Danger on the roads!
Ambreen Khalid
A professional with several years of experience in Marketing, Business Development and IT. I am resilient with a passion to learn and excel. I am an avid reader and an active member of book clubs and others writing platforms. I have a keen interest in literature and poetry and I love nature which inspires me to write.
Cruising along at a decent speed on a Sunday in the middle lane on Shahra-e-Faisal I was flanked on the left side by a big vehicle moving slowly. Suddenly two pedestrians crossing the road came right in front of me carrying two bicycles. I didn't see them coming from the left because of the flanking vehicle. If I would have braked maybe they would have been hit...
Well what I did was that I decided to swerve. But I couldn't get the car back on track and instead hit a huge pillar of a flyover on the left. My car crashed into the pillar having climbed the island and the next thing I knew I was dripping with blood and people were telling me to open the door. I survived the accident which was a pretty scary one indeed but anything could have happened. The two pedestrians seeing what they had caused ran away.
Many months later as I resume life, I cannot shake away the fear of somebody crossing the road and without warning coming in front of my car. Increasingly, I see pedestrians running to cross the roads and I also see accidents like mine along the roads every day. It is becoming a nightmare indeed. What is the solution to this rising defiance of the law which places the life of the driver and the pedestrian both in danger? Many say I should not have swerved and the transgressors of the law should have had a lesson. I squirm at what could have happened in that case.
Something needs to be done to ensure this does not happen. Proper law enforcement and measures should be taken for the enablement of pedestrians to cross roads. For this zebra crossings at regular intervals should be provided so that people are not forced to break the law and cross roads to get to the other side. I have noticed that the overhead bridges are few for such long stretches of roads like Shahra-e-Faisal and also sometimes it can be a hassle walking to a an overhead bridge and then climbing all the stairs and coming down from the other side considering that pedestrians are of all age groups. No wonder the resultant frequent crossings of roads and the danger ever prevalent which could cause lives to be lost as mine nearly was.
Proper zebra crossings at frequent intervals and proper law enforcement needs to be done to avert accidents and calamities like these and the public needs to be made aware of the provisions and any action steps taken for them. Any violations after that need to be fined and castigated heavily for endangering the lives of car drivers and commuters.
Spreading awareness to avert a tragedy is the responsibility of any caring and responsible individual. So I request my readers to spread awareness so that something can be done to address this growing danger on the roads.