THE figures are very disturbing: 74 persons were killed in 75 days in fatal accidents in Goa. The figures strongly reinforce the fact that the government has not woken up to its social responsibility and ensured enforcement of the road safety provisions strictly.

Else, there is no reason why the mortality would have seen such a high rise. It also implies that the Goa police’s performance in checking rash and negligent driving is not satisfactory. Though the Goa police claims to make efforts to stop rash and drunken driving, the latest figures clearly establish that the result has not been so productive. The increase in the number of fatal accidents also point to the fact that while the Goa police suffers due to lack of staff to enforce safety measures it also does not undertake the investigation into the accidents on a priority basis. Incidentally, the latest report of the National Crime Records Bureau reveals that Goa is the third smaller state prone to fatal accidents after Dadra Nagar Haveli and Puducherry. Between 1970 and 2006, the numbers of accidents has quadrupled with more than 6 times increase in injuries and fatalities. During this period there has been a 48-fold increase in the number of vehicles but less than three-fold increase in road network. With the element of road safety deteriorating, obviously the question arises: what is the Government of Goa doing to curb the rising number of road accidents? Sometime back, the then Superintendent of Police (traffic) had pointed out that the major cause of accidents is bad or narrow roads. It is intriguing that no serious effort has been made to widen them. Goan roads have already earned the nickname of being ‘killer roads’. The government should wake up to the reality and implement the suggestions of the Road Safety Council.