‘Utter disregard’ for traffic rules aiding upsurge in road accidents

PESHAWAR:

Dodging oncoming cars, swerving to avoid pedestrians and motorcyclists, and honking for the right of way all whilst driving on the wrong side of the road is a routine sight in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s (K-P) capital.

For Peshawar’s drivers the only respite for reckless drivers, particularly those driving on the wrong side, is nasty looks and carefully selected insults as the city’s measly traffic fines do not do the job. This mixture of errant driving and minimal fines has led to an upsurge in motor vehicle accidents in the city.

As per data available with The Express Tribune, 640 road accidents have been reported in the previous month alone. The common reasons, apart from driving in the wrong lane, include wrong use of U-turns, over-speeding, and incautious motorcyclists.

The motorway bridge near the Chamkani police station, in Peshawar, is a problematic spot in particular as during the past three months, 7 people have lost their lives in traffic accidents in the area - most recently, a father along with his two children, hailing from Risalpur, died here at the hands of an overspeeding vehicle.

Zeeshan, a long-time resident of Chamkani, while talking to The Express Tribune about the murderous spot, said that accidents frequently occur in front of the Chamkani police station area as many vehicles take the wrong side. “There is also no pedestrian bridge close by which forces many people to cross the dangerous road amidst an onslaught of vehicles driving over the speed limit,” he added.

Apart from the accidents, there seems to be an utter disregard for the law as well which leads to serious injuries once accidents do happen. According to a survey conducted by Peshawar’s traffic police, it came to light that only 17% of motorcyclists regularly wear helmets whilst plying the roads and a meager 5 to 7% of motor vehicle drivers wear seat belts while driving. Moreover, the traffic police’s statistics reveal that a significant amount of accidents were caused by underage drivers.

The public’s disregard for the law is aided by the measly fines for traffic violations. For instance, not wearing a helmet carries a fine of Rs100 and driving on the wrong side will cost the violator Rs300.

Senior Superintendent Traffic Police Peshawar Abbas Majeed Marwat, when asked about the paltry fines, told The Express Tribune that the provincial government had approved an increase in traffic fines which would come into effect on January 1st of the new year. “Rs1,000 will be imposed as fine for speeding and Rs5,000 will be imposed for underage driving,” he said. The common offences of not wearing a seat belt and helmet would now be fined at Rs1,000 and Rs500, respectively, as per Marwat. “Similarly, driving on the wrong side of the road and parking in a no-parking zone will now be fined at Rs2,000,” he said. A hopeful Marwat added that the increase in fines would reduce traffic accidents and ensure people took traffic rules seriously.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 28^th, 2021.