Representative imageWhen people hit accident-prone roads in Kerala with a vehicle, others generally ask whether they have informed their families about it.
Who can confidently say that they will be back for supper before hitting unsafe roads in their vehicles?
More than 70 per cent of road accidents in Kerala are caused by careless riders or drivers. The remaining 30 per cent are not due to human error. There are some unwritten laws in the state in addition to motor vehicles rules.
If you know how to drive, there is no need for a licence, and you should always compete with someone, are some of them.
It is not the shortage of roads that increases accidents in Kerala, but their poor condition. Rain lashes Kerala seven months a year. Focus must be on building roads that can survive changing climate. Today there are more vehicles in the state than what the roads can bear.
Accidents that kill more than one person happen in large numbers. Lack of adequate personal safety measures also raises death toll, especially when two-wheeler riders do not wear helmets. Most of the cars on our roads are small vehicles that cannot withstand the impact of even a small collision.
When accidents increase, someone like Rishiraj Singh will appear, and there will be some restrictions and insistence on helmets for some time.
Soon he will be transferred and another person will take his place. Again there will be restrictions for a few days. That’s all.
Instead, what should change is people’s attitude to road accidents. When accidents happen, only 10 per cent of onlookers help. People have the pre-conceived notion that if they help they will be in trouble. People should be aware of the strict conditions that police should not cause any difficulty to those who save lives.
Those who take the injured to hospital should not be summoned to the police station for questioning.
Not only that, if police need to collect information from them, it should be done at the latter’s convenience.
Taking the injured to hospital does not make a person a witness. There is even an accident victim relief scheme to provide a fixed amount to those who take the injured to hospital.
The state government should give suitable rewards to people who take the injured in road accidents to hospital. This reward should encourage others to save accident victims.
Also, changes should be made in the measures taken to prevent accidents, the facilities needed to face accidents, steps taken to provide emergency help, and the way primary health centres and doctors function.
In any state, only the government can make effective intervention, and it should be alert. In this situation, we should also consider other modes of transport. Waterways are possible in Kerala. If Kerala can fully use waterways, which do not impact the environment in a big way, it will be possible to overcome a major crisis in road transport.
Along with that, if the railways too can be operated efficiently, the situation in which people sacrifice their lives on roads can be changed.
(The writer is a former chief commissioner of customs and central excise in Mumbai)
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