The tragic mishap at Banastarim and the ones which have followed after have put Goa in a state of mourning. The question of “what’s next?” is bothering the government as well as people and both are answerable.
Majority of the road accidents are caused due to driving under the influence of alcohol. Since people are being stubborn, the responsibility falls on the government to refrain citizens from drinking and driving.
The government is trying various ways to do so but it has become clear that the efforts are not enough. After the Banastarim accident, the government had assured to take stern action against motorists who drive under the influence of alcohol but it has come to the fore that the authorities lack enough personnel and alcometers to keep the motorists in check.
It indeed is a shocking revelation that despite the fact that there are nearly 14 lakh vehicles in the State, there are only 84 alcometers. The police are doing their job in accident-prone zones but their efforts stay limited due to insufficient staff.
There are just 16 police traffic cells in the State with around 500 staffers who are not in a position to handle the rampant rise in the number of vehicles on the road. The main roads have been widened, which means the average speed of the vehicles has naturally increased. People also prefer to drive at nights, thus putting additional stress on the short staffed police force.
Needless to say, this calls for recruiting more personnel in the traffic division in order to strengthen it and be able to tackle the situation in an efficient manner. The required equipments, such as alcometers, etc, need to be increased as well.
The traffic police should be backed by the State government, as blaming only the police will not help. The core problem is alcohol, and how to keep tabs on the ones who drive under its influence is a real question. In the interim, the government had passed an order to deploy police forces outside bars but how will that help? Isn’t it obvious that people coming out of the bars have had consumed enough alcohol? That’s the very reason they had entered the bar in the first place.
If the respective persons don’t drive then how does one expect them to reach their homes? Whether it’s during the day or a night, people going to bars aren’t always going to be chauffer-driven as most of them drive themselves. The ones who have alcohol in moderation are able to drive normally, but the ones who drink as if it’s the end of the world cannot even stand straight, let alone drive responsibly.
They either have to be dropped home or be picked up by their family members. The ones who visit the bars mostly end up consuming alcohol and yet they drive. How will this be controlled? Although they are penalised by the police, the men in uniform do not ask them to get down from their vehicles. They pay the penalty and continue driving. What will be the solution to this? Since people tend to give more importance to the amount of fine than their own life, they try to hoodwink the police. Therefore, just checking the drivers and riders with alcometers is not the end of the problem. The only solution to this is not to drive after drinking.
The authorities need to initiate policies which will encourage people not to consume alcohol. The bars which stay open till late night should face the ire of the authorities. Secondly, the ones who want to consume alcohol should be made to do so at their respective homes. A restriction should also be put on the bar owners to sell alcohol, by imposing a certain limit for every person so that he/she can to drive responsibly.
Of course, these are mere suggestions and a deeper study is required to turn them into laws. A complete ban on alcohol is the best solution, but it is a foregone conclusion that nobody would agree to it. Therefore, people should put certain restrictions on themselves. Another solution is in keeping children away from alcohol and educating them about its ill-effects. If we succeed in bringing up a generation which doesn’t touch alcohol, drunken driving cases will be put to rest.
