roko

Perumal (name changed) was a happy-go-lucky young man with a zest for life. Until one day, while out biking with his friends he had a head-on
collision with a truck on the busy highway on the outskirts of Salem in Tamil Nadu.

As with most small-town youngsters (and often city ones too) he was not wearing a helmet and as a result received extensive head injuries.

Doctors in Salem took one look at him, threw up their hands and told his family to take him to Coimbatore, the nearest town with facilities to treat serious head injuries.

But that meant a close-to- four hour ride on roads that are chock-a-bloc with vehicles on the busy National Highway between Salem and Coimbatore; a ride made more harrowing by the fact that the ambulance, despite its screaming siren and flashing light, was not given priority on the road and had to jostle for space along with the usual motley collection of vehicles, ranging from trucks and buses to tractors, cyclists, bullock-carts and pedestrians found on all our roads, including, at times, on expressways.

The net result was that he made to the Intensive Care Unit of Coimbatore’s KMCH a good two hours later than he would have if his ambulance had not been obstructed on the roads. Luckily for him the hospital has one of the best trauma care units in the country so Perumal made it. But not before many anxious moments for himself and his family! Perumal is one of the lucky ones.

An overwhelming number of road accident victims in India either never make it to the hospital in time or reach after so much delay that their chances for survival are greatly (and needlessly) reduced. Why? Simply because there is no dedicated lane on the roads to ensure that vehicles carrying the seriously injured/sick get right of way.

In a scenario where a delay of even a few minutes can make a difference between life and death, such wanton delay because of congestion on the roads is criminal. The government’s recent media campaign to sensitise the public about the need to give way to emergency vehicles is, therefore, most welcome.

However, in most of our cities the roads are so congested and the traffic so indisciplined that even if people wish to give way for such vehicles they are simply unable to do so. Take a city like Delhi.

It has some of the widest streets in the country and yet during peak hours there is hardly an inch of space on the roads with the result that even when you hear an ambulance behind, there is nothing you can do except offer a prayer for whoever is inside.

No wonder India has the dubious distinction of having not only the highest number of road accidents but also the highest number of casualties from such accidents. Steps to root out corruption in the issue of driving licences, better roads, traffic signals etc can help reduce the number of road accidents.

But since these can never be eliminated entirely, they need to be supplemented by measures to ensure that as and when accidents to occur there is no delay in getting the victims to hospital.

It’s the same story with fire-engines. A few months ago when a devastating fire broke out Stephen Court in Kolkata and many lives were lost, there was a hue and cry over the lack of fire safety measures in buildings. But there was hardly any mention of the difficulties encountered by firemen in reaching the site of the fire quickly.

It is a fair surmise that casualties in almost any fire or road accident would be far fewer if rescue vehicles could reach the site quickly and get the victims to hospital in time.

This is where we need to take a leaf out of the books of many advanced countries where civic authorities leave one lane for emergency vehicles. Today we are in the midst of a massive road building/widening project.

But unfortunately we do not seem to have given any thought to this aspect of road safety. Yet scarcely a day passes without some horrific report of a serious accident.

In Salem, Perumal’s family offers a daily prayer for the ambulance driver who got him to Coimbatore in the nick of time. But for every Perumal who survives there are hundreds who fail to make it to a hospital in time. That can and must change. And it will if we ensure one lane is kept for emergency (not VIP) vehicles.

Economic Times, 13 Jun 2010

shamshuddin

friend in our country licences are not passed they are purchased due to the corrupt practice and hence this result.
in other countries to get a licences takes required period and given required skill as in our country non of the driving school do it they only want to make money and part with knowledge and skill

vikaskumar11233

According to me this all depends on our own mistakes.If someone is driving crazy ,we have to drive safely and all these are sometime matter of luck.Yes,i agree the licenses are passed or made by bribe but don't forget we are also one of them .