Road accidents in quick succession turn the spotlight on driver negligence

→ Оригинал (без защиты от корпорастов)

Three high-speed accidents within a span of a 48 hours, killing 11 persons, has brought back spotlight to the state of obedience to traffic rules. All three accidents, two in Suryapet, and one on the Outer Ring Road, involved stationary vehicles and cars driven at high speed ramming into them from the rear. 

"We have conducted a series of road safety programmes in January and February. We involved police officials, schoolchildren, youth and media to spread the message of road safety. We constituted District Road Safety Committees in all the districts. We carried out special enforcements," said Mamata Prasad of Telangana Transport Department about steps taken to improve road safety.

"The accidents were basically due to human error and negligence of drivers. When these accidents happen it is heartbreaking," she said when asked about the deaths on the roads.

In 2022, for which traffic accidents data is available, 8,184 persons died on roads in Telangana in 22,235 accidents. Nationally, 1,71,100 persons died in road accidents, marking a 9.9% spike in deaths over the previous year.

"There is no serious training for drivers of heavy vehicles in India. They need to get the vehicle completely off the road. Motor vehicle safety regulations dictate that they keep a red triangle 50 feet from the vehicle to warn motorists, preferably with a person flagging the traffic," says Malcolm Wolfe who has authored 'Car Driving School Manual for India' and does advocacy for road safety.

In all the three recent accidents in Telangana, there were no warning signs or blinking lights kept near the stationary vehicles to warn the oncoming traffic about break down.

In Suryapet accident, the driver of the lorry - Sheelandra Singh, a resident of Uttar Pradesh, was picked up by the police for parking the vehicle illegally. In the Thursday morning crash, the axle of the lorry broke down at 4.15 a.m. and the SUV crashed into it by 4.45 a.m., according to the police officials of Kodad.

"People tend to lose concentration while driving on smooth road. It is like a trance and they become comfortable. Something needs to stand out - draw attention. It should give warning to driver when there is a breakdown. Otherwise the results can be disastrous," warns Mr. Wolfe.

With these warning ignored or remaining unknown, the trail of death and destruction on roads is likely to continue in the State.