Bangladesh's government on Monday approved the draft of Road Transport Act 2018 with provisions for stringent punishment to the traffic offenders.

The draft was approved at a cabinet meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair, Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam told reporters.

The proposed law stipulates that the traffic offenders will risk being sentenced up to 5 years in non-bailable jail.

The country's existing transport law entitled the maximum penalty of three years behind bars with the provision of bail.

The move comes in the wake of the countrywide student protests that erupted after two students died on the spot, while another nine of the Shaheed Ramiz Uddin Cantonment College were injured after they were run over by a bus in a reckless driving incident on the highway linking Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport with the center of Dhaka on July 29.