Road Safety

Once I saw a television program where a skydiver jumped out of a plane without a parachute. He got a parachute from an associate who had dived out earlier.  After the feat, he was interviewed by a journalist. The skydiver told the journalist that his act was safer – much safer – than driving or walking along the road. On thinking a little while about it I realized that though there are so many skydivers all over the world every day, the accident rate in such a dangerous act is very low. In contrast, hundreds are killed or maimed on the roads every day. The road is a dangerous place.

The first danger on the road I people’s attitudes. Talking with people it became clear to me that everyone seems to think that accidents happen to other people, never to them. In truth, accidents can happen to anyone. All the people I talk to seem to think how unfortunate it is that accidents happen, but never have I heard anyone say that he or she could be involved in an accident. Such a thought seems to be remote. Hence I believe that the attitudes of road users are the first danger on the road.

Careless drivers are another source of danger. I have friends who boast that since they had never had any accidents, they are obliviously good drivers. Having sat in their cars, I realize that nothing could be further from the truth. Some of the drivers that I know are reckless and drive without the least consideration to other road users. The machines they drive are death machines and they do not realize it. Their proud brag that they have never been involved in an accident is empty when I realize that this is only because there are other responsible road users out there. All I can see is that there are a lot of accidents waiting to happen, when two or more equally irresponsible road users meet.

Road conditions contribute to dangers on the road too. Bangkok roads are fairly well maintained. However there are lesser used roads which are neglected. One has only to go to some country roads like Dhaka and see the deteriorating conditions on the road. These are roads that serve as short cuts to the factories and are thus used by heavy vehicles. The heavy vehicles cause damage to the roads and this is dangerous, especially at night. Talking of night, driving at night under poor visibility is a danger in itself. This is especially so in residential roads where there are a lot of trees. Even though the trees add to the beauty of the roads, they also obstruct drivers as they drive around corners.

Safety precaution were hardly care by us unless there is a mandatory law imposed. Such as fines for not fasten seat belt or not wearing helmet. Repairing a broken or damage parts of the car remain pending till any enforce work like punishment or penalty. Most drivers intentionally or unintentionally do not care to check out the car instrument and function in it before starting to drive. Most important thing is that driver must hold a genuine driving license and well trained in knowing the rules and regulation in driving like road and traffic symbols. It’s better to be safe than cure in case of driving.

Dangers on the road are real. What makes them more so is the tendency of road users to think that there are no dangers on the road. Hence unlike when we do dangerous activities, we are likely to be careless. And that is where the danger is. We should minimize the danger of road accident by keeping ourselves alert and taking all sort of safety precaution beforehand. We should always keep in mind that a little neglect in road journey could spoil a person life as well as his or her family life.