A highly educated youth lost his life in the recent mishap at Farmagudi while trying to reach work on time. In an attempt to overtake the car, his two-wheeler hit a vehicle from behind and he fell on the road. The young man died on the spot as an oncoming truck ran over him.
The recent road accidents indicate that the motorists need to be educated on traffic civility while granting them the driving licenses. Mishaps will reduce only when motorists realise that the open road is not an invitation for rash driving. The rise in the mishaps especially in the last 15 days has made road safety campaign need of the hour. The only way to reduce fatal mishaps is to stress on driving safely and to achieve that, the requirement for the speed control device is necessary.
The roads in the State are being widened which has naturally increased the average speed of driving the vehicles. The devices to measure the speed of the vehicles are not installed on the road as a result of motorists violate all the norms, throwing caution to the winds. It is time speed limiting devices are mandatorily fitted on to motor vehicles.
Currently the maximum speed limit in the State is 70 kmph. Sometime back, there was an attempt to install speed limiting devices in the commercial vehicles but it had to be put aside after the idea met with stiff opposition. However, the recent gruesome accidents call for such safety measures even more so. In fact, everyone needs to understand how crucial the subject of road safety is. Rash driving is the major reason behind the accidental deaths. Central Government in a circular dated on 15 April, 2015 had directed to install speed governors in vehicles of different categories but the State governments’ failure to implement the same has led to devastating rise in the mishaps. If implemented properly, the road safety rules can effectively work as preventive measures which would also lead to decrease in the accidental deaths. The guiding principles issued by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways on 16th June, 2016 has made it mandatory for the vehicles to follow the speed limit strictly. The principles also mention that it is necessary for each and every State to follow the order of using SLD- Speed Limiting Device with electromagnetic compatibility in the vehicles. Non-compliance to these rules is the reason why the series of mishaps cannot be stopped. If the serial number of the SLD is attached with the information of the vehicle through MIS- Management Information System- then it would also be easier to check and penalise the vehicles violating the rules.
The State Government can control the speed of the vehicles with structured measures such as regular reports, procedures and inspection. Along with this, it should also be mandatory to examine the root causes of the road accidents and alert the newly learnt drivers about it while granting or renewing the licenses. There is an urgent need to create the consciousness within people that driving a vehicle is a huge responsibility. Since the number of vehicles exceeds the State’s population, the efforts at governmental level to give strict driving training is required. Changing the nature driving tests while granting licenses should also be given a thought. The norm that registering for driving school will guarantee one a license needs to be changed.
