“RASH Driving Claiming Lives of Passengers in J&K”, reads a headline from a recent news article. There are shocking figures on the loss of life due to road accidents, annually. Recent reports state that 677 lives lost in 5189 accidents in the past 10 months. There are other reports suggesting that “Jammu and Kashmir has witnessed as many as 76,942 road accidents between 2010 and 2022 in which 12,429 people were killed, while 1,04,983 individuals were injured”. The phenomenon of road accidents has witnessed a spike in the backdrop of causes like rash driving, bike stunts, over-speeding, overloading and overtaking. While repeated pleas have been made to the drivers and young bikers in particular not to resort to unsafe and risky modes of driving, the message isn’t percolating where it should and no visible change is being seen in the modes of driving and accidents, instead of coming down, are soaring up.
Needless to say that in terms of the life threatening challenges created by the phenomenon of rash driving, it has ceased to be an individually isolated event, but has now assumed the dimensions of social evil by virtue of its pervasive and perilous nature. The loss of life of a young biker last week stirred a wave of concern among people about rash driving and in one voice people mourned the death and condemned such acts.
The police promptly jumped into action launching a special anti-stunt wing to identify and act against bikers involved in such activities. But these measures, though welcoming in the context of curbing this menace, are neither sufficient nor effective to completely eliminate the evil. Let’s then try to understand the various dimensions of the problem and how addressing these facets can eliminate the problem.
Let’s start with the elementary level and that is family and parental control. Parents need to realize that when they get their children high end bikes, they are actually seating them on killing machines. They need to understand and take full responsibility for the fact that they are a party to any driving misadventure which their children might execute and they have equal share in any unfortunate accident that precedes. Once parents realise the burden of this responsibility, they will not budge under the child’s pressure and even if they get their children a vehicle, they will assure that their child doesn’t engage in rash driving or biking stunts. A bit of legal intrusion is necessary here and that concerns the age deemed fit for issuing a driving license and more importantly the minimum age at which one is allowed to drive. We see kids in our streets and roads running their vehicles at high speeds and more than often they go around bluffing traffic men and causing harm to themselves and others. As is evident, the blame in this case lies both on parents and the authorities, for the one fails in his moral responsibility and the other in his legal responsibility.
Next comes a series of socio-psychological issues specific to youth including, but not limited to unemployment, identity crisis, drug abuse, craving for public attention and a host of other factors which push them towards bike stunts, careless driving and driving feats which result in loss of their own lives and the lives of pedestrians. No sooner the child enters his teenage years, it is incumbent upon parents to counsel and guide him, try to understand his problems and address the same in an amicable way. What is seen to the contrary is that parents do not lend an attentive ear to their child and as a result these grownups end up in ill practices of all shades. Let it be reminded in passing that how important a role schools and teachers also have in these affairs, for it is usually under their nose that stunts and biking somersaults are performed. Is it not possible for schools, tuition institutions, our clerics and other men of impact to speak against this evil of careless and rash driving?
Having talked about family and institutions of secondary importance, let us now look at the role of state, law and traffic cops in curbing this menace and eliminating evil. A passing reference to the negligence of police was made above and in the same vein it can be said that a body of comprehensive laws to guide and regulate driving and the stringent implementation of the same is a must in this direction. Ceasing vehicles from drivers not complying with the minimum age, levying high fines on those violating traffic rules, penalising those driving without safety helmets and a strong action against those involved in stunts. These measures, if implemented in true spirit will surely bring down the saddening episodes of road accidents and we shall have safer roads both for the people driving vehicles and the pedestrians alike.
Views expressed in the article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the editorial stance of Kashmir Observer
- The author is a Srinagar based columnist
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