Highway accidents: The insane ideas

This Eid brought us joy, but it also saw horrors and, as an aftermath, a lot of thoughtless decisions.
Joy we all understand. The horrors came in the form of road deaths. Every day as holidayers returned from home, scores died in road crashes. And this prompted the government to make some insanely funny decisions.
First, it banned movement of slow vehicles like three-wheelers on highways. Later, it allowed them to ply for a small period just to refuel. And then it set a speed limit of 80km per hour on the highways.

Also READ: 80km the max

In my view all these three decisions are ill-conceived, bereft of reality and are bound to fail. Let's examine the facts.

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It is true the slow vehicles, specially the battery-operated three-wheelers, are a real nuisance on the highways. They irritate drivers, pose as barriers on highway driving and are often the subjects of accidents.

READ more: CNG autos defy ban on highway

Having said, that there is little reason to ban them. I have driven through the highways hundreds of times, getting irritated every time I overtook a slow vehicle. Thousands of drivers take their private cars on the highways every day. Yet I have not heard of a private car hitting a slow vehicle. Why? Because we who drive private cars do it safely and with care. That is what a driver should do while sitting behind the steering wheel.
Then why do the buses hit them so often?
That is because the bus drivers think they are sitting in the cockpit of fighter jets and zoom through the highways at breakneck speed, disregarding any safety rules. The bus drivers not only hit the slow vehicles, they are the real menace for any vehicle for that matter. They are the real culprits for all these deaths on the highways. So why don't we ban buses instead of three-wheelers? Will that be a sane idea? Not at all.
Then comes the issue of limiting speed to 80km an hour.

Also READ: Total chaos on highways

Our highways are so crammed that I myself find it difficult to speed beyond 65km. Negotiating these roads at 80km is very risky. What our bus drivers do, they speed through crammed roads at 80km or even beyond that speed. The result is obvious: accidents.
In the past the government had wanted to install 'governor seals' in buses to limit speed but the move failed. This time the same initiative is bound to fail as reckless bus drivers will tamper with the seal, if it is at all installed. And the question will remain about who will monitor the speed and whether we have that capability.

READ more: BRTA move for 'speed governor seal' hits a bad patch

But more than that it is the reckless behavior of the bus drivers that causes the accidents. I have often seen them zooming through two vehicles with barely any safety room. They overtake when it seems an insane and impossible act. They violate each and every traffic rule. And why not? There is no enforcement of law to catch them. They stop their vehicle any place at will, blocking the entire highway in front of traffic police. I cannot remember killer bus drivers being punished. And they have their all-powerful unions to protest any action.

READ more: People suffer for 3rd day

So in the absence of law enforcement, the bus drivers become reckless. Stopping three-wheelers or limiting speed will not make any difference to the situation. Accidents will happen and we will take many more decisions with out results.