EDITORIAL: The frequency with which deadly road accidents occur in this country is shocking. At least nine people were killed and 12 others injured in Khuzdar district of Baluchistan on August 30 when a passenger van rammed into a courier vehicle coming from the opposite direction at what press reports describe as a ‘blind turn’.
This is the fourth major accident within a span of just one month. Earlier, a bus-oil tanker collision left 20 people dead and six others with burn injuries from the tanker oil fire ignited by the crash.
The same day, a passenger coach on its way from Swat to Karachi plunged into a ditch on the National Highway near Rohri in Sindh after the driver lost control of his vehicle while taking an ‘abrupt turn’.
In it, eight people were killed and 20 injured. Earlier in the month, eight members of a family lost their lives when their car collided head-on with a truck near Burewala in Punjab. Yet another accident claimed nine lives as a bus carrying a wedding party smashed into a tractor- trolley close to Larkana in Sindh.
Accidents can happen anywhere anytime. But as the above-mentioned incidents show the risk potential of fatal accidents is too high not because there are no rules and procedures in place, they are routinely ignored. Some of the well-known reasons for such accidents on national highways are untrained or overworked drivers.
A common cause of such disasters is also poor maintenance of commercial vehicles. The malpractice of issuing them fitness certificates without proper checks is pervasive. So is issuance of driving licences. Also a problem is bad road engineering.
It is worth noting that the passenger van crashed in to another vehicle at a ‘blind turn’ and the fatal Rohri mishap occurred because the driver lost control while taking a ‘sharp turn’. No less concerning is the situation in big cities.
Most people think nothing of violating traffic rules either due to lack of civic sense or an insidious culture of entitlements. Violators in the last category can be often seen telling dutiful traffic wardens, “don’t you know who I am?” Then there are motorcycles sans side mirrors.
They are supposed to keep to the extreme left lane, but insist on driving all over the place, zigzagging between lanes and getting hit every now and then by bigger vehicles.
The government high-up issue ritual statements after every major accident, expressing sympathy with the bereaved families. Probes are ordered and their reports sought from officials concerned.
After that, it is business as usual. It is about time practical measures were taken towards making inter-city travel as safe as possible. Also, authorities in metropolitan centres must streamline the affairs of intra-city traffic.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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