh Road Transport Workers Federation Shajahan Khan on Sunday said drivers should be brought to justice under the new Road Transport Act if they commit any crime but there should be a provision of securing bail in the law.
There will be a crisis of drivers if they remain in custody for a long time and cannot drive, he said at the first meeting of the taskforce formed to submit recommendations to curb road accidents and restore discipline on roads and highways.
“Having a bail provision is our demand to the government…it’s up to them whether they fulfill it or not,” Shajahan said.
He said over 3,000-4,000 road accidents occur every year, and if all the 4,000 drivers go off driving, there will be a crisis in the transport sector, he added.
Shajahan went on to say, “We still don’t have the capacity to create new professional drivers by providing them institutional training.”
He also said the Bangladesh Road and Transport Authority (BRTA) is failing to provide licenses to the drivers due to their limitations.
Pointing to media reports on transport strike, Shajahan said there is no strike now, and drivers with fake licenses are not driving vehicles as they will have to pay fine.
Everything on highways and roads is fine now, said Shajahan adding that the vehicles which do not have fitness are not plying roads, and the number of vehicles on roads is now lower.
The new Road and Transport Act 2018 that took effect on November 1 does not allow drivers to have any bail after any case filed against them.
