Reports of myriad road accidents leading to casualties stare us from newspaper pages as we observe another Road Safety Week this year. Speeches, banners and drives to ensure safety on the roads year after year have not exactly induced any improvement in either our chaotic traffic or the attitude of the road users.
But Bhubaneswar, being listed as the No. 1 Smart City of the country among the non-metro cities, appears to have a long way to go as far as traffic sense is concerned. People apparently think that violation of rules, traffic or otherwise, and hoodwinking the law-enforcing agencies is a smart act and most road users persevere with it.
It is indeed a pity that certain important factors, which significantly contribute to the rise in road traffic accidents and consequent loss of life and limb, are perennially neglected. The powers that be also do not seem to realise that certain violations of the Motor Vehicles Act actually contribute to rise and non-detection of other criminal activities, e.g., robbery, rape and kidnapping.
Some of the persistently-violated traffic rules, which significantly enhance the chance of accidents, include driving with headlights set at high beam blinding the drivers of vehicles coming from opposite direction. It leads to hit-and-run accidents with pedestrians as victims. The dazzling effect is further accentuated with halogen lamps and accessory fog lights.
Mere blackening of top portion of headlight is not adequate to remove the blinding effect created by high-beam headlights. The absence of visible tail lights and or luminiscent reflectors on the vehicle driving ahead can be a major cause of accidents, especially during rains, foggy conditions or when streetlights fail.
According to Section 4 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, minors (persons below 18 years of age) cannot be issued licence to drive a motorised vehicle, there being a relaxation of two years for driving 50cc vehicles. But every day, one finds children driving scooters, motorbikes and cars, often under the very eyes of guardians of the law.
In reality, driving by such individuals constitutes a potential hazard to them as well as to other road users. It has frequently been observed that small children with prodigal driving skill are projected by the media with much fanfare. Such publicity promotes and encourages violation of law.
In spite of court orders, the failure of two-wheeler riders to wear helmets is perhaps the most-widely and blatantly-committed life-threatening road offence today. People set out on two-wheelers without wearing helmets even on main streets. Some carry the helmets only to use it to hoodwink the police while approaching intersections where police personnel are likely to be present.
The recent move to deny petrol to any bike rider at filling stations unless he/she was wearing a helmet has gone for a toss. It actually turned to be the petrol bunk owners who took the hit as the sale dwindled. To get around the problem, unused helmets were kept at filling s tations, and when a rider arrived sans helmet, he/she was first handed over a helmet to wear before the tank was filled. It defeated the very purpose of the decision to enforce wearing of helmets.
Youngsters speeding on the roads at breakneck speed and swerving from one side to the other sends shivers down the spines of other road users. Young men are often found doing stunts on crowded roads oblivious of the discomfiture of others.
Autos are also a menace on the roads driving at breakneck speed and stopping wherever they like without bothering about the vehicle coming from behind. This behaviour stemmed from the thinking that “I need not bother about others behind me or coming from other directions as the onus is on them to avoid any collision.”
The registration status of vehicles is perhaps the weakest link in the traffic management system. At present, any vehicle can be involved in a traffic offence or more serious crimes like robbery, kidnapping, smuggling, rape, etc., and easily escape even in the presence of eyewitnesses. The reason is lax enforcement of existing rules.
The ability of passersby to take down the number of an offending vehicle escaping the site of crime requires readability of the rear number-plate at a distance of at least 8 to 10 metre (and beyond). This necessitates an intact number-plate with clearly written letters and figures in the prescribed colour combination. But certain numbers are deliberately modified to evade readability.
The very concept of “Zero Tolerance” at certain select crossings should be done away with. It only implies tacit admission that traffic rule enforcement elsewhere is ‘invitingly’ porous and can be violated at will without fear of detection or prosecution.
The law enforcement agencies need to infuse a sense of fear amongst road users, without being nasty, that ‘big brother is watching’ anywhere at any time.
SMART is a word we all like, and it is a great idea to live in a Smart City. But often, we have come to identify smart as “SMART MANOEUVRING OF AVAIlABlE RESOURCES AND TECHNOlOGIES”. But we forget that for a citizen, the smartest thing to do is to follow the rules in every sphere of life. As Bhubaneswar grows into the smartest city in India, let its citizens be counted as the smartest for honouring the law. We all must remember that it pays in the long run to be faithful and be counted as a patriot.
Road users should always endeavour to reach out to victims of accidents without thinking that they are inviting trouble with the police. It is the least we can do for fellow human beings. Otherwise, it would show our cowardice, not smartness.
(The writer is Vice-Chancellor of SOA University, Bhubaneswar. He is convener of Society for Commuters’ Protection and Education- SCOPE)