news details |
|
|
| Need to discipline public transport drivers | | editorial | |
Crushing to death of seven persons and injuring another six by a mini
bus at Dagiana, on Sunday, which sparked of violent protest by the
people in the area has brought to fore gross indiscipline on the road
by the drivers of public transport. Only two days earlier a gruesome
accident had taken place in Darhal near Rajouri, killing over a dozen
passengers and wounding many others. In that case Chief Minister
Ghulam Nabi Azad was kind enough to have sanctioned funds for the
widening and improvement of the road, the bad condition of which is
believed to be responsible for the accident. The dilapidated and dingy
roads with sharp curves in the hilly terrain, the plying of out dated
vehicles, over loading the same much beyond their capacity and seating
the inexperienced and indiscipline drivers on the steering invariably
lead to accidents, claiming lives of a large number of people. In the
case of the accident of mini bus at Dagiana, the driver is learnt to
have been untrained and novice in the job, who could not control the
steering properly thus over running some pedestrians. In the case of
mini bus operators, who normally ply their vehicles on the reasonably
good roads in the city or in the suburbs the accidents occur mostly
due to the negligence, rash driving, indulging in indiscipline,
violating all the traffic rules by the drivers. The drivers invariably
display their over smartness, do acrobatics on the road, trying to
overtake the other vehicles. In their over eagerness to pick up more
passengers and deny their rivals to lift the passengers, they indulge
in rash driving, taking all risks to overtake the vehicle in front,
apply abrupt brake anywhere and every where on seeing a passenger
waiting or for dropping the passenger. There are no fixed stops, and
even if these are prescribed, the mini bus operators ignore the same
and halt anywhere to pick up a commuter. This over smartness, rather
indiscipline on their part results in giving jerks to the passengers
at large and particularly the aged ones and the female with babies in
their arms. Having paid the traffic cops weekly bribe, the mini bus
drivers care least for their standing on the road to maintain traffic
rules. The traffic cops too look the other way even when they spot an
over loaded mini bus, with a large number of commuters standing and
some even hanging on the window, since they are paid their Hafta
regularly. In view of the Jammu city expanding and more and more
people feeling the need to avail of traveling by mini buses on various
routes, the number of mini buses plying on the city roads has risen
considerably. Even then the number falls short during peak hours of
offices and schools, colleges opening and closing. While there is need
for issuing licenses for more mini buses to ply particularly on
certain routes, what is required more is to discipline the drivers,
whose little indiscreet action and negligence can cost several
valuable lives.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
