The traffic on the streets of Goa are a bit like the wild west. Very unpredictable with injury and even death just lurking below the surface. Not a day would pass without the media having to report the death of a young Goan who died after he or she slammed into a truck or bus or car.
Very tragic undoubtedly and one hoped sense would prevail eventually but it remained just that, hope. Then Coronavirus struck and everything changed.
Cars, bikes went off the road and people were in lockdown. Survival was paramount. For forty days and forty nights it was calm and peaceful, blood did not flow on the streets of Goa and people’s attention was devoted to weighty issues. Then the number of new cases began to dip and it seemed like Goa had turned a corner.
Restrictions were reduced and people were allowed to travel in their vehicles with greater freedom. Motorbikes and scooters started reappearing on the streets of Goa. And so did the old habits. Favorites like overtaking from the left, driving cars and bikes without the headlight or the tail lights switched on, double parking and speeding on short stretches and yes driving without a helmet.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
Dr. Meenacshi Martins said the old habits had returned with a vengeance. She said ” I had gone over to Mapusa and I could not set foot in the market because it was so crowded. People were walking around, they had come along with the bikes and some in their very big cars. and what is important here is that none of the shops in the market were open. People it seems had decided they just wanted to get out. They were driving haphazardly and it was scary to see all this. We lack discipline and we don’t seem to have any internal checks and balances. Self-discipline is so very important but people here think they are a law unto themselves”.
Siddharth is also someone who ha slived all his life in Goa and has witnessed the crazy driving on the roads of Goa. He said ” I have witnessed massive traffic
jams at Margao and elsewhere leading to much chaos. I strongly have the opinion that if we have a holistic effective comprehensive plan to restrict the movement of traffic it will be a shining example to manage things in most tough times”
Corporate trainer Andre Shackleton smiled on hearing the question and said one could either have stringent policing or be prepared to wait for two generations for people to improve. He said ” Now everyone is playing the system, no one is willing to follow the rules. Either crackdown harshly or train the next generation and then hope for the best”.
According to Tirthparasad Nagvekar, everyone should be made to install a speed governor. Importantly it should not be a static one. This means the rider will be warned if he or she will go over a certain speed and despite being warned if one persisted then the device will communicate with the authorities. Another way to handle riders would be to install a system that was already available that would not allow the bike to start unless the rider wore a helmet.
When asked what the authorities were doing to handle the emergence of old bad habits, DySP Traffic Dharmesh Angle said the police were doing their job and had not relaxed during the lockdown. He said ” Traffic violators were booked and the traffic police and the district police are involved in checking and booking cases during the lockdown and this continues even now. People who were found to be driving around without purpose were booked. The reduction in traffic also meant a drop in the number of accidents and there were no casualties which were great. We will like to witness a continuation of this trend and be under no illusion if we see anyone breaking the law they will be booked on the spot. We are insisting even the pillion rider has to wear a helmet”.
One can only hope the rules are followed because Goa cannot afford to keep losing its youth or anyone for that matter due to an accident.
