In yet another road accident that happened in Kotranka village in Budhal area of district Rajouri, fifteen people, including four children, have been killed and 24 others are wounded. The area of accident is not generally prone to vehicular accident but then the old saying goes on that “death keeps no calendar”.
Unfortunate as it is, the frequency of road accidents and loss of precious lives has perhaps made us immune to human error. Road accidents happen in the State, quite frequently and after raising a few angry slogans against the authorities, we tend to forget the accident and bring no pressure on administration who miserably fail to perform their assigned duty. Umpteen times we have taken up the issue of recurring road accidents in the state along the National Highway and its arteries but it seems to be falling on flat ears. If this has to be taken as fate accompali, then we are doomed. In most cases this is a human error and not something pre-ordained as we like to console ourselves with. The question is of controlling the human error. Many months ago, the State Transport Department had constituted a committee of experts which included representatives from Indian Road Research Institute. The Committee made several recommendations in the context of minimizing recurrent road accidents. The purpose of constituting this Committee was to advise the government how recurrence of road accidents could be brought down substantially. We are no aware if the recommendations of the said committee have been agreed upon for implementation. Notwithstanding that, road accidents continue on our hilly and tortuous roads and many innocent and precious lives are lost. This is a human loss to the State. Further, there were several recommendation made by House Committee comprising legislators to control accidents. None of those recommendations have been implemented.
We know that despite best care, accidents do happen especially on hilly roads. But normally these should not happen. It is also not possible to deploy traffic control personnel on every mile of the road in order to keep a close check on the movement of vehicles. It is not humanly possible and we should not insist on what is beyond the capacity of human beings. But what we focus on now as well as in our previous dispatches is that Traffic and Transport authorities are either inept to discharge their duties or behave in a casual and sadistic manner since there is no accountability. In most cases of road accident, it has been found that those driving the vehicle were either holding a fake license or were not at all in possession of a genuine license. In maximum cases physical fitness, especially the eyesight of the applicants for driving licenses is not checked. Among fitness tests, a psychological reading and test of the applicant is also one of the priorities. The reason for drivers not to remain within allowed speed limit is essentially a psychological one. It is not difficult to analyze the mindset of an applicant once the physical tests begin to be made on him.
The condition of the vehicle and the engine are seldom subjected to periodical tests. Mechanical failure has also been considered as one of the reasons for road accident. This test is hardly conducted with regularity and obsolete vehicles with defective engines and faulty breaks are allowed to ply on the hilly roads. According to reliable sources, the foremost reason for road accidents is overloading of passenger buses and mini buses. We have to manage transportation of a huge population and we don’t have adequate number of vehicles to meet the demand. The result is that owing to lack of adequate number of vehicle and the frequency of their movement, prospective passengers feel happy to get a foothold on a bus. The result is over-loading. Passengers climb on the top of the vehicle or hang on its footrest board. They seldom raise their voice against a driver who drives rashly and ends up in a disastrous accident. A strong and unified protest of passengers against rash driving would certainly exercise control on the driver. Therefore we can say that the passenger community also needs to be educated on traffic rules because as days pass by, there is bound to be more hectic activity in the context of trade, commerce, tourism, pilgrimage and administration.
We suggest that the Government constitute a peoples’ court to investigate cases of road accidents, submit the report and recommendation within 15 days of a road accident, and have the powers for calling in the traffic department for its failure to process implementation of the peoples’ court decision. Bringing recurrent road accidents to public domain is precisely to make the departments answerable for each of its acts of omission and commission.
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