The global status report on road safety prepared by WHO on yearly basis revealed that the total number of traffic accidents remains unacceptably high; resulting in a huge human and material loss. If we talk about the number of deaths that occurred due to traffic accidents in the context of our J&K UT, the volume of fatal accidents is consistently increasing with each passing day.
Though there are varied causes of road accidents like poor road conditions, plying of over-aged vehicles, distracted driving, drunken driving, increase in motor vehicle population; speedy driving, avoiding safety gears like seat belts and helmets, etc. Among the aforementioned causes, the most dreadful cause of road accidents is speedy driving. It has revealed that the age group between 13- 25 is mostly involved in speedy driving. If we study this age group in terms of their eligibility for driving and their aggressive behavior while driving different vehicles, then we have to further categorize this age group into three categories- 1 st category from 13 to 17; the 2nd category 18 to 25 and the 3 rd category exists in both these two groups.
The 1st category age group is schoolgoers and considered as the under-age, so for as the legal driving age is concerned. But it is our day-to-day experience and observation that this particular age group is plying different types of vehicles on public roads because they enjoy the undue patronage of their parents. This teenage group is socially and emotionally immature, so the maximum responsibility of their fault comes on the shoulders of their parents. The 2nd category refers to those who even attained the pre-requisite age for driving test to availed driving license, but they don’t bother to qualify the driving test because they know that our transport system is such that they can enjoy driving any vehicle whether private or public without any fear or constraints.
The traffic policemen on duty who are corrupt treat this category as the Blank Cheque. Then comes the 3rd – category which is existing in our society mostly as the school dropouts as highlighted in various educational research reports. This age group mostly prefers to opt for driving as their first choice of occupation because they consider it the shortest and the easiest way to earn their livelihood. Adopting driving as a profession is not in any way unlawful or unnatural subjected to the condition that he/she attain the pre-requisite eligibility age for driving, but what made it unlawful is their irresponsible attitude and unfamiliarity with the importance of public transport driving whereby one single negligence by the driver can be fatal for passengers and leaves many other victims into the unending distress; shattered their dreams.
They deliberately opt for such occupations because they don’t need any effort or rigorous training. Just to recognize the colors like red, yellow, and green and a 10 minutes driving test qualified them as professional drivers. Earlier a person who wished to opt for driving as their profession either by compulsion or passion spent years under the guidance of the senior driver and only then he was supposed to apply for a driving license.
This long-term training helped him a lot to develop qualities like magnanimity, and calmness. The above-mentioned age groups directly or indirectly come under the influence of four institutions- family, School, traffic police, and traffic department. So, to put the maximum halt to the road traffic accident epidemic, it is the collective responsibility of these institutions to use their influence and role as per their capacity to mould the behavior of our young generation so that they will not indulge in such aggressive behavior –speedy driving that unfortunately leads them to death or any disability. Parents should avoid encouraging their under-aged kids to drive any kind of vehicle. At the school level, education institutions in this regard should be very active because we can’t remain to rely on Government agencies only. It is not practically possible for them to deploy traffic policemen on every nook and corner. We, the teachers can play a pivotal role to develop a sense of responsibility among the students about our road obligations and traffic rules. Let the heads of the traffic agencies, traffic Police, transport department should submit the proposal to the state government and motivate them to introduce a well-designed certificate or diploma course in driving for those who opt for public driving as their profession. While designing the course structure, the services of experts like social scientists, Psychologist, and transport management experts must be utilized so that the content of the course touch all the aspects which are necessary to produce well-trained and responsible drivers. We can reverse this trend but it needs strong will and commitment.
Haroon Rashid Bhat is a teacher and columnist. He can be mailed at minamharoon123@gmail.com
