Drive slow, Drive safe

Roads in pictorial Goa are death traps. Many have close calls from death. One must have the skilled hands of a magician; the peaceful mindset of a saints; the courageous heart of a bullfighter to dodge undisciplined drivers to enjoy a safe drive on Goan roads.

Nothing happens without a cause. Accidents on our roads take place due to innumerable reasons; a few of them, I shall mention here.

a) Some Goan pedestrians walk on the road in a ‘sussegad’ fashion, without being alert to vehicles on the way. Thirsty souls, who come out of the taverns after quenching their thirst, walk on the road like swaying coconut trees.

Our highways and byways are continuously dug by road diggers, to lay water pipes; to put underground, telephone and electricity lines, but their good work ends with carelessness; it does not last long; it becomes necessary to dig all over again for repair work.

Goan motorcycle riders behave as if, they are road kings; as if, it is beyond their dignity to obey traffic rules, so, they go the wrong way down the one way street.

Truck on side roads think that they are on main-roads. They do not stop and look before they proceed at crossroads.

Goan buses run to collect passengers, as though they are after the devil or the devil is after them. Sometimes, on the way, they have a head on collision with another vehicle.

Goan roads are also filled with speed maniacs of brute force and rowdies of road rage. They turn in any direction by squeezing through the narrowest available space by twisting and turning to avoid obstructions These Lords of the road treat pedestrian on their way as invaders of their personal domain (road) and often, dash and crash causing death.

We live in a lovely little state where, due to free education, shepherds go and sit on school benches; and cows and buffaloes stand and stare and sit on the road. These obstacles to motorists cause accident. The clever government does not think it worth to spend time and money on impounding the stray cattle.

All such Goan drivers and animals on road seem to be inviting road disasters. So, drive slow, drive safe for Goan drivers do not have traffic discipline; therefore our roads have become killing fields.

The problem we face today is that, our intelligently police force who have a kind heart and a willing spirit to maintain law and order on our roads cannot do two things at the same time -- one, to control indiscipline on the roads which is the main causes of accident and the other to stop the helmetless rider, to prevent any effect on riders’ head, in case of accident. So, they have to forgo the former duty and attend to the last one.

Secondly, it seems that the government follows the laissez-faire policy -- a rule of not interfering in what riders and drivers do on their way.

The only solution to wipe the causes of road accidents is to have a subject in schools to teach road courtesies to the young students; so that even school dropouts may have some drops of road discipline in their mind. If necessary precautions are not taken, our children will be born in traffic indiscipline, live with traffic chaos and end their days in traffic mess.