Navigating our roads as pedestrians or drivers has become one of people’s most challenging daily chores. Unfortunately, road accidents and the fatalities resulting from them are increasing. The medical profession is understandably calling for measures to make our roads safer for pedestrians and other road users.
Emergency doctor Jonathan Joslin echoed the concern of many when he cautioned against the use of mobile phones while driving or crossing the road, which has now become one of the leading causes of pedestrian injuries.
A culture that tolerates a lack of consistent enforcement of driving regulations and common-sense pedestrian behaviour makes our roads unsafe for many.
Joslin further identifies other causes behind the growing risks for road users. Testing drivers for substance abuse is not a common practice as tests are very random or only enforced in case of severe road accidents.
This lack of enforcement endangers the lives of innocent pedestrians and drivers who become the victims of vehicle owners who abuse drugs and alcohol.
Excessive speed on our roads is another cause behind the chaotic management of our roads system. Motorcyclists and fast car drivers have no right to use our roads to practise their racing hobbies, even if they claim that they use their powerful vehicles prudently.
The number of pedestrians that need to use a mobility scooter is growing as a result of an ageing population. However, trying to manoeuvre a wheelchair on the streets of our villages and towns is next to impossible due to narrow, poorly designed and maintained pavements.
Clearly, the authorities responsible for the safe use of our roads are failing to protect road users by consistently enforcing traffic regulations, introducing new measures to regulate pedestrian behaviour and lacking fresh thinking on how to design our streets and pavements.
The lethargy of the authorities responsible for making our roads safe is even more lethal due to the licence racket that permitted young and not-so-young drivers to obtain a driving permit without legitimately passing their tests.
It should not be so difficult to enforce the law in an island where so many drivers indulge in a litany of highway code breaches.
This administration is wallowing in blissful inertia that prevents the determined enforcement of road safety regulations. This may be due to administrative incompetence, political expediency or a lack of sensitivity to ensuring people’s lives are not put at risk unnecessarily.
The government had pledged a commission to investigate air, sea and road accidents from a “scientific” perspective with the aim of the changes coming into force by the end of December. Not much seems to have been done on this promise.
The NGO Doctors for Road Safety correctly argues: “We have been promised action in the form of an updated road safety strategy and establishing a transport safety investigations commission. It is high time that words are put into concrete action.”
Lethargy seems to have gripped this administration as it battles to manage the various incidents of abuse of power and corrupt practices. They forget that their prime responsibility is to make people’s lives better.
The least the government can do to mitigate the erosion of the trust of many honest citizens in politicians is to adopt the recommendations of Doctors for Road Safety.