The horrific road deaths caused by sloppy construction work received a new casualty in Kerala. Youngster Dominique had to endure a brutal fate on the Thiruvonam day as his car rammed into a pothole which resulted in an untimely death. Potholes are ubiquitous in Kerala, and the authorities here pay less heed to them. However, these same political top guns won't give away an opportunity to gloat if any road works meet completion—Hoardings with their gleeful faces grace every nook and corner of the city, not to mention the copious social media posts.

Hitherto, it was two-wheeler riders who usually had to endure injuries and accidents due to the inept handling of potholes that were left unattended by authorities for eon long.

The car in which the youth was travelling fell into a pothole at the Palamkonam National Highway construction site in Kadakkavoor. Shockingly, the car slipped to a depth of twenty-five feet. It doesn’t elicit any surprise since these are mundane scenes in Kerala. The authorities won’t mind putting a warning sign or construction symbol beside the potholes but will leave it all for the riders to discern. According to this latest incident, the onus of the accident lies solely on the company that took up the road construction contract.

There were no signal lights to warn of danger or fences visible to passengers in the road construction areas. The car riders or the ones in two-wheelers rush through this path during the midnight hours and may not see the awaiting danger on the roads. People who are familiar with such roads may escape the death trap, that too by a whisker sometimes. Along with 24-year-old Dominique, there were five other youngsters in the car, and all suffered injuries in the crash.

The sad stories are recurring in Kerala but despite this grief, the authorities still continue the lax over taking necessary precautions to prevent road construction-related accidental deaths. The rule is to install fences and red lights around the pits to warn drivers, but such norms are seldom followed.

The national highway construction from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod is going on at a fast pace. Vehicles are being diverted at many places. Construction works on roads are still continuing in many parts of Kerala. The officials are not even ensuring whether warning signs or street light do their work in these concerned areas. People, mostly late-night riders are often caught in the cobweb of accidents and it is a shame nevertheless that such incidents are repeated despite the many gruesome deaths that have timely warned about a need for change.

However, it is the responsibility of the government to take all precautions on roads. A higher official should be assigned the task of inspecting such sites and ensuring that all precautionary warnings are provided to alert the ramming passengers.

Such deaths due to negligence pile up in Kerala only because no official is held accountable for the death, as everyone concerned is set free with impunity. In foreign countries where robust road law prevails, such accidents just remain a bad dream but not any reality.