Parliament passes new transport law with up to five-year jail term for road crashes

Parliament has passed the Road Transport Act with five-year jail term and Tk 500,000 fines for casualties in crashes caused by reckless driving.

The maximum punishment will be death penalty under the new law if murder charge is proved in fatal road crash.

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader presented the Act and the MPs passed it in voice vote on Wednesday.

The government accelerated the process of passing the law by raising the penalty for road crashes, which was maximum three years in jail, following student protests for safe roads.

A road crash that killed two college students in Dhaka on July 29 triggered the movement which brought the capital and many other parts of the country to a halt for over a week drawing international attention.   

The cabinet cleared the draft act on Aug 6. When the cabinet had passed the draft on principle one and a half years ago, the government kept the provision for deaths in road crashes unchanged.

The provision stipulated trial of such cases under the Penal Code, which has three provisions for fatal road accidents.

The maximum penalty was death for murder in traffic crashes, life term if there is no fatality and three years in jail for deaths caused by reckless driving, according to the Code.   

Quader had earlier said the student movement was badly needed to raise road safety awareness, but on Wednesday he said it was ‘incorrect to credit the students for the passage of the act’.

“This Bill was made one and a half years ago. It has been finalised after much discussion with the stakeholders,” he said while presenting the Act.

The Act stipulates that whoever causes the death of any person by rash or negligent driving of any vehicle or riding on any public way not amounting to culpable homicide shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years, or with up to Tk 500,000 fines, or with both, no matter what the Penal Code says about such cases.

Quader said if someone kills a person deliberately through a road crash, the killer will be tried in line with Section 302 of the Penal Code, which says: “Whoever commits murder shall be punished with death, or [ imprisonment] for life, and shall also be liable to fine.” 

“So, the punishment is not less by any means,” the minister said.

After the law was drafted, an organisation named ‘Road Safety Foundation’ had claimed it would safeguard interests of the transport owners.

While answering to motion on analysing public opinion, Quader said, “I am telling those who have placed the motion – how much longer will you wait after a wait for 25 years? You yourselves are talking about road crashes and traffic congestions.”

“Everything need not be included in the Bill,” he said, dismissing the motions for amendment. 

If a company’s transport is involved in violation of the law, it will be considered an offence by the owner, director, executive officer, manager, secretary of other officials of the company, according to the law. 

It bars driving without licence. It has also made BRTA’s permission mandatory for driving public transport.

The maximum punishment for violating the related sections is six months’ imprisonment or Tk 25,000 fines or both.

A person has to be 18 years old to apply for a driving licence. The minimum age to get professional driving licence is 21 years in line with the new law. The drivers must study at least up to grade eight.

Drivers, conductors or their representatives must take victims of road crash to hospital and inform police or fire service, the law says. The maximum punishment for violating this provision is one-month jail term or Tk 20,000 fines or both.

Driving unfit vehicle has been called an offence in the law and the punishment for this crime is maximum six months of imprisonment or Tk 25,000 fines or both.

No firm can recruit any driver without licence and it must provide appointment letter, the law stipulates.

It says all the drivers will be given 12 points and docked points for crime under the new law.

The authorities will raise a fund by collecting money from the transport owners for providing the victims of road crashes with financial help.

A trustee board will be formed for the fund to decide the amount of the aid, according to the new law.