Importance of Road Safety
"Transport post CoVID-19” - “Planning the New
Normal”
Wow! Indeed, it is a great topic to ponder upon and research
about. I also researched it a lot while I was thinking about this topic, I
thought that, first of all I should bifurcate this topic “Transport Post
CoVID-19” among “Transport” and “Post CoVID-19”.
Transport, what is transport? What is it all about? Were the
questions that struck my mind. That was the time when I started to research
these questions. The answers I got were quite satisfactory. I thought that I
should share this here also. In my opinion transport is not only
about locomotion or to go from point ‘x’ to ‘y’, it is the whole process and
the other processes that support it. However, transportation is any clear and
deliberate effort to amplify human locomotion. Today, there is a tendency to
restrict this term to the mechanical enhancement of moving persons and goods,
but as already shared I think this is too narrow a definition, as adventitious
use of natural forces still plays an important role.
Now, I thought that I should share a few thoughts about the
history of transportation. I inferred from my research that the earliest
transportation led to the effort to domesticate pack animals. The horse and the
camel were of greatest value because they might also be ridden, often at a
speed far greater than humans could maintain in their own locomotion. Oxen,
donkeys, asses, yaks and a number of other animals were used as carriers,
because once again one common factor was there which were “TRANSPORTATION and
LOCOMOTION”.
Coming from the History of transportation, I think now we
should come to the present. When I looked at this data, I was rather taken
aback and was disappointed. After so much awareness and information, still many
people are not obeying the traffic rules is a matter of great concern. If we
all obey traffic rules, then I think that very small numbers of accidents will
take place.
In a report of 2016, it was mentioned that a total of 85,506 traffic accidents were reported in 53 cities during 2016. 85,506 traffic accidents caused injuries to 73,313 persons and 18,404 deaths, adding to this it was also mentioned that the maximum fatalities in traffic accidents was reported in Delhi City (2,113 deaths) followed by Chennai (1,183 deaths) and Bengaluru (988 deaths). After reading this, I reached a conclusion that I recalled during the CoVID-19 Period which I will mention in the next paragraph.
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Consequences of Over Speeding |
Well, now we should go from the present to the future. Till
now, we have discussed “Transportation” as a single topic, but now I think this
is the time to combine it with “Post CoVID-19” as its suffix. After reading
that report of 2016 which I mentioned earlier, I thought that most of the road
accidents in the country are happening in major metropolitan cities, so when I
was writing this essay, I was keeping in my mind the situation of majorly, big
cities.
Before I start to write anything about “Transport Post-CoVID-19”
I made 5 pillars which I think we should keep in our mind before writing about
this topic. We will discuss all these pillars in this essay.
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5 PILLARS FOR TRANSPORT POST-CoVID-19 |
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1) Hygiene |
2) Safety |
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3)Maintaining Social-Distancing
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4) Smooth Circulation of Traffic |
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5) Awareness about Road Safety and all the above Pillars
covered |
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Self-Made
1) Hygiene: I think that Post CoVID-19
Hygiene will become one of the major reasons on which we should ponder upon.
While I was thinking on this line, I inferred that especially for public
transport, hygiene will be the major reason for the people. Basic hygiene should
be a must for everybody. I think that post CoVID-19, in every public transport
there should be proper arrangements for basic hygiene for example Sanitizers,
Clean Toilets in the stations, free water flow etc.
2) Safety: Safety can be defined as many
times as you can but then also it will be to narrow a definition. However, in
this time of Pandemic the most appropriate stream of safety is “SAFETY FOR
HEALTH”.
Indeed, Safety for Health is a tremendously vast topic. In
these times especially for public transport, Safety for Health should be
assured. If we, as public, will not get the assurance of safety then, I think
it will be difficult to Set the New Normal. Here, I think a mask will help us a
lot. No one wants to get ill because he was travelling, so Safety of Health
must be the Priority for Transport Post-CoVID-19.
3) Maintaining Social-Distancing: As we are
experiencing this CoVID-19 Pandemic where Social Distancing plays a major role,
I think Post CoVID-19 also, we must maintain and do appropriate arrangements
for Social-Distancing. I think that in the 21st century, it will be better for
us and the humanity to Maintain Social-Distancing appropriately. In the Public
Transports, Social-Distancing will play a major role. I think that we should
make proper arrangements for seating and other services while keeping in mind
the concept of maintaining Social-Distancing.
4) Smooth Circulation of Traffic: While we
travel in our private vehicles, if we get a clean, free from traffic road, we
get a very happy feeling on our faces. So, I think that this is also one of the
major pillars that we should keep in our mind for “Transport Post CoVID-19”.
For this, it is required that there should be No Blockage in
the road. I feel that, when there will be a Smooth Circulation of Traffic, Road
Safety will increase. I think that Smooth Circulation of Traffic was also
important Pre-CoVID-19 and will remain as important as it was in Post-CoVID-19
times also. Smooth Circulation of Traffic requires a lot of supporting plans
also. They include, good quality of roads, division of proper lanes, strict
rules, no blockage etc.
5) Awareness about “Road Safety” and all the above
Pillars covered: I think that for the implementation of all the above
pillars covered, awareness among masses is must and required. If the majority
of people will be aware about “Road Safety”, then I don’t think that it will be
very difficult to implement these. In this context, I would like to appreciate
the efforts of Indian Road Safety Campaign (IRSC) for organising the National
Road Safety Month.
Road Safety is a very important topic and it should be
promoted all-over India. Every single individual should be aware about “Road
Safety”. As there is a very famous quote: Sky is Not the Limit, therefore I, as
a 13-Year-Old boy feel that every Student of our Country should also be aware
of “Road Safety '' because it will help them a lot ahead.
“TRYST WITH DESTINY”
When I was thinking about this Phrase: “Tryst with Destiny”
I thought that this is one of the most suitable phrases for this Essay. Its
meaning is “to make a secret deal with something that is destined for us".
So, we will also make a good secret deal with Transport which is destined for
us in future which is Post CoVID-19.
Stay Safe, Stay Healthy
Jai Hind, Jai Bharat
This Article is Written By: Om Kumar