Blindsiding Road Safety

Editorial:
The road mishap at Burtuk above Gangtok was an accident waiting to happen. This section has returned often to the theme of road safety and does so once again, accepting the fact that recklessness has ruled the roads for far too long for mentions like these to have any effect. But somethings cannot be left ignored and need to be hammered away at constantly until they take an acceptable shape – road safety is one such issue. For a state serviced on most sections by unreliable and unsafe roads, Sikkim’s disregard for safety on the roads is perplexing. Maybe not so perplexing actually, because for a State which is racing fast towards becoming a population pocket with the most number of vehicles in ratio to its people, even basic driving etiquette is missing here.
Those who tune in to the local FM broadcasts would have listened in to traffic police personnel explaining the correct use of signal lights in vehicles; and yet, on the road, the right-side indicator is still signalled to allow vehicles behind to over-take, passengers continue to be off-loaded into the road instead of the safer option on the left by the roadside and caution is still thrown to winds on every bend with drivers perpetually in a tearing hurry insisting that they overtake on turnings as well. The Thursday evening mishap at Burtuk resulted from such an attempt at overtaking when the bend blindsided the passenger jeep in a hurry and dashed it straight into an approaching bus. One person was killed and five others injured in this avoidable accident. Everyone knows that hill roads are such that it takes only a momentary lapse of control for a serious mishap to occur. The nature of hill roads put the vehicles under much higher stress than driving on plain and straight roads, and by now, the focus of traffic policing, especially of passenger carriers, should have been on ensuring that the tyres, brakes and engines were always in top shape. Unfortunately, driving skills are still so rudimentary in the State that public announcements have to made to remind drivers on how to use their indicator lights. Does it surprise then that careless driving continues to claim lives on Sikkim roads?
A recent policy-decision of the State Government of Sikkim to beef up the capabilities of its police force includes the setting up of highway patrols. This service is much missed in Sikkim because there is no check on drivers once they cross the city limits. Because the vehicles plying on regular service routes are shockingly crude when it comes to safety features [for those on board], it becomes necessary that the hands working the wheels are responsible and better trained. The rising demand for such hands to work the ever increasing number of taxis debuting on the roads, however, makes this task difficult. It is not, however, an impossible ask and some genuine concern for commuter safety and intelligent notification of Sikkim-specific driver-screening norms should ensure that passengers are driven around more responsibly in Sikkim.