Dire need of good traffic education in Pakistan

Pakistan is the seventh most populous country in the world, with a population of more than 212 million. It is a nation at the crossroads of economic progress but is still struggling to find a path towards sustainable development. Although, literacy rate is increasing in the country, still people lack basic traffic sense.

People on bikes do not wear helmets and do not follow the traffic rules as they are not penalized or fined by the traffic police. There is no functional traffic police system in under developed cities where most of the people do not even have driving license and cannot pass the driving test. The state of developed cities is not much different. The poor condition of roads puts oil in the fire. Over speeding and roads full of pot holes are leading to major losses of life in these areas.

The government has declared use of helmet compulsory in Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad, Faisalabad and Rawalpindi region where traffic burden is high. There is no separate system of influx of heavy and light vehicles in these cities. Rickshaws are straggling on every road of these cities at a very high speed and there is no one to stop them. The motorcycle and rickshaw accidents are now very common leading to serious injuries some cases and sometimes even death. According to a report, motorbikes are the cause of 80% road accidents and death ratio is more in cases where helmet is not worn by the biker. According to the latest World Health Organization (WHO) data published in 2018, Road Traffic Accidents Deaths in Pakistan reached 30,046 or 2.42% of total deaths. The age adjusted Death Rate is 17.12 per 100,000 of population ranks Pakistan number 95 in the world.

There is an utmost need of implementation of traffic rules in them major cities.  There should be strict implementation of basic traffic rules like wearing of helmet. There should be a proper traffic management system, with traffic police patrolling 24/7, at least in the populated areas of small cities so as to overcome the ratio of accidents per day. One of the rule that can help to save some lives is that only licensed drivers must be allowed to drive vehicles and those violating rules must be charged with heavy fines. In big cities, a fine of Rs 1000 is charged to ones not wearing the helmet while riding a motorcycle, and if a vehicle is overloaded, then there is a penalty of Rs 300. There is also a fine of careless and rash driving in over-populated and developed cities of the country. But the main issue is implementation of these rules. Who is going to make sure that these rules are being followed and when? These rules can play a significant role in awareness in both developed and under-developed cities, if abided by strictly. Special training institutes for drivers could play a role in spreading awareness among people about their own safety and others too, as every single life is important.

 

by: Abeer Arshad 

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