PANJIM: The carnival of fatal accidents in Goa, which continues to claim multiple lives each day, has created a major road safety crisis in Goa. Frequent fatal accidents reported in the State have turned the Goan roads into death traps. The number of accidents in Goa this year till date has crossed over 404 and 41 persons lost their lives, the trend is far from reversing.
Fatal accidents were reported in Goa even as this report on the rising number of accidents was being filed on Tuesday. The government, which conveniently passes the buck onto the people, has failed to put the basics right.
The Zuari accident that occurred last week killed a senior citizen Rosario D’Souza and left his wife seriously injured. Four serious accidents were reported on Tuesday which resulted in two fatalities.
On Tuesday, two occupants of a car were seriously injured in an accident at Igramol in Quepem. Three occupants of two cars were hurt in another accident on the service road of the Old Goa bypass. In Borim, a person died after a four wheeler vehicle collided with his two-wheeler.
In Sanguem, one person was killed after a two-wheeler dashed against him along the road in Velipwada, Bhati.
The four accidents reported in Goa on Tuesday occurred on the narrow roads wherein vehicles beyond their capacity commute along these routes. Take for example, the Borim Top Cola road accident. Several minor and major accidents have been reported along this stretch. However, no attempts have been made to widen or steps taken to make this road safe for riders. Hundreds of heavy and light vehicles from Karnataka travelling towards South Goa use this road, which has made this stretch extremely unsafe for riders.
Adv Moses Pinto said, “Fatalities on Goan roads occur because the implementation of Road Safety Laws is lacking in the State. Road Safety Laws stand on a different footing in comparison to traffic offences under the Motor Vehicles Amendment Act, 2019.”
“Susegad cannot be the order of the day on Goan roads when so many people are losing their lives to road crashes, which were otherwise preventable,” he added.
Professor Sanjay Desai said, “There are too many vehicles on Goan roads. Roads are not sufficient. Some places roads have not been widened for the last 20 years to accommodate the increasing vehicle population, especially commercial 16-tyre vehicles.”
Desai said that poor road engineering creating several black spots and bad roads, reckless driving, poor traffic management and use of mobile phones while driving are major reasons for deaths on Goa’s roads.
