Driving around in Goa has turned dangerous. Most of those who drive or ride on the streets and roads of Goa would not have been surprised to learn that on an average almost 28 persons die from road accidents every month in the State. That’s a high statistic for a small population of 1.5 million spread over 3700 square kilometres. It is not that Goa’s roads are overly congested and so lead to accidents. It is rank indiscipline among riders that leads to accident.
While driving on the road, it is not surprising to have vehicles overtake on the left side, it is not surprising to have two-wheelers overtake simultaneously on both sides of a four-wheeler leading to the driver of the four-wheeler losing concentration momentarily, it is not surprising for a vehicle to enter a highway from a side road without bothering to check for oncoming traffic.
The indiscipline by drivers and riders is only matched by the perfunctory attitude of the traffic cops, who stand by at cross roads, often unable to clear traffic snarls and direct a smooth flow of traffic, or wait around corners to wave down unsuspecting tourists who ride hired vehicles. This is just cosmetic control of traffic, and violators of traffic rules, such as speeding vehicles, are often not acted upon.
The accident at Corlim on Monday, where five persons died and three more remain serious in hospital, is a tragedy that will not be easily forgotten. But, can this tragedy lead to a tighter system of enforcement of traffic laws? Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar called an emergency meeting and asked the police department to strictly enforce the traffic law and assured them that he will get them the required equipment to bring about efficiency in the traffic department, including speed radar guns, which the department does not have. The Chief Minister also sought urgent preventive measures to ensure road safety.
From past experience, it is reasonable to assume that the strict enforcement sought by the Chief Minister will be introduced in the coming days. The question is just how long will this heightened policing of traffic and action on violations last? And will it reduce the number of accidents and deaths on the road? Ironically, while the accident rate has dropped, but the number of fatal accidents, grievous accidents and number of deaths have increased. Tighter control of traffic should not only attempt to curb accidents but also reduce fatalities.
Analysis of the data and statistics with the Police Department, show that most accidents occur on Sundays and Tuesdays. There is need to study why this happens. Is it because there being lighter traffic on the roads on Sundays motorists drive faster? It is safe to assume so, as 33 per cent of the accidents occur on highways, where speeds are higher, and 75.42 per cent of the deaths due to accidents happened on straight roads, again stretches where speeds are increased, and 92.23 per cent of the accidents have occurred due to rash and negligent driving?
On Wednesday another accident on the Verna bypass road led to protests from the villagers demanding that speed breakers be installed along the bypass road, another sign that speeding vehicles is the cause of accidents. Speeding has to, however, also be co-related with road engineering, as there are certain spots that are accident prone or black spots, where the number of accidents is higher.
As the authorities get down to the task of clamping down on traffic violators in the State, there is need to also look at the engineering aspect of the roads, as the roads play as big a role in accidents as does rash driving on the part of the rider or driver.
