Big road accidents are happening with troubling frequency. On Sunday night, a crowded passenger bus plunged into Kalakhola of Surkhet district, killing 17 and injuring over 50 people. Ten days earlier, another crowded bus had fallen into Bheri river, leading to 50 deaths. And on Monday, seven more people died in two separate road accidents in Makawanpur and Bardiya districts. Although there are clear regulations stipulating the number of passengers who can be accommodated in public vehicles, these rules are being flouted with impunity. Another big cause for road accidents in Nepal is speeding. The micro-vans that operate on long routes can be a nightmare for first-time travelers, as the driver floors the accelerator at every opportunity, wildly gesticulating at (and cursing) anyone who makes them hit the brake. If crowding and speeding could be controlled, there is likely to be significant reduction in accidents on Nepali roads.
There have been efforts to make our roads safer. Once upon a time the police had started keeping time-sheets for passenger vehicles plying the highways. The time of arrival and departure would be noted at various check points en route. But the conniving drivers were soon able to game the system. They started stopping for longer ‘food breaks’ which allowed them to speed when they hit the road. Likewise, there is a provision whereby passenger buses in long routes have to change the driver midway. This was done to reduce accidents from driver fatigue. But even this measure has had limited success. Even with fresh drivers, helpers on these buses are often given driving duties when the driver doesn’t feel up to it. The vehicle operators have also found a way around overcrowding. Whenever an important checkpoint is close, they make passengers perched on the roof climb down and enter the bus. But soon after they pass checkpoint, the passengers are allowed to go up again.
Whatever rules we come up with, the transport operators, it seems, will always find a chink. This is why driver education is likely to be more effective. Teaching drivers the dangers of speeding has been successful in the Eastern town of Dharan. After training local drivers on safe driving, there has been a marked reduction in the number of accidents around Dharan. The reason the recent spate of bus accidents is so tragic is that many of them could have been avoided. Since other methods have not been very effective, maybe the time has come to focus on driver education. They must be made to feel the pain of what it means to be a relative of a loved one killed due to a reckless driver, as was done in Dharan. It works. Moreover, our transport laws need to be better implemented. We have regulations with exacting details on the state of public vehicles, the number of passengers and speed-limits. One solution would be deploying more traffic police on highways so that the errant drivers cannot take advantage of their intermittent presence. The status quo, which is claiming precious lives every single day, is unacceptable.
Published on 2014-12-10 in REPUBLICA
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