For the last few months we have been witnessing an alarming trend of people meeting with self-accidents, which are turning out to be fatal. Of course, this particular trend is a part of the overall worry that all of us right thinking citizens are worried about the rising number of road fatalities that are taking a large number of lives.
While the blame game at times is natural, at times not, but what has happened is that we are ending up going around in circles, trying to pass the buck on each other, without really getting into a very serious solution-based system to ensure that everybody in Goa and all agencies, all stakeholders - the police, the public and right-thinking citizens - all work together to try and end this menace, because we lose far more people to accidents than to diseases and pandemics and that is a hard reality.
If you look at the hard data, the news isn’t very good. In 2021 there were 132 people killed in self-accidents, in 2022 the number was exactly the same 132, in 2023 there was a slight decrease at 120. But by and large, these numbers are not friendly, in the sense that it tantamount to almost one death happening every alternate day or every third day.
The total number of fatal accidents are 113 and the total number of accidents are 921, which means that there are more than more than two accidents happening per day. This we are talking of self-accidents only. Of course, there is a larger world of other accidents which senior police officers and others have to analyse, but here we need to look at various aspects of self-accidents, in the sense, why is this happening, what is the role of educational institutions, the traffic police, the common public and what more can they do in this matter, what are the laws that are already in place and how they should be implemented on ground to prevent accidents as there is no dearth of laws, what are the systems in place.
But it all boils down to proper implementation, proper knowledge of the laws and we will look into the different aspects of it. The other issue is of course simple things, like checking on drunken driving and the infrastructure that is necessary to allow the police to do their work effectively.
All these things we will get into, but I think first and foremost let us understand that this is a societal battle that we must all fight together and this is something which has become very serious. We need to take it up on a war-footing and everybody, including us in Herald TV, need to get together to form a roadmap to ensure that we don’t lose innocent people. Everybody has to work on it.
Speaking about the reasons for so many self-accidents, Sudesh Narvekar, DySP Traffic Headquarters, said, “Every day in the newspapers, there is a report of a fatal accident somewhere or the other. We just have to look at the news and just forget about this incident. But now the time has come to seriously think about these accidents, because it can happen to anybody at any time and the victim’s family feels the pinch after the accident.”
“When we say self-accident, it is the person driving or riding meets with the accident and there is no other vehicle involved. So I think this accident is hundred percent avoidable if the driver or rider takes a little care. If he keeps his vehicle speed in the limit, if he or she observes traffic rules and regulation follows the signage, then these self-accidents can be prevented,” DySP Narvekar said.
“When we see the statistics of self-accidents, in 2023, 120 people died out of the 290 people who died in road accidents. These self-accidents could have been avoided and then there would have been a figure, looking at which we could say that the situation is within control and I think this is possible with everyone’s efforts,” he said.
“If we follow traffic rules and regulations and take care while driving, these accidents can be avoided,” the DySP Traffic said.
While we are talking about self-accidents, that is the universe of our discussion, but it need not be limited only to that. But the point here is that with this increasing trend of self-accidents, you cannot really blame people. But, at the same time you cannot lose lives. So how do you bring about a balance?
Roland Martins, Coordinator, GOACAN, said, “In case of self-accidents, no doubt we are not talking of the vehicle driver or rider engaging with another vehicle. But there is one section which we need to look at is the environment in which the person is driving. For example, stray cattle or a stray dog running across the road or a pothole which is not visible.”
“So, we need to look at the self-accidents in two categories - a category wherein the driver or rider is not controlling himself by maybe indulging in some substance abuse, maybe alcohol or drugs or he’s talking on the mobile phone or watching a video, because some vehicles have small TVs fitted inside or the driver could be having sleep deprivation,” he said.
“If you see, many of these accidents occur in the wee hours of the morning. So this is the time where people are driving, although they haven’t had enough sleep. And then of course over-speeding is another issue. So we are looking for solutions, from the analysis of the self-accidents, you would know when and where they have taken place and what could be the circumstances. I think that will help us a lot in reducing instances of self-accidents,” Martins said.
“Also, in terms of the category of the drivers and riders - how many of them are migrant labourers, domestic tourists, driving a private vehicle or a rent-a-car - I think this type of data will help improve the interventions that are perceived as required,” he said.
There is some interesting data that was tabled in the recently concluded Assembly session. Firstly, how do you identify drunken driving? Firstly you need to stop the car, have the alcometer test, which is a basic test, you take the person to hospital and so on and so forth.
Interestingly, what has come up from the Assembly records is that in the last five years, only five cases of drunken driving have been detected through alcometer tests. Four of them are in Porvorim and one in Bicholim. Not a single one in the North Goa’s coastal belt. Now this cannot be correct, so obviously there is some issue with regard to alcometer testing. There has to be something there, because these figures don’t add up.
Now with rent-a-cabs there's again very interesting data again which came up in this Assembly session. In the last five years, 64 cases have been booked against rent-a-cab-drivers, who could be tourists or whoever involved in stunts, rash driving and so on and so forth. Seventy percent of those cases are booked in the Anjuna police station alone. The total number of road accidents caused by rental cabs recorded by the Goa police is 2,155. So obviously, the figures tell a story that there are these rental cabs, hence one should also take into account that a large number of these self-accidents are also happening by tourists, who would be drunk. This also adds to the figures.
Speaking about other alarming road accident trends, Clive Anthony Gracias, Traffic Warden, Navelim and Margao, said, “There are basically two basic reasons for road accidents. One is the spot over there. There’s an education hub having two schools and a college. Now, purposely or not, the parents are always late in getting their children to the schools and hence they are in a rush. Now who’s going to police them? We cannot go to the houses and tell them to leave early from their homes.”
“It is the responsibility of the parents and the students that they leave on time so that they don’t have to rush. It is the same with office goers. They don’t try to understand that while going to the office, there are schools in the way. We need to obey the traffic rules, listen to the police and be self-disciplined,” Gracias said.
“So I will say as a citizen and as an individual, all of us need to be self-disciplined. Many times we tend to disobey the traffic rules and misbehave with the traffic police. If all of us are correct, then the police won’t fine us. Because you’re not wearing your seat
belt, not wearing your helmet, speaking over the phone while riding or driving, the police get the opportunity to penalise us. That’s when we are violating the traffic rules. If all of us are self-disciplined, then there won’t be any accidents in Goa at all,” he said.
One thing that people feel in Goa is that, for some reason they feel that they can get away with this whole feeling that one can get away with.
But also at the same time if you see, in terms of availability of alcometers and other things, we see that there are challenges. Most police stations may not have it or there are alcometers that are not functioning. At the same time, one may not have the required number of staff to actually monitor these kinds of cases. So, what more can be done to see there's more effective policing and the police acting as a deterrent to these people?
“See, Goa being a tourist destination, it is bound that tourists will visit Goa. Whenever these tourists are involved in any visible violation, traffic police personnel take stern action against them. Many times reels, photos or videos also are put on social media. So, you will find that traffic police always takes prompt action and also feedback is posted on the social media,” DySP Narverkar said.
“We have a sufficient number of alcometers. Recently, the Director of Transport has procured alcometers and it has been supplied to all the traffic cells and we are in the process of procuring some units of alcometers,” DySP Narvekar said.
“So, every day, our special drive against this drunken driving is undertaken. Extra monitoring is done on the weekends. We are doing this in order to create a deterrent amongst those who indulge in drunken driving,” he said.
What has happened is, while this may be true, the data that is coming out, doesn't seem to be very encouraging. For instance, apparently in Maina-Curtorim police station, there are two alcometers and both of them are not functioning. In Fatorda, there is one alcometer that is not functioning. There are non-functional alcometers all across the State. So these are alarming data that is also coming out.
The point is that, if a tourist is confident that he will get away drinking and then driving also, if there is probably no nakabandi, then the violators tend to get away. So there should be greater effort to ensure that action is taken against drunken driving, because the data that we have is that in the last five years only four people have been booked in Porvorim and one booked in Bicholim.
“This figure cannot be correct. Last year itself we booked more than 1,800 cases of drunken driving, by using alcometers. This year, it is more than last year. So that data cited has to be updated, because otherwise it gives a wrong picture,” he said.
Can we look into this whole issue of more deterrence? At the end of the day, we can do a lot of stuff on education. But, what can we do more in terms of deterrence?
“See, we need more and more citizens and officials together doing these traffic awareness drives. Our own experience in the last 20 years shows that it has a huge impact. That is the reason why we have also pushed for road safety and traffic management committees, because what happens, when you have a local citizen, you are staring at somebody's face and he’s like visually saying that you are not wearing a helmet or overspeeding etc,” said Roland Martins.
“So, I think this citizen participation has to increase and simultaneously, there has to be a massive drive on the fines. Now, the Trust programme which has been introduced for example, is for those people whose licenses have been cancelled. So they go for a training session and are given a certificate. But, I think there’s a huge drive required for people who need to be educated on the new laws. I’m saying, now the Trust programme should be opened out across Goa,” he said.
“We have to also publicise the success stories regarding action taken against traffic violators. You look at the Banastarim accident. One year has been completed, still the chargesheet hasn’t been filed. So, when you talk of deterrence, what happens is people tend to repeat the failures. So, we have to also portray the success stories,” the senior activist said.
“There has to be a citizen-centric campaign that will pay huge dividends in the way of reducing fatalities. That's also what the Supreme Court committee is saying. In fact, now both the district committees have been tasked with preparing a road safety plan. It states very clearly how many cases it will bring down. But you look at what is happening. Each self-accident death is contributing to the fatality graph going up,” he said.
We understand that Goa is a tourist State. But the point is, the reckless manner in which tourists take it upon themselves to put everything under the whole ambit of having fun, is very dangerous. You go to a nightclub, drink and ride a rent-a-bike or a cab. The point is, you're putting other lives in danger.
You can educate the people in Goa, but what happens to the floating population? There has to be some kind of deterrent. The Tourism Department also needs to come in and you ought to have very strict vigil and strong action, otherwise things will go out of hand.
“In the Assembly session, a lot has been spoken about accident prevention. But very little has been discussed about the role of the Tourism Department. The involvement of the Traffic Police and Director of Transport is fine. But, the Tourism Department, which is inviting tourists to Goa, should also put up messages on safe driving,” Martins said.
According to the data provided by the Traffic Police, total number of two-wheeler riders killed in 2017 was 193, 2018 it was 145, 183 in 2019, 143 in 2020, there was big drop in 2021 to 128 due to Covid, it shot up to 150 in 2022, in 2023 the numbers shot up to 176 and in 2024 up to June 30 it’s already 96. So the two-wheeler rider deaths are also happening.
DySP Narvekar said these deaths are mostly due to head injury. Everyone knows that helmet wearing is compulsory and it is for their safety right. But people avoid wearing helmets and this is one of the reasons that the deaths of riders is so high.
So, if somebody has met with an accident and is not wearing a helmet, why can't we just simply cancel his license for six months or ban him from riding for a year? Why can’t the law be stricter?
“Such a provision is already there in the law. If a person is not wearing a helmet, his license is suspended. We are already doing it,” the traffic police officer said.
What happens is, ultimately almost 95% of college students have two-wheelers. Some could be travelling by bus. Now, do 100% of the students riding two-wheelers wear helmets?
Munib Sheikh, SYBBA student of Dempo College, said, “Not everyone wears a helmet. But there’s one system in our college. We have a parking area in the campus itself. The security guard, who is there at the entrance of the gate, doesn’t allow students not wearing helmets, inside the campus. So, if the students want to park their two-wheelers inside the college for its safety, they have to wear helmets,” he said.
But there are ways of bypassing that. What more can education institutions and others do to ensure that there is a greater awareness? Should there be a greater interaction with organisations like the Goa Police or media? What have been the conversations happening in colleges?
“We do bring people from outside to talk to the students and tell them that we have to follow the traffic rules on a regular basis. There are people who come on a personal basis in a friends group also. We tell our friends to follow the traffic rules and wear their seat belts when they're driving cars and not rush,” Sheikh said.
“The major problem I would say is that students tend to overspeed when they get late. That's when they go wrong. So, we have to motivate students to be more punctual, wear their helmets and follow other traffic rules as well. Our college takes many initiatives. In the end, it depends on the person himself, if he wants to follow the traffic rules or not,” he said.