Road Accidents: Right Education and Awareness
What can stop such a scourge as road accidents? Is it laws that will restrain the recklessness of drivers? Has this ever worked? Evidence is here: the more severe the laws have been made, the more the situation has worsened. The more moralistic and academically educated we are, the more uncivilised we have become. If education is not enough to deal with road accidents and other ills, then nothing can. A time will come, and I am afraid it already has, when without laws we shall not even be able to leave our doorstep.
But first we have to understand what we mean by education. Have we really dispensed that education which makes people responsible and self-disciplined, whether it is at home, in public places or elsewhere? Are we still taking high status, brilliant academic qualifications, mastering of both written and spoken languages, especially English or French, as signs of being educated? If yes, then I think we are very far away from understanding what education is. The root of the word education means "to lead out", from the root word 'educare'. But to lead out of what? Of our unconsciousness, ignorance, selfishness and so on, which are the root causes of not only irresponsible attitudes, but all forms of misery, conflict and evil.
It is not speeding that really kills, but our irresponsible attitude, lack of consideration for others and lack of awareness. Added to that, many drive under the influence of alcohol. Speeding no doubt increases the risk of accident, but a much more important factor is the unconsciousness of people. Have you ever wondered why we use the expression 'to raise awareness'? Words, slogans, laws, shocks, advice, morality and the like can break our inertia and lethargy to a tiny extent, and that too only temporarily. Those who know a little about psychology know that man is more than 90% unconscious. On top of that, our conscious mind is already loaded with so much rubbish - that is why we fall into our old habits now and again.
No matter how many laws we pass, we shall not be able to educate but rather restrain the individual. What we need is an expansion of awareness, which means an increase in intelligence. It is only then that virtues like responsibility, attentiveness, respect, care and so on will overflow.
Man is an aggressive and impatient creature. This is what leads him to drive carelessly at full speed. That nature can be transformed with an increase in awareness alone. Therefore my insistence is not on mere words to raise awareness, but the practice of awareness. There is a whole science to that. Responsibility, care and respect cannot be inculcated; these are virtues and form the intrinsic nature of man. However, they are deep inside us and thus have to be churned out.
Though the major cause of accidents is reckless driving and carelessness, together with poor driving experience in some cases, should we neglect other factors such as the poor condition of some of our roads, unlit sharp bends and roundabouts and lack of proper traffic indicators in some places? Another factor is the irresponsibility of many pedestrians: some walk at night with dark clothes and thus go unnoticed, others walk unconsciously on the road instead of using the pavements, and still others cross the road carelessly.
How many times we have avoided crashing into cyclists riding without front or rear lamp! Most motorcyclists seem to respect no laws when they are on the road; they expect others to always give priority to them! There is another factor that the authorities have to look into: most cars have their headlamps wrongly adjusted. Normally the left side should shine brighter, but in Mauritius, it is the contrary and that disturbs drivers a lot.
Moreover with a hectic lifestyle, most of us are always in a hurry. But our roads are narrow and not well designed, or I should say most have not been designed at all. They simply exist since colonial days. Not to speak about the long-lasting unsolved congestion problem! People have to reach their workplace, home, hospitals, courts and other places in time, despite all the congestion problems. It is true that it is one's responsibility to take all precautions to be on time, but despite this, there is always that unpredictable hurdle that comes our way.
Driving should not be a problem but rather a pleasure. However, for that, we need to provide for the necessary facilities, a good road infrastructure, congestion-free traffic and well-educated drivers. There are many drivers who come out on the road only after going through the basic test, and once on the road they become reckless and breach the driving rules.
Ultimately, only a responsible, intelligent, respectful and compassionate person (driver, pedestrian and cyclist) is the solution to the problem of road accidents. A few law-fearing citizens will try to be more careful, but human nature cannot be suppressed in everyone and for long. The number of accidents here and elsewhere bears evidence to that. Let us instead focus on education. Laws do not change mentality but right education does.
What we need is an expansion of awareness, which means an increase in intelligence.
The more moralistic and academically educated we are, the more uncivilised we have become.
