Daily Times

LAHORE: World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims with theme Safer Roads & Mobility was observed in all districts of Punjab on Sunday in remembrance of millions of victims of road crashes, their families and communities as well as to pay tribute to the dedicated emergency responders including rescuers, police and medical professionals, who daily deal with the traumatic aftermath of road crashes.

In this regard, awareness seminars, rallies and workshops were organised to highlight the significance of safer roads and mobility which is based on Pillar 2 of the Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety. Victims of road crashes were also invited to the event to share their experiences of road traffic crashes and instant safety measures while traveling on roads.

Rescue 1122 Director General Dr Rizwan Naseer said that nearly 1.3 million people die annually and over 50 million are disabled due to road traffic accidents and 90 percent of these deaths occur in developing countries like Pakistan.

While quoting the statistics of road traffic crashes in Punjab, he said that the service has rescued over 2.3 million victims of road traffic crashes across the province so far, whereas the rescue service alone is managing around 900 road crashes on daily basis and most of the breadwinners of the society are being affected in these crashes.

He added that road traffic crashes had been observed as the leading cause of injuries since the inception of the emergency service in 2004. Out of 2.3 million people injured owing to road crashes, 242,404 received head injuries, 41,948 spinal injuries, 217,834 multiple fractures, 353,622 single fractures, whereas fortunately 1,477,973 were minor injuries. Rescue 1122 director general further observed that men were the vulnerable road users as 79 percent of the victims were males and 21 percent females were affected in road traffic crashes whereas 25,603 died at the site of the incident.

The analysis data further revealed that over speeding was the leading cause of accidents, followed by careless driving, wrong turns and 12 percent other cases. A total of 1,577 cases of one wheeling were reported. Moreover, motorbikes were found to be involved in 60 percent of cases, cars in 3 percent, rickshaws in 4 percent, pedestrians in 14 percent, buses, trucks and vans in 16 percent.

Rescue 1122 DG Dr Rizwan Naseer highlighted that if some concrete steps are not taken at this stage on priority basis for safer roads and mobility, then within the next few years, every family would be affected by road traffic accidents in Punjab. He said that now, enforcement agencies need to come forward for implementation of road safety laws and concerned authorities needs to take immediate measures with regard to driving licensing system, traffic engineering, vehicles fitness system, vehicle registration, database and management system. Furthermore, it is the responsibility of all citizens to abide by traffic laws, ensure to use vehicles only by license holders, observe timely inspection and maintenance of vehicles, use Zebra Crossing and pedestrian bridges, respect each other while using roads to avoid accidents and promote safer mobility.

He also stressed upon the typical mindset which needs to be changed through media, because most of the road crashes take place due to negligence of the driver or a fault in the vehicle or the road or a road user. The director general also directed the district emergency officers to conduct research in their relevant districts on road crashes and recommend steps for their reduction. He asked them to identify black-spots on roads and take district governments on board and take collective steps for community safety. He further asked media to play their role by giving prime priority and focusing on road traffic crashes for public welfare.

Published in Daily Times, November 19^th 2018.