KATHMANDU : Thousands of people lost their lives in road accidents every year in Nepal. Especially, road accidents happen during the festival and around the festival season. Particularly, road accidents have been occurring during the the big festivals like Dashain and Tihar.
Every year, hundreds of people lost their lives during the festivals like Dashain and Tihar. Nevertheless, the road accidents have not been minimized. People have been compelled to travel out of the Kathmandu Valley to their homes to celebrate the festivals like Dashain, Tihar and Chath overlooking the risk of road accidents.
Why do road accidents increase during festive season?
SP Rabi Kumar Paudel, spokesperson at the Metropolitan Traffic Police Division, said that lack of public awareness is the main reason behind increase in the number of road accidents during the festival season. He said that the road accidents occur due to the lack of awareness and negligence of driver.
Over-speeding, drunk-driving, tiredness, technical problem, overload and unnecessary competition are some of the other reasons behind the road accidents. “We find many drivers driving under the influence of alcohol during Dashain and Tihar,” he said, adding, “We Nepalis are over confident. We don’t adopt precaution until the accident happens. That is why, the road accidents are increasing.”
The road accidents occur due to over-speeding as all the people are in a hurry to reach their destinations to celebrate the festivals, SP Paudel said.
Public vehicle drivers often cause road accidents as they drive the vehicles over the speed limit in order to earn more money. The drivers earn more money if they reach the destinations early, he added.
Traffic Enginner Ashish Gajurel has also same opinion. He said that the road accidents have been increasing every year due to lack of discipline among the drivers and passengers. During the long-distance travel, passengers often scold and pressurize the drivers to taken them to their destinations as early as possible when the latter wants to take rest for some time, he said. “The road accidents occur as the drivers and passengers do not give priority to vehicle safety,” Gajurel added.
On top of that, he said that the roads which are constructed against the engineering standard and poor implementation of traffic rules are other reasons behind the road accidents.
How to minimize road accidents?
First of all, the government and concerned agencies should take measures to minimize the road accidents, SP Paudel said. In addition to that, the road accidents can be minimized by placing special traffic symbol boards on the roads during the night time, checking the situation of vehicles, giving the permit as per the capacity of the vehicles, not granting permit without carrying out technical inspection of the roads, and fixing the route by checking the structure of the vehicles, he said.
The road accidents can be minimized not only during the festival season but also other time if the concerned agency construct separate lane for two-wheelers and pedestrians, manage roads as per the standard, spread awareness among the passengers and establish centers in various places to give information about the road accidents. The road accidents can also be minimized if traffic police and Nepal Police personnel in every districts increase checking keeping in mind the safety of vehicles.
Likewise, Engineer Gajurel said that big and long vehicles should be banned from operating in narrow roads in hilly areas. He further said that the road accidents can be minimized slightly if the concerned agency construct the road by adhering the engineering standard and make the roads strong by speeding-up the road expansion work.
It has been learnt that the drivers do not follow traffic rules in rural areas as there is no presence of traffic police. He said that the road accidents can be minimized if the drivers do not drive the vehicles under the influence of alcohol, follow the traffic rules and take the responsibility of passengers.
