For more than 30 families, the date September 26th will forever be etched in their minds as the parents' worst nightmare came true. A bus full of young students and a few faculty members from a private school in Faisalabad catapulted out of control when its brakes failed. The crash, which happened at the Kallar Kahar salt mines on M2 motorway, took the lives of at least 37 people, including more than 30 children, teachers, the vice principal, the bus driver and the conductor.
The accident, which brought unimaginable suffering to many parents in Faisalabad, also highlighted some important issues related to road safety in Pakistan. The number of deaths on road per 10,000 vehicles in the country is one of the highest in the world. Apart from fatal accidents, the non-fatal ones are grossly underreported.
Research conducted only in Karachi over a four-month period has shown that the number of road accident-related injuries reported in hospitals is nine times more than accidents reported in police stations. Since there are no standardised mechanisms to record road accidents, nor any centralised data bank to keep track of what is reported, the rate of accidents on Pakistani roads cannot be conclusively gauged.
There are multiple factors, which have put Pakistan in the shameful list of countries with the worst road safety record. One of the biggest reasons is the lack of stringent regulations and checks on people's driving habits and vehicle safety. This school bus in question was reportedly carrying passengers well beyond its seating capacity, a practice very common in public transports. Needless to say those who are left standing in the public vehicles, as was the case with this school bus, and are allowed to travel hanging off the doors and rails and on the roof, are most susceptible to harm.
With a rapid increase in motor vehicles -- more than 500 percent in motorbikes and more than 400 percent in cars from 2000 to 2006 -- many new challenges have surfaced. The biggest issue has been the almost sudden presence of drivers on the roads with limited or no knowledge of safe driving practices. The absence of any kind of habit of wearing a helmet or a seatbelt leads to many avoidable fatalities.
Added to this, there is a lack of comprehensive and periodical vehicle safety procedure, which can ensure that public and private vehicles are not a hazard to those on the road. With the ever-burgeoning transport demand, and an increasing number of private transport companies setting up operations, the need for a well thought-out quality regulation policy is imperative. These issues are a few among many which require the urgent notice of the authorities if any kind of substantial improvement is to be made to improve the country's dismal record in road safety.
A National Road Safety Secretariat was established by the former government in 2006-07. It managed to produce an excellent report on the then current situation of road safety in Pakistan, its challenges and opportunities. Yet ever since that report, the secretariat became somewhat dormant in its activities. Only this year, the secretariat along with Road Traffic Research and Prevention Centre based in Karachi, has started working on devising a 10-year action plan for road safety, responding to the call of the UN secretary general.
It is unfortunate that road safety regulations and their implementation has not kept pace with the rapidly increasing public and private transport sector of the country. The government, therefore, must pay attention to this serious problem without any further loss of time.
Published in Business Recorder (2 October 2011).
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