GOOD MOTORING
Will the act impact our unruly traffic?
H. Kishie Singh 

It has been a classic case of sparing the rod, and spoiling the children who are completely out of control. It is going to take considerable reigning-in of these "children", considering they are the rich and famous, have political contacts, a pocketful of cash, and have had years to hone their skills at bribing a police force who is poorly paid, badly trained and ill-equipped.

Any driver in a big city who is stopped for drunk driving and has consumed a 150 ml. of alcohol with friends has probably dropped over Rs.15,000 at the friendly neighbourhood watering hole. A lot of watering holes have "buy one and get one free" policy to make sure you get drunk. It is not the effect (being drunk) that needs addressing, it is the cause. Shorter drinking hours at public bars would be one step

Statistics for Indian road fatalities are not very accurate. WHO puts it at about 1.3 lakh deaths annually. Indian government figures are 1.6 lakh deaths. Jeremy Clarkson of Top Gear fame in his India Special episode put the figure at 1.9600 killed annually, which means 22 people die on Indian roads every hour! Hit-and-run cases, unreported deaths or out-of-court settlements are not included. Whatever be the correct figure, it is an accepted fact that India tops the world killer chart.

It is worth noting that there are about 72 million cars on Indian roads. Great Britain has about 31 million cars. The total road fatalities in Great Britain are 3000 per year! (Clarkson's figure).

It is commendable that the government has finally woken up to the countries' traffic woes. However, it could be too little too late and a bit lop-sided. Driving offences are not the only reason for road fatalities. Indiscipline is an inbuilt characteristic of the Indian. It is this trait that Mahatma Gandhi, a master psychologist, harnessed, called it Civil Disobedience and sounded the death-knell of the British Empire.? How are driving licences going to be issued? All cross-country truckers have a driving license of every state he drives through. How? He buys them! As most people do!

There are two other factors that contribute to road fatalities. One is the lack of adequate signage, second is badly designed roads and poorly executed rules.

Of the thousands of kilometres of national highways, there is not one sign that says," keep left". So trucks and buses stay glued to the right-hand lane on a divided highway. There is no police patrolling or enforcement of traffic rules.The police vehicles are parked on the roadside, with tea cups on the bonnet and faces hidden behind newspapers

To curb traffic accidents and deaths is no small matter. Does the government have the will and ability to do so? It has to be tackled on a war footing and it has to be a multi- pronged attack.

The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill is a bark. Will it have the bite?

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