Garbage trucks should stay off city roads in the daytime: Probe body 

City corporation garbage trucks, which came under scrutiny after a few deadly crashes in the capital, should be allowed to ply on roads in the evening till 7am in the morning, according to a probe body formed to investigate a fatal accident involving a DNCC garbage truck. 

Besides fixed hours for operating heavy vehicles of the city corporation, the probe body has made several recommendations including punishing convicted persons and taking responsibility for the families of aggrieved victims.  

The other bits of advice include: Installing dashboard cameras and Vehicle Tracking Systems (VTS) on all DNCC vehicles, managing vehicles and drivers through a department (transport pool), arranging regular training sessions on road safety laws and regulations, ensuring up-to-date vehicle registration, fitness and licensing for drivers, recruiting new drivers in proportion to the number of vehicles, providing at least one licensed second seater for a heavy vehicle with the required number of helpers.

On 25 November last year, a compactor vehicle of Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) ran over a motorbike pillion rider near Bashundhara Shopping Mall in the Panthapath area of the city, leaving him dead on the spot. The accident took place around 2.30pm when the victim was reportedly travelling from Fakirapul to Mirpur-1.

A three-member probe committee, formed on the same day to ensure proper investigation into the matter, published its report today (Thursday).

The committee, led by Commodore SM Sharif-ul-Islam, chief waste management officer of Dhaka North, included Supervising Engineer (Mechanical) Abul Hasnat Md Ashraful Alam, and General Manager (Transport) Md Mizanur Rahman.

According to the investigation report, driver Md Hanif can be held accountable for the accident because he failed to notice the motorbike and lost control of the wheel. Besides, he did not have a license to drive a heavy vehicle but had a valid license to drive a light vehicle. The motorbike driver can also be convicted at the same time since the pillion rider fell from the vehicle as a result of him losing control of it.

However, the probe report noted that the incident couldn't be ascertained explicitly owing to the lack of clear CCTV footage or eyewitnesses present at the location of the accident. The motorbike driver, who was critical to the investigation, fled the scene following the accident.

The report also said the compactor vehicle involved in the accident did not have any registration or fitness certificate. Moreover, garbage trucks of Dhaka North City Corporation transport refuse mostly during the daytime.

As per data from the Department of Transport, Mechanical Circles and Waste Management, most of the Dhaka North vehicles have not updated their registration and fitness certificates. The DNCC also does not have the required number of drivers relative to their total number of vehicles, while most of the drivers' licenses have not been updated.