Hossen Sohel: Most drivers in Bangladesh are not interested in driving lessons, but unskilled drivers are often blamed for road accidents, reports bdnews24.com.
The industry needs about 1.5 million of skilled drivers but owners are compelled to employ ‘unskilled’ workers due to the lack of training, according to two of the top leaders of transport owners and workers associations in the country.
The leaders noted a lack of awareness, a tendency to defy the law, and using ‘bribes’ as a tool to escape any problem as reasons for this reluctance.
Another issue is the easy availability of driving license training, said an official of Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) Training Centre.
There are institutions providing driving lessons but most of them provide training for small vehicles and cannot produce skilled drivers, he said.
Most of the trainees at both government and private training centres are interested in driving smaller vehicles, while very few drivers of heavy or long-haul vehicles opt for training.
The Bangladesh Road Transport Authority, BRTA considers vehicles able to carry 3 tonnes in weight as light vehicles, 7 tonnes as medium vehicles and more than 7 tonnes as heavy vehicles.
A driver initially applies for a licence to drive light vehicles initially, and then can apply for the one to drive medium vehicles after 3 years and for the heavy vehicles after another 3 years.
As of July, 2018, the BRTA has registered around 3.5 million vehicles. There are currently around 1.9 million drivers with legal licence in the country, which makes it clear that over 1.5 million drivers across the country operate without a licence.
As training is not mandatory for a licence, many drivers refuse to get it.