Road safety precautions
Goa is an international tourist destination famous all over the world. Apart from lacking in basic amenities and facilities for locals and tourists, Goa should have world famous state of art, efficient traffic management services.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
First of all, most of these serious traffic accidents are happening during the night, the reasons maybe mostly because of over speeding, drunk driving etc.
There were several demands in the past requesting the concerned Minister and RTO department to arrange regularly Traffic police at night, but all requests and suggestions have fallen on deaf ears.
So it is of paramount importance to have police presence from six in the evening to the later part of night to check and intercept any traffic violations.
At the moment after 6 or 7 pm, the Traffic cops are conspicuous by their absence and so it is a free for all on the roads with so many vehicles are over speeding, wrong side over taking, driving without lights like bats out of hell.
Take the case of the horrible Banastarim night accident last Sunday. It is quite obvious that the killer Mercedes did not increase speed just before approaching the bridge, but most probably was over speeding or even zig-zagging much before the accident actually took place.
If there was an alert Traffic/RTO vehicle along the way and had they intercepted this vehicle then surely things would be different.
The CCTV footage has captured the moments of this particular Mercedes car from various locations on this highway but manual action was required.
Now for this to happen there should be more dedicated and frequent Traffic police to man the highways at night. Their vehicles should be fitted with specialized loud speaker address system to enable them alert visible erring drivers.
Time the Goa Government takes up this matter seriously. Recruit more traffic police specially to regulate traffic at night. These police officers should be instructed to intercept/ alert traffic violators. There should be an increase in Police patrolling, more sophisticated CCTV cameras, more forensic Labs and experts to quickly process data, aiding systematic police investigations. Making Goa not only a safe place for driving but a great Tourist destination at all times.
Mathew Julius D’Costa, Curchorem
Laws are mockery of the justice system
The Banastarim drunken driving case appears to have hit a speed bump. The FIR says it was the man, and the witness says it was the woman. There has been confusion in the minds of the people as regards who was driving the vehicle. Moreover the car had multiple unpaid challans. If the police had acted in time and cancelled the driver’s licence, the three lives would have been saved. The incident brings to the fore, the issue of unchecked drunken driving on Goan roads. The laws have become great mockery of justice system. The high and mighty always gets away with notorious deeds. Lives are lost due to alcohol consumption and the lack of evidence to prove it only because of the nexus between law makers and the law keepers. The gaping holes in the police investigation and the poor conviction rate expose the hollowness of any resolve to tackle such cases.
The traffic regulatory authority’s laziness and negligence are also one of the reasons due to rise in accident cases.
The deadly impact of a road accident on poor households pushes them into a vicious cycle of poverty and debt. Laws are structured to discriminate against the poor.
K G Vilop, Chorao
Fond memories of Goa’s first CM linger on
On 12th August it is the 50th death anniversary of Goa’s first Chief Minister Dayanand Bandodkar who assumed office on 20th December 1963 and continued as Chief Minister till his sudden death on 12th August 1973. Affectionately referred to by all as ‘Bhausaheb’ he was undoubtedly a friend to all.
At the age of 10, it was my privilege to interact with Dayanand Bandodkar with a grievance faced by my grandmother who lived very close to his bungalow at Althinho. A few months later, I managed to sneak into the Goa Legislative Assembly and witness those debates with the Chief Minister’s pointed but witty replies. That same year Dayanand Bandodkar visited our Ribandar as the Chief Guest for the football finals.
Though Dayanand Bandodkar may have initially been for merging Goa with Maharashtra, he respected the people’s verdict and later toiled with a vision and passion towards Goa’s development. He relentlessly raised and pursued issues concerning the backward, down-trodden, and neglected communities. He was a leader of integrity, honesty and commitment.
Dayanand Bandodkar dared to speak from his heart and always walked the talk. It is imperative that students today should be made aware of the very rich and invaluable contribution to Goa by Dayanand Bandodkar who cannot be consigned as our forgotten hero.
Aires Rodrigues, Ribandar
Life is a journey, ride safely!
Serious injuries or death due to road accidents are become very common in Goa, practically one life is lost on a daily basis, Sad. In majority of accident cases, it depends on how you ride it! Sometimes, you may be a safe rider but must have come across a freak accident that you are unable to control – and yes, there could be the rider’s negligence of avoiding to wear the safety gears that could have saved his or her life with minor injuries. And there are odd cases where the motorists are at fault as they are always in a rush – they jump signals, over speed and even drink-and-drive, these are some of the main causes behind accidents. In modern times, there are scooters that can’t be ridden beyond a certain speed limit, even if the rider wishes to over speed as the maximum limit is predefined in some electric bikes that exhibit the maximum speed of 40 to 50 kph. During the monsoon, some roads are waterlogged or slippery or have potholes, where there a good chance that you will end up in a critical state or even dead, when you are riding over the limit or if you don’t wear a helmet.
It is important to note that crashing at 40 mph wearing full gear is safer than crashing a scooter at 30mph without.
Riders must keep their mind and vehicle in perfect control, wear safety gears and avoid riding over 40 kph to reach the destination safely – as they say “Better late than Never”
Safety quote: “leave sooner, ride slower and live longer – speed trills but also kills” – Ride safely!
Gaston Dias, Sarzora
