Before John Denver, the country singer died on 12 October 1997, I had the opportunity to go for one of his concerts. Before singing his songs, he told a story ...There was a small mining town somewhere in South America. Men would wake up early in the morning and walk up using the mountain road leading to the mines at the top. The road is treacherous and slippery, especially when blanketed by the morning dews. Because of those conditions, every now and then, a man would fall from the mountain road down to the valley at the bottom of the mountain. The mayor of the town then decided to build a hospital and bought an ambulance to bring the bodies to the hospital for treatment. As time went by, more and more miners fell down to the valley at the bottom of the mountain.
This time, the town's mayor tried to solve the problem by building a truck road and gave orders that all miners must go up to the mountain by hopping onto trucks rather than walking on the slippery road. This 'innovation' did not stop bodies from falling down the cliff. The problem was more acute because instead of a single body falling, a busload of miners fell each time. The mayor thought long and hard. He came up with a solution. And that solution is that more ambulances ought to be bought and a bigger hospital to be built!
But, bodies kept falling down from the mountain road at the top to the valley at the bottom.
Then a bus company came along and applied to the mayor to give them permission to use the mountain road so that they could ferry workers from another town who were also interested to work in the mine on top of the mountain. The mayor told the bus company that he has no objection. But warned them that there would be casualties falling from the cliff above. On hearing this, the bus driver said to the mayor, "that's not a problem Sir; all we need to do is to build dividers and fences along the road " and no body fell ever since.
How do we reduce road accidents in our country which often result in dealths?. I am sure each morning when you open your newspapers, somewhere, someone is killed due to road accident. Often, young men/women are involved. Such a waste of human lives who are at their prime.
By meting out heavier and heavier penalty in the form of fine would not deter much, I would guess. If we wish for a good outcome in anything we do, surely we must start it right. If our drivers are subject to a stringent test of driving skills, sound knowledge in road signs and an unselfish caring attitude on the road, road accidents will surely be reduced.
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