Delhi-Meerut highway accident: Stop the stupidity of 'road roulette'

It is a misconception that lemmings commit mass suicide. As part of their migratory behaviour, they cross water bodies, and when facing difficult aquatic terrain, many perish. Indians on the road are, in this respect, not like lemmings. Many regularly behave as if they do, indeed, invite death. In 2021, 'over-speeding' accounted for 69.6% fatalities, followed by driving on the wrong side (5.2%). The latter number may seem small. But, in sheer numbers, it is large - and avoidable - in a country with the dubious distinction of clocking the world's largest number of road accidents. Over the last decade, road accidents have been responsible for around 1.5 lakh deaths in India every year. There are nearly 50 accidents and 20 deaths per hour. This is unacceptable.

Tuesday's fatal accident on the Delhi-Meerut highway in which a speeding bus travelling on the wrong side of the road hit an SUV killing six of its eight passengers, ticked both 'stupid' boxes of speed and direction. Such behaviour in our cities is hardly unusual. As a signatory to the 2015 Brasilia Declaration, India committed to reducing road fatalities by half by 2022. India is not only far from meeting this goal, but fatalities have also been on the rise. Traffic rules have failed to make a dent, partly because the rules in the Motor Vehicles Act passed by Parliament have been watered down by states.

But the fact that driving against the flow of traffic is inviting the worst is plain common sense, something that seems overshadowed by an astounding combination of 'jugaad' and 'cutting corners'. This 'road roulette' culture is hardly first-world aspirational stuff. Penalties must be stiff so as to make taking such risks to take 'shortcuts' is no longer worth anyone's while.