Traffic accidents in Pakistan are a natural phenomenon at this point and have become unavoidable yet they do not get the same seriousness as many other fatal incidents.
It could be attributed to daily occurrence and desensitization yet that is not enough to explain the blasé attitude of officials, citizens, and drivers alike. The crux of the matter is, that although with the change in government many new steps have been taken to regulate traffic and stop such incidents the reverse seems to have happened.
With all the road traffic issues being taken into consideration the accidents seem to have developed a directly proportional relationship in the Twin Cities instead. Measures like e-challans, camera installations, tighter patrols, and presence of on-ground traffic police on every major road and junction seem to have had the opposite effect on the locals.
All of these measures have been taken to ensure citizen safety on roads yet the accidents have increased and become fatal as well. It could be claimed that worsening fog and dense traffic on roads due to ongoing developmental projects such as remodeling of Kacheri Chowk are major contributing factors but all of these are superficial reasons. In fact, regulations mean little if the populace refuses to inculcate a civic responsibility among themselves.
Now what does civic responsibility mean for the average Pakistani? Time and again awareness campaigns were run to educate the masses, when that failed a harsher punishment was then deemed appropriate response. But campaigns are not the answer to such a conundrum. Awareness campaigns target a smaller audience and often make a typical population group their focus. It works for a subgroup but not the wider audience and when these groups interact on the roads the aware group reverts back to create a safer space.
Do we as a nation teach our youth and future drivers the effect a severe accident can have on their whole life?
The answer to this might seem very obvious and tedious yet it is the one that guarantees the best results overtime. In addition to the regulations now in place, it is the solemn duty of the government and educational institutes to not teach its students about traffic accidents as isolated incidents rather frame them as the product of being deeply ignorant. It will take years to bear fruit but it is the most sustainable practice. By teaching a growing generation of children we are targeting the future drivers, riders, and the traffic commuters of the future. It is imperative to instill a sense of preciousness of life and limbs among them and educate them of the consequences of their actions.
Do we as a nation teach our youth and future drivers the effect a severe accident can have on their whole life? On their mental health? Have we had a proper debate on essentially being responsible for the lives of the people around them? This lack of debate and a culture of adventure on the roads is creating a false reality for the actual road systems for our youth.
Not only do they create a hazard for themselves but also other commuters on any open road they can find. The best examples are Express way, Srinagar Highway, and G.T. Road. These are the three main well developed roads with a huge traffic flow among many other roads of Twin Cities. People expect them to be always open and thus give into their desire of over speeding, drifting, one wheeling, and road racing. Having designated safe spaces to conduct such activities in a recreational way will clear these roads of such commuters but it still does not change the fact that these people also need to educated about any and all possibilities of the manifestation of consequences.
The truth is that stricter crackdowns are a temporary solution and cannot fix lack of civic responsibility. Licensing for younger drivers, over speeding, and reckless driving all have had laws in place to deal with them for years. They have been implemented to varying degrees of success but still have a very small success ratio. These failures cannot be attributed to political parties and their form of governance. The only avenues political parties can be deemed responsible among these situations are urban planning, infrastructure, and systematic enforcement of laws. To create a sustainable long-lasting change that will reform the traffic sphere of Twin Cities and eventually Pakistan is intensive civic training imparted from an early age where such recklessness is not glorified. Real safety comes from a shift in behavior not fines.
The writer is a student