Another road crash
The value of life has little meaning to those operating public transport services across the country.
There has been another terrible accident involving the explosion of a CNG cylinder installed in a passenger vehicle — the second in a week. This time, the disaster took place when a minivan travelling along the National Highway crashed into a tractor trolley near Vehari. Seventeen passengers on board the minivan died; most were burnt to death. Seven other persons were injured. The tragedy took place after the van driver, while attempting to overtake another wagon, lost control of his vehicle and hit a trolley laden with large cans of oil and ghee. The driver of the trolley has said that he had no way of avoiding the crash. Of course, we have a situation where those in charge of driving public transport vehicles are not trained in road safety; there must also be some question as to whether all drivers possess valid licenses. This is something that needs to be looked into, so commuters travelling for work or pleasure can be kept safe in a time when the roads are increasingly used to take people from one part of the country to another. But there was, as has happened before, another factor in the accident. The exploding CNG cylinder appears to have contributed to the number of deaths and the explosion which followed the collision. The safety of CNG kits is also something that must be looked into. We do not know whether those installed in vans and buses are of sufficiently high quality or if measures can be taken to make them safer.
The main issue though, is that of the manner in which public transport is run. The value of life has little meaning to those operating such services across the country. Highway police have played a part in improving the situation to some degree at least but obviously they cannot stop all unsafe driving, especially when those at the wheel are untrained and perhaps overworked. The safety of people on the roads has to be secured through wider measures and a review of the existing situation concerning CNG-fuelled vehicles carried out with urgency.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 13th, 2011.
The main issue though, is that of the manner in which public transport is run. The value of life has little meaning to those operating such services across the country. Highway police have played a part in improving the situation to some degree at least but obviously they cannot stop all unsafe driving, especially when those at the wheel are untrained and perhaps overworked. The safety of people on the roads has to be secured through wider measures and a review of the existing situation concerning CNG-fuelled vehicles carried out with urgency.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 13th, 2011.