After heart disease and depression, accidental victims are the largest cause of hospital visits and despite year after year claims of road safety practically negligible has been done except poorly managed annual road safety week celebrations. Road safety is not an ordinary subject but multi-sector and multi dimensional issue to be considered on scientific basis and devising steps to ensure each and every aspect is being taken care of. It is for administration to see proper development of roads, safer vehicles on road, proper laws and then strict implementing those laws, mobilisation of resources, building of trauma centres, ambulances at right spots and most importantly putting proper SOPs in place. Road safety is joint responsibility of Government as well a civil society. It is not a one day or one week road show but 24x7x365 responsibility to be shared by everyone. The most common cause of road accident is drivers’ fault which includes over speeding, wrong overtaking, inexperience, poor visibility, use of mobiles while driving, poor judgment, consumption of alcohol. The other major reason being defective roads, bad weather, poorly maintained vehicles and in certain cases vehicles simply not road worthy. Every life is precious and time is very important factor after accident as majority of causalities are on spot, then there are polytrauma patients with extreme injuries. The most common cause of death is neurological injuries, hemorrhage and shock, all this compounded by the fact no ambulance available, no trauma centres and loss of crucial time to recover injured especially in hilly areas. One of the most serious causes of deaths is non availability of timely medical facilities, missing neurologist, surgeons, missing CT Scan and MRI machines. Almost all District Hospitals and to some extent new GMCs are merely referral hospitals itself with neither specialists nor requisite infra. Missing quick response teams just compound the problem as bystanders or passersby become rescuers without proper training with only focus to take the injured somehow to hospital and in the process treatable injuries become grievous and blood loss causing sure shot deaths or permanent disabilities.
Being a hilly area Jammu and Kashmir have all these ingredients for a perfect tragic show. Time and again, year after year same sad state of affairs, old excuses, new meetings with new resolutions but nothing improves on ground. On a visit to any highway of J&K tall claims of authorities in charge stand exposed, no speed guns, missing traffic police, with the result over speeding, drunken driving and drivers openly flaying rules, absolutely no SOP in place, no night checking at all. All these factors make up perfect recipe for a tragedy in making for which no one wants to take responsibility. On close analysis of all these recent incidents one thing is for sure, there are only knee jerk reactions, no strategy, no planning practically show busy do nothing attitude which leaves every road passenger at God’s mercy. LG has rightly called for a high level meeting to gauge the situation first hand and discussed all these points, with the instructions given to do the needful in time. Now it is up to concerned officers to understand the gravity of situation and take things seriously. Proper audits with meticulous planning and deputing traffic police with well explained duty roaster. Special drives for random drunken/drug driving, immediately cross checking the licenses and introduction of hill area license in specific accident prone areas is the need of hour. Training to population residing around the entire highway for providing emergency help seems better option. The concern shown by LG is really appreciable and it’s time to fix the accountability, roll the heads if necessary.
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