Rather than cursing authorities and road-accident casualties, it is high time this society helps correct the wrongs hijacking safety norms on roads by extending all cooperation to authorities, who, without doubt, are duty-bound to rise to the occasion at the earliest. Two more tragedies struck Kashmir yesterday on the roads.
In Kulgam, a woman died when a motorcycle she was riding with her husband got hit by another vehicle; in the Hendwara area, two young boys passed away after the motorcycle they were riding got hit by another vehicle. Apparently rampant road accidents underline the urgent need for public support, reinforced by reforms, to curb the alarming situation.
Reckless driving is not an uncommon sight, and countless vehicles could be seen disregarding traffic rules; unfortunately ; thousands of drivers (underage or adults) might be seen taking to over speeding it at will. A significant underage population often drive vehicles — bikes, scooty, and auto-rickshaws; this puts lives on the line, including their own, on most occasions.
Roughly nine drivers out of ten could be found unhelmeted. Not an encouraging sign for social progress. Not object such horrible driving gives wide social sanction to it ; in other words, backs it unwisely.
And when authorities penalise those lawbreakers, certain quarters raise questions. Notably, deaths due to road accidents in Jammu and Kashmir/ JK is viewed as a major cause. According to a recently released report by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), an alarming total of 4,287 lives were tragically lost due to road accidents from 2018 to 2022 in J&K.
As per media reports, Jammu and Kashmir recently saw a jump in road accidents .6,298 incidents reported. These accidents killed 893 people, leaving 8,489 others wounded. The police dutifully say that the chief causes of these accidents are excessive speed, overloading and rough driving. There are unfortunately only a few takers of the judicious police version, though.
Tragically, about 60% of bikers ( of every age) — especially in rural areas— do not drive wearing helmets. In some cases, the helmet could be found strapped to the vehicle. Not put on. “Why don’t you wear this helmet?” I asked a biker at a petrol pump. “I drive thoughtfully and so don’t need it !” came the blunt response. ” But you have the helmet along “, I said. “I put it on immediately if the police are checking anywhere, ” the middle-aged man answered.
Parents in most cases are squarely responsible for the (underage) accidents. A friend recently told this author that in his neighbourhood, two underage boys met with an accident when they were driving an auto-rickshaw. The friend further said the driving minor had received the rickshaw from his home. Had his parents denied the ride, the accident could have been averted.
Agreed that teenagers/ the underaged are hard to convince against driving — not to speak of just rash driving— but we as adults or parents must dutifully discourage this routine activity. A firm stance by parents and social disapproval can work wonders. Not impossible, although an uphill task.
More disturbing is the glorification of speeding and overtaking, the two chief causes of road accidents. Uncalled-for praise for speeding — from adults and parents on multiple occasions— comes as a pat on the back to the young drivers who risk everything, including life, while driving. That promotes the reckless operation of vehicles. Look around; your eyes will sight a teenage biker or an autorickshaw driver with the parents or any adult travelling long. Plus, the vehicles are seen overloaded with some goods, shockingly . Many adults ignorantly derive pleasure from this pointless behaviour.
Taking heart from this adult attitude, teenagers indulge in unnecessary overtaking, a major cause of road mishaps. Isn’t it bad driving if you race past a vehicle in front of you after coming closer to it? This blinds you to the vehicle zooming towards your direction from the opposite side. You can overtake calmly and slowly from a safe distance. Impatience, anger and overconfidence are enemies of safe driving. You need a cool head while operating a vehicle.
In addition to good and responsible parenting, effective schooling and education could potentially deter unsafe driving. That calls for a serious intervention by policy-makers, media and civil society to frame a curriculum which creates awareness of traffic norms and regulations and safe use of roads.
Surprisingly, commuters do not keep to the road sides or footpaths. This behaviour forces vehicle operators to blow horns needlessly, leading to everyone’s inconvenience and contributing to accidents on multiple occasions.
Therefore, the strict implementation of the codal norms in place against irrational driving is a crucial step. The police of this union territory have been doing a sublime piece of work for the past few years to uproot social crimes, such as unlawful driving. Equally important is to discipline the general public regarding the reasonable use of roads. Religious leaders can also play a pivotal role in containing thoughtless driving and in sermonising people on road use.
Road widening is prudent, but speeding and overtaking predominate on wide roads. The real prescription is to demonstrate round- the- clock commitment and fortify the efforts to arrest the alarming growth of road accidents. At the policy level, the philosophy behind vehicle issuance can be reconsidered. Educating the populace about the harms of rash driving, the importance of wearing helmets and sensible use of roads while driving or walking is imperative. Ours is this society; it can be reformed when we all act together.
A blame game, on the contrary, implies an escape from our responsibilities. Social cooperation to discourage unlawful driving is paramount. General awareness campaigns on the pattern of drug-free Kashmir can be launched across the union territory. Media can be used to dissuade teen age / risky driving.
Orientation courses for the safe use of driving is a useful option. While strict implementation of traffic rules is essential, adult people in society must set examples of patient, tolerant, and sensible driving themselves on roads. Lastly, we need to stop glorifying speeding : it acts as a tonic of indiscipline towards road use.
(The Author is RK columnist and can be reached at: Sheikh Shabir Kulgami: [email protected])
