The mangled remains of a Suzuki Alto on a motorway last week did more than shock viewers; it held up a mirror to Pakistan’s deadly complacency toward road safety. The Alto, celebrated for its affordability, has long been exposed as a deathtrap on wheels, its flimsy frame and absent safety features rendering it unfit for highways. Yet, it remains a fixture on roads, emblematic of a system, which prioritises economic expediency over human life. While whispers of a motorway ban briefly stirred hope, official inertia has, for the millionth and one time, betrayed public trust.
Pakistan’s roads are a lethal cocktail of neglect and indifference. Vehicles designed for congested city lanes continue to hurtle down highways at lethal speeds with unbelievable impunity, their structural inadequacies ignored in the name of accessibility. Aware of these dangers, the regulatory bodies have hesitated to act, hostage to a false binary that pits affordability against safety. This indecision costs lives.
The crisis is compounded by a trifecta of failures. Infrastructure lies in ruins-potholed highways, absent pedestrian crossings, and crumbling bridges. Traffic enforcement, starved of resources and integrity, functions as a marketplace of bribes rather than a guardian of order. Cultural attitudes, meanwhile, romanticise recklessness. The “phat-phati” ethos glorifies rickety transport, while helmets and seat belts are dismissed as inconveniences.
Reform demands more than piecemeal bans or hollow rhetoric. It requires a seismic shift in priorities. Outdated vehicle safety standards must be overhauled, with stringent regulations enforced uniformly. Highways need intelligent traffic systems, speed cameras, and emergency response networks, not cosmetic flyovers. Driver licensing, currently a farce, must be tied to rigorous training. Public awareness campaigns should target not only individuals but the collective conscience, framing road safety as a civic duty.
Sceptics argue that stricter norms will marginalise low-income citizens. But the status quo exacts a far crueller toll: orphaned children, bankrupted families, and communities scarred by loss.
Each avoidable death is a verdict against a state that privileges short-term gains over its people’s survival. The path forward is clear: reject the fatalism that treats road deaths as inevitable and demand accountability from corridors of power to driver’s seats. *