EDITORIAL: Twenty-eight precious lives perished in two deadly road traffic accidents (RTAs) on Tuesday. The first accident happened on the Multan-Sukkur Motorway when a bus on its way from Lahore to Karachi carrying 26 passengers rammed into an oil tanker which burst into flames, leaving 20 people dead and six survivors with burn injuries.
Contrary to initial reports that the driver had fallen asleep, police investigation reveals that the collision occurred as the bus tried to overtake the tanker from the left side. The driver is blamable for trying to pass the highly inflammable load carrier from the wrong side, but the tanker had no business to be in the fast lane.
In the other incident, a passenger coach on its way from Swat to Karachi fell into a ditch on the National Highway near Rohri in Sindh because, according to the police, the driver lost control while negotiating an “abrupt turn”. It is unclear though whether rash driving or poor road alignment caused this fatal accident.
Each year, thousands of people die in road accidents or are injured. Pakistan Bureau of Statistic data for 2019-2020 shows as many as 104,105 accidents took place, 44,959 of them fatal and 59,146 non-fatal. Unfortunately, more often than not such tragic events in this country come to pass not by chance or without an apparent reason, they are waiting to happen.
Many of those at the steering wheel manage to obtain driving licences without proper training. The other well-known causes of accidents are overspeeding, long hours of driving duty, violation of traffic rules that, among other things, require at least three-second following distance — some, if not all, of them appear to have caused the Motorway incident.
Another factor for such accidents is poor maintenance of commercial vehicles. It is not uncommon for the authorities concerned to issue them roadworthiness certificates without conducting necessary checks. Besides, the national highways at several points are badly aligned, which may account for the Rohri crash. Then there is the rolling hazard of oil tankers. Their owners refuse to comply with the mandatory safety standards, despite repeated government directives to do the needful. As a result, these vehicles frequently overturn, unleashing catastrophic oil spills, endangering the lives of other road users. In one horrific incident the spilled petrol caught fire killing several persons who came to collect it.
As is the custom after such disasters, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif issued a statement to convey his sadness over the loss of so many lives and offer condolences to the bereaved families. Expressing similar sentiments, Punjab Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi ordered a thorough probe into the Motorway incident and sought a report from the Multan Commissioner. That is all very well, but they need to do more. They must ensure that all safety rules and regulations are effectively implemented.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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