Road to safety

HAVE YOU ever experienced the agony of waiting for your loved one to return home safe? As you wait, your lips utter a silent prayer, hoping that it is just his absentimindedness or even his irresponsibility that is the cause of the uninformed delay. Your nerves are stretched tight and dreaded thoughts keep returning to your mind. Perhaps somewhere your happiness lies shattered and you are not even aware of it. This is not just imagination but a reality in many homes everyday....

A couple of months ago, one of my young colleagues in college sat laughing and joking with us, little aware that at that very moment her elder brother was involved in a fatal accident. The two wheeler he was riding was hit by a van on the East Coast Road. Not long ago, another tragic accident occurred right in front of a school in Annanagar. A mother had gone to pick her child up from school. While she stood talking to other parents, the child playing near the gate was run over by a van that was reversing.

A mother and child killed by a water tanker, a couple injured on Taramani Road by a concrete girder that slipped while it was being lifted - one can cite many such instances and in most cases, the cause can be traced to negligence. Even a moment's negligence can cost a life. Sometimes many lives. The road never forgives. Then why are we so careless? Is it the boundless optimism of individuals that gives them a false sense of security? The serenity of a road can be deceptive and dangerous but this wisdom is the proverbial comb one may get after one turns grey - when it is too late.

As this is literally an issue of life and death, we need to act urgently. It is not as if the concerned authorities have been unconcerned. The Motor Vehicles Act of 1988 lays down rules to ensure road safety. The traffic police help to implement it but unless the road users awaken to the gravity of the problem and stop taking unnecessary risks, road safety will remain an unrealised ideal.

Ignorance of and indifference to traffic rules are major causes of accidents. The authorities can help by administering a detailed test (without shortcuts) before issuing a licence. Perhaps it would help if stringent steps are taken to educate the public on traffic rules and safety measures. None should be exempted as all of us are road users and could cause or be a victim of accidents.

Drivers today have too many distractions, with cellular phones topping the list. Speed has always been a major killer. People rev up their engines to reach a place in time but the possibility of their never reaching it is rarely contemplated. The youth find speed intoxicating - speed for speed's sake. And while on the subject of intoxication, it is better not to take the saying "One for the road" seriously. Driving in an inebriated state has been a cause of several accidents.

Road accidents claim 85,000 lives every year worldwide and of this, India has the highest share, says Mr. Ramakrishnan, president, SAFE (the Society of Automotive Fitness and Environment).

In our attempt to educate and sensitise the public, where do we start? Our best bet is to catch them young. We rarely forget the lessons we learn as children. I remember the hours we used to spend every evening as little children in the Traffic Training Park at Park Circus, Calcutta (now Kolkata). We would drive small pedal-driven cars and ride cycles. It was there that we learnt the rules of the road - all about the zebra crossing, the traffic lights, the road signs and much more. A friendly traffic constable was always there to help us. This perhaps is the best way to learn.

But in the absence of such facilities, the only alternative is to include it in the school curriculum. Road Safety should be made a compulsory topic from the primary classes onwards. In the meantime, we must be content with the efforts of organisations such as SAFE and Suraksha which have been working hard to sensitise children to the hazards of the road and ways to reduce risks.

HANIFA GHOSH

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