A few tragic accidents have recently taken place in India that had to be covered by the media. The first was the death of Cyrus Mistry, and the second was the bridge collapse in Morbi. First, accidents are common in India, and most people die as a result of car crashes or other driving hazards—but big news stories happen when someone involved breaks an unusual rule. Ultimately, it seems to be because of poor judgment or reckless driving that these two accidents happened. In India on average, there are several hazards along the road, such as animals on the road or cars parked along the side, stones, and potholes. So even if you’re traveling with the best care possible, there’s still a risk of getting into an accident.
Four reasons may have been important. The first is speed. It’s reported that the car was traveling at a high speed of over 100 km/h. And at that speed, it’s hard to control the vehicle if any last-minute hazards are noticed. The second factor is the lack of large, bold warning signs above the narrow path on the bridge ahead of where the accident occurred. The lack of signs and those too small to notice in India are characteristic of highways and byways.
The possible causes of Mistry’s and her co-passenger’s deaths are that they were not wearing seat belts in the rear seats. TV stations showed how accidents happen in an emergency, where a dummy is thrown over the windshield from a crash if he does not have his seat belt on. The actual cause was revealed by Munde’s fatal accident on the Delhi motorway, which happened just hours after he took office. It was only now that the Mumbai Police launched a campaign urging people to wear seat belts in the rear seats.
The lack of experience among amateurs like Cyrus Mistry is another cause for concern in an accident. One of the reasons people avoid hiring professionals is because they have extensive experience and would be safer in this situation. It’s also important to make sure your friends don’t talk too much, which may distract the driver.
The primary lesson we can learn from this is that even the safest car driven at a very high speed is not safe and can cause death. Secondly, on a long trip, use a professional driver who has been well-trained and experienced. Don’t overtake on the left side. Thirdly, Indian roads have many more signs in order to warn drivers of impending hazards. Fourthly, people should be required to wear their seat belts in the rear of cars. India loses about 150,000 lives each year due to road accidents. It’s truly tragic and avoidable.
The tragic Morbi suspension bridge collapse that took place in India recently is a recent reminder of the dangers of ignoring engineering and public safety during any kind of project. When this type of disaster arises, people wonder what could have been done differently, and some people come up with ideas about how to improve safety standards in the future. However, there are many different factors that made this bridge collapse, so it’s difficult to point out any single one as the cause. Instead, management should evaluate themselves by asking how they could have affected safety during construction work. It’s also important to note that it’s not just management who will be held accountable for this; the engineering standard in both India and the UK was completely disregarded when the main cables were not replaced or covered up before it was too late and vibrations were generated throughout the bridge, causing its fall.
After the Bhopal gas leak disaster and various other disasters, we set up reforms to prevent future disasters and prepare for rescue and relief. In major disasters, the loss of life has already been reduced by about 80%. Now is the time for India to create a National Safety Authority that will work with corporations, regulatory agencies, and others to establish safety standards on the roads. They must also monitor compliance with security standards and make a concerted effort to educate people on behavioral aspects of security. The objective must be to reduce traffic accidents and accidental deaths by 75% when India celebrates its 100th anniversary of independence.
