Undeterred by the consequences of penal action, drivers feel the need to run their vehicles as per their whims.
UNIVERSITY OF KARACHI: Pakistan has one of the world’s most horrifying records of traffic accidents. A sizeable number of people lose their life and limb every year owing to lack of caution on the roads.
The authorities concerned lay blame on substandard roads, unfit vehicles and reckless driving. But the fact of the matter is that hardly anyone observes traffic rules on our roads. Undeterred by the consequences of penal action, drivers feel the need to run their vehicles as per their whims. For the same reasons, cargos are loaded in violation of safety rules, which are then seen to over-speed on the main arteries. To add insult to injury, most of the drivers of cargo carriers are under the influence of intoxicants while driving heavy trucks. Disregard for respective vehicular lanes is also not uncommon on our roads.
All this hazardous conduct results in a staggering loss of lives. Moreover, it betrays an absence of deterrence and carefulness amongst drivers, which is imperative for inculcating self-control among them. This lack of deterrence, coupled with an increasing number of accidents, needs to be tackled on an immediate basis and strategies need to be evolved to mitigate, if not eliminate, accidental deaths and injuries.
Hira Ahmed
Published in The Express Tribune, April 28th, 2014.
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