Traffic Safety week and fortnight have become an opportunity for traffic cops and RTO officials to fill their pockets.

It is indeed very true that thousands of innocent lives are lost in Goa every year due to indiscipline or rash and negligent driving. The government or the Traffic Cell of the police department and the Rural Transport office organise safety week and fortnight twice a year in a bid to instill, inculcate discipline driving. However it has not only become an annual event only to facilitate traffic police to file their reports for the audit of the Transport department.

The traffic cell personnel do conduct talks and camps for public transport drivers like buses, trucks, rickshaws, pilot and college students or those who have just crossed the threshold of youth and are eligible to apply for driving license. This exercise is being carried out for decades but fails to bring down the count of accidents and deaths, in fact the graph of deaths due to motor vehicle accidents is rising.

Daylight robbery:- Gang of Traffic cops lining their pockets.

There are various reasons for this increase in accidental death. Rash and negligent driving, lack of respect for human and animal life, drunken driving, underage being allowed to drive by their parents. All these reasons could be attributed to the general public. But the government and its department or cells and RTOs concerned with traffic management cannot be absolved of the blame since they are the authorities responsible for issuing licenses, or penalising offenders, managing and regulating traffic in the cities, patrolling highways. Basically overseeing the flow of traffic throughout the state.

Ironically all the minions of the Transport department have become fountain-head of corruption. Otherwise how can one justify 16-17 years old youth procuring driving licenses, how can they explain public transport vehicles and transport vehicles drive on treadles tyres, criss-cross the state with load beyond the permissible limits. Is it not a common sight to see the helpers pushing overhead cables skywards so as to let the heavy vehicle pass?

Some of these heavy vehicles (including Kadambas) struggle to climb even the Siridao climb as the maintenance and servicing of these vehicles is almost negligible. Traffic violations are plenty and it is humanly impossible for handful of transport personnel to bring about discipline in this important sector.

Sing-song writer Varun Carvalho rams his sports BMW into a gadda
at Varca during the wee hours of the morning.

Rural Transport Officers fatten their accounts with illegal money extracted and extorted through bribes for issuing licenses to individuals who are not thorough with rules and traffic signages, issuing driving licenses to underage youth for consideration, RTO officer’s palms are greased before inspection of transport vehicles. Over-laden interstate vehicles are allowed to enter the State at check posts at the borders. Over and above officers deputed in the enforcement wing of Rural Transport Office live a very comfy life. Three to four officers travel in official air conditioned vehicle during their rounds which is a rare occasion, while a small section of traffic cops and Home Guards toll in the scorching sun to regulate flow of traffic entering and exiting the cities.

The main job of the traffic cell personnel is to manage and regulate traffic movement in the cities, ironically a large chuck of traffic cops are deputed to issue challans and collect revenue for the government. And this is where corruption begins. A miniscule percentage of the amount collected by way of fines for not wearing helmets or seat belt, talking on the mobile while riding and driving, three persons sitting on a two wheeler, not carrying driving licence or registration documents, pollution certificate, no insurance etc. gets deposited in the government kitty while a huge percentage of it ends in the pockets of the traffic cell personnel later to be distributed from traffic DySP to the traffic police inspector to the traffic cell constable.

So the government should realize that sending RTO officers or traffic cops on the field to collect revenue is bringing it a bad name and adds to the corruption charges against the government. Safety weeks and fortnights are opportunities for the traffic officials to fatten their personal weath.

What the government must realize is that we are far far behind in enforcing disciplined driving. Gone are the days when physical presence of the policemen and other transport officials on the road was required. What we need today is CCTV cameras, radars, speed monitors along the highways, state roads, important junctions and accident prone zones to capture over-speeding, drunken driving, rash driving and other offences. The footage transmitted by these electronic equipments should be beamed at a centrally located offices from where violators should be issued fines which have to be paid directly in the government treasury by individuals.

Since Goa is a tourist state where bars and restaurants are plentiful and liquor cheap, transport officials should be made to check drivers leaving the restaurants. If car owners are found to have consumed alcohol they should be fined and not allowed to proceed to their destination unless family members, relatives or friends who can drive are summoned.

There is an urgent need to raise the amount for fines. The minimum amount for traffic violation should be in thousands and severe the violations higher should be amount. Fines for over speeding, rash overtaking, drunken driven, talking on the cellphone and texting should be much steeper coupled with suspension of driving license for a year. In case of causing death due to rash and negligent driving fines should coupled with non-bailable arrest, suspension of driving licence till the court of law decides the matter, which in most instances take almost three to five years.

CM's picture launching new bikes for traffic cops that went viral
on the of the social media for the caption.

The speed limit in Goa on the National Highways is just 50kms/hr, on the bridges it is 30kms/hr. Besides speed-breakers are erected even on the highway but every year almost thousand deaths are reported. The government should realize that something is really wrong somewhere and get its act together immediately. It should bring in stringent rules and regulations for issuance of license. The government should seriously keep a watch on corrupt RTO officials who dish out licenses for consideration.

If the government does not get its act together in totality taking all the aspects into consideration, things are bound to get worse and more innocent lives will be wasted on the roads.