xBhp.com : The Global Indian Biking Community - View Single Post

Aryan · 12-08-2009, 07:47 PM

Accidents do happen almost daily in one part of the country or the other just because we don’t care or start worrying about it only after the inevitable has overtaken us. It may be some boat tragedy in Bihar or a collision between a speeding train and a bus at an unmanned railway crossing, or hundreds of fatal incidents happening in the city or on the country sides.

Take road accidents. A rough estimate long ago put the number of deaths in India at around a lakh every year. It must be more now with so many vehicles with different descriptions entering our highways, city streets and village roads. No-one really knows the number of injured or those incapacitated for life. To what would you attribute these man-made tragedies? Speed kills, especially when the man behind the wheel goes beyond the legally permissible limits in certain zones of the city. You court disaster when you lose your sense of judgment and start driving after fully drunk at a dinner in a party or a hotel. Often, you come across the hoarding saying: ”Don’t mix driving with drinking”. It is a heady cocktail that can cause instant death for you, your loved ones or other innocent road users. And then there are those who care little about the traffic signals when the traffic policeman is not around. There are still others who ride zig-zag on bikes, cutting lanes without the least concern of other road-users, just for the thrill of it. But alas! The thrill does not really last long.

On highways between Delhi and Jaipur or Delhi and Chandigarh, one would daily notice a goods carrier overturned with the voluminous contents of the vehicle scattered on the road. Here, the driver, who works for prolonged hours for their living, wouldn’t even know when he fell asleep. Fatigue and overwork take their toll aided by a brake failure or a mechanical defect, all caused by the failure of the vehicle owner to get their vehicles checked up or serviced periodically.

In several road accidents, the Government turns out to be the number one culprit. Speed breaker or bumps are not properly marked with the result that the riders of two wheelers coming at high speeds can easily be thrown off their seats and can cause fatal accidents. Roads are in bad shape in many cities in many states. Different departments - the Electricity Department, the Telephone Department, Sewage Wing and the Water Department, working with the least co-ordination amongst themselves, dig up the sideways of the roads or across the roads by turn and leave them in awful condition, creating the right “atmosphere” for accidents. And nobody takes any responsibility, if any mishap happens. Apportioning responsibility or taking no responsibility at all is the style of governance in our democratic country. In turn, those potholes remain as they are because the Government says they have no money. The politicians have no political will to mend things on time and if someone dies because of the ill-maintained roads, then, well, “Who Cares”.

We have to give up the Chalta Hai attitude, if we are keen on preventing accidents.

12-08-2009, 07:47 PM	#1 (permalink)
Aryan Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: New Delhi/ Shillong Posts: 18,274	Accidents do not Happen, but are Made Accidents do happen almost daily in one part of the country or the other just because we don’t care or start worrying about it only after the inevitable has overtaken us. It may be some boat tragedy in Bihar or a collision between a speeding train and a bus at an unmanned railway crossing, or hundreds of fatal incidents happening in the city or on the country sides. Take road accidents. A rough estimate long ago put the number of deaths in India at around a lakh every year. It must be more now with so many vehicles with different descriptions entering our highways, city streets and village roads. No-one really knows the number of injured or those incapacitated for life. To what would you attribute these man-made tragedies? Speed kills, especially when the man behind the wheel goes beyond the legally permissible limits in certain zones of the city. You court disaster when you lose your sense of judgment and start driving after fully drunk at a dinner in a party or a hotel. Often, you come across the hoarding saying: ”Don’t mix driving with drinking”. It is a heady cocktail that can cause instant death for you, your loved ones or other innocent road users. And then there are those who care little about the traffic signals when the traffic policeman is not around. There are still others who ride zig-zag on bikes, cutting lanes without the least concern of other road-users, just for the thrill of it. But alas! The thrill does not really last long. On highways between Delhi and Jaipur or Delhi and Chandigarh, one would daily notice a goods carrier overturned with the voluminous contents of the vehicle scattered on the road. Here, the driver, who works for prolonged hours for their living, wouldn’t even know when he fell asleep. Fatigue and overwork take their toll aided by a brake failure or a mechanical defect, all caused by the failure of the vehicle owner to get their vehicles checked up or serviced periodically. In several road accidents, the Government turns out to be the number one culprit. Speed breaker or bumps are not properly marked with the result that the riders of two wheelers coming at high speeds can easily be thrown off their seats and can cause fatal accidents. Roads are in bad shape in many cities in many states. Different departments - the Electricity Department, the Telephone Department, Sewage Wing and the Water Department, working with the least co-ordination amongst themselves, dig up the sideways of the roads or across the roads by turn and leave them in awful condition, creating the right “atmosphere” for accidents. And nobody takes any responsibility, if any mishap happens. Apportioning responsibility or taking no responsibility at all is the style of governance in our democratic country. In turn, those potholes remain as they are because the Government says they have no money. The politicians have no political will to mend things on time and if someone dies because of the ill-maintained roads, then, well, “Who Cares”. We have to give up the *Chalta Hai* attitude, if we are keen on preventing accidents. __________________ ...in search of that perfect world - My Travel Blog :)