Road rage: For fewer accidents, police suggest more speed breakers
DHA is more prone to accidents due to a large number of underage drivers, says expert.
A rickshaw. PHOTOS: AYESHA MIR/ EXPRESS
KARACHI:
As the number of road accidents on the narrow roads of Defence Housing Authority (DHA) continue to rise every day, the police believe building more speed breakers is the solution.
Ashfaq often regrets the day he bought a corner plot and built a house over it. His fawn-coloured residence is located on the Khayaban-e-Shujaat and Khayaban-e-Shamsheer intersection - the spot where the neighbourhood witnesses the most accidents. “People are driving their cars so recklessly that every time I come out of the house, I am afraid that they might collide into me,” complained the bespectacled man.
Though it has been almost two years that Khayaban-e-Shamsheer was converted into a one-way street, residents feel there is little change, mostly because of over-speeding. “Only three days ago, I saw two cars smashed into one another,” Ashfaq recalled. He still remembers the horrifying sight of a Toyota Corolla ramming into pedestrians outside his house’s footpath in 2010.
“Accidents in DHA have definitely risen over the past few months,” admitted Darakshan SHO S. Ehsen. On an average, his police station receives a case every third day of the week, sometimes there are up to three incidents in just a single day. Some accident victims leave without registering a case and opt for personal settlements.
In August alone, four people died in different road accidents in DHA, according to police records. Based on a six monthly report of Road Traffic Injury Research and Prevention Centre for January to June 2012, there were around 600 deaths, with 50 of them in DHA and other cantonments. Nearly 1,700 people were injured. The police feel that the crossings are the most deadly points. “We have suggested to the DHA to build speed breakers at intersections as after traffic signals, cars tend to speed up.”
The victims
A squashed rickshaw stood at the ground across Darakshan police station - the vehicle and its driver, Muhammad Umair, were run over by a water tanker on the night of August 14 on Khayaban-e-Bahria. “My son was killed without a reason,” said the victim’s father, Ali. “His rickshaw was parked on the side of the road because it wasn’t working.
He was sitting in it waiting for his brother when a tanker rammed into it.” Even though the police caught the driver of the tanker, Ali has no hopes to fight the case. “I don’t have the money to feed his three kids. How will I fight the case?”
There are also several more residents who have survived major accidents in DHA and they feel blessed. A 17-year-old student, Sameer, was driving from a friend’s house when he collided with another car on Khayaban-e-Shahbaz. “Though I know I was underage to drive, the other driver was driving so fast that he bumped into me.” The windscreen crushed all over him but Sameer was lucky enough to escape with a few glass cuts on his arm.
DHA accident trends
A road safety expert, Syed Aamer Hussain, sees a trend in DHA accidents that make it different from other areas of the city. “Accidents by underage drivers are very common here, which is one of the reasons for accidents,” he said. “The youngsters make their drivers sit at the back and then they drive as if they are playing Need 4 Speed.” According to him, more accidents take place mostly on weekends as youngsters are racing in the area while others are driving under the influence of alcohol. Hussain felt that an awareness campaign should be started by the residents to discourage children from driving rashly and not to consuming liquor while driving.
On the other hand, Cantonment Board Clifton’s traffic committee’s vice-chairperson Dr Mir Paracha believed that non-operational traffic signals are the main reasons behind car accidents, apart from lawlessness and fast driving. “The non-functional traffic signals let people drive wildly,” he said, pointing out that the traffic signal on Khayaban-e-Ghazi does not work.
Deadly streets
Rash driving can lead to fatal consequences anywhere but there are several intersections in DHA that are particularly dangerous, such as Khayaban-e-Shamsheer, the intersection of Khayaban-e-Shujaat and Khayaban-e-Shaheen, and Khayaban-e-Ittehad - which is a popular thoroughfare that leads straight to Sea View.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 7th, 2013.
As the number of road accidents on the narrow roads of Defence Housing Authority (DHA) continue to rise every day, the police believe building more speed breakers is the solution.
Ashfaq often regrets the day he bought a corner plot and built a house over it. His fawn-coloured residence is located on the Khayaban-e-Shujaat and Khayaban-e-Shamsheer intersection - the spot where the neighbourhood witnesses the most accidents. “People are driving their cars so recklessly that every time I come out of the house, I am afraid that they might collide into me,” complained the bespectacled man.
Though it has been almost two years that Khayaban-e-Shamsheer was converted into a one-way street, residents feel there is little change, mostly because of over-speeding. “Only three days ago, I saw two cars smashed into one another,” Ashfaq recalled. He still remembers the horrifying sight of a Toyota Corolla ramming into pedestrians outside his house’s footpath in 2010.
“Accidents in DHA have definitely risen over the past few months,” admitted Darakshan SHO S. Ehsen. On an average, his police station receives a case every third day of the week, sometimes there are up to three incidents in just a single day. Some accident victims leave without registering a case and opt for personal settlements.
In August alone, four people died in different road accidents in DHA, according to police records. Based on a six monthly report of Road Traffic Injury Research and Prevention Centre for January to June 2012, there were around 600 deaths, with 50 of them in DHA and other cantonments. Nearly 1,700 people were injured. The police feel that the crossings are the most deadly points. “We have suggested to the DHA to build speed breakers at intersections as after traffic signals, cars tend to speed up.”
The victims
A squashed rickshaw stood at the ground across Darakshan police station - the vehicle and its driver, Muhammad Umair, were run over by a water tanker on the night of August 14 on Khayaban-e-Bahria. “My son was killed without a reason,” said the victim’s father, Ali. “His rickshaw was parked on the side of the road because it wasn’t working.
He was sitting in it waiting for his brother when a tanker rammed into it.” Even though the police caught the driver of the tanker, Ali has no hopes to fight the case. “I don’t have the money to feed his three kids. How will I fight the case?”
There are also several more residents who have survived major accidents in DHA and they feel blessed. A 17-year-old student, Sameer, was driving from a friend’s house when he collided with another car on Khayaban-e-Shahbaz. “Though I know I was underage to drive, the other driver was driving so fast that he bumped into me.” The windscreen crushed all over him but Sameer was lucky enough to escape with a few glass cuts on his arm.
DHA accident trends
A road safety expert, Syed Aamer Hussain, sees a trend in DHA accidents that make it different from other areas of the city. “Accidents by underage drivers are very common here, which is one of the reasons for accidents,” he said. “The youngsters make their drivers sit at the back and then they drive as if they are playing Need 4 Speed.” According to him, more accidents take place mostly on weekends as youngsters are racing in the area while others are driving under the influence of alcohol. Hussain felt that an awareness campaign should be started by the residents to discourage children from driving rashly and not to consuming liquor while driving.
On the other hand, Cantonment Board Clifton’s traffic committee’s vice-chairperson Dr Mir Paracha believed that non-operational traffic signals are the main reasons behind car accidents, apart from lawlessness and fast driving. “The non-functional traffic signals let people drive wildly,” he said, pointing out that the traffic signal on Khayaban-e-Ghazi does not work.
Deadly streets
Rash driving can lead to fatal consequences anywhere but there are several intersections in DHA that are particularly dangerous, such as Khayaban-e-Shamsheer, the intersection of Khayaban-e-Shujaat and Khayaban-e-Shaheen, and Khayaban-e-Ittehad - which is a popular thoroughfare that leads straight to Sea View.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 7th, 2013.