The rampant road tragedies on Goa killer roads showcase the failure of Government of Goa, the Bureaucrats, RTO and Goa police. The Government and its system have no value for human life. More so the traffic fines have no bearing on vehicle riders at all.
The Government should take extreme measures with introduction modern infrastructures/gadgets and amending law pertaining to roads accidents. Those who kill others on roads due to rash driving should not get bail until the judiciary finish court proceedings.
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At first, issuing of driving licences by RTO need to be revamped with more strict procedures. It is alleged that nothing moves in RTO without greasing palm of its staffers through touts sitting outside every offices of the RTO. Only influential and close contacts of those working in RTO Goa do their works without giving baksheesh.
The other corrupt department is the Goa Police, whose personnel are allegedly involved in all types of manipulation, corruption and even crimes. They don’t have respect for the police uniforms they wear. The cops are shameless and accept bribes from motorists without fear, since they believe that the least the department can do if caught on the wrong foot is to suspend them for few months, with a small reduction in the salary.
The collecting of fines at the spot of offence is a tool for indulging in large scale corruption. There is every likelihood the fines the Traffic Cell collects is just a fraction of the huge amount they could have collected if only if the officials were honest and not corrupt.
The only thing the Goa Police traffic cell does with total dedication is to stop two-wheelers riders and inter-state vehicles for reasons best known to everyone. For almost two years they could not manage traffic near both sides of Zuari bridge, even after knowing that many are breaking the traffic lanes and overtaking on the wrong side to make bottleneck at the exit points.
Today, the greatest nonsense on Goa roads are cars and bike given on rent, tourist taxis and those from other states driving to Goa. But how many times have the traffic cops handed out challans to them? From overtaking from wrong side, to over-speeding, to wrongly parking is the hallmark of tourists coming to Goa.
With regards to the road engineering section of PWD, it seems those part of the engineering team of PWD (Roads) are either unqualified or not doing their jobs properly. They design roads, highways without any setback on either sides of roads, and as a result of which road-side water drainage systems in the entire State are not covered with concrete slabs due to which motorists, specially two-wheeler riders, end up in hospitals with broken bones or lose their lives.
Drunken driving is also a major cause of road accidents in Goa. Those found driving drunk should be prosecuted within one month, their licences must be cancelled and they should be sent to prison for not less than one year.
Another major issue is the lack of signages along the roads and highways, especially at accidents spots.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant should crack the whip and eradicate corruption in RTO and the Traffic cell by enacting a new procedure for issuing of driving licences. Collection of fines at the spot of traffic offences should be stopped so that traffic offenders pay fines either online in a fool-proof manner. Secondly, the infrastructures to catch traffic offenders needs to increase. The fines recovered from traffic offenders should use only for proper traffic management and training of traffic cops.
