Prevent Rising Road Mishaps

Just some days back we had to hear the sad news of how a passenger bus coming from Rupandehi district fell into the Trishuli river and seven persons lost their lives while many others were injured. Such types of accidents, whether on the highways or even the roads of Kathmandu, have become almost common in recent times. The important question is, why are such accidents taking place? With the rainy season just a few months away and the road conditions getting worse, such mishaps will become even more frequent, like we have witnessed in the years before this. 

While the conditions of the roads also play a big part in accidents taking place, there are other factors as well which cause road accidents. For example, we only have to look at the roads in Kathmandu, where we see reckless driving and equally nonchalant pedestrians who walk in the streets as if they are walking in the lawns of their own homes. Much worse is the fact that they cross streets at any place and any time with no thought at all about their own safety or the problems they could bring to the drivers of different vehicles who will at once be accused of being guilty by not only the general public but the traffic police as well.

Sorry state of roads 

But to come back to the roads of the country, most of the roads are in a sorry state. However, it is also certain that lack of awareness is also causing many accidents and unfortunate people are losing their lives, whether while driving four wheelers or two wheelers, and also while just walking on the roads. It is specially the elderly and young children who are more vulnerable from the rash driving of others, but on the other hand, it is mostly the youths who get in trouble while driving vehicles. Of course, facts say that most youths who get into fatal traffic accidents are mainly those driving two wheelers. It is really frightening to see the way the young people, including women, drive mainly motorcycles or scooters, not knowing how close they are to a dangerous accident.

Those who are driving and also walking do not seem to know what hazards they may be facing due to their carelessness or rash driving to get to their destinations faster. The irony is that, due to the chaotic traffic conditions and also many crossroads where the flow of vehicles has to slow down, the rash driving does not make their movement any faster. It is only a short-lived satisfaction which make drivers think they have defeated the slow moving traffic. But for any safe driving, aware driver of a vehicle or even a pedestrian, the scenario on our roads is horrifying. 

It is not for nothing that most accidents, especially fatal ones, happen to two wheel drivers and their pillion riders.

It is no different on the highways. Many accidents take place due to the careless driving and intrusion on what should be a high speed road. It could be because of the close by housings and unaware pedestrians. But the fact remains that it is due to the carelessness of some individuals why we see more mishaps than we actually had to see. One interesting part is, when a cycle hits a pedestrian, the cyclist is called wrong, when a motorcycle hits a cyclist, the motor cycle driver is called wrong, when a four wheeler hits a motor cycle, the vehicle driver is called wrong and when a heavy vehicle hits a smaller vehicle, the heavy vehicle driver is called wrong. It hardly seems to matter who is actually the wrongdoer.

One can see huge traffic jams just because of the carelessness of one driver or the other, but nobody blames him or her, everyone just bears the delays and blames the 'traffic of the City' for any such delays. The peoples' opinion is also right in blaming the poor condition of public vehicles, the wrong decision of the drivers to exceed the speed limit of their vehicles and also drivers who do not have enough experience in driving for the many mishaps taking place within this tiny country which had less than two thousand vehicles till the 1960s. These days, there are thousands of vehicles on the streets and one reads almost every day about road accidents and fatalities all over the country in the media outlets.

Chaos

While the people having more access to vehicles is a good thing, the sheer carelessness of the vehicle drivers is not good. There are vehicle drivers all over the world, but in the more developed countries, traffic rules are followed strictly and those who violate rules are punished harshly. Pedestrians are given due respect and cars wanting to cross a road are happily given way by others. 

But here, we see more chaos rather than respect for others, be it pedestrians or other vehicle drivers. Specially, the bikes overtaking vehicles from the wrong side of the road is very menacing. It is not only dangerous for themselves but also a hazard for the vehicle drivers and their passengers. 

This may be the umpteenth time this writer has said this, but what we need is education about safe driving or road manners, right from the primary level of education. Like we have to study math, English and Nepali, safe road conduct must also be a compulsory subject which will drill the necessity of safe road behaviour in the people. Perhaps such education will help in making drivers aware of what they should or shouldn't do while driving, the pedestrians become more responsible while walking on the streets, most of them which don't have any sidewalks. Till then, we will have to live with news of more road accidents and bear with such happenings.

(The author is former chief editor of this daily.)