HC asks why wrong-way driving on Dhaka roads would not be prohibited

The High Court has demanded to know why no direction would be issued to curb wrong side driving by vehicles carrying officials and university students.

A two-member bench issued a rule on Wednesday ordering as many as ten 10 including the vice chancellors of Dhaka and Jagannath universities to answer within seven days.
 
The court reacted to a writ petition filed in public interest on May 2 by Barrister Md Ali.
 

During rains in July last year while the roads were submerged in knee-deep water and traffic snarls, too, were at their peak, a bus carrying police personnel drives on the wrong side of a road in Dhaka’s Dhanmondi-27. Photo: Nayan Kumar

Later, Ali told bdnews24.com that driving on the wrong side of the road is a punishable offence under Article 40(2) of the Motor Ordinance Act.

But there have been reports in the media of vehicles carrying high officials and students of the universities driving along the wrong lane, he said.

“Wrong-way driving is a leading cause of traffic snarls in the capital. It is a violation of the law. If the practice goes unchecked it will leave a bad precedence for the next generation,” he said.

Based on these arguments, the court issued the rule in public interest, he said.