Who will bell the cat?

Traffic accidents have been the most disturbing news in the past weeks. There was this unfortunate accident in which a young woman ran over a father and daughter after hitting their motorcycle with her SUV killing both of them on the spot and then there was that horrific accident involving a coach full of Pakistanis in Iran who were on a religious journey, through Iran to Iraq. 28 Pakistanis laid down their lives in Yazd city in that bus accident.

Another 23 were injured, according to Pakistan’s Ambassador to Iran, Mudassir Tipu, 14 of the wounded were declared as in a critical state.

The brakes of the coach failed and even though the driver did his best to somehow stop the vehicle it kept gaining speed and finally overturned at the Dehshir-Taftan checkpoint in Yazd.

The casualties can also be contributed to the fact that after over-turning it then caught fire. Now the 14 declared critical are most probably the victims of fire and as I have written in one of my earlier columns that Pakistan does not have adequate burn treatment facilities so one can only pray for the victims.

What prompts me to write about both these tragic accidents is the fact that both could have been avoided if the laws governing traffic had been rigidly followed. Here in both cases there was a violation of basic rules which are followed in other countries in the world.

The implementation of traffic laws which are in most countries drafted after careful deliberations and research helps prevent, tragedies and non-compliance results in such tragedies. So what are the two traffic laws violations I am talking about?

Let us look at the Iran tragedy first. According to Pakistan’s Ambassador to Iran, over-speeding and brake failure caused the bus crash. The braking mechanism failed and since the road was going downhill the coach kept gathering speed and finally crashed into a wall.

In one of the TV channels a passenger of the ill-fated bus who survived also stated that some attempts were made by the driver to fix the problem in the brake mechanism at an earlier stop and he was somehow convinced that it was fixed.

All this points out the fact that the coach had not undergone strict mechanical checks, which are mandatory for vehicles of this nature.

It seems that whoever in the concerned department was responsible cleared the vehicle for some other consideration than just safety. It is common in Pakistan and even in the bustling city of Karachi I can bet hardly any percentage of public vehicles has undergone fair and thorough mechanical checks.

If you look at the public vehicles you do not have to be an expert mechanical check inspector to see that most are in depilated condition and it is only a miracle that we do not have more and much more severe accidents.

At one time there used to be thorough and serious check of vehicles but now it is only a farce. If this ill-fated coach had undergone a serious check in Pakistan or Iran these Zaireen would not have to undergo this horrifying experience.

Even today hundreds of such vehicles are on the road inviting further disasters. Turning our attention to the other much talked about accident in which a bright young lady and her father got run over, the lady driver culprit in this accident is said not to have a driving licence. Only recently it was revealed that it was from some other country than Pakistan.

Unfortunately, driving licences are becoming a rarity in the country. One can see underage drivers, specially those driving motorcycles, openly defying the law on our streets with the concerned authorities looking the other way.

Finally, it all boils down to the implementation of laws across the board and strict checking of documents by local law enforcers, which would prevent all such accidents but the big question is who will bell the cat? When I arrived in Canada in the 70s I had a valid international driving licence issued by Pakistani authorities. I was asked to register with local authorities and given six months to obtain a local licence.

Do we have such laws and implement them? Obviously not and we do not even implement laws we have, resulting in tragedies.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024