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Road
traffic injuries take the lives of 1.2 million men, women and children
around the world each year. Hundreds of thousands are injured on our
roads, some of whom become permanently disabled. The vast majority of
these occur in developing countries, among pedestrians, cyclists,
motorcyclists and users of public transport. About half of road traffic
fatalities worldwide involve persons aged 15-44 years, many of whom are
primary financial supporters of their families. The economic costs of
road traffic injuries worldwide are estimated at U.S. $518 billion per
year. This includes $100 billion in developing countries. Pakistan is
one of the most unfortunate countries in this respect because
innumerable lives are lost every day.
Main Causes Of Road
Traffic Crashes in Pakistan Depending
upon the direct responsibility, the causes can be divided into the
following categories; 1)
Due to irresponsibility of Government: Improper road infrastructure,
lack of proper warning signs, inadequate illumination on footpaths and
cycle tracks, poor emergency response capability and injustice in the
implementation of traffic laws are main factors. 2)
Due to Corruption and irresponsibility of Motor Vehicle Examination
Authorities: The irresponsible and Corrupt Motor vehicle Examiners do
not care for vehicle safety. They are not fair in regular check up of
public transport and allow illegal modification in frame/chassis of
vehicles. 3)
Due to Corruption and irresponsibility of Traffic Police: Our traffic
police have crossed all the limits of corruption. They do not issue
driving license on merit rather they simply sell the public transport
license. They charge monthly from all local public transport vehicles
directly within the cities and indirectly through their agents from
intercity transports. These agents issue a sticker having name of agent
and the number of month which is pasted on front screen of vehicles.
They indulge in over speeding, overloading, and traffic signal
violations. These vehicles do not halt at proper bus stops rather these
stop anywhere on the road where they feel so. 4)
Due to irresponsibility of Transporters: Transporters
do not care for the fitness of their vehicles. They keep on modifying
the chassis/ frame of their vehicles without engineering specifications.
They fit stereos and videos in their vehicles in illegal and
inappropriate manner. They hire drivers who are alcoholics and drug
users on low money. They do not make a proper schedule of work and rest
for drivers. 5)
Due to irresponsibility of Drivers: More than 90 % of our drivers are
illiterate .They are involved in Narcotics and alcohol consumption,
gambling and sex. Because of lack of a work schedule, they are usually
tired and sleepy. They use high beam in cities, and are very much fond
of over speeding and listening to music while driving. They do not have
any respect for seat belts, red signals and zebra crossings.
They are careless in changing lanes and deliberately violate
traffic rules. . |
6)
Due to direct irresponsibility of Public: Our public has very strange
road user behaviours. They do not like helmets and seat belts. They do
not stop drivers from over speeding rather they are amused by it. They
neither protest against drivers and transporters nor press government to
improve traffic police. We are now fortunate to have our High Police
which consists of educated officers who till today do not accept bribe.
They are very limited in number and are posted only on a few places.
Drivers thoroughly respect traffic laws in their areas because they work
quite fairly and quickly but as soon as their areas end, the drivers are
free again to do as they wish Main
Objectives of Our Campaign are: 1)
To raise awareness of health impact and social and economic costs of
road traffic injuries. 2)
To initiate discussion among the local community on the possibility for
road traffic injury prevention 3)
To call for immediate individual action. Most important in this regard
is to pledge to abide by traffic rules and to correct our road user
behaviour by using seat belts, helmets & and child restraint and to
use safe walking and biking paths 4)
We believe only a concerted effort on the part of government and its
partners can improve road safety. They should seriously take the
following actions; i)
To adopt comprehensive approaches to improve vehicle safety, road infrastructure, road user
behavior, and emergency response capability ii)
To promote effective and sustained educational programs to
improve safer road use iii)
To encourage integrated, effective and sustained programs aimed
to improve road safety. iv)
To work to prevent impaired driving, whether impairment is due to
alcohol or other drugs by augmenting education and legislation. v)
To work for greater visibility of people walking and cycling
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