WHY DO THE SMALL STATE OF GOA HAVE SUCH HIGH TRAFFIC ACCIDENT FIGURES by Alex D’Souza

In a recent article, the Times of India, Goa edition wrote........ “Despite several traffic safety drives and an increase in the number of persons being booked for traffic violations in Goa, the state's roads witnessed more than 12 accidents per day and six fatalities every week in the year 2010.

While from January 1 to December 31, 2009, there were 4,164 accidents and 310 fatalities on Goa's roads, about 4572 accidents and 327 fatalities were registered in 2010. The year 2008 saw 318 fatalities and 4,178 accidents on Goan roads, while 2007 witnessed 322 road fatalities ".

It is indeed very shocking to read that there are approximately 12 accidents happening in the Goa, every single day and approximately six fatalaties happen every week. When we look through the roads accident statistics for the past three years, one can notice that there has not been any significant improvement in the traffic situation in Goa. It appears that the Government is least bothered to do anything about the situation. How will the Government do anything about the traffic accidents situation in Goa, when the Government itself is totally responsible for it.

All the positions in the RTO department and the Traffic Police department are sold off to those candidates that can afford to bribe the most. (By the way, the procedure is the same to acquire any position in any Government department in Goa) Therefore these employees that are responsible to issue driving licences and traffic violation challans also operate in a similar fashion. Therefore the corrupt system / administration of the Government in Goa is fully responsible for every road accident death that happens in Goa.

Driving licences can be very easily obtained in any State of India, particularly Goa, not based on your actuall driving skills and the road traffic theory knowledge you posses, but based on your capacity to pay the suitable amount in bribes. The similar is the situation with the Traffic Department employees in Goa; they are least interested to legally pursue the traffic violators that are capable to pay the suitable amount in bribe.

Due to these above mentioned facts, I feel that the drivers / riders of vehicles and two wheelers in Goa can be classified into three categories:

1. Those that are willing and capable to pay the suitable bribe

2. Those that are close relations / associates of the Ministers / MLA's and the Road Traffic Law and Order enforcement officers.

3. Those that are the honest and law abiding citizens ( the majority ) .

We can thank GOD and the category 3 drivers / riders of vehicles and two wheelers in Goa (who are in majority ) that the situation of Road Accidents and related Deaths in Goa has not spiralled out of control.

The Superintendent of Police (traffic) Arvind Gawas in his statement to the Times of India said.............. "We are making every possible effort to reduce accidents and fatalities on Goan roads. However, the conduct of drivers must improve and road safety must be accepted as the collective responsibility of all road users to reduce accidents."

What a JOKE.....!!! It is beyond my comprehension how the Superintendent of Police (traffic ) could come out in public with such a irresponsible, aimless and an incompetent statement. How does he expect the conduct of the drivers / riders in Goa to improve when he himself leads the Traffic Department that is full of bribe seekers who are least interested in legally pursuing the traffic violators that are willing to pay the suitable amount in bribe? Has he any idea how the driving licences in Goa are issued? I wonder if he himself has obtained his driving licence in a dodgy manner. If has any genuine interest in the safety of Goans that drive / ride on Goan roads, ( as he himself wishes to display in public ) then he should first clean up the mess that has spiralled out of control, within his own department.

It is thanks to the corrupt Indian Government, its corrupt RTO officers and the Traffic Police Officers that the Indian driving licences are NOT VALID outside India.