DEADLY traffic accidents are, unfortunately, not unusual on Pakistan’s roads. On Tuesday, at least 10 people were killed when a passenger coach overturned on the Jamshoro-Sehwan stretch of the Indus Highway in Sindh. Police officials say the driver was operating the vehicle at high speed, which caused it to overturn. Earlier, over the weekend, around 14 people were killed in a bus-truck collision on the Jhang-Khushab road in Punjab. As reported, one of the drivers was apparently drowsy and lost control of his vehicle. The high death tolls in these two accidents within the span of a week are part of a much bigger problem. The fact is that thousands of people are killed or injured in road accidents annually in this country. According to figures compiled by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics for the period 2004-13, on average 15 people die every day in Pakistan in road accidents. Punjab, overall, has the highest number of yearly traffic accidents.
Of course, the main reason behind such high figures of deaths and injuries on our roads is the fact that whether it is the nation’s highways, or congested urban roads, there is very little by way of regulation. For example, the roads themselves, in many cases, are in pitiful condition, with potholes and other hazards. Moreover, the fitness of many vehicles — especially passenger buses and freight trucks — is highly questionable, as are the qualifications of many of those who get behind the wheel. Drivers are confident that the payment of a small bribe will be enough to make up for a lack of vehicle fitness or the driver’s road sense. One way of controlling this chaos could be to have Motorway Police-like units patrolling both the highways and city roads, with officers cracking down on unfit vehicles as well as errant drivers. Road conditions must also be improved. Unless such measures are seriously considered, there is little likelihood of seeing a drop in the number of accidents and the resultant deaths.
Published in Dawn, May 26th, 2016