A slew of agendas was tabled during the road safety committee meeting which was held on Tuesday evening in presence of the North Goa collector. Committee decided to identify black spots, accident-prone spots and drunken driving to reduce the incidences of road accidents.
In a second joint meeting regarding road safety in Goa, multiple departmental agencies, including the Department Of Transport, the Department of Health, the Directorate of Municipal Administration, the PWD division (roads), the NGO GOACAN, the Goa Police and others were present.
During this meeting, it was decided to identify black spots and accident-prone spots where multiple accidents are taking place.
After the meeting, North Goa Collector Mamu Hage told Gomantak Times that it was decided to identify accident-prone areas and study the cause behind accidents at that spot. The PWD (roads) has identified 24 black spots across Goa, which are most prone to road accidents.
She further said that instructions have been given to the superintendent of police (traffic) to conduct a study of these road accidents. It is most important to create awareness among people about road accidents and their reasons. Therefore, road safety as a subject will be included in the curriculum of high school students from 5th Std to 8th Std in all schools. The education department has been given instructions about it.
She also said that proper illumination of roads, speed breakers, signage for traffic movement, stray cattle on the roads and drunken driving causing accidents came up during the discussion at the meeting.
Religious structures, encroachments, electricity poles on the roads, etc can also cause accidents. A combination of bad roads without proper illumination can cause fatalities as well. North Goa Collector Hage assured us that she would include these points in the next road safety committee meeting.
Roland Martins, GOACAN convenor, told the media that it is necessary to implement road safety measures which are notified in the gazette. There are sub-committees and committees which look into road safety in their areas and those should work on the ground actively.
He further said that the reasons behind the road accidents such as lack of road illumination, absence of signboards, rumblers, etc need to be given consideration. These things should go on record.
Martins pointed out that the departments, including the local governing bodies, should work in a synchronised manner to reduce road accidents. “All points related to road safety should be implemented in toto. Drunken driving, which is one of the major causes of accidents, should not be taken lightly,” he added.
As per the recent records available with the traffic police, there were a total of 251 road accidents until October 31, 2022. Of these, 23 were fatal and 17 were grievous accidents. The traffic police have booked 39110 cases under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, until October 2022.
