Traffic sergeant Zulfiqar Ali, standing at the signal outside Karachi’s Benazir Bhutto Park, tells me that he could write an entire book on road accidents. Precisely at that moment, as if on cue, an accident involving a motorcycle takes place right before our eyes.

Having helped manage the city’s traffic for 27 years, Zulfiqar explains that 80 per cent of all accidents involve motorcyclists. Of these, many prove to be fatal owing to the fact that a motorcycle can fall over even on minimal impact, and a motorcyclist is unprotected from all sides, as opposed to a motorist who by virtue of being within his car is comparatively safer.

Despite this, most motorcyclists in particular avoid even wearing a helmet, despite knowing that they save lives by preventing major head injuries.

The Global Status Report on Road Safety 2013 published by the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared road accidents in Pakistan a leading cause of death for young people aged 15-29

It’s not about the cost of helmets; anybody who can afford to buy a motorcycle, even if it is second-hand, can easily afford a helmet. The law makes it mandatory to wear helmets but people prefer to pay a fine for violating the law instead of simply following the law. After many failed attempts, in June this year an attempt was again made to force people to wear helmets. But after a few days’ exercise the initiative disappeared and the situation is back to square one. It is said that the lack or rather absence of public awareness campaigns — reportedly there were no messages on TV or no billboards drilling the necessity of helmets — is the main reason for the laws to be ineffective. The traffic constables may have earned a fast buck for a few days in the name of fines but unfortunately even their happiness was short-lived.

I wonder what happened to common sense? It is more a matter of mindset than education or social strata. What else can one say about people like Asghar, a mechanic, who says, “I don’t wear a helmet because it makes me feel very hot. Furthermore, it also obstructs my vision especially when I need to turn the bend. As it is I need to carry my mobile and tools therefore a helmet will just mean an additional burden. My family, too, is unconcerned about whether I wear a helmet or not.”

On the other hand Yaqoob, a plumber, simply says: “What’s the harm in taking precautions? Driving without a helmet also puts one at a risk from small stones which sometimes bounce off the roads owing to the force of the moving vehicles.”

It’s not uncommon to see whole families on a motorbike that is meant for two; a couple of children squeezed between parents, another one in front of the driver and the lady holding a young child precariously in one arm or on her lap while trying to balance herself, loose ends of her dress flapping in the air. The children who are sometimes half asleep, have nothing solid to hold on to except one another. Sometimes the rider himself, if alone, has luggage to take care of while driving; his attention divided between the road and whatever he has to carry.

This is precisely what Haider Abbas was doing. “It was a holiday and the roads were mostly clear. I stopped at the signal and when the signal turned green I changed gears, just then a motorcyclist coming from the other side broke the traffic signal and collided with my bike. I was carrying a cauldron of haleem, which perhaps contributed to losing my balance as the bike fell over, and the cauldron crushed my legs,” he narrates his ordeal: It was his luck that two police constables who had witnessed the accident knew that he was not to be blamed and took him to hospital.

“Vehicles, especially bikes, slip if the road is wet after rain or there is some oil spill or if the road is not well lit and there are bumps or potholes on the road,” says Zulfiqar Ali. “Another cause of road accidents is insufficient sleep. Often night guards, cooks and servants double up as drivers, who are sometimes so overworked and exhausted that they find it difficult to concentrate and the motion of the car further lulls them to sleep.”

Samad, who has been working as a driver since 20 years, feels that a number of accidents can be avoided if vehicles keep proper spacing between them, while Nazirullah, who has been driving an auto rickshaw since seven years, thinks that people are extremely impatient and do not wait to give a chance to others, thus resulting in traffic congestion and accidents.

“A major cause of accidents is the lack of civic sense and responsibility, as well as rash driving by bus drivers, who often abruptly stop wherever they see a passenger,” explains Zulfiqar.

“I will never forget the day when while buying fruit at the roadside vendor I heard a crushing sound as the wheels of a bus went over a man’s skull. It has been many years now but the thought of that still gives me goose bumps,” recalls Zebunissa.

Though our driving responses become reflexive over a period of time we need to be alert and vigilant when on the road both as pedestrians and drivers. Accidents often occur if the driver is lost in his thoughts and personal problems to the extent that he is not paying attention to the road and traffic. Using phone, loud music, racing with other cars and not using seat belt further aggravates the problem. In most cases when people are running late they drive fast to cover the time, it should be realised that a maximum of five to 10 minutes can be saved that too at a cost of stress and great risk, which in the end will hardly make a big difference.

I distinctly remember my visit to Kolkata, India, where I was greatly impressed with the road safety measures. Though the people there are humble and very well educated, Kolkata is extremely congested and highly over populated. Sitting in an autorickshaw, I discovered that there were bars across the right side which prevented passengers from getting on and off on the wrong side of the road. Once, while commuting in a taxi and having reached our destination, I mindlessly opened the right hand door only to be scolded by the taxi driver. I felt ashamed of myself. I was educated and aware yet he was correcting me.

As responsible citizens, irrespective of being educated or uneducated, upper class or middle class, our safety and that of others should be our concern and we should largely take responsibility for it by using our civic sense, being careful, vigilant and following rules at all times.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, September 20th, 2015

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