Eid road crashes can't just be wished away

A good number of fatal road accidents during the Eid vacation across the country have left many people killed and many more grievously injured, some crippled for life. The occasion of festivity turned into times of mourning for many families as they lost their near and dear ones in such accidents. The patterns of accidents this year were same as those that happened in previous years. There were head-on-collisions between passenger buses; vehicles had skidded off and fell in roadside ditches; some people met their death hit by tree branches as they rode on roof tops of buses and trains and so on. The gruesome graphics of some of these accidents have been displayed on some television channels.

The most annoying aspect of the whole thing is we have not seen any “Highway Patrol” on the highways to control over-speeding buses. We have not seen them near the sites after the accidents to offer help. It is the common people who had gone to the rescue of the victims. We know there is a department by the name of Highway Patrol equipped with high speed cars but we do not know where they perform their duties. Were they not aware that thousands of people would be travelling in vehicles of every description on the highways during this time? If they are not available on the highways in times of need then what is the justification of sporting that title? 

Accidents on the highways during annual festivals are no new phenomena in this country. As hundreds of passenger buses and private cars begin to ferry people from one end to another, our concerns begin to mount as we watch television reports of people scrambling on the roof tops of buses to embark on a perilous journey.

Researchers have already told us why such fatal incidents occur mostly during vacations.  Among the many reasons are: old and faulty passenger buses put in service after hasty repair work; over speeding by buses and trucks on the highways to catch the ferry on the river bank or to reach destinations before the other; brake failure at the last moment; negotiating dangerous curves at breakneck speed; young immature drivers given employment during vacations at low salary; drunken driving or driving with serious eye problems; and absence of highway patrol police to deter over speeding.

These findings have been presented in numerous seminars and roundtable conferences by experts before the relevant authorities but we wonder whether even ten percent of those recommendations have been implemented in dead earnest. When will they be implemented in full? Or have they been dumped for good? To be candid, the regularity of fatal accidents during Eid and other festivals has somehow made our senses blunt to some extent. Unless we develop greater empathy within us for the travelling people, we shall not understand the pain and plight of those who lose their dear ones in road accidents. 

In full consideration of the rising number of deaths of people in road accidents globally, World Health Organization (WHO) had declared the theme of World Health Day 2004 as “Road Safety Is No Accident”. According to WHO, “Road crashes are the second leading cause of death globally among young people aged five to 29 and the third leading cause of death among people aged 30 to 44 years. Road crashes kill 1.2 million people every year and injure or disable as many as 50 million more. Without immediate action to improve road safety, it is estimated that road traffic deaths will increase by 80% in low- and middle-income countries by 2020. A joint report launched by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank today demonstrates that much can be done to reduce the toll of deaths and injuries and that 'Road Safety is no Accident'.”

WHO meant we have to have a concrete plan of road safety and that it cannot happen accidentally. A clever way of saying the right thing indeed.