Smog and accidents

The reduced visibility due to smog caused two traffic accidents on motorways in Punjab on Friday, leaving 16 people seriously injured. The National Highway and Motorway Police’s warnings to drivers to take special precautions while driving early in the morning, in evening and at night went unheeded. An official of the Motorway Police blamed accidents on negligence by personnel of his own department. The Air Quality Index averaged at the dangerous level of 238 over the past few days in Lahore and its vicinity, reducing visibility thus making driving hazardous before sunrise and after sunset.

Official statistics have established road accidents as the leading cause of death in Punjab province. Punjab Emergency Service Rescue 1122, on an average, deals with 700-900 traffic accidents a day across the province. A few days earlier 13 passengers of a bus died and 37 others were injured when the bus collided head on with another vehicle. This mishap too occurred due to smog. In the past few days of this month alone, 19 persons have died and 1,096 others have been injured in road accidents in the province. In November, traffic accidents caused 363 deaths, while Covid-19 snuffed out 418 lives. Lahore, the provincial capital, tops the list of road accidents. Low visibility, due to smog and deteriorating air quality, has caused most of the traffic accidents.

The main causes of the increasing number of road accidents in the country are reckless driving and lax enforcement of traffic rules. Even if passengers tell bus drivers to drive carefully, their pleas fall on deaf ears. The use of narcotics is said to be common amongst bus and truck drivers. At one time mangled remains of wreckage involved in accidents have been displayed at various points in the country but even this failed to deter speeding and careless driving. In recent years, smog and lax enforcement of traffic rules have combined to kill people in road accidents.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 6^th, 2020.

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