Licensed murderers

Administration needs to ensure strict enforcement of traffic rules and regulations

Earlier this week, Goa woke up to a startling ‘footpath accident’ in the capital city of Panaji, wherein an 18-year-old car driver crushed a bystander on a pavement, after allegedly losing control of his vehicle while reversing it. An innocent human lost his life for a mistake of another person. The shocking incident is the representation of the fast deteriorating traffic situation in Goa, claiming life after life on the state roads. The above incident has proved that people are not safe even on the Goan footpaths!

The accident disturbed a large section of the population primarily due to the disturbing visuals uploaded and made viral on social media. In the video clip, it can be clearly seen that a person next to the victim manages to escape when he finds the car zooming towards him. Or else, it could have been a double murder! Another video shows that after the driver hits parked bikes, several people gathered at the spot and then the driver while trying to escape reverses the vehicle at high speed and crushes the unfortunate bystander. Subsequently, the public pulls him out of the car. It is further deplorable that an alcohol test conducted on the car driver has revealed his intoxicated state.

Panaji, which was better off as a ‘cheerful city’ rather than a ‘Smart City’, once had its pavements at least a foot higher than the roads, which prevented the vehicles from climbing on them. Today, the ‘Smart City’ model has brought both, the city roads as well as the footpaths, at the same level. The recent ‘footpath accident’ could have been easily prevented, had the pavement been at a higher level. So much for city planning! 

Drunken driving is another menace, which is responsible for the accidents that were not supposed to happen. Former state Director General of Police (DGP), Indradev Shukla had described drunk driver as a “moving bomb” that could “explode anytime”, and kill himself or other road users. Goa as a popular holiday destination experiences uncontrollable surge of tourists in December. This scenario naturally results in tremendous increase in road traffic, further compounded by the rented vehicles. The holiday mood of many tourists combined with their irresponsible behaviour and easy availability of alcoholic drinks at an affordable rate creates a potent situation, accelerating the number of road accidents.

Last December saw a total of 243 road accidents in Goa, with North Goa reporting 14 fatal accidents, while South Goa had 10. In addition 26 grievous accidents were recorded in the month, besides 35 minor accidents and 159 non-injury accidents. The coming 27 days of the present month are expected to witness chaos on the state roads. The administration, therefore, needs to ensure strict enforcement of traffic rules and regulations through deployment of traffic personnel across the state. Regulating vehicular movement during this month, especially Christmas and the New Year period, could very well save many lives.

At the beginning of this year, the Goa traffic police had reported a decline in road accidents, with 2,660 incidents in 2024 as compared to 2,814 in 2023. However, these statistics mean very little. In spite of these claims, the year 2025 – till October – witnessed a total of 1,926 road accidents, with 215 people losing their lives. If spilling blood of innocent people on roads is the price we have to pay for progress and development, then we are indeed paying a very high price. The authorities need to seriously think over it!