I begin with the quote: “Accidents don’t happen to people who take accidents as a personal insult”. Jammu and Kashmir has a poor record of road accidents; hardly a day passes when news of a mishap is not broken. Recently in the North Kashmir’s Handwara Tehsil, four members of a family were killed — in a road accident. Another mishap took the life of two brothers from Rishipora Kulgam a couple of months ago; a teacher, riding a bike in Anantnag district lost his life last week. Road accidents do not happen on their own — we humans cause them with our questionable behaviour on roads.
Reckless driving is not an uncommon sight. Although driving hastily stands strictly prohibited for the dangers linked with it, thousands of drivers, under aged or adults, can be seen taking to it at will. 90 % under aged drive vehicles — bikes, scooty, auto rickshaws and cars —with or without a license, violate the law and put lives at risk, including their own. Thoughtlessness bests their driving. In a road accident, a few days ago in my area, three teenage boys were seriously injured when their bikes had a head-on collision. According to some eye witnesses so powerful was the collision that the riders were seen flying in the air and had fallen down head first with their precious blood flooding the spot.
Notably, deaths due to road accidents in Jammu and Kashmir/ JK remain as a leading cause. According to a recently released report by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), an alarming total of 4,287 lives were tragically lost due to road accidents from 2018 to 2022 in J&K. As per media reports, Jammu and Kashmir in 2023 saw a jump in road accidents 6,298 incidents reported. These accidents killed 893 people, leaving 8,489 others wounded. The police dutifully say that the chief causes of these accidents are excessive speed, overloading and rough driving. Unfortunately, there are only few takers of the police version.
Tragically, about 60 % bikers (of every age) — especially in rural areas— do not drive wearing helmets. In some cases, the helmet could be found linked to the vehicle but ironically not put on. “Why don’t you wear this helmet,” I asked a biker at a petrol pump. “I drive thoughtfully and so don’t need it!” came the blunt response. “But you have the helmet along “, I said. “I put it on immediately if the police are checking anywhere”, the middle aged man answered.
Parents mostly are squarely responsible for the (underage) accidents. A friend recently told me that in his neighborhood, two underage boys met with an accident when they were driving an auto rickshaw. The friend further said the driving minor had received the rickshaw from his home. Had his parents denied the ride, the accident could have been averted. Agreed that teenagers/ the under aged are hard to convince against driving — not to speak of just rash driving— but we as adults or parents must dutifully discourage this routine activity. A firm stance by parents and social disapproval can work wonders. A hard nut to crack but not impossible.
More disturbing is the glorification of speeding and overtaking, the two chief causes of road accidents. Uncalled for praise for speed driving— from adults and parents on multiple occasions— comes as a pat on the back of the youngster drivers who risk everything, including life, while driving.
That promotes the reckless operation of vehicles. Look around, your eyes will sight a teenage biker or car driver with the parents or any adult traveling long. Plus, the vehicles are seen overloaded shockingly. Many adults ignorantly derive pleasure from this pointless behavior.
Taking heart from this adult attitude, teenagers indulge in unnecessary over thinking, a major cause of road mishaps. Isn’t it bad driving if you race past a vehicle in front of you after coming closer to it? This blinds you to the vehicle zooming towards your direction from the opposite side. You can well overtake calmly and slowly from a safe distance. Impatience, anger and overconfidence are enemies of safe driving. You need a cool head while operating a vehicle.
In addition to good and responsible parenting, effective schooling and education could potentially deter unsafe driving. That calls for a serious intervention by policy-makers, media and civil society to frame curriculum which creates awareness on traffic norms and regulations and safe use of roads.
Surprisingly, commuters do not keep to the road sides or footpaths. This behavior forces vehicle operators to blow horns needlessly, leading to everyone’s inconvenience apart from contributing to accidents on several occasions.
Therefore, the strict implementation of the codal norms in place against irrational driving is a crucial step. The police of this Union Territory has been doing a sublime piece of work for the past few years to uproot social crimes; unlawful driving including. Equally important is to discipline general public as to the reasonable use of roads. Religious leaders also can play a pivotal role in containing thoughtless driving and sermonizing people on road use.
Road widening is prudent but speeding and overtaking predominates on wide roads. The real prescription is to demonstrate round- the- clock commitment and fortify the efforts to arrest the alarming growth of road accidents. At the policy level, the philosophy behind vehicle issuance can be reconsidered. Educating the populace about the harms of rash driving, the importance of wearing helmets and sensible use of roads while driving or walking — is urgent. This is our society; we all must reform it. A blame game implies an escape from our responsibilities.
(Author is RK Columnist and teacher by profession. Feedback: [email protected])
