Balwant Singh
Road safety is one of the most important topics and is often deliberated almost at all forums. General awareness about road safety measures is spread through various fields of activities but accidents do happen and precious lives are getting lost on daily basis and many a time serious injuries due to accident culminates into life long disability. Approx five lakhs accidents take place in our country yearly and approx one lakh fifty thousands people lose their lives and some three lakhs sustain serious injuries. Non following of the traffic rules and non taking of the road safety measures is the cause of these accidents.
The scenario in Jammu and Kashmir is all the more grim when we talk of road accidents which are almost double than the ongoing conflict in the state. The J&K Government data will certainly astonish every one that approx ten thousand people died of the road accidents over the last one decade. In the year 2018 alone, 908 people died in 5528 accidents across the State. J&K has recorded the highest number of fatalities in a decade as compared to other states of the Indian Union. As per the study conducted by Indian Council of Medical research in 2017, spread over to the year 1996 to 2016, Jammu and Kashmir tops the list of casualties as well as disabilities due to road accidents. Recently a road accident in Kishtwar took thirty five lives and in another accident in Udhampur city itself, innocent commuters on the road side became victim of an over speeding matador trying to overtake another Matador. The unfortunate deaths of hundreds of people every year bring shock to the families of victims of these road accidents and many of them happen to be lone bread earners of the family, causing irreparable loss to the family which suffers for the whole life. The preventive measures if taken well in time, can save many precious lives. The visible causes responsible for such tragedies that can be hinged upon are :
* In the row are the ‘Licensing Authorities’ issuing the driving license as well as ‘RTOs and ARTOs’ issuing fitness certificate of the vehicle declaring them as road worthy. Lack of transparency in the issuance of ‘DL’ instead of declaring the results thereof on the spot is kept a guided secret giving opportunities of corruption and whole process ‘online’ is breached by the authorities as the results of the manual conduct of driving tests are not declared on spot and time and space is deliberately recreated in-between uploading of the results thereof on the web portal, thus the leverage to invite middleman and corrupt practices to alter the results is always there. The system of issuing of DL in a most transparent manner is a hollow advertisement and visibly the system is still running in a corrupt manner. A total transparency is required to be maintained and lacunas in-between applying for and issuance of DL required to be plugged which will also leave no space to raise fingers against the authorities by the populace.
* The vintage and mechanical conditions of the vehicles required to be kept under check and periodical preventive maintenance ensured at all times. The utmost honesty and devotion to duty by the Officers authorised to issue road fitness certificates will prevent unworthy and old vintage vehicles from plying on the roads and accidents happening due to mechanical failures will be averted.
* The man on the driving seat has to be physically and mentally fit and must possess a medical fitness certificate from an authorised medical authority all the time.
* The continuous improvement in road conditions will avert accidents. All open pits/ditches on the roads must be filled especially before onset of rainy season to prevent accidents especially of two wheelers. The allotted funds must be utilised for the repair and maintenance of roads and not siphoned off by the authorities at any level through fake or substandard maintenance work.
* The movement of traffic on the highways and inner roads required to be controlled effectively and especially the load carriers must be accustomed to make a single queue along one side of the road thereby leaving space for free and smooth flow of other vehicles. One feels astonished to note ruckus created by the load carriers on the highways and wrong side driving by the vehicles with no traffic cop seen anywhere. The traffic cops are required to channelize their energies to enforce traffic rules and prevent wrong parking, over speeding, wrong side driving and wrong overtaking which are the major causes of head on collisions.
* The term assigned to vehicles as ‘two wheelers’ must be enforced for pillion driving. The culture of using head gears by two wheeler users( both driver as well as pillion rider) is to be strictly enforced.
* The role of individual drivers has to be emphasised who must obtain a genuine driving license, must be aware of traffic rules and road safety signs. Ensure regular maintenance of his vehicle and adhere to the traffic rules. Stop at the stop lines and follow traffic signals. Be within the laid down speed limits with no wrong over takings and no overloading. Must not use cellular phone while driving. Must not take the risk of driving on the vulnerable roads and must not drive under the influence of liquor. Must bear seat belts and use indicators at the turning points. Must use fog lights when required and make use of dimmers at night, cooperate with the traffic police to regulate traffic in a systematic and smooth manner. When found violating traffic rule, must pay fine as laid down in Motor Vehicle Act 1988 and take receipt from challan book and not try to bribe anyone to help build a corruption free society.
* The Organisation of road safety programmes at the level of District administration involving educational institutions, NGOs, Transport associations and drivers at regular intervals will go a long way in averting the accidents. The regulation of services as per time table keeping in view the density of people commuting and establishment of authorised service stations in rural and hilly areas will prevent accidents and constituting of road safety councils to work regularly on road safety measures will be a good start to avert accidents.
We can sum up with the defensive driving ( used as a key word in Army driving programme) must be ensured and a driver must be aware of the traffic around. Must be smart enough to keep his focus on driving only. Road safety is a subject which can not be summed up in few lines but few tips as elaborated above if followed in true spirit, can make our life secure on the roads to a greater extent.
(The author is a Retd Colonel)
feedbackexcelsior@gmail.com
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