LICENSE TO DRIVE IS NOT A LICENSE TO KILL

 

Today the roads of Delhi toll nothing but death knell for all those who use them. A commuter who leaves his house in the morning doesn’t know whether he would return safely in the evening or not! Many a times youngsters have been the cause and ales the victims of dangerous road accidents. There have been steady increases in the number of accidents on the Indian roads from 1998-2007. Do you know that the largest number of people involved in fatal road accidents belong to the age grop of 16 to 20? Amongst young people, motorcyclists and scooters have the greatest cause of danger to their lives.

They often try to show off by driving at break-neck speed and try to perform some dare devil acts. They also sometimes drink and drive. By doing this, they risk their own life as well as that of others. Delhi seems to have acquired the status of the crime capital as well as the accident capital. The number of those who have lost their lives in road accidents in Delhi alone during last year exceeds the number of people who have laid down their lives in the kargil war.

 

Youngsters, Bus drivers all seem to be in a hurry to reach their destinations. They have very less respect for the traffic rules and regulations. Jumping signals is a child’s play for them.

The recent spate of accidens and the follow up have brought to foes the fact that public transport was privatized without a comprehensive assessment of the potential pitfalls. The authorities did little to find out how effective the public safety framework was. The need is to review the whole system of private-public buses and find alternatives and options like the metro system for almost every route. However, the problem of population explosion needs to be controlled at the same time. It is also necessary to enforce more effectively the traffic laws and discipline.

Therefore, there is a need to initiate for accident free driving.

 

Jayanti Bhatia

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