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The pity of it all is that "promotions" and "bakshish" are harder to come by than deaths on the road. The police delude themselves into thinking that the two wheeler riders are fools because they part with their cash everytime they are caught for helmet-less riding. Everyone knows that this is a ploy "to extend the tax bracket." Almost all public carrier owners pay a "hafta" for the annual mandatory inspection of vehicles, commonly known as the "passing", bus conductors pay a hafta for not issuing tickets[although the AGBOA agrees to have tickets issued every time there is a demand for a bus fare hike] and for delaying exit from the state controlled KTC-bus stands at the scheduled time. Private car owners and 2-wheeler riders did not pay a hafta so far. Now they do. The seat belt rule and the helmet rule ensure compliance with this unwritten tradition.. This rule is being implemented on the highways only [in Goa, though it is compulsory on all public roads all over India in areas where MVA 1988 is implemented] because for this group of people 'time is money'. If this implementation was done in the villages, the cops would have been harangued. They have not yet mustered courage to do that. Buses and trucks that belch out gusts of thick black smoke pass by cops with interceptors and patrol bikes who stop two wheelers to check for a valid pollution under control[PUC] certificate. They turn a blind eye to the operators of unauthorized agencies issuing PUC but penalise the innocent riders who use these fraudulent certificates. Rs.50/- allows a truck to use an endangered causeway. Driving licences are home delivered through driving schools...without a test. A survey or random[using computer generated random numbers to prevent bias] check of the licencees will prove this. Anything is possible.There is no fixing of responsibilities. Blood is cheaper than a hafta. No innocents survive at the lower rungs in the police force. They "hafta' do it....or they will put a spanner in the works. This has been front paged in the Gomantak Times many times over[including one letter of mine.] No rebuttal. This is the truth. To cap it all, the head of a Police station ,was 'booked' [not 'arrested' as per the law, it seems] for rash and negligent driving causing death of a pedestrian. PSI Uday Parab,i/c Pernem Police Station, rammed his car into a truck 'cleaner' who was on his way to the RTO check point at Dhargal to pay the nazrana or hafta. This is a routine event at the check point.The cop should know this best. I have travelled by truck and know how the system works. The DGP[in abeyance] tom-tommed his helmet campaign.If he expected a groundswell of support when he was humiliated by an Under-Secretary in the Home Dept. issued work allocation orders to the DIGs or when his post was held in abeyance,he was mistaken. If deaths can be statistics, if rapes can be statistics, 4 DGPs in five years are also statistics. When he arrived in Goa with a halo of children's NGO in Delhi 'PRAYAS' , we welcomed him. He abused our affection. It is pay back time.....and it hurts. ......................................................................... > From: "Nagesh Bhatcar" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Goanetters. > Then again, I have seen drivers go berserk on Goan roads. I have seen > two cars overtake me at the same time! Nobody cares at the time of > overtaking, to see if there is somebody coming in the opposite direction. > Until we enforce the existing traffic rules and learn to drive by these > rules, we are going to have these problems. The consumer laws have > to be strengthened to protect the lives of those riding in these cars. > One other thing I always remember is that Paulo Travel drivers were > always known to be kind of 'rough' with their driving. I did not however > read in the reports whether the driver in this particular crash, was > solely responsible for the accident or whether the van came and hit > the bus. In any case, innocent lives were lost because of a very unsafe > car. > Nagesh Bhatcar > [EMAIL PROTECTED] ............................................................................ .... What we need is enforcement of the unlicenced driving[ specially by minors on 2-wheelers and untrained drivers on trucks and buses], speedlimits, drunken driving, lane discipline, overtaking from the left, respect for Zebra crossings, use of dipper at night, overcrowding of 2-wheelers and mini-buses/buses [ this would also reduce indecent assault by conductors on helpless girls , women and even....young boys]. Till then blood will flow cheaply and molestation will remain a 'social'evil. In the instant case, Mario Pereira of Paulo Travels, insists that the car swerved and hit the bus. Perhaps the car driver was sleepy, perhaps the celebration of being in Goa had started. the post mortem report should tell its own story. The photo shows the brake marks of the bus on the correct side of the road, though the bus finally went off the rode on the wrong side.[ On Indian roads, Left is right and Right is wrong.] In any accident it is always presumed that the bigger vehicle driver is wrong. Our police are good for bandobast duty. Few of them have investigative skills. the unsolved crimes record is proof enough. If there is a dacoity, they round up the poor labour from Karnataka on a Friday evening and hammer them till Monday morning. It relieves the cops of their frustrations ....but does nothing to check the crime rate. It is nice to have a DGP at the inter-state police conference; but what does it do for the crime rate?? Let the head of police feel small, let him be humble...let him perform his duty. Who wants statistics and accolades? All we need is safety and peace. It is not too much to ask: We pay for it, even those who do not pay Income Tax are taxed indirectly. Viva Goa. Miguel Braganza
