Two brief news items in one of the Hindi newspapers today, made me sad and left me thinking - A young girl was coming back from gym when she was ran over by three buses, one after another, in Mumbai. The girl obviously died on the spot. A young boy was coming back from school and was crushed by a speeding train while he was walking down a railway crossing. He too died.
There were two similarities in these tragic deaths - both the girl and the boy were young and both were using their headphones attached to their phones. What a colossal loss of human resource and a lifelong pain for the parents!
The news reminded me of an article "Cellphone Kills", in the Reader's Digest, which I read long time back. Then there are cases regularly being reported and studies frequently being done too tell the world about the harms of using phones on the road - be it by a pedestrian or by a driver. These reports also reveal as to how many lives can be saved only by not using the phone when on the road. According to these reports more than 75,000 people die every year in India in road accidents and more than 25 per cent of these deaths are preventable if basic traffic rules are followed by drivers and a common vigilance is adopted by the pedestrians.
But do these figures sound an alarm bell? At least not to those who claim that they find the best time to talk on phone when they are driving; or those who claim to be cool because they are not bothered about the world and are busy in their favourite music even when they are walking!
In India, wearing seat belt in the car is below dignity (some pretend to entangle the belt when approaching a traffic signal fearing the presence of the cop. Wearing a helmet is an ordeal and most of the riders prefer to keep the gadget hanging, some riders just put it on their heads as caps. Others put it on their head to fool the cop.
Talking on mobile phone when driving is a common phenomenon, here. And, if you tell the driver of the car not to use the phone he would certainly take an offence as this means you have challenged his driving skills! He is a competent driver and that is why he can talk on phone and drive.
Same is the case with pedestrians - they feel they are safe since it is only the vehicles which meet with accidents.
Bikers, scooterists, car drivers, lorry drivers, and pedestrians - for all of them - those few minutes or hours on the road are the most important times of their life when they have to finish the business and close the deals. Whereas the reality is that most of these law breakers are most of the times late for their appointments, delay their work and are never able to finish their work on time.
Then why this rush!
People need to understand that it is not cool to talk on phone and drive but cool is to pull over and take the call. It is not cool to be using headphones while walking on the but cool is to be vigilant and follow the rules laid for the pedestrians - like crossing the road when its signal for you - looking before crossing - not trying to cut across the traffic flow - walking on the pavement and so on.
It is not cool to neglect the rules which are not to make the law makers or cops happy but cool is to follow all the rules which have been formulated for our safety.
Whether it is seat belt or helmet or a strict ban on telephone use - following these norms not only ensures our safety, it tells that we are considerate about the lives of other as well.
I wish the day comes when young and old everyone starts finding it cool to follow the law and abide by the rules!
There were two similarities in these tragic deaths - both the girl and the boy were young and both were using their headphones attached to their phones. What a colossal loss of human resource and a lifelong pain for the parents!
The news reminded me of an article "Cellphone Kills", in the Reader's Digest, which I read long time back. Then there are cases regularly being reported and studies frequently being done too tell the world about the harms of using phones on the road - be it by a pedestrian or by a driver. These reports also reveal as to how many lives can be saved only by not using the phone when on the road. According to these reports more than 75,000 people die every year in India in road accidents and more than 25 per cent of these deaths are preventable if basic traffic rules are followed by drivers and a common vigilance is adopted by the pedestrians.
But do these figures sound an alarm bell? At least not to those who claim that they find the best time to talk on phone when they are driving; or those who claim to be cool because they are not bothered about the world and are busy in their favourite music even when they are walking!
In India, wearing seat belt in the car is below dignity (some pretend to entangle the belt when approaching a traffic signal fearing the presence of the cop. Wearing a helmet is an ordeal and most of the riders prefer to keep the gadget hanging, some riders just put it on their heads as caps. Others put it on their head to fool the cop.
Talking on mobile phone when driving is a common phenomenon, here. And, if you tell the driver of the car not to use the phone he would certainly take an offence as this means you have challenged his driving skills! He is a competent driver and that is why he can talk on phone and drive.
Same is the case with pedestrians - they feel they are safe since it is only the vehicles which meet with accidents.
Bikers, scooterists, car drivers, lorry drivers, and pedestrians - for all of them - those few minutes or hours on the road are the most important times of their life when they have to finish the business and close the deals. Whereas the reality is that most of these law breakers are most of the times late for their appointments, delay their work and are never able to finish their work on time.
Then why this rush!
People need to understand that it is not cool to talk on phone and drive but cool is to pull over and take the call. It is not cool to be using headphones while walking on the but cool is to be vigilant and follow the rules laid for the pedestrians - like crossing the road when its signal for you - looking before crossing - not trying to cut across the traffic flow - walking on the pavement and so on.
It is not cool to neglect the rules which are not to make the law makers or cops happy but cool is to follow all the rules which have been formulated for our safety.
Whether it is seat belt or helmet or a strict ban on telephone use - following these norms not only ensures our safety, it tells that we are considerate about the lives of other as well.
I wish the day comes when young and old everyone starts finding it cool to follow the law and abide by the rules!
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