Road Transport and Bridges Minister Shaikh Rabiul Alam speaks as the chief guest at a road safety workshop at a hotel in Banani, Dhaka, this afternoon. Photo: BSS

DHAKA, Sept 7, 2026 (BSS) - Road Transport and Bridges Minister Shaikh Rabiul Alam today stressed raising public awareness and ensuring proper training and competency of drivers to reduce casualties in road accidents. "Ensuring road safety would require coordinated efforts from all road users, particularly drivers and pedestrians," he said.

He was speaking as the chief guest at a road safety workshop organised by the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) at a hotel in the capital's Banani. The minister said that around 5,000 people are killed in road accidents in the country every year. 

Lack of awareness among pedestrians and incompetence and lack of skills among drivers are among the major reasons behind these accidents, he continued. 

Shaikh Rabiul emphasised that drivers must have proper training, adequate skills and the necessary qualifications before being allowed to operate vehicles on roads. 

He said merely conducting training programmes and issuing licences would not be enough; the effectiveness of the training programmes must also be assessed to determine whether they are actually producing competent drivers.

"Licensing, training, driving skills and vehicle fitness must all be given equal importance. Merely having proper documents does not ensure road safety; both the driver and the vehicle must be safe in reality," he said.

The minister stressed the need to create greater awareness among pedestrians and other road users about safe road-use practices. He said people should be educated about traffic rules and encouraged to use roads responsibly to reduce risks.

The minister also called for effective measures to control speed, reduce motorcycle accidents and ensure the use of helmets by both motorcycle riders and passengers.

"Ensuring fit vehicles, qualified drivers, controlling speed, reducing motorcycle accidents, ensuring helmet use and creating awareness among the people are essential. Without effective action on these issues, it will be difficult to ensure road safety," he said.

The minister further stressed the importance of using accident data to identify high-risk areas and understand why and how crashes occur. Such information, he said, should be incorporated into the planning and design of future road and infrastructure projects.

He urged that road safety workshops and seminars should not remain merely formal events. The recommendations and lessons generated through such initiatives should be implemented at the field level to bring tangible improvements in road safety, he opined.
 
He also called for specialised and continuous training for personnel involved in the road safety, including highway police and engineers, so that their expertise can be developed and retained over time.

The minister said the government has undertaken various projects with support from development partners to improve road safety and train drivers, but the actual outcomes of such projects need to be evaluated. "We are learning, but we must ask ourselves whether we are able to implement what we have learned," he said.

The minister urged all concerned authorities to move away from assumption-based approaches and adopt evidence-based road safety management to prevent accidents and save lives.