To say that as a nation, we continue to struggle with road safety, would be a gross understatement.

Year after year, road fatalities in Dhaka look grim, and 2025 is no different: 219 lives lost in 2025, and shockingly, nearly half of them pedestrians. Most shocking perhaps was the surge in nighttime accidents -- an increase of over 40% of the total. 

That these grim numbers no longer surprise us is what is most concerning -- we have grown so accustomed to how unsafe our streets have become, and how little has been done to protect citizens, that it all feels normal.

However, this is far from normal, and it is simply unacceptable to normalize such loss of life.

With the country heading into general elections, and amid lofty promises of growth, jobs, and reforms, it is important that all political parties do not overlook the critical issue of road safety. 

For too long, we have had governments that fail to guarantee safe passage for its citizens, and while we acknowledge that it is impossible to have no fatalities on roads, it is also undeniable that most accidents that occur are entirely preventable.

As such, the next government must treat road safety as the national priority it has been. This begins with modernizing our public transport system beyond just the metro rail -- safe, modern buses replacing the expired and defective vehicles that have been circulating on our roads for far too long. In addition, we need strict nighttime traffic laws to stop the surge in late night accidents in addition to smartly deploying technology to monitor and deter reckless driving.

Safer roads should never be thought of as a luxury but rather as a fundamental right. Every death on Dhaka’s streets is a collective failure, and a reminder of the need for decisive action for safer roads.