Lindsay Pereira: Take the high road and stay alive

Apparently the BombayPune Expressway alone between 2002 and 2016 saw over 14500 accidentsOne of the saddest things I came across earlier this week was photographs of a funeral held for seven young men from Vile Parle all of whom died in a road accident while driving from Bombay to Goa The father of one of the victims told the press that the youth died while trying to save a person coming towards them on a bicycle Whether or not that did happen is almost impossible to verify as is usually the case in such scenarios but it did make me nervous for a few days whenever I stepped behind the wheel of my carItrsquos something we all know and recognise but refuse to do anything about simply because we donrsquot care mdash our inability to follow and our governmentrsquos inability to enforce road safety rules To zip across crowded streets is a matter of pride for so many of us To jump a signal or two in order to reach a restaurant one minute before everyone else is normal To run across highways often with children in tow may be the stuff of nightmares in some countries but is just another day in our lives Itrsquos as if we revel in bad behaviour and I fail to understand what it gets usOur cab and rickshaw drivers feel the need to spit at every traffic signal for reasons known only to themselves They use the horn as if their lives depend upon it pressing down relentlessly outside schools and hospitals desperate to move an inch more than they can Itrsquos not just them either Look around the next time yoursquore stuck in a jam and watch fellow Bombayites assault their horns waiting for traffic to magically ease before them Itrsquos almost as if noise pollution is part of our cultureIn December 2012 two actors Anand Abhyankar 50 and Akshay Pendse 30 along with the latterrsquos 2yearold son were killed after their car ran into another speeding vehicle on the BombayPune Expressway Pendsersquos brother Tanmay was troubled enough to find out more about that controversial stretch of roadway What he found ought to have featured on every political partyrsquos manifesto but doesnrsquotApparently the BombayPune Expressway alone between 2002 and 2016 saw over 14500 accidents Approximately 1400 lives were reportedly lost on that 94kilometre stretchHerersquos another thing that ought to surprise us all but doesnrsquot There is no trauma centre on the Expressway In the event of you getting into an accident you have only the kindness of strangers to rely upon The Highway Police do exist of course but when was the last time you saw them patrolling that stretch while you drove past Think about how bad it gets the minute the rains set in Think about signboards on either side that are often illegible the threat of falling rocks that routinely disrupt traffic the absence of emergency response booths or even a clean public toilet These are things that any government on Earth would incorporate into a project of this size at the planning stage And yet 15 years after the Expressway was thrown open at a cost of a reported R16 billion these things continue to remain on paper along with a million other promises made by a million politiciansInterestingly the government and a construction firm have pushed back against demands by activists to terminate toll collection on the Expressway Activists say the firm has crossed the amount it has the mandate to collect Naturally the firm begs to differ Itrsquos hard to figure out what these massive tolls have been used for considering the lack of basic amenities for commuters Itrsquos not hard to figure out why no political party feels the need to focus on safety here though why bother when yoursquore not sure which vote bank the commuters from both cities are part of Why worry about road safety when legalising illegal slums and renaming streets gets more political mileageMeanwhile there are talks of something called the NagpurBombay Super Communications Expressway To be built by that stellar organisation the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation MSRDC by 2019 it will supposedly require motorists to pay toll for 40 years in order to be financially viable What will that toll get you you ask Safety Efficiency Better policing Emergency services Going by the history of how things work in the state of Maharashtra Id say you should be happy with a potholefree stretch if nothing else And thatrsquos not guaranteed eitherWhen he isnrsquot ranting about all things Mumbai Lindsay Pereira can be almost sweet He tweets lindsaypereira Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycom