Tougher penalties will force citizens to comply with new road transport law, says DMP chief

DMP Commissioner Shafiqul Islam believes the harsher penalties for traffic violations under the new road transport act will help ensure compliance with the law by citizens.

The authorities will start enforcing the new law from next week, Shafiqul said at a media briefing on Monday.

The commissioner also promised tough measures against any police officer who violates the law.

The government passed the new legislation -- which came into effect on Nov 1 -- in the wake of unprecedented student protests after two college-goers were run over and killed by a bus in Dhaka last year.

"The punishments are significantly higher. We believe it will lead people to follow the law in fear of the repercussions," said Shafiqul.

Over the years, the government has taken a number of initiatives to bring order to the roads of Dhaka but to little avail.

The Road Transport Act, 2018  stipulates a five-year jail term or up to Tk 500,000 in fines or both for drivers involved in road traffic accidents while certain traffic violations are also deemed arrestable offences under the new legal framework.

The law also incorporates a demerit point system for drivers under which, points will be docked from a driver's licence for traffic infractions. The licence will be cancelled once all 12 of the allocated points are deducted.

"A case will be started if anyone is critically injured or killed in a road accident. Drivers' records will be stored in a server which will be accessed to determine the number of points that have been docked from a licence," said the DMP commissioner.

The law also allows people to appeal any fine imposed for a violation, said Shafiqul.

"We will take steps to ensure that a first time offender receives a tolerable fine. However they will be warned that a repeat of the offence in future will result in a Tk 25,000 fine."

On the issue of jaywalking, Shafiqul said, "There is a fine for pedestrians who jaywalk instead of using a footbridge or zebra crossing to cross the road. Traffic police will help pedestrians cross roads on the zebra crossing."

"We believe the implementation of the law will restore order to traffic."