The promise is comfort. A sleeper berth, air-conditioning, more space and the convenience of travelling overnight without having to sit upright for hours. For passengers heading from Dhaka to long-distance destinations like Cox's Bazar, Kuakata, and Sylhet, these buses have quickly become an attractive alternative to conventional coaches.
But how many of these buses are actually safe and legally authorised to carry passengers remains a big question. Media reports suggest that many of the so-called luxury sleeper coaches operating on highways are not purpose-built double-decker buses at all. They began life as ordinary single-decker buses and later they were modified at workshops with the installation of an additional layer above the original structure for inclusion of sleeping berths.
These changes have been declared illegal and hazardous by the transport regulator Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA). The Road Transport Act, 2018 prohibits any change to a motor vehicle that depart from prescribed technical specifications. It specifically covers matters including height, seating arrangement, wheelbase and other structural characteristics. It also requires approval from the authority for technical, internal or external changes to a registered vehicle.
Conversion of a regular single decker to a double-decker is not simply a cosmetic change. It eventually alters the weight distribution of the vehicle and the centre of gravity, affecting its stability, braking and handling. Transport experts have repeatedly alerted all concerned to these risks. Several fatal accidents involving modified sleeper-coaches validate their concerns. Unfortunately several hundred illegally modified buses are operating on different routes in the country.
BRTA officials previously said the modification took place after the buses were given registration as ordinary single-deckers. The regulators cannot wash its hands of the fault simply because the modification happened after registration. A question will naturally pop up in the mind of any conscious citizen, where were they when the modifications were being carried out? And where were they when the modified vehicles subsequently appeared on the highways?
In fact, the responsibility of the regulators does not end with issuing a registration certificate. It includes ensuring that a registered vehicle remains compliant with the conditions under which it was registered.
It is more disturbing to know that sections of regulators and law enforcement agency are allegedly involved in allowing the vehicles to operate in exchange for illicit payments. Such an allegation cannot just be dismissed, especially since these buses seem to continue to run.
These buses should be taken off the road in no time. For that every such vehicle should be identified, physically inspected and matched against its original registration, imported chassis specifications, type of approval, fitness certificate and route permit. Registration of any vehicle whose structure has been changed without approval should immediately be revoked and they should be removed from the road.
Investigation should be launched to examine how modified vehicles obtained or retained registration and route permits. If any official facilitated an illegal alteration, the responsibility should not stop with the bus owner or workshop. The official chain that allowed the vehicle onto the road must also be exposed.
Passengers have little way of knowing what lies beneath the seemingly luxury coaches. They reasonably assume that a bus operating openly from a terminal must have passed the necessary safety checks. That assumption should not prove fatal.
Bangladesh should not choose between a comfortable journey from one place to another and road safety. If buses with sleeping facility do not fulfil engineering and safety criteria, they must not be allowed to ply no matter how comfortable they are.
