<p class="title">Motorcyclists without helmets have been barred from buying fuel in Dhaka, in an attempt to quell tensions after major protests for better road safety in the Bangladeshi capital last month.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Tuesday's announcement by Dhaka police came after tens of thousands of teenage protesters and students gridlocked Dhaka for nine days in late July and early August, in a major challenge to the authority of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The (owners of) petrol pumps have already been told not to sell fuel to any bikers without helmets," said Dhaka Metropolitan Police commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He said bikers carrying more than one other person -- a common sight -- would also face punishment, and the one pillion passenger which is permitted must also wear a helmet.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Like elsewhere in Asia, the highly congested, polluted and chaotic city of almost 20 million people has seen an explosion in two-wheeled traffic in recent years.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Although Bangladeshi roads are among the deadliest in the region -- around 12,000 people perish in accidents every year, according to a private monitoring group, or more than 30 per day -- many bikers wear no helmet.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The protests, which saw vehicles vandalised and thugs loyal to the government attack demonstrators, photographers and even the US ambassador's car, began after a speeding bus killed two teenagers.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The young demonstrators, setting up roadblocks to check vehicle documents, demanded that the streets be made safer and called for a crackdown on the corruption that has bedevilled investment in infrastructure.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In the wake of the protests, Hasina's cabinet approved a new transport law stipulating harsher punishments for offenders. Dhaka police say they are already cracking down on dangerous motorists and taking unsafe vehicles off the road.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Traffic police have filed more than 5,500 cases against drivers including 2,657 bikers, Dhaka police said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In all, police have filed some 626,000 cases against motor vehicle owners in the past 18 months over violation of transport laws across the country.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The problems on the road is not new. It has been going for ages," Mia said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Sales of motorcycles soared by some 50% to 360,000 last year as Bangladesh's economy recorded over 7% growth over the last three years.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The government has slashed customs duties on bike imports to try to ease congestion created by cars and buses.</p>
<p class="title">Motorcyclists without helmets have been barred from buying fuel in Dhaka, in an attempt to quell tensions after major protests for better road safety in the Bangladeshi capital last month.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Tuesday's announcement by Dhaka police came after tens of thousands of teenage protesters and students gridlocked Dhaka for nine days in late July and early August, in a major challenge to the authority of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The (owners of) petrol pumps have already been told not to sell fuel to any bikers without helmets," said Dhaka Metropolitan Police commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He said bikers carrying more than one other person -- a common sight -- would also face punishment, and the one pillion passenger which is permitted must also wear a helmet.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Like elsewhere in Asia, the highly congested, polluted and chaotic city of almost 20 million people has seen an explosion in two-wheeled traffic in recent years.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Although Bangladeshi roads are among the deadliest in the region -- around 12,000 people perish in accidents every year, according to a private monitoring group, or more than 30 per day -- many bikers wear no helmet.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The protests, which saw vehicles vandalised and thugs loyal to the government attack demonstrators, photographers and even the US ambassador's car, began after a speeding bus killed two teenagers.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The young demonstrators, setting up roadblocks to check vehicle documents, demanded that the streets be made safer and called for a crackdown on the corruption that has bedevilled investment in infrastructure.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In the wake of the protests, Hasina's cabinet approved a new transport law stipulating harsher punishments for offenders. Dhaka police say they are already cracking down on dangerous motorists and taking unsafe vehicles off the road.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Traffic police have filed more than 5,500 cases against drivers including 2,657 bikers, Dhaka police said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In all, police have filed some 626,000 cases against motor vehicle owners in the past 18 months over violation of transport laws across the country.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The problems on the road is not new. It has been going for ages," Mia said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Sales of motorcycles soared by some 50% to 360,000 last year as Bangladesh's economy recorded over 7% growth over the last three years.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The government has slashed customs duties on bike imports to try to ease congestion created by cars and buses.</p>