Driveway to death

In other countries, drivers of passenger vehicles go through rigorous scrutiny by motor carrier safety departments

For years, fatalities occurring from road horrors have been the single biggest staple of our media, filling many column inches of space in newspapers and the national pysche. From hard to curb external elements to many internal ones that only exist because of successive government failures to nudge over the soaring number of fatalities, citizen after citizen have fallen prey to them. The latest victims were riding in a bus that plunged into a ravine near Dhoke Pathan village on Pindigheb-Talagang Road. At least two dozen lives were lost and another 67 were injured as a result. Overspeeding, a common enough offence in the country, was cited as the reason for the accident.

Tragically, there seems to be no let-up in fatal road accidents in Pakistan. Over the years these have claimed hundreds of lives. Three years ago, the World Health Organisation had estimated that road accidents were claiming 30,310 lives in Pakistan annually. In Karachi alone, thousands of lives are lost every year. Overspeeding is a recurring problem yet little heed has been paid to curb the frequency of such accidents. Irrespective of laws being in place, monitoring of such laws has been minimal. Untrained drivers without a valid licence often make their way onto the driving seats of passenger vehicles and speed their way to death while putting others in harm’s way.

In more developed countries, drivers of passenger vehicles go through rigorous scrutiny by motor carrier safety departments before being allowed to drive, but the National Highway Authority of Pakistan has been unsuccessful in maintaining a set protocol for not only motorists but also enforcing speed limits. Blaming the authorities alone for our dare devil adventures is unfair. Motorists should also be held responsible for their reckless driving. Apart from enforcement of stringent road laws and monitoring, motorists too need to be coached on safe driving. It is time for action now.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 10^th, 2017.

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