THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary- December 2, 2017- Topic 1
Accident-prone: the apathy over enforcing road safety
rules
The most effective measure to keep roads safe is enforcement of rules with
zero tolerance to violations. But as anyone who uses India’s roads knows only
too well, that is not an administrative priority. Even the periodic directions
of the Supreme Court in a public interest case, Dr. S. Rajasekaran v.
Union of India, have not produced any dramatic change in the official attitude.
In spite of the court setting up the Committee on Road Safety and appointing
an amicus curiae to help implement its recommendations, it is mostly
business as usual for the police in enforcing road rules, for engineers tasked
with forming roads and pavements, and transport officials in charge of
licensing. The death of 1,50,785 people in accidents in 2016, which represents
a 3.2% rise over the previous year, indicates the scale of the challenge.
Fortunately, the orders of the court now provide actionable points with
deadlines for implementation. Governments should be called to account on these,
and civil society must ensure that they act without compromise. The most
important among these is the Road Safety Action Plan that each State and Union
Territory must announce by March 2018, and roll out after giving due publicity.
But police forces and transport bureaucracies need not wait for formalisation
of the plan, and should start enforcing rules relating to lane-based driving,
using CCTV cameras to penalise offenders, and conducting safety audits along
with experts.
The absence of a scientific approach to accident investigation in India remains
a major factor in fixing responsibility. This was pointed out by the Sundar
Committee of the Ministry of Road Transport in 2007, but other than a failed
attempt at creating a National Road Safety and Traffic Management Board, no real effort has been made at reform. The
orders of the Supreme Court provide a road map, and the direction to States to
form a District Road Safety Committee headed by the Collector before January
31, 2018 should ensure that someone is accountable when citizens file complaints
on hazardous conditions. It bears pointing out that the court-appointed
Committee on Road Safety has written to States on the need to prosecute every
case of driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, seeking imprisonment
and fine, and to treat driving on the wrong side of the carriageway as an
offence under Section 279 of the Indian Penal Code, which can lead to
imprisonment, and not merely under the Motor Vehicles Act. Stringent penalties
have a lower chance of being imposed, compared to fines that are proportionate
to the offence. Yet, even the existing minor penalties are not being imposed,
and road conditions remain hazardous due to poor engineering. This is proof of
the apathy of the system. It’s time to shake the system out of its indifference.
Vocabulary
Enforcement: the act of compelling observance of or compliance with a law, rule,
or obligation.
Example: The strict enforcement of environmental regulations
Tolerance: the
ability or willingness to tolerate something, in particular the existence of
opinions or behavior that one does not necessarily agree with.
Example: The tolerance of corruption
Synonyms: acceptance, toleration, open-mindedness, forbearance
Priority: a
thing that is regarded as more important than another.
Example: Housework didn't figure high on her list of priorities
Pavement: any
paved area or surface.
Example: A common demand by the residents of the Lake Area is that the pavement
around the monument be cleared of encroachments and hawkers.
Offender: a
person who commits an illegal act.
Example: An institution for juvenile offenders
Synonyms: wrongdoer, criminal, lawbreaker, miscreant, malefactor, felon
Approach: a
way of dealing with something.
Example: We need a whole new approach to the job
Synonyms: method, procedure, technique, modus operandi
Hazardous: risky;
dangerous.
Example: We work in hazardous conditions
Synonyms: risky, dangerous, unsafe, perilous, precarious, fraught
with danger
Proportionate: corresponding in size or amount to something else.
Example: The punishment should be proportional to the crime
Synonyms: corresponding, proportionate, comparable, in
proportion
Apathy: lack
of interest, enthusiasm, or concern.
Example: Widespread apathy among students
Synonyms: indifference, lack of interest, lack of
enthusiasm, lack of concern
