Re: Fast roads – Risks for pedestrians
KARACHI: Most victims of accidents motorcyclists, moot told
KARACHI, April 24: Young motorcycle riders are the main victim of road accidents in Karachi, experts told the National Road Safety Conference, organised in collaboration with the Sindh Education Foundation, Sindh Works and Services Department, Asian Development Bank and the World Health Organisation here on Tuesday.
More than five hundred people died in road mishaps in the city during the last seven months and majority of them were motorcyclists, said Dr Rasheed Juma in his presentation on “Road Traffic Injuries Research Project”.
He said a team of experts analysed seven-month data of five hospitals – Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Civil Hospital Karachi, Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, Liaquat National Hospital and Aga Khan University Hospital and found that 1,452 motorcycle accidents were reported during this period in which underage drivers were involved. The study showed that over 89 per cent of those died in accidents were under the age of 40 years.
He said the newly-built flyovers and underpasses also contributed to accidents, as people were not used to them. He said the lack of proper pedestrian bridges and badly engineered/ designed roads were major reasons behind the accidents.
Dr Rasheed Juma pinpointed numerous ‘black spots’ such as Korangi Crossing, M.A. Jinnah Road, Ghani Chowrangi, Gulbai Bridge, Northern Bypass, Numaish Chowrangi and Baloch Colony, where most accidents occurred. He said Saddar Town was on the top in number of accidents followed by Jamshed Town. He said of 17,600 injured victims, 12,580 reached hospitals on private vehicles due to dearth of ambulances.
He said the registration of new motorcycles and involvement of two-wheelers in accidents in Karachi was the highest in the country. He stressed the need to design and implement proper road safety laws.
In his presentation on “Motorization in Pakistan and Impacts on Road Safety”, Parvez Ghais said the country’s population from the current perspective seemed to touch 210 million mark by the year 2020while the number of vehicular transport was likely to reach eight million by then.
He stressed the need of financial and moral support from public and private sector to cope with road safety issues and called for proper road safety laws and their fair and candid implementation.
Mentioning that 5,000 casualties in road accidents are reported annually in Pakistan with an average of 14 people per day, he said, “This is not inevitable. We can escape this by applying proper road safety laws and non-compromising approach to the matter.”
Referring to the Swedish policy of no compromise on life or health for any kind of development, he said if Sweden could develop and successfully implement the policy back in 1997 why could not that be followed here.
Sindh Road Sector Development Director General Aijaz Ali Khan highlighted efforts made by the government in creating awareness and fabricating proper policies to minimize accidents. He said the Sindh Road Agency (SRA), the Sindh Road Fund (SRF), Road Accident Data System (RADS) and various other proposals were in the policy-making process. The government was well aware about the gravity of the matter and it was doing its best to tackle the issue, he added.
In a message telecast on the occasion, WHO Director Dr Chain said simple steps and attention to the serious matter could help saving millions of young lives, particularly in the developing countries. “This first United Nations Global Week has been dedicated to save road traffic accidents,” she said.
There were five panel discussions on corporate sector’s initiatives on road safety; health sector’s role in road safety; education’s sector role in road safety; traffic systems and engineering sector’s role in road safety.
The officials of provincial and district governments, traffic police, representatives of NGOs and other stakeholders attended the conference
http://dawn.com/2007/04/25/local12.htm
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