DMP Rolls Out Road-Based Speed Monitoring Initiative

Bangla Press Desk:  The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) is likely to enforce road-specific speed limits across the capital in line with the Motor Vehicle Speed Limit Guideline 2024 in a bid to reduce road accidents and improve traffic safety.The move comes as the guideline, formulated by the Road Transport and Highways Division, has so far been implemented only on the Dhaka-Mawa-Bhanga Expressway and the Dhaka Elevated Expressway, where the maximum speed limit has been fixed at 80 kilometres per hour.

The guideline prescribes speed limits ranging from 30 kmph to 60 kmph depending on road type, capacity and location, including urban roads, district roads, regional highways and four-lane highways.

However, enforcement of these limits on other roads is yet to begin.

The developments were disclosed at a training programme titled "Speed as a Risk Factor", held at a city hotel on Wednesday.

DMP Additional Police Commissioner (Traffic) M Anisur Rahman inaugurated the programme.

The day-long training was jointly organised by the DMP, Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and the Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP) under the Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS) programme.

The initiative aims to strengthen the capacity of traffic police officers to implement the speed limit guideline effectively in Dhaka.

Addressing the event, speakers said excessive speed is responsible for around 65 per cent of fatal road crashes in Bangladesh.

They noted that strict enforcement of speed limits based on road capacity and location could reduce road accidents by nearly half.

They also stressed the need for stronger coordination among relevant agencies, improved crash data collection to identify accident-prone locations, better road infrastructure, extensive public awareness campaigns and effective law enforcement to ensure the full implementation of the guideline.

M Anisur Rahman said the DMP was preparing to introduce a series of measures to improve traffic management in the capital. These include removing battery-run rickshaws from major roads, taking action against unfit vehicles older than 20 years, preventing indiscriminate roadside parking and introducing GPS-based monitoring systems in vehicles.

"Ensuring road safety in the capital requires the collective cooperation of drivers, vehicle owners and all road users," he said.

The training covered topics such as the role of law enforcement in preventing road crashes, the impact of speed on crash risks, speed management strategies, speed control technologies and the safe management of roadside checkpoints.

A total of 30 police officers, including traffic sergeants, sub-inspectors, inspectors and assistant/deputy police commissioners from various DMP units, participated in the programme alongside five engineers and urban planners from DNCC.

Among others, DMP Joint Police Commissioner (Traffic-Dhaka North) ASM Shamsur Rahman, BIGRS Coordinator Md Abdul Wadud, Deputy Police Commissioner (Traffic-Administration, Planning and Research) Mina Mahmuda, DNCC Additional Chief Engineer Khondoker Mahbub Alam, Vital Strategies Technical Adviser Aminul Islam Sujon, World Resources Institute (WRI) Consultant Farzana Islam Toma, BIGRS Transport Coordinator Engr Rezaur Rahman, BIGRS Surveillance Coordinator Dr Tanvir Ibn Ali and Additional Deputy Police Commissioner (Tejgaon) Tania Sultana attended the event. The training was coordinated by BIGRS-Dhaka Enforcement Coordinator Golam Hossain.