Centralisation of traffic licensing system stressed

Islamabad: Dr Muhammad Zaman of the Department of Sociology, Quaid-i-Azam University, called for the introduction of the centralised public transport system and centralisation of the traffic licensing system and maintenance of standards for vehicles by the legislative bodies.

"There is dire need for a standard public transport system in metropolitan cities. It has been argued at the state level that the road safety issue cannot be addressed due to the lack of funds but in reality, it is more of a management issue," he told a seminar on 'Road Safety in Metropolitan Cities of Pakistan', which was organised by the Department of Sociology, Quaid-i-Azam University, in collaboration with the Higher Education Commission here.

The event was held to raise public awareness of road safety. The initiative was taken to produce reliable data to understand the behaviour of road users and sensitise the youth to the serious issue.

The seminar was based on the research work under the HEC Thematic Research Project of Road Safety in Metropolitan Cities of Pakistan. Dr Zaman, the project's principal investigator, discussed the overall state of road safety in the country and lacunas in legislation with the stakeholders.

Dr Muhammad Zaman explained the current state of the road safety globally and nationally. He said only 16 per cent of the world's vehicles were found in Asia Pacific Region but its share of total accidents was 44 per cent.

The researcher identified several gaps in legislation in this respect. “Only two convictions were found in the history of Pakistan due to road crashes. It means no one in the country is interested to realize the importance of the state of road safety affairs,” he said.

Dr Zaman proposed to fill the gaps in current standard operating procedures which include to reform the weak penalty system, devise a conviction law in case of fatalities as a result of road accidents, and to formulate a child restraint law. He said a number of legislations were not implemented adequately and were dormant in legislative system.

Dr Zaman highlighted the absence of smart parking, which can reduce influx of traffic. He said 40 per cent of automated signals in Pakistan were out of order. "There is a need for imposing heavy fines on traffic violations and these fines must be equitable according to the cost of the vehicle.

"The reduction of five kilometres per hour in speed by motorists can reduce 30 per cent of road fatalities," he said. He praised traffic police for serving the people on road regardless of the harsh circumstances. Dr Zaman also said people usually related the human error with fate though it was completely a man-made hazard.

The chief guest, DIG of Motorway Police Ishfaq Ahmed, discussed the initiatives taken by the police for road safety, especially the Urdu sign boards and increasing the amount of fines on violation of traffic rules. He appreciated the proposal of Dr. Muhammad Zaman to centralise the licensing system. He pointed that every individual must play his/her role in order to achieve the goal of safer roads.

The DIG requested the Department of Sociology to collaborate with the traffic police for educating the people about road safety and road use. District Emergency Officer Dr. Abdur Rehman, Dr. Sadia Saeed of the QAU Department of Sociology and The News editor Aamir Ghouri also addressed the event.