Licence to kill

I lost a family friend in a traffic
accident on Eid night and I could not resist thinking that size is power on Pakistan’s roads and in the hierarchy of the transport system where pedestrians rank just a notch above stray animals. Buses and land cruisers rarely, if ever, give way to lesser mortals. Indeed, pedestrians attempting to cross a road, even with children in tow, are invariably looked at with utter disrespect while drivers speed towards them. Face a car driver on a busy road with a bicycle as your transport and more often than not you will be met with a wide-eyed stare. Driving a bicycle or motorcycle is dangerous and frustrating enough but then roads are chaotic, with cars paying little attention to road markings and gridlocked streets common by mid-afternoon. Lane discipline is not a recognised concept, drivers often reverse down multi-lane highways and cars will not stop for pedestrians seeking to cross a road until they step out into the speeding traffic By and large, travelling in buses is not a lifestyle choice for the average person. Rather, it is the default mode of transport for those who cannot afford anything else. Labourers, clerks, deliverymen and semi-skilled workers such as plumbers and carpenters use motorcycles. They are Pakistan’s struggling masses, not its moneyed elite. They are most vulnerable to death on the roads and are at the mercy of drivers who have a licence to kill.
For an everyday activity, travelling by road is probably the riskiest thing many of us do on a regular basis. In 1990, road traffic injuries ranked ninth in the 10 leading causes of the global burden of disease. By 2030, estimates show that road traffic injuries will be the fifth leading cause of death in the world. This is an epidemic that strikes indiscriminately, affecting people of all ages, devastating communities. Were the numbers of unreported road accidents taken into account, it would be found that more than 100,000 people died in road accidents over the last 11 years.
If more than 3,000 people had been killed on trains or planes in the last one year there would be a national outcry and politicians would be falling over themselves in the rush to implement policies to stop the carnage. On average, some seven people are killed every day on the roads in Pakistan. Hundreds more are injured, many of them seriously, often with life-changing consequences. Roughly, every year, almost 20,000 to 25,000 persons are made victim to traffic accidents, which are the leading cause of death among people aged from 15 to 29 in Pakistan. Mostly children, pedestrians, cyclists and aged people are known fatalities with human error causing 95 percent of road accidents.
Compared with other forms of transport, travelling by road is far deadlier than going by train or plane. Yet, for some reason, it is largely tolerated. These deaths generate little of the coverage or thundering newspaper commentary that typically follows fatal rail accidents or those involving aircraft. Train crashes are dramatic but cause far fewer casualties. There is still fatalism about it all. Road casualties, like the poor, are always right beside us. People are terribly concerned about the high probability of road death risks but the traffic rules remain a joke among drivers.
Most agree that wearing seat belts, which has become compulsory, is still resisted until some strict checking is monitored by the traffic or motorway police on the roads. Poor road engineering, blatant violation of traffic rules, use of mobile phones while driving and poorly maintained vehicles have all directly contributed to road accidents. Traffic jams and VIP routes have had a contributory effect, as have controversially random speed cameras. Changing driver behaviour such as more young drivers on the roads has also put a dent in statistics.
In 2014, some 67 percent exceeded 30 mph in built-up areas whereas, by mid-2015, that proportion went up to 73 percent. Speeding in excess of 100 mph on motorways is also up by a third. This increase has resulted in deaths and injuries, particularly in built-up areas. The picture in out-of-town areas is less encouraging. Statistics have remained stubbornly high for reasons less related to outright speeding and more to do with driving too fast. Single vehicles and loss of control allow crashes to become very common on single carriageway roads, particularly where a young driver or tired bus driver is behind the wheel.
Research shows that forcing strict penalties can cut road deaths by 40 percent. But there is a looming battle on imported new model cars and over speeding car use. There is a dire need to puncture some of the myths around cars. The car combines two appealing concepts: autonomy and mobility. The trouble is that everyone wants both. We no longer live in the 1960s where cars can go where and when they like. We live in the 21st century where we need to manage the car so that it retains its benefits but we limit the damage it can do to other people.
In 1997, Swedish parliament wrote into law a ‘Vision Zero’ plan, promising to eliminate road fatalities and injuries altogether. Have the Swedes ever hit their ‘zero’ target? Probably not but road safety campaigners are confident that it is possible. With deaths reduced by half since 2000, they are well on their way. Faster implementation of new safety systems, such as warning alerts for speeding or unbuckled seatbelts, is expected to make the difference.
Human factors are the most significant in causing car accidents. There is always a great sense of urgency in road users, many of whom are less cautious and have received insufficient driver training prior to receiving their licence. This is highlighted particularly in younger drivers who are responsible for many fatal crashes. On the other hand, lack of authority for traffic police, insufficient modern equipment for traffic police monitoring, difficulty in confiscating vehicles from offenders, the public’s lack of confidence in the police and inability to sustain a prevention plan are the major barriers to road traffic death prevention in Pakistan.

The writer is a professor of Psychiatry and consultant Forensic Psychiatrist in the UK. He can be contacted at fawad_shifa@yahoo.com