LAHORE: Recently, while travelling along the Canal Bank road in Lahore, I saw a young man indulging in dangerous stunts on his motorbike with his friend sitting behind. The youngster suddenly lost control of the motorbike and slipped and fell on the road along with his friend. I had to apply brakes to my car to avoid hitting them, which led the vehicle behind my car to crash into mine. While we were evaluating the damage done to our vehicles, the two boys who had caused the accident, slipped away from the scene.
Such accidents have become commonplace on the Canal Road because of rash driving and over-speeding and also because drivers do not maintain a proper distance between vehicles while driving. It is unfortunate, that as a nation, we have very little respect for traffic rules and people feel pride in violating them. Traffic jams, which are a common occurrence in Lahore, can be controlled if everyone follows traffic rules.
There must be a complete ban on motorcyclists indulging in dangerous stunts like one-wheeling as it puts people’s lives at risk. Such miscreants must be booked and fined heavily to ensure public safety. Moreover, close circuit cameras must be installed on the Canal Bank road to catch traffic violators.
Farooq Bashir Butt
Published in The Express Tribune, April 4th, 2012.
