A news report published in this daily on road accidents based on statistics of March only lays bare our total failure and vulnerability in restoring discipline and safety on roads.

According to a news report published in this daily on Thursday, road accidents increased by 13.66 percent in April and motorcycle accidents rate stands the highest at 36.83 percent. The number of injured also increased from 712 to 1,097.

The Road Safety Foundation has been reported to have prepared the account based on information from nine national dailies, seven online news portals and electronic media.

564 people had been reportedly killed in 486 road accidents in the country in March. Among them, the number of people killed in motorcycle accidents is high and 24 people were killed and 16 injured in 27 accidents in the capital Dhaka.

Meanwhile, the organisation also published a report mentioning that 538 people were killed in 487 road accidents in March and 1,138 people were injured.

As the association has linked lack of bike lanes and other managerial misconductsto the whopping rise of deaths, we cannot but doubt the efficacy of the existent traffic law. In fact, it is clear from the absolute control of transport owners and workers` arbitrariness on our various travel ways how money speaks louder than law.

A continued negligence of fitness checks for vehicles, recklessness of public transport drivers, and the overall lack of accountability for all parties responsible are what attribute to the roads being dangerous for the common man.

That we have allowed this to get to this point, and for so long, is not only a matter of concern but is also a shameful scar in the history of our progress.

The fact that such a staggering number of lives are lost due to sheer negligence on the authorities` part is already a hard pill to swallow, let alone the fact that a large portion of the casualties consists of the youth of the country -- the leaders of our future being denied the right to a future at all.

The vexed question is - how long will the situation continue like this, with innocent lives being lost on our dangerous roads on an almost daily basis?

The authorities must act now to implement major changes to the system, and ensure safety on the streets, before our country is stripped of the very resources that will help it achieve its goals.  It is time for the government to act, and not simply look away as more and more innocent lives continue to be lost on our dangerous roads.