Zaima Rahman, daughter of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, recently took a driving test to obtain permission to drive in Bangladesh. Against this backdrop, she shared her thoughts on her overall experience of using the country’s roads and the existing legal system for maintaining discipline on them.
In a lengthy post published on her verified Facebook page at 6:26pm on Wednesday, Zaima highlighted various problems, irregularities and complexities related to road use and safety.
She said road safety cannot be viewed solely as a matter of cars, licences and punishment, stressing that it must focus on the people who use the roads every day.
“If we truly want change, then we need to restructure the framework of our thinking,” Zaima said.
In the post, Zaima shared her experiences of taking driving tests in London and Bangladesh. She said that while taking the test in Bangladesh, she thought beyond the driving test or obtaining a licence and reflected on the overall experience of using the country’s roads and their relationship with the systems designed to regulate them.
As a pedestrian, she described the difficulties of crossing busy roads without adequate crossings, walking along occupied footpaths and navigating traffic involving buses, motorbikes, rickshaws and private cars that often do not follow traffic rules.
Zaima also described the situations a person may face both as a passenger and as a driver.
She reiterated that road safety cannot simply be about vehicles, licences and punishment. Instead, she stressed that safety measures should be centred on the people who use the roads.
She called for a new framework of thinking if meaningful change is to be achieved.
