Unfortunately, one should note that the main culprits who habitually indulged in drunken driving are known spoilt-brats of rich parents and outsiders coming from neighbouring states with their own vehicles bearing MH, DL, KA, GJ etc number plates in Goa. I therefore feel that our Traffic Police cell should take note of the above mentioned fact and seriously take such people to task rather than harassing ‘aam-Goans’ returning home from Catholic weddings, birthday parties, dances, beat shows etc because they should know that most Goan Festivals or family celebrations are never complete without the consumption of alcohol in Goa.
I for one personally believe that there are practically many other reasons for most road accidents in Goa, besides drunken driving. Yes, what about stray cattle on roads and why is the present transport minister/government hesitating to discuss this matter on the floor of the House or not initiating any action against the owners of all such straying animals which are historically known for causing so many road accidents in Goa?
Some people think that wider the roads, lesser the accidents. But I always say that wider the roads, the more accidents take place as people start acting funny and driving irresponsibly on such roads. The one thing I have always noticed in Goa is that there is absolutely no ‘road-discipline’ amongst most road-users. Forget the condition of most Goan highways; one can always see not just the four wheeler drivers but even individuals driving their two wheelers overtaking from any side and driving carelessly with full speed even on narrow village roads, a la filmy ‘Dhoom’ style. The Kadamba bus drivers are worse who drive their vehicles like hell on most major roads endangering the lives of so many people in Goa.
Looking at the current indiscipline of our road users and the condition of most Goan roads, I personally feel that those habitually indulging in over- speeding should be severely dealt with some harsh punishment, if not with a heavy fine. Simply forcing people to wear helmets and issuing challans for those driving under the influence of alcohol won’t help to stop accidents in Goa. I think that if the Goa Police Traffic cell really wants to bring down the figure of road accidents in future, then instead of selectively targeting only those not wearing helmets or driving under the influence of alcohol, it should seriously think of setting up of mobile cameras, radars on all the major roads (like in foreign countries) to monitor the speed of every road user and to seriously bring about that so-called ‘road-discipline’ in Goa.
