Sadak Suraksha : Aware,
Alert Avoid Accidents
(The Teenager, Jan. 2023. pp. 16-17)
I was returning from a long trip to
Trivandrum, with the satisfaction of having accomplished my tasks with various
offices. At least another four-to-five-hour ride, and I decided to take
it easy with a break in between. Almost 60 kilometres past, suddenly, a
truck from the opposite direction veered towards me, blinding me with its high
beam, and it turned again into its lane. But I got panicked, lost my balance,
went to the side track, which was having loose gravel, and wobbling a bit, I
fell... and the bike moved on for a few meters, with the rider beneath its
weight. I could feel my head against the hard floor. It was very
painful and I was hurt all over, especially on the arms and shoulders.
Though it was dark and apparently with no people around, in no time a small
crowd gathered. I requested them to help me up from beneath the weight of the
bike. I stood up, still in one piece! Shoulder was hurting making it difficult
to move. But I was grateful that my head was unhurt! It was thanks to the
helmet I had worn fittingly well.
In the
last one decade of guiding an educational institution, I had the bitter
experience of eleven of my students bidding farewell to this life; of whom 6
were victims of road accidents - almost all of them avoidable, provided the
victims had taken adequate precautions. The global statistics in this
regard reveal that every 23 seconds, there is someone losing life to the
roads! As per the WHO website on 'Death on the Roads', of the 1.36
million who lost their lives on the road this year, 4 lakhs are car users,
40000 cyclists, 3.8 lakhs motorcyclists and 3.12 lakhs pedestrians! Initiated
by Brigette Chaudhry, the founder of Road Peace, in 1993, UN dedicates the
third Sunday of November to remember road traffic victims worldwide.
When
it comes to Indian roads stretching over 5 million kilometres, according to
Government of India website, accounting for just about 1% of the world’s motor vehicles,
it is said to be topping the list on road accident deaths among 199 nations,
almost 11% of road accident deaths world-wide, the largest number involving
motorbike riders and about 70% of the victims in the category of youth. 3
to 5% of GDP is said to be spent on accidents.
The
figures indicate the gravity of the situation. Hence the governments have taken
it up as a development issue. For past
30 years, the government of India has been observing Traffic Safety Week in January,
with the slogan ‘sadak suraksha jeevan raksha’ (Roads Safe – Safe
Lives).
Roads
meant to make human lives freer are becoming a threat to human and animal life
everywhere. While the responsibility for safety on the roads would lie with
those who use the roads - primarily, those who control the vehicles and also
the pedestrians - equally responsible is the state for ensuring safe roads and
enforcing safety laws.
· Ensuring
better designed, maintained roads for safety with provisions like flyovers,
underpasses, service roads etc. and regular monitoring and inspection. India
still is far behind in the matter of regular monitoring of road conditions and
timely maintenance of them.
· Providing
road related information clearly and well in advance through properly placed
information/warning boards.
· Adequate
personnel or automated mechanisms to ensure compliance to the safety laws.
· Ensuring
the right to drive a vehicle is given to only those who are found fit to do so,
through adequate training process.
· Provisions
of Pedestrian Under Passes (PUP), Foot-over-Bridge (FOB), footpath for
pedestrian safety, safe tracks for road crossing (zebra crossing or pedestrian
signals).
· Accessible
emergency services – phone, ambulance facilities.
The
week is an opportunity, for educational institutions to team up with Road
Traffic authority and Local Self Governments to educate the citizens beginning
with the youth, the ‘do’s and don’ts’ on the roads:
·
Right
is right for the pedestrians (in India)
·
Use
safe to cross/designated areas or wait for pedestrian signals to cross the road;
avoid jay walking
·
Not
to indulge in or permit playing on the roads or around parked vehicles.
·
Not
to jump on to or alight from any moving vehicle.
·
Not
to let unauthorised persons (children, adults not having a proper training and
licence) to drive on the roads. Driving
a vehicle on the roads without proper training amounts to a sin that can
imperil self and others.
·
Drive
within the speed limits – as the slogan goes: ‘speed thrills, but kills’.
I read a caution on the road, ‘drive like hell, and you will be there’.
· No to DWI – Driving While Intoxicated is
now punishable with Rs. 10000 with or without imprisonment for 6 months.
Annually, nearly 12000 deaths involving drunken driving are registered and
about 9 lakhs get booked. Some road cautions on the Indian roads read thus: ‘don’t
mix drinking and driving’ or ‘whisky and driving is risky’
·
A 21st
century addition to the road rules is: ‘No mobile while mobile’ -
universally accepted, and violated.
·
Helmet
does help – I can vouch from personal experience, and from the bitter
experiences of at least four of my students losing their precious life on
account of this omission.
·
Buckle
up: In cars, using seat belt is indeed a safety measure.
Educational
institutions can render great public service by initiating ‘safe zones’ around
the institutions involving the school scouts, NSS or NCC units. Exhibitions, movies, short films etc. can be
very effective tools to convey the message of safety.
It is also a time to be reminded of the
call to be ‘Good Samaritans’ on the road, when someone is found in an accident,
to be aware of the rights and privileges in this regard, with empowering
provisions introduced by the government of India since 2016. The Motor Vehicles
(Amendment) Act, 2019 inserted a new section 134A, viz., "Protection of
Good Samaritans". No police officer or other person, shall compel a
Good Samaritan to disclose the name, identity, address or any such other
personal details, provided that the Good Samaritan may voluntarily choose to
disclose his /her name.
To me,
the road safety week is a time for generating critical awareness in the citizen
about our right and duty to be safe on the roads, that the citizens in turn,
would also demand that the local authorities ensure safety provisions for all,
starting with the pedestrians on the road – where, we are not just ‘free to
walk’, but also ‘safe to walk’.
References:
Annual
Report - Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, GoI, 2021-22. pp. 57-
<https://www.statista.com/topics/5982/road-accidents-in-india/#topicOverview> Nov. 28, 2022
Times
of India < https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Drunken-driving#:~:text=Drunken%20driving%20is%20driving%20under%20influence%20%28DUI%29%20in,be%20among%20the%20most%20serious%20of%20driving%20offences> Nov. 28, 2022
<https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241565684> Nov. 15, 2022
<https://extranet.who.int/roadsafety/death-on-the-roads/#ticker/all_road_users> Nov. 15, 2022
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Day_of_Remembrance_for_Road_Traffic_Victims> Nov. 15, 2022
https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241565684
https://extranet.who.int/roadsafety/death-on-the-roads/#ticker/all_road_users
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Day_of_Remembrance_for_Road_Traffic_Victims
P.S. Dec 23, 2022. As I arrived at Rajagiri Campus, Kalamassery for a short Christmas break, I am greeted with a very saddening news. A final year UG student, has been another victim on the road - his parents are abroad. A late night ride, with no helmet on, and losing his balance he crashes into a concrete wall, very close to his residence - everything else in perfect shape, but his brain severly damaged, he has gone. The talented and affable Baron shall be remembered for some more time for the efforts he took to revive the murals on the college walls, depicting aboriginal life! May his sould rest without regrets, and may his family be consoled.
Thank you father for inspiring us to think... 🙌
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