Improper road engineering and lack of public awareness about road safety among motorists are major factors contributing to the growing number of road traffic accidents (RTAs) in the country, speakers at the National Road Safety Conference agreed on Wednesday. The conference was organised by the National Highway and Motorway Police (NH&MP).
Federal Minister for Communications Dr Arbab Alamgir Khan said that road safety and traffic discipline were being grossly neglected at all levels. He said that although he very much wanted to create a national level fund for policemen killed in the line of duty, but this idea was not being operationalized because of bureaucratic bottlenecks. He said that elections should be held on time, as delay could cause serious problems. Accusing bureaucracy of not allowing politicians to work, he said that change could not happen until the elimination of corruption.
Urging politicians to acknowledge that they were responsible for distorting the system, he said that only they could rectify it. The Minister for Defence Production, Sardar Bahadur Khan Sehar, also spoke on the occasion. Inspector-General of NH&MP Zafar Abbas Lak said his department was constantly working for bringing down the rate of accidents. He said that poor quality road engineering and maintenance also contributed to the number of accidents.
Highlighting various programs undertaken to educate children and professional drivers, he said that the Motorway Police was trying to create public awareness about road safety and traffic discipline. The NH&MP, he said, was working to regularise the services of professional drivers, fixing duty timings, salary packages and welfare programs via legal enactments. The Motorway Police was also planning to set up road safety driving institutes in all major cities.
He said overloading occurred because of lack of education on part of drivers, adding that 20,000 people had died and 45,000 injured in road crashes in Pakistan. This was, he said, the highest number of deaths against any other cause of death in the country. Khalid Islam, GM of the engineering board, highlighted the deficiencies in the vehicle fitness checking systems. Zulfiqar Cheema, RPO of Sheikhupura, made some recommendations for curbing crimes on highways and motorways, including the setting up of NH&MP Police Stations at regular distances.
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