Road Accidents - citizens need to take more responsibility than the government.

Road Accidents - citizens need to take more responsibility than the government.


Road Safety is a very important issue in the country. Nearly 5 lakh road accidents were reported in India in 2013, in which more than 1.5 lakh people lost their lives. Modi government is planning to unfold a new law for road safety with more stringent punishment for violation of traffic rules. But, the responsibility to contain road accidents falls only on government? Are we the citizens of this country playing our role? Let’s see:

Yes:

-A prominent reason of these accidents is violation of rules by individuals. Government cannot keep an eye on every vehicle’s or motorbike’s movement.

-Many people consider helmet as a headache and prefer cheap substandard quality’s helmet even when they know this may prove fatal. Their sole purpose is to avoid fine for not wearing helmet.

-Separate lanes have been provided for movement of different vehicles especially on National Highways. But people barely follow these instructions.

-Overtaking is a risky affair. If a driver is not careful while overtaking and committing avoidable mistake, then government can hardly do anything in this.

-In cases of road accident, people generally are reluctant to come forward and help the victim. This negligence results in victim’s death which can be otherwise avoided by timely intervention. Our insensitivity towards such incidences is a major cause of problems.

No:

-In India baring National Highways, most of the road infrastructure is pathetic and driving on these roads especially in rainy season is a nightmare. Even after paying high toll taxes the maintenace on highways is poor. The emergency hospital are no where in the vicinity on many highways, patrolling is poor - where does the tax money go?

-Under current law, a person arrested in case of accident easily gets bail, even if his negligence caused the accident. This is due to lack of strong law, which can only be implemented by government.

-Cases go on for a long period of time in Indian judiciary, resulting in wastage of money as well as time of the complainant. It is judiciary’s responsibility to deliver verdict in time because justice delayed is justice denied.

-Many new cars have failed mandatory safety benchmarks in case of accidents and still running on roads. No serious action has been initiated against manufacturer companies of these cars.

-A person can easily obtain new driving license through agents even if he doesn’t know how to drive. Citizens can inform about these unlawful practices, but the onus to curb them lies on government.

- Many of the accidents are caused by drunk drivers who do not even possess a valid license. The local and small level politicians gang up and abuse the victim to frighten them up while the traffic police does't show up at the right time. In such cases, the police should not need the complain from the vicitm. They should deal with the driver directly rather than getting the victim into the picture.

Conclusion:

Road Safety is a complex issue in a highly populated country like India. Road infrastructure is bearing far more traffic than its actual capacity, leading to traffic jams, congestion and accidents. The onus to improve this scenario lies equally on citizens as well as government. For realizing the dream of road safety both sides have to play their part and initiatives only from one side will not yield any positive results. Also both sides have to ensure that the efforts should complement and not contradict each other.
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    Discussion

  • RE: Road Accidents - citizens need to take more responsibility than the government. -harsh (03/02/15)
  • i think that we people have to take responsibility in order to reduce road accidents in india.now a days people dont think about their safety and indulge themselves in reckless driving. they dont wear helmet because they consider it odd or something that unnecessarily cover their face.believe me its more than that. most of the deaths are because of drunk driving.people drive after taking alcohol in an unconcious state and met accident.in order to stop road accidents i think that there should be speed limits in high traffic areas.The traffic police should play their role and take strict action against the offenders.overtaking should be done carefully.Modern gadgets are to be used in order to check the speed of vehicles .those who are driving without liscence are to be punished
  • RE: Road Accidents - citizens need to take more responsibility than the government. -kundan (01/20/15)
  • In India road accidents are very common. And for this citizens and government both are equally responsible. Most accident are done by truck only. There is no chances that any person can live after truck accident. If truck is overloaded then traffic police have to take strict action against that driver and owner of that truck. So it’s government responsibility or it’s traffic police responsibility to take care of all those things… like that it’s our responsibility to follow all traffic rules.
    So in this both are equally responsible. So government and we citizens have to take initiative to control road accidents.
  • RE: Road Accidents - citizens need to take more responsibility than the government. -rizvan (01/19/15)
  • we can not pull all the blame on government but both are equally involve ,as you can lots of overloaded trucks are running on our roads and the police even allows them to enter in residential areas by taking there bribe,so these overloaded trucks are also one of the causes of road accidents, also people who do rash driving should be strictly punished , government should keep there eyes on the streets , also there should be a law that people who tries to help a person in danger should not be treated as a victim, because of these laws people hesitate to help people in danger.
  • RE: Road Accidents - citizens need to take more responsibility than the government. -Kirtiraman (01/17/15)
  • Very Excellent article..
    I really appreciate.
  • RE: Road Accidents - citizens need to take more responsibility than the government. -neeraj (10/19/14)
  • From my point of view, individual is responsible for road accidents. Safety starts from us. If one follows basic road safety rules, then we need not to wait for the government to implement some rules to maintain road safety.
  • RE: Road Accidents - citizens need to take more responsibility than the government. -Rajat (10/18/14)
  • I am giving a 60-40 ratio .In which public having 60% and govt have 40% responsibility If any cases firstly self controls on him/her....primarily
  • RE: Road Accidents - citizens need to take more responsibility than the government. -Lucky (10/16/14)
  • We Indian believe more in faith and destiny than in our actions. This attitude is responsible for lack of sensitivity towards safety issues on roads.

    I would say if rules are followed on a large scale for long period of time it is bound to bring a sense of consciousness and responsibility in our habits.Therefore govt must take lead in this regard.For that the enforcement department has to be given autonomy with proper accountability.

    As far as congestion is concerned,unless the public sees an efficient alternative to their private vehicles,they will not shift to the public transport.This again brings the govt into the picture.

    A major part of accidents is due to poor road designing,dead ends,poor engineering at turns etc. This calls for a dedicated system of road designing where govt and experts need to play a part.

    Overall,the role of govt has become of paramount importance because the actions of individuals are guided by the rules,alternatives available and ad-hocism. Unless govt takes lead to address the root causes, citizen responsibility cannot be assured. Citizen responsibility cannot be a substitute to governmental responsibility.When an atmosphere of cynicism exists in a country it is only govt which can bring the attitudinal change by leading from the front.
  • RE: Road Accidents - citizens need to take more responsibility than the government. -Deepa Kaushik (10/13/14)
  • Traffic related problems and road accidents are two separate issues that we face in India. Majority of the traffic related issues and the condition of the roads and their maintenance is the responsibility of the government. But when we talk of riad accidents, then yes, we citizens share an equal responsibility for preventing these accidents.

    Road accidents can be caused due to irresponsible rash driving and violation of the traffic rules which are neglected in lieu of corruption or negligence in performace of the duties. In all these scenarios, be that the driving part or corruption, people share a equal ratio in the violation.

    Irresponsible driving is to be a self- disciplinary issue that every citizen need to realize. Such a driving not only affects the driver, but also some other people who are driving or walking along the road following the traffic rules, and this indirectly impacts their families as well. Any government can make laws and follow them strictly, but they cannot make the peooke feel their duty consciousness.

    Following the traffic rules by letting the correct vehicular load in the specified lanes is definitely the responsibility of the officials in charge. If the incorrect entry of vehicles or heavy loaded trucks entering the city limits during restricted hours, could be the negligence of the traffic officials or suspected corruption. But the accidents causing otherwise due to the breaking of traffic regulations by common man cannot be imposed on the government.

    It is very easy to blame others and equally difficult to be perfect. We should always remember the phrase - Look Before You Leap. We being citizens of the country need to rectify our faults prior to blaming the government or the officials. Precisely speaking, both Government and the citizens are equally responsible for the occurrence or prevention of road accidents
  • RE: Road Accidents - citizens need to take more responsibility than the government. -Priya singh (10/13/14)
  • No i think government is more responsible than citizen becoz is corruption. As we are the citizen of india if we want to walk on right path but this corruptn hinder in our path . For example if there as we saw truck in d high way 90% of them r over loaded and cause accident .who is going for resposible for that drive who r being force to do that or inspector who does not stop it or charge on it. Poor condition of road in rainy reason cause accident who is reponsible or that so mamy things like that.