On Monday, four members of the same family lost their precious lives in a tragic road accident in Chenani area of Udhampur district. Among the deceased include chief cleric of Jamia Masjid Sangaldan and his father who was a renowned Islamic scholar. This fateful incident happened when the vehicle in which they were travelling in skidded of the road and fell into a deep gorge. There has not been a single month in last several years when fatalities and serious injuries to road accident victims were not recorded. Despite the ringing of alarm bells, the official response has been poor. The response from people also has not been any better. The way road accidents and the damage they do to the UT are looked at gives an insight on how much desensitized the people have become as loss of lives continues to mount. It is very unfortunate that frequent road accidents have become a norm in the UT and cheers to official apathy in J&K that bears witness to it and functionaries who toil, now and then, to give us the woeful figures – nothing less and nothing more. As per official stats, in 2021 alone, more than 700 people died and over 7000 were injured in different road accidents across the UT of Jammu & Kashmir. The said road mishaps do tell a lot about the traffic management, checks and their efficacy in the UT. Violation of traffic rules, reckless driving and negligence of road safety, insufficient manpower in traffic department, fraudulent grant of licenses and bad roads are main agents of fatal haps. An important point regarding motor accidents and casualties has been overlooked over the years – the safety provided by the vehicles or different makes of automobiles that run every day on the roads. As one survey in the past highlighted, only few luxury cars assured minimum damage to drivers and passengers in the wake of a crash. The safety gear in all vehicles needs attention of the people. People need to make an informed decision before buying or driving a vehicle with regard to the safety gear fitted in it. For instance air bags have been found to minimize the risk by a margin that cannot be ignored at any cost in case of a road accident. Unfortunately most of the small cars have not crossed the safety bar with pressure continuously building on the manufacturers to improvise their design and systems regarding safety. Accidents happen, although government or any agency for that matter may try to minimize the chances, they are inevitable. But what governments can do is to ensure that lives of people are saved even if accidents do happen. Unless Government and the concerned authorities embark the mission with commitment to bring a change, road accidents will take a toll.
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