Road Accidents - citizens need to take more responsibility than the government.

Road Accidents - citizens need to take more responsibility than the government.

Road Safety is a very important issue in the country. Nearly 5 lakh road accidents were reported in India in 2013, in which more than 1.5 lakh people lost their lives. Modi government is planning to unfold a new law for road safety with more stringent punishment for violation of traffic rules. But, the responsibility to contain road accidents falls only on government? Are we the citizens of this country playing our role? Let’s see:

Yes:

-A prominent reason of these accidents is violation of rules by individuals. Government cannot keep an eye on every vehicle’s or motorbike’s movement.

-Many people consider helmet as a headache and prefer cheap substandard quality’s helmet even when they know this may prove fatal. Their sole purpose is to avoid fine for not wearing helmet.

-Separate lanes have been provided for movement of different vehicles especially on National Highways. But people barely follow these instructions.

-Overtaking is a risky affair. If a driver is not careful while overtaking and committing avoidable mistake, then government can hardly do anything in this.

-In cases of road accident, people generally are reluctant to come forward and help the victim. This negligence results in victim’s death which can be otherwise avoided by timely intervention. Our insensitivity towards such incidences is a major cause of problems.

No:

-In India baring National Highways, most of the road infrastructure is pathetic and driving on these roads especially in rainy season is a nightmare. Even after paying high toll taxes the maintenace on highways is poor. The emergency hospital are no where in the vicinity on many highways, patrolling is poor - where does the tax money go?

-Under current law, a person arrested in case of accident easily gets bail, even if his negligence caused the accident. This is due to lack of strong law, which can only be implemented by government.

-Cases go on for a long period of time in Indian judiciary, resulting in wastage of money as well as time of the complainant. It is judiciary’s responsibility to deliver verdict in time because justice delayed is justice denied.

-Many new cars have failed mandatory safety benchmarks in case of accidents and still running on roads. No serious action has been initiated against manufacturer companies of these cars.

-A person can easily obtain new driving license through agents even if he doesn’t know how to drive. Citizens can inform about these unlawful practices, but the onus to curb them lies on government.

- Many of the accidents are caused by drunk drivers who do not even possess a valid license. The local and small level politicians gang up and abuse the victim to frighten them up while the traffic police does't show up at the right time. In such cases, the police should not need the complain from the vicitm. They should deal with the driver directly rather than getting the victim into the picture.

Conclusion:

Road Safety is a complex issue in a highly populated country like India. Road infrastructure is bearing far more traffic than its actual capacity, leading to traffic jams, congestion and accidents. The onus to improve this scenario lies equally on citizens as well as government. For realizing the dream of road safety both sides have to play their part and initiatives only from one side will not yield any positive results. Also both sides have to ensure that the efforts should complement and not contradict each other.