Road Safety weak.............

Goa’s Road Safe(en)tertainment Week? Soter D'souza While Goa’s roads grow dangerous by the day, the Goa Traffic Police (GTP) will once again observe ‘Road Safety Week’ in Goa by organising events like essay, drawing and photography competitions. Since when have the law enforcing authorities donned the mantle of NGOs or the City Corporation of Panaji? It is common knowledge that in the government the annual budgetary allocations have to be exhausted and such ‘road safety weeks’ seem to be one of those formalities that the GTP undertakes annually for the records to show that something is being done to ensure road safety in the State. Something is better than nothing, isn’t it? Traffic authorities have records which state that Goa witnesses one accident every two hours - around 300 deaths have occurred in about 4500 accidents. But these figures are only about what gets registered in case of fatalities and severe vehicle damage. There are hundreds of other minor cases including damage to limbs that are settled off record and the ‘hit-and-run cases which do not figure in the statistics. The growing number of vehicles with unreadable rear number plate are probably welcomed by the Goa Police as it reduces the botheration of identification of a vehicle if the number does not get noted in a ‘hit-and-run’case. And so, the traffic authorities are content in this time-pass of engaging school children and college students in competitions at the cost of the public exchequer to observe a road safety week in Goa. Some time ago an interaction organised in the city by the traffic authorities to educate drivers and solicit suggestions on how to tackle road accidents, did throw up certain solutions. But such solutions do not go beyond dumping the blame on the absence of infrastructure and carelessness of drivers, while the underlying symptoms go unnoticed. The need to curb the use of halogen head lamps that blind the oncoming drivers or the proposal to fit speed regulators for vehicles, or the strict vigil on drunken driving, is not something that any politician will want to discuss because it will directly affect them and their rich and famous circles. So just as ensuring law and order for the police is about a farcical increase in surveillance in slums and harassment to the poor, so also increasing safety on roads for the government gets restricted to enforcing the helmet rule for two-wheeler riders. This is like the typical government response to AIDS which seems to say, “Continue your sexual promiscuity but do not forget to use your condom.” This bias against the poor and marginalised comes into play even when it comes to enforcing traffic laws. While the lack of proper infrastructure and rash driving may just be one of the many reasons contributing to road accidents, the other underlying factor could well be the mindset and behavior on the roads related to the growth of affluence. A mere rise in literacy levels does not ensure better civic sense. The more the affluence, more is the attempt to throw one’s weight around and demonstrate one’s supremacy, knowing well that money and influence can take care of the law enforcers. The larger and more expensive the vehicle, the more is the aggression and attempt to ‘show off’ on the road. The roads are treated like the ‘Pragati Maidan’, used to display someone’s new found rise in social status. This ‘dadgiri’ particularly amongst the nouveau riche is not only witnessed on the roads, but also in other areas of daily life. The coastal belt of Goa is a wonderful place to understand this. The traffic chaos in front of a reputed city school at Miramar is an example of how concessions in laws are permissible to the rich and famous. Using the overhead bridges or the underground sub-ways are beyond the dignity of some citizens no matter how much of a nuisance they create for others. The O’Coqueiro junction at Porvorim is another wonderful example of how citizen affluence determines how many roads should converge at this junction irrespective of the chaos it causes. So, targeting school and college students during a road safety week is absolute mockery when their elders who ought to be role models continue to fail miserably in the fulfillment of their civic duties. How can one expect road sense when there is no consideration for the other in today’s society? Citizens are at their best of behavior only when the police is around. Therefore, the traffic authorities need to deploy their entire manpower resource on the roads, and ensure strict traffic discipline for a month to give the citizens a glimpse of what road safety actually means in practice. Unless awareness gets translated into practice nothing can be expected to change. The road safety week must be an occasion to ensure that pedestrian crossings and speed limits are clearly demarcated. The public must be made to understand that roads are meant for driving and footpaths or pavements are provided for walking, and that every road is not declared a ‘NoMoZo’ for strolling. The drivers of larger vehicles must be sensitized that they have a responsibility towards protecting smaller vehicles particularly cyclists and also pedestrians. Drivers need to be educated on road signs, and that the colours in road lines and boards specifying speed limits are not for mere decoration. Drunk driving and talking on mobile phones must be curtailed strictly. Such steps will make the road safety week more meaningful and put public funds to a more constructive use. Published in Herald, 5th September 2012 http://www.heraldgoa.in/newscategory/Opinions/14