Do we have any share in road accidents

This summer, it seems all record of traffic accident deaths has been broken. In case of four and more wheeled casualties, the maximum victims have been either marriage partygoers or the pilgrims. Another contributor to the loss of lives has been two wheelers. The deaths due to murders is many times less than traffic accident deaths in our country, but surprisingly road accidents do not find enough attention as murders do, in the news. For a family death is a permanent loss to the family.

In my personal opinion, State’s responsibility lies more in case of traffic death than murder. In the former it is direct failure on part of the State to contain the cause of deaths, whereas in latter case, except for few situations where State has direct role to play in prevention, like in riots, protests etc, to proactively prevent personal vengeance motivated attacks is little dicey. Giving protection to all threatened individuals is not practically feasible, though on papers it may be claimed.

Some excerpt of an interesting study is given below to show the situation in our country.

In a dubious distinction for the country, the World Health Organization has revealed in its first ever Global Status Report on Road Safety that more people die in road accidents in India than anywhere else in the world, including the more populous China.

It said 90% of deaths on the world's roads occur in low and middle-income countries (21.5 and 19.5 per lakh of population, respectively) though they have just 48% of all registered vehicles.

At least 13 people die every hour in road accidents in the country, the latest report of the National Crime Records Bureau reveals. In 2007, 1.14 lakh people in India lost their lives in road mishaps — that’s significantly higher than the 2006 road death figures in China, 89,455.

Road deaths in India registered a sharp 6.1% rise between 2006 and 2007. We don't have scientific traffic engineering. The report pointed to speeding, drinking-driving and low use of helmets, seat belts and child restraints in vehicles as the main contributing factors.

In 2004, road accidents was the top ninth cause of death in 2004. Calling road fatalities an "epidemic" that will become the world's fifth biggest killer by 2030, the report said.

Above report mentions that speeding, drinking-driving, low use of helmets, seatbelts and child restraints in vehicles as main contributing factors. All mentioned causes are never addressed in our driving skills. Does that mean that they are not part of the Motor Vehicle Act. The reality is that MVA is quite an exhaustive act. Sadly, the implementation, enforcement part is abysmally poor.

The basic traffic sense is missing amongst the vehicle drivers and other road users. There is no common rule to abide (as presumed). We think it is the duty of others to protect us. Neither we, as pedestrians, know how to walk on roads nor as drivers have any clue what rules of traffic act governs us.

I remember that when in Kosovo, my friend had grandly celebrated when she had got her driving license. She had failed two times before acquiring the license. It was mandatory to carry training certificate from driving school, pass written exam and then clear the road test. Even interview was part of the selection procedure. We make mockery of existing system in our country. For us our touts pass the procedures. We have to simply loosen our kitty and dole out fixed amount.

The major duty of KPS, Kosovo Police Service officers was vehicle checking. They checked the vehicle according to the act, right from license to availability of all accessories in the vehicle, which the act mentioned. That included smallest thing like tow rope, triangle red fluorescent signal to alert the passing vehicle when vehicle broke down etc. They were very strict in law enforcement. No driver above the alcohol limits was handed over the key back.

The report above clearly states that in western countries the death toll has come down over the years, where as we are showing constant growth. Is our enforcement agency ready and equipped to carry on the mandate of traffic rules. When I say ready and equipped it includes mindset, knowledge, logistics, morale, grit and honesty. I personally doubt it.

I also remember when some 13 odd children of the country (Kosovo) had died when their vehicle fell in a valley. The state had announced an official mourning. Yesterday, I was sarcastically kidding with my friend remembering that incident that if we start doing the same in our country, no State will be able to hoist their flags to full mast, ever.

Has our sensitivity died. Is this indifference a strategic move to cover up our weakness or despite all sincere efforts we have failed to civilize. Passing on the buck to any institution for this failure would be unethical. The truth is that those institutions too are manned by one of us. We are the victims, we are the perpetrators, we are the law makers and law enforcers too. No soul is going to come from heaven to put our house in order. We will have to take responsibility to educate and act. Let us pray together for the lost souls and ensure no more is lost.