Weekend Musings: 3 E’s of Road Safety - Education is the First Step

One morning this past week, I reached office unusually late despite starting from home on time. The usual 15-minute drive turned out to be more than 30 minutes! The culprit, no surprise, was a horrid traffic jam. Two cars had bumped into each other with minor scratches visible and thankfully no one injured. But the chaos was not because the cars had stopped but more so that the two drives were arguing in the middle of the road, not showing any indication of moving onto the side. This got me thinking, we all make mistakes and small mishaps while driving do tend to happen but what could have avoided or at least reduced the traffic jam would be if the drivers took their cars on the side of the road and resolved the issue. This is basic road sense and courtesy to fellow travellers; which I feel we need to more mindful of.   

Road safety and traffic sense is something everyone considers to be of prime importance. And in my opinion, there are three key aspects to making it better – education, enactment and engineering. I will be sharing my thoughts on these aspects over the coming weeks but for today, my appeal is to the primary stakeholders – drivers and pedestrians on how being aware is the key. 

Most will agree that driving in India is not easy, even considered dangerous by many; and that our roads can never be safe. But then I would like to ask this question to all as to what are you doing to make them safer. I believe that road safety is possible; simply because the primary stakeholders involved can ensure it on their own. Our safety lies in our own hands, especially when we are on the roads. Drivers and pedestrians can ensure complete road safety even in the absence of all rules, or create utter chaos despite any number of rules. Ensuring their complete dedication to the task can go a long way in complete safety and the first step towards it can be taken even at school-level – with education.

The fact that school students (though underage) drive is no secret. The recent incident involving three kids on a two-wheeler in Delhi is a testament to this. Now imagine how great it would be if the parents, apart from teaching their kids how to drive, also taught them road safety and driving etiquettes. Similarly, educational institutes could share this responsibility with dedicated classes, seminars, or guest lectures on the topic. Fostering appropriate behaviour from an early age can really help integrate road safety into everyone’s mindset.

It is important for us to be cognizant of the various road signs to traffic rules to government schemes. For instance, I asked a few of my colleagues the ambulance number in India and none of them knew the answer – it’s 102. Similarly, not many are aware of the concepts of when to use a dipper or drive on high beam. As far as I am aware, only some of these aspects are covered and that too in a single session upon applying for a driver’s license. And then there is an inherent reluctance to follow traffic rules even if awareness exists. I cannot even count the occasions I have seen people ignore zebra crossings and traffic signals. 

Even though the government has come up with rules and regulations, the responsibility equally lies with all of us to make our roads safer. There is another thing, a very important one that no book/test teaches – it is to practice tolerance and patience while on the roads. Smallest of incidents on the road quickly escalate into something drastic; mostly due to lack of patience. I truly believe that if we first educate ourselves and then act upon it, half of the battle is won. Hence, I appeal to you all to be more responsible and aware when on the roads as only then can we make India’s killer roads safer.