Rising Road Accidents

The number of road accidents is rising day by day. Every day more than 80% of people are getting injured in India. It is a major problem in India. It is observed that most of the accidents occur among teenagers. Though the government has set many rules regarding road safety, yet most of them are of no use. The reasons behind all such accidents are many and varying.

Most of the teenagers get driving licences through fraudulent means – by producing false documents, and making undue payments to government officials, especially of the transport department.

Our respected Prime Minister is trying to make our country a bit progressive in every sector through different projects like ‘Making India, Digital India’. However, it is of no use when many youth as well as senior citizens don’t give importance to it.

Not following traffic rules is one of the biggest problems in India. Most of the people show the power of police, ministers and whatnot. Since there are rules and regulations for all to follow, those violating such rules need to be punished. It’s as simple as that. However, the saying ‘rules are meant to be broken’ have many takers on this land.

This is a never-ending problem as people are very busy in their professional works. A lot of pressure on them leads them to race against the clock to get their places of works on time. This behaviour among the working youth these days also leads to the occurrence of more accidents. The use of mobile phones while driving should be strictly prohibited. Drinking and driving is the most common in accidents involving teenagers.

It has been observed that in Guwahati, pedestrians neither use footpaths nor foot bridges for crossing roads and walking. Footpaths, as everybody knows, are occupied by roadside vendors, especially at Ganeshguri, Beltola, Hengrabari, Six Mile, Fancy Bazaar and many more places. The GMDA should be strict on such matters. Zebra crossings in Guwahati hardly serve any purpose. Most of car drivers never give any chance to pedestrians for crossing the road. Always traffic personnel have to stop cars for allowing pedestrians to cross roads. The number of accidents has been increased in highways in crossing, so the NHAI has taken some steps for preventing it. They have made rumble steps in the crossings.

New car and bike companies are coming to the city with new projects. They are luring customers by showing their policy and giving down payments. The number of cars is increasing day by day in Guwahati, so is the number of accidents.

The Transport Department should organize road safety programmes in schools and colleges to bring about awareness on prevention of accidents. The police and the Transport department should be strict on those who do not follow rules and regulations. Parents, especially of teenagers, should be very much careful. One of the best ways to reduce traffic jam in the city is by using pool cars. For example – when a few people of an apartment go to a common destination they can use pool cars, instead of their own cars. This practice will cut traffic jams, besides cost. I would like to request the District Transport Authority to make strict actions against erring city bus drivers.

Blaming the government is not enough. We the citizens should follow rules then only we can overcome the problem of road accidents.

Hrishikesh Sarma,

hriskikeshsarma@gmail.com