Goa: Five fatalities in four road accidents in 24 hours

PANAJI: A total of four fatal road accidents over a period of 24 hours have claimed five lives and left one injured. While two of these accidents involved two-wheelers, the rest involved four-wheelers. All four cases were that of self-accidents according to the traffic cell.
The traffic cell as well as road safety activists have called for immediate measures to curb road accidents in the state.

“People must follow traffic rules and comply with speed restrictions. Goa’s roads are not designed for speeding and there is a need to comply with speed limits,” said DySP traffic, North Goa, Salim Shaikh.
Despite the potholed and dilapidated condition of several of the state’s roads, Shaikh said that these accidents took place due to reasons other than road engineering.
He said that the winding Arpora road where one car met with an accident measures only 5m and the traffic cell is now proposing to the PWD to build a crash barrier there, install signage and widen the road.
The other car accident that took place at the Bambolim road. There was negligible traffic at the time of the accident and the stretch is wide. However, it is suspected that the driver of the car was drunk, which has prompted the traffic cell to restart the use of alcometers, which were suspended due to the pandemic
“It is high time. We cannot see life perishing on the road due to drunken driving. We will also step up on booking speeding cases now on,” he said.
Road safety activist Roland Martins said that there is a need for proper barricading near all water bodies and awareness programmes for motorists, especially tourists, on what to do when trapped inside a drowning vehicle. He also stressed on the need for wearing of seatbelts by rear-seat riders to ensure that what happened to the Bambolim accident victim doesn’t reoccur.
“Driving in Panaji is not the same as in Canacona and Pernem is not the same as in Valpoi. Though there are higher two-wheeler fatalities reported in Goa annually, this is a serious wake-up call for those travelling in a car who feel road safety doesn’t concern them,” he said.
A road safety activist from Ponda Pramod Sawant said that this does not mean that road engineering may be overlooked. “We lack infrastructure like proper street-lighting and signage warning motorists about cattle zones, speed bumps, etc, which when added to poor road engineering makes for a dangerous mix for two-wheeler riders. Night patrolling is necessary in the coastal belt and interior village areas to keep a watch on rash and negligent drivers,” he added.