CTPL becomes complainant in road traffic accidents

Decision taken after victims’ families refused to become complainants and culprits got off scot-free

LAHORE: In an unprecedented move, City Traffic Police Lahore (CTPL) has decided to become a complainant in road traffic crashes (RTC), if the victim’s family refused to do so.

The decision was taken after reports surfaced that in the majority of the RTC cases, families of victims refused to become complainants and culprits would get off scot-free. The idea that culprits can get away with RTCs has encouraged them to continue driving recklessly on the roads, a CTPL official said.

In this regard, City Division Senior Traffic Officer Hammad Qureshi has issued orders to sector in-charges. In the orders, he added that he had repeatedly issued orders to sector in-charges that if a dangerous accident occurred and complainants did not pursue legal action, they should go for registration of FIR.

However, the orders were being neglected. The senior officer reiterated his instructions to sector in-charges to become complainants themselves otherwise they will face departmental action. RTCs are a serious issue across the province as these accidents claim so many lives, leaving hundreds of thousands injured.

According to Rescue 1122 data, 13,620 people lost their lives and over 1.19 million people have been injured in 996,032 RTCs throughout the province between June 2013 and November 2017.

As many as 703,407 injured people, or 71% of the total victims, were shifted to hospitals in an unconscious and unstable condition. According to an estimate, at least one person lost his/her life daily on the roads of Lahore.

These RTCs indicate that there are no signs of improvement in the traffic situation as the average number of daily crashes have reached 900 from 750 over the last few years.

Rescue 1122 Director General Dr Rizwan Naseer said that the number of RTCs has tripled during the last five years. “From 2004 to 2014, Rescue 1122 has dealt with approximately 0.7 million traffic accidents.” However, this number has jumped to 2.2 million during the past five years, he added. “RTCs have increased by 25% in 2018 as compared to 2017. The gravity of the situation can be gauged from a few following incidents that occurred during the last few days.”

On Saturday, a 24-year-old woman in Sabzazar died after a speeding car hit her while she was attempting to cross a road. The same day an 18-year-old man died in Garhi  Shahu after a train rammed over him while he was trying to cross the railway crossing.

On Thursday, a minor girl, identified as Hina Ishaq, died after a pick up hit a bike near Wapda Town Roundabout. On Wednesday, two people died and six were injured when a car rammed into two motorcycles and a four-wheeler near Phatak Pull on Lahore-Kasur Road. The same day a 35-year-old man and a 30-year-old woman were killed when a bus smashed into their motorcycle near Depot bus-stop in Green Town.

Different stakeholders also cite poor law enforcement as one of the main reasons behind the rise in RTCs and the casualties resulting due to it. However, CTPL officers deny allegations of negligence. A senior traffic police officer shared with The Express Tribune that traffic police is on forefront which is why everyone finds it convenient to point us out.

He added that when it comes to traffic management and issues arising from it, CTPL was least responsible. He continued that poor infrastructure, lack of planning in road engineering and lack of coordination among departments are the main reasons for road accidents.

The officer also pointed out that there were large gaps in law as well. “Punishments for traffic violations were very relaxed as compared to other countries. Besides, people do not follow rules and regulations.”

This is one of the reasons that CTPL itself had to decide to come forward to become a complainant in serious road crashes, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 25^th, 2019.