One life lost – every 4 minutes

By the time you finish reading this post, another life would have been lost especially if you were reading this while driving. By the time you like this on Facebook and forward it, another life would have been lost, again if you were driving. … Just check the following two pictures.

I know most people would have registered the number of the car, but how many people noticed the video call that the driver was on ? These pictures were taken a couple of days back on my way back from work, near the Huda City centre station. I keep my cellphone on silent mode while driving and don’t pick up calls except when am parked at a red light. If I have to make a call, I stop the car on the side and then make the call. I am guilty of sometimes using the speaker to inform mom as soon as I enter the gates of my condominium complex, but I have stopped those too. I managed to get these pics because the traffic was standing still.

This young man, was constantly on the phone and that too a video call as traffic started to move and yes he bothered everyone by moving slowly or jumping lanes. Yes someone was killed in the time that he was on the phone, that day not because of him but because of another young man on the cellphone.

India has the maximum number of deaths due to road accidents, completely preventable if only we follow some basic rules. Even more scarier are two wheeler drivers sticking a phone and craning their neck while talking and driving. Almost everyday I find several people driving while talking on their cellphone. Hey, reach where you have to and then call, or park on the side and finish that conversation. Life and work and love all happened before cellphones and will happen long after something else replaces them. Helmets when you are riding a bike, scooter or cycle are a must. The world lost a great man Stephen R Covey to a cycle ride done without a helmet !!

Just three things will reduce the number of lives lost to road accidents – follow the traffic signals and don’t jump the lights, wear a helmet if you are on a two wheeler and seat belts if in a car and keep your inseparable cellphone on silent mode inside your bag.

Satyamev Jayate brought some of the accident victims’ families on their show … It was heart rending to see what the surviving family members go through. There’s lots more to do to get help once an accident occurs, but atleast do what one can to prevent road accidents. It’s an appeal and again start young, teach driving etiquette in schools and parents have an important role as well. We have had several mothers and fathers driving on the wrong side of the road to drop their child to the school …. Terrible message to the child and one that may cost a life.

We just lost another life in a road accident somewhere in India … 4 minutes.