The Traffic Police Kashmir’s identification of accident blackspots across the Valley is a welcome step, but it must not become another exercise in paperwork. A list forwarded to government departments can reduce accidents only when it is followed by inspections, funding, engineering corrections and clearly assigned responsibility. Otherwise, the blackspots will remain what they have been for years: known danger zones where every crash is treated as an unfortunate surprise. The warning that peripheral areas are more vulnerable deserves urgent attention. In the hilly and rural stretches of Kashmir, sharp bends, poor road geometry, weak shoulders, inadequate signage and missing crash barriers turn ordinary journeys into high-risk ventures. A vehicle does not need to be speeding for a badly designed curve to become fatal. Nor can drivers alone be blamed when the road itself gives little warning and offers no protection after a mistake. The concerned departments must therefore move beyond temporary measures. Every identified blackspot should undergo a technical safety audit, with specific timelines for correcting curves, installing crash barriers, improving drainage, marking lanes and placing reflective signs. The public should be told which agency is responsible for each location and when the corrective work will be completed. Accountability cannot end with forwarding a file. The DIG Traffic is also right to call for a multi-departmental strategy. Traffic Police cannot redesign roads, the Transport Department cannot remove encroachments, and municipal agencies cannot regulate every movement on their own. The Srinagar Municipal Corporation, road construction agencies, transport authorities and Traffic Police must work through a permanent coordination mechanism rather than meeting only after a tragedy. Road safety needs joint planning, regular review and measurable outcomes. Urban traffic, meanwhile, reflects a different but connected failure. Pedestrians crossing at undesignated points is a problem, but compliance cannot be secured by appeals alone. Zebra crossings must be visible, accessible and located where people actually need to cross. Footpaths must be restored to pedestrians, parking must be expanded, and enforcement must be consistent. A crossing placed far from a market, bus stop or residential area will not change behaviour merely because it exists on paper. The unchecked growth of roadside vending further exposes the absence of a durable policy. Relocating vendors to alternative markets can work only when those spaces remain viable, and enforcement prevents a gradual return to the roads. Livelihood concerns must be respected, but they cannot be allowed to consume footpaths, narrow carriageways and endanger both vendors and commuters. Kashmir does not lack warnings about unsafe roads. What it lacks is sustained execution. The blackspot list should become a public safety plan, with deadlines, budgets and named officials. Preventing accidents is not a seasonal campaign; it is a continuing duty of governance.
