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Readers' FORUM
Death on Roads
Al-Mahmood's three page essay on the matter titled 'Road Kill' in the September issue of Forum; neither delineates nor is holistic on the pragmatic subject of 'Safe Systems' as an " towards reducing road accidents" as quoted in the essay!
Apart from describing prehistoric events related to traffic accidents, and a colorful figure depicting various 'safe needs' for roads; and accident statistics; the essay lacks any practical suggestions on measures to contain accidents on the road. Simple ideas for accident prevention like: a) have roundabouts on all busy road crossings. b) to avoid power failures for traffic lights; deploying manpower (traffic police) to control traffic at all important road crossings and junctions c) empower traffic police to collect fines or arrest drivers responsible for traffic safety violations and such like.
The only idea spelled out is as follows: (quote) 'reduce the number of crashes by widening and straightening roads'; naturally a very long term and capital intensive measure. The absence of road dividers for separating the up and down traffic lanes; that can be easily implemented and at lesser cost was not mentioned anywhere!
All said and done; it was more of a literary piece; with scarcely any positive ideas and proposals for improving road safety; that could be appreciated by the reader. It was just a heavy reading matter, with superficial writings about a very critically important subject for us.
S.A.Mansoor
Dhaka.
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ZAHEDUL I KHAN |
End the horrors of our medical profession
The photo feature titled 'Crime of Negligence' was a shocking depiction of what we already know to be a bad case for our medical care. We know it is in bad shape and yet the pictures show just how bad things are than our perceptions.
Medical care is one of the most important factors in deciding where we live and how we live. These days, our often dodgy medical practices are forcing people to seek treatment abroad for the simplest of ailments. Why? Because people cannot trust our doctors. There are cases popping up every day about infant mortality and misdiagnosis. Yet, our media isn't really doing much justice to the sufferers. While we are busy with issues such as land grabbing, political visits and inflation, there is hardly much being done to deal with medical malpractice. I appreciate the photo feature but would like a much more thorough read on what is happening in our medical corridors and what can be done to eradicate this worrying problem. Health is something that will break down at one point of time and we need something reliable to fall upon. What we have right now is scary and troublesome.
Shahin Ahmed
NRB, New York
PRITO REZA
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