The news could not be more shocking. The number of accidents in Goa increased by seventeen percent between January and September over the same period last year. Every other day there are reports of accidents that result in fatalities or injuries. Why does it happen so regularly without fail?
Damodar Verlekar who used to ride a two wheeler and now drives a four wheeler said the cause for all these actions was due to the absence of any system. He said “Look at our road system, you don’t have service roads. When people come onto the main road they end up crashing into a car or a bus and lose their lives. People complain about the roads, I can say they are pretty decent. Perhaps in the interiors yes, there are roads which are poor and difficult to traverse”. He also pointed out domestic tourists would not generally follow the rules causing problems. And finally he said that it was a pity Goans did not wear helmets and preferred to carry it in their hand and wore it when they spotted a traffic cop. This sort of behavior he said contributed to the distressing rise in the number of accidents.
Shidesh Desai who owns a garage said people driving rashly was a big cause. He said “People are very reluctant to wear helmets and coupled with the poor quality of roads, accidents will continue to happen. People don’t follow traffic rules and yes it has been noticed traffic lights are not working on certain days in areas all over the state. It is a problem.” He also touched on a sensitive subject when he said perhaps it was easier to get licenses because of agents who were sitting near the office. This he felt ought to be tackled.
Zainab Quadri, a student based in Margao felt there were multiple reasons like the quality of roads in Goa to the careless attitude showcased by people. She said “There are an increased number of potholes, as well as roads which are left open for construction which cause accidents. Talking on phone, drinking and driving, rash riding are some of the other common mistakes committed by people. It is important to drive with utmost concentration and it is also important that roads be reconstructed. This will ensure we achieve a decrease in the number of accidents in Goa”.
Bharat Kamat a consultant in the civil engineering industry felt the poor road design and maintenance plays a major role. He said “Add to that lack of lighting and you have a disaster on hand. Rash driving leads to accidents too, but on good roads this would not be as major an issue as it is today. Traffic management by authorities is also responsible for the number of accidents. The blame in the increased road traffic accidents solely lies at the doors of the government.”
Viresh Vazirani, a marketing consultant felt the roads need constant and regular repairs. He said “We can’t just sit back after roads are constructed or hot mixed for 5-10 years. I feel even the driving tests and training need to be looked at, you hardly see people following basics like showing indicators in advance, wearing seatbelt / helmets, stopping at zebra crossings for pedestrians. We need to be more responsible as citizens and the authorities need to make it easy for commuters to report potholes / road issues followed by prompt action”.
Adv Moses Pinto author of ‘Practice Traffic Yoga’ and someone who has done considerable research on the issue of road safety said the new wave surge signaling a rise in road accidents was expected given the intermittent lockdowns that the state had to impose owing to the onset of the Pandemic. The rise in the number of road crash related cases, he said could be attributed to the road users being out of touch with the road conditions that are prevailing in the State and the shortened attention span of the motorised road users due to the lack of traffic socialisation for the past two years. He said “It is said that practice makes perfect, and in this present scenario: the road users have been out of practice for the greater part of the last two years. The suppression in the generation of infrastructure revenue in the State has also hindered the issuance of road maintenance tenders and has thus prevented a unified approach to road development in the form of tarring and asphalting. Therefore, the road user cannot anticipate neither predict the road conditions that they are about to witness in this new normal phase post the unlocking of the state this year. In addition, the constant shift of the detours along the bridge works has also added to many miscalculations while maneuvering the road at Agacaim and at Cortalim respectively”. He went on to say that speaking of bridges, even the Atal Setu had been partially closed for repairs at the entrance of the bridge thus causing more volume of traffic to ply on the old Mandovi bridges. In addition he said drivers had developed a more intimate relationship with their smartphones. Texting on WhatsApp while driving had become the new fad of India Online he pointed out. All these factors he said had contributed to the steady rise in road accidents and this would continue to increase unless the Traffic Police Personnel decided to step in with awareness programmes aimed at homologating the post Pandemic Road users with the new road conditions.
A member of the traffic police who did not want to come on record said the biggest cause for the rise in accidents was the negligence shown by the public. He said they would continue to book riders on two wheelers or drivers in four wheelers for talking on the phone but people continued to do it. He admitted that when there was an accident it was due to negligence on the part of both the parties. People were still driving under the influence of alcohol which was problematic. When asked why traffic lights were switched off in certain areas, he said it was due to hot mixing which was taking place. He hoped people would take more responsibility while they drove on the road because that was the only way forward.
This is a problem which needs to be tackled. Goa is losing people on its roads for no one else’s fault but their own in most cases. And that cannot continue any longer
