The fact that six people were killed and 10 others were injured in two separate road crashes in less than 24 hours should be ringing alarm bells, but the frequency with which such accidents occur is so high that a sense of apathy has crept into the psyche of the general populace. To call this unfortunate would be an understatement.
Death and destruction from road accidents have become a daily part of our lives, as at least 9,951 people were killed in accidents last year alone. However, we cannot let such repetition desensitize us to the gravity of the entire situation. In fact, the number of people dying and sustaining injuries on almost a regular basis means that there is a deep malaise running through our transportation and infrastructural administrations.
While there are laws and regulations in place to mandate safe driving, they are not practiced. Laws have been passed to penalize reckless driving, but they are seldom exercised, if at all.
Road accidents are a result of both a failure to exercise laws and invest in better infrastructure, and while the government has displayed a commitment to improving the state of our infrastructure by building bridges and expressways it has failed in other ways, such as ensuring dedicated lanes on our roads for buses.
But the biggest way that the administration continues to let the people down is by failing to hold errant bus drivers and transport owners accountable for the havoc they unleash on our roads and highways. Whether it’s encouraging reckless behaviour or allowing unfit vehicles to ply the roads, transport company owners almost always get away scot-free whenever they cause road accidents.
If we wish to eradicate road accidents from our land, the government needs to show that it is pro-active in doing so.