KARACHI, April 26: Unfit vehicles and lack of discipline amongst drivers and pedestrians were the main causes of growing road accidents in Pakistan, speakers told a moot here on Thursday.The seminar on road safety was jointly organized by the United Nations, Motorway Police and Sindh Education Foundation in connection with United Nations Global Safety Week at a local hotel.
In his address, Federal Minister for Communications Shamim Siddiqui said that in order to avoid road accidents, there should be better road infrastructure, and for this purpose the government had earmarked Rs500 billion for 14 years, which include the last seven years.
The minister said overloaded trucks caused damage to roads to the tune of Rs10 billion annually. “To reduce such losses, the Ministry of Communications is going to install weigh stations on all highways and motorways,” he informed.
The minister agreed to establish accident trauma centres on the motorways. Shamim Siddiqui said that Professional Driver Training Centres would be established, which would train 5,000 drivers annually.
Captain Amjad Faizee, who has been working on road safety awareness since 1975, told the audience that deaths caused by road accidents are four times higher than murders in Pakistan.“Every third vehicle is involved in either killing or disabling a person in Pakistan, while 90 per cent of vehicles involved in accidents were not driven by owners. Ninety-five per cent of licenses are issued without proper testing,” he said.
He mentioned that civic sense and a sense of responsibility led to discipline, which ultimately reduces traffic accidents.
Inspector General National Highway and Motorway Police Mohammed Rafat Pasha said that in Pakistan, the major reasons behind road accidents were youth deliberately taking risks, commercial drivers not getting sufficient rest, and most importantly the lack of civic sense among both pedestrians and drivers.
Chancellor Baqai Medical University Prof Dr Fariduddin Baqai added that in this regard, two per cent of the world population got disabled, along with three million deaths due to complications after road accidents. He emphasised the need to establish proper accident trauma centres in Karachi.
Founder and Managing Director Sindh Education Foundation, Anita Ghulam Ali, mentioned that a proposal about ‘Road Safety Agency’ was sent to the Sindh chief minister, which would bring all stakeholders (vehicle manufacturers, insurance companies, hospitals etc) under one umbrella. She also mentioned various awareness programs regarding road safety.
Managing Director RSD Sindh, Ijaz Ali Khan, mentioned efforts of the Sindh government regarding road safety.—PPI
