In the period of time between the annual Hornbill Festival to Christmas and further leading up to New Year there had been several cases of road accidents reported across the State. Only a fraction of it is actually reported in the news dailies. In fact it was disclosed that during the Hornbill Festival, regular accidents happened and some of the well known hospitals in Kohima and Dimapur were booked with accident victims. For those who enforce the law, the experience over the years of increasing road mishaps occurring in the lead up to New Year should be used to plan out more precautionary measures including the generation of basic awareness on safe driving. The Church can also be involved in disciplining the negligent road-user behavior during this season of high spirits and bonhomie. The high toll of people killed in road accidents should therefore remain a concern for all and sundry as it involves the safety of the public at large. It should not come as a surprise that 9 out of 10 accidents reported have been attributed to either recklessness or driving under the influence of alcohol. It goes without saying that the major cause of road accidents in Nagaland is not so much the lack of knowledge or road conditions but lack of discipline driving that result in fatal accidents. Maintaining self discipline on the road is the best solution to avoid accidents and if every person sitting behind the wheels can adhere to the basic safety norms travel on the road would be a much safer experience.
Besides, a more long term initiative needs to be put in place through a vigorous safety education program so as to inculcate a safety culture among motorists, cyclists and pedestrians. Further, rather than depending solely on disseminating piecemeal information, more stress now needs to be given to road safety education beginning at the school level. This is more so because recent trends of accidents in Nagaland suggest that in a majority of fatalities or casualties involve young people in their teens. Also given the fact that drinking and driving pose a serious threat to road safety, necessary technical know-how needs to be put in place in order to make breathe analyzer tests mandatory on highways, in towns and cities and ensure severe punishment to drunken drivers. Educating on responsible and safe driving has to be taught at schools and other community level platforms including the Church in our Naga context. How many of us take seriously traffic rules and regulations? Actually not many of us bother to even know about what is road safety. At the end, the very issue of road safety is a matter of life and death and requires a commensurate attention.
