A survey of DMP found out that a total of 594 accident cases were filed with 22 police stations in the city last year, mostly caused by speeding.

City dwellers in general said they feel unsafe on roads as motorised vehicles, especially the heavy ones like buses, minibuses and trucks often move recklessly and very fast. Many accidents have taken place with drivers of these vehicles unable to control the speed.

"We have started using speed detectors recently. However, the roads also need additional facilities if we want to use the detectors properly," said deputy commissioner of DMP Traffic (North) Md Feroz Al Mujahid Khan.

He explained that the roads in the city lack signposts indicating speed limit and that hinders the check.

"If the speed limit for a certain road is not mentioned on it, then it becomes difficult to charge someone for over-speeding," he said.

The different types of vehicles that run on the same road also create problem.

"The Airport Road is not a designated highway but it has some features of a highway where all types of vehicles ply. It is hard to fix a speed-limit for such roads," said the deputy commissioner traffic (north).

The speed detector used by the DMP is a sophisticated device. It has cameras set on a tripod and when triggered it beams a ray on running vehicles. The printer fixed to the camera then prints out the speed of over-speeding vehicles along with its registration number. The speed limit is adjustable and it detects the actual speed and excess speed of a running vehicle. According to DMP (Traffic) the speed detectors are not needed on every road as there are few stretches where drivers have the scope for speeding.

The Airport Road, Manik Miah Avenue and the corridor from Shyamoli to Darus Salam are wide enough to fancy speeding. The deputy commissioner traffic (north) also cited exceptions such as Rokeya Sarani which is not a wide road but still experiences accidents due to speeding vehicles. He admitted that using the speed detectors would not put an end to accidents but it would ensure less causality.

"Accidents are accidents. But we hope the numbers can be brought down to a minimum if everyone follows the speed-limit,"