Road safety everyone’s responsibility

IMAGINE if everyone, prior to getting in a motor vehicle, behaved like one was on board an airplane.
The number of road accidents in this country would definitely be reduced.
People would pay more attention to safety demonstrations and familiarising themselves with the safety cards before taking off.
From passengers to cargo, no other form of transportation is as examined, investigated and monitored as commercial aviation is.
It has been said that after all these years, Papua New Guineans still does not know how to use the road properly.
We still do not know how to behave in a vehicle.
We still do not know how to use the roads.
Year in and year out, the Motor Vehicle Insurance Limited and the National Road Safety Council (now Road Transport Authority) would conduct nationwide campaigns on the importance of road safety.
But we still see road accidents happening because people deliberately ignore the safety messages.
It comes back – again – to our attitude.
We do not need to be reminded as Papua New Guineans about our attitude problem towards laws in general, and public properties and public safety.
When road rules are disregarded, when safety messages are overlooked, when road conditions are not considered, road accidents happen.
And the costs are high. Lives are lost.
Compensation claims, more so in this country than any other, have to be paid to the relatives of the deceased if the driver is at fault.
One is given a driver’s licence after going through a test.
They are tested on simple road rules which should be at the back of their minds at all times.
To pass the driving test, the applicant must also demonstrate skills in steering, braking, signaling, doing three-point turns, applying the right-hand rule and parallel parking.
Pilots, on the other hand, also go through rigorous training and certification processes. Plus, one must go to flight school and receive a licence.
Airline companies require pilots to attend at least two years of college.
Unlike on the road, there is an intense screening process in aviation to determine those who are licenced to fly.
The pilot will not take a flight unless he or she has been
cleared, and the aircraft is safe to fly.
Maybe the same intense screening should also be applied to drivers and boat captains.
Many drivers are reckless because operating a motor vehicle feels so mundane. Errors such as multi-tasking, failing to wear a seat belt, talking on the phone while driving or simply forgetting to use traffic signals result in deaths.
The laws are there for our convenience and safety. But they are only as good as the people using them, and those who are supposed to enforce them.
The role of police and RTA are very important.
By working together, committing ourselves to respecting road rules and the safety of our passengers and other road users, we can reduce road accidents.
Anyone who fails to adhere to safety procedures have only themselves to blame if they are involved in an accident.
Road safety must be an important focus of our lives.
And the message must target children, too, in this new year.
The authorities should go to schools, churches and other organisations to help in the dissemination of important messages.
Road safety is everyone’s responsibility.
Shirking it will only lead to more casualties and suffering.