Vehicle checking should not be avoided at any cost

The official machinery wakes up at an astonishing speed when there are accidents that shock the state. Five persons, including two children, were killed at Nattika in Thrissur at around 4.30 am on Tuesday when a lorry ran over a nomadic family sleeping on the roadside. The driver and the cleaner of the lorry, which came from Kannur via Mahe carrying timber, were in an intoxicated state. The driver, who had lost his senses and went to sleep in the early hours of the morning, leaving the cleaner to drive the lorry, did not recognise in his intoxication that he was knowingly inviting a massacre. There is no point in thinking about how much sin the driver who handed over the lorry to a cleaner who does not even have a license has committed. The state of Kerala is witnessing so many accidents, big and small, every day, making the public roads a killing ground!

According to the police, around 5,000 people die in road accidents in the state every year. More than half a million people have been injured. Traffic law has been tightened to reduce accidents and deaths. There is a huge fine for violations. However, none of these measures are sufficient to reduce accidents. Violations of the law are on the rise. The biggest drawback is that there are not enough personnel to ensure that the traffic law is followed.

The nomadic family living in Muthalamada in Palakkad had to face untimely death on the national highway where work was going on. The family, which had been earning a living by collecting scrap and selling it, came to sleep in an empty plot on the national highway after their regular sleeping spot in Thriprayar was vacated following the festival. Barricade security was also put in place as the work was going on.

However, the lorry cleaner, who was under the influence of alcohol, could not differentiate between the road and the barricades. According to the police, the driver and the cleaner were drunk from Kannur and were in a state of semi-consciousness. The rules turned out to be mere spectators when not a single policeman tried to check the lorry anywhere on the path or stop the lorry employees for violating the rules. Many, including the administrators, are now coming forward to speak with a big mouth in the confusion created by the mass death of five members of a disadvantaged family. The registration of the lorry has been cancelled and the license is also planned to be withdrawn. The transport minister also said that more stringent measures will be taken and night-time inspections will be tightened.

Human massacres like this could have been prevented if night-time patrols and inspections had been carried out properly. Intervening only when accidents occur is not the right way of governance. It's something that needs to be done non-stop. A good part of accidents happen at night. Uncontrolled parking on the roadside, overspeeding and drunken driving are some of the reasons for this. This can only be controlled with rigorous inspections and monitoring. Arrangements should be made to check vehicles plying at night at least somewhere on the route. For that, adequate police force personnel should be deployed. There is no point in shedding crocodile tears only when there are accidents. It remains to be seen how it can be effectively prevented. It is the lethargy and neglect shown by those in charge of enforcing the law that has always turned public roads red.