YOUNG athlete Nadia Nazeer’s death a few weeks ago in a road accident must bring back to every mind the same fate a kin or friend had met. Every death is followed by grief, which lasts long, and shame on the part of the government which is short-lived and does nothing to prevent more deaths.

It is my firm belief that no regulatory measure has worked, nor would in the future whatever the rule to limit the speed or punishment imposed for exceeding it.

Any argument for restraint on speed may look plausible but, experience shows, is impracticable. Let somebody count how many drivers have been convicted of overspeeding and whether the penalty was more than a fine. The only remedy left to be tried is to restrict the speed of vehicles at the manufacturing stage.

The argument that the restrained speed itself causes accidents may have some force but would be far less than reckless speeding. In my view the speed for cars and light commercial vehicles should be restricted to 65 miles and 50 miles for trucks and buses.

It may be argued that mechanical limit has its own hazards but would be of no match to reckless speeding, especially by trucks and buses. Any expectation that regulatory measures can work and emphasis should be only on enforcement would be avoiding the problem as deaths keep mounting.

Kunwar Idris
Formerly district magistrate
Karachi

Published in Dawn, March 23rd, 2017