Road safety - during rains

The city is witnessing unusual rains now. The news bulletin in the TV says that monsoon showers are advanced by two weeks. We may hear shortly that a person fell into a open drain somewhere and was washed off. Last few years we are hearing this at one place or the other. Though the rain will be less, due to less seepage in to earth, all the rain water flows down along its graident downwards and there will be stagnated water where roads are uneven. We also do not learn from earlier incidents that were reported in news papers, TV, etc. We do same mistakes. We venture out into those pools and think that we are the most safety conscious among the lot on the road.

We go at great speeds on the road, take turns in the wrong direction, cause tense moments to others on the roads (they too cause the same). Some people normally go on left side but when it comes to a turning, they do the opposite. They take their vehicle to the extreme right (more so in blind turns) and find some one coming in the opposite direction (for him it is left). Due to water on the road, vehicles skid when brakes are applied (or brakes may also fail). Then, there are persons on the road who does not mind crossing without bother about speeding vehicles. Either the pedestrian will be hit or to save the pedestrian the rider will injure him self by applying brakes or will hit some body else on the road.

Let us remember the rains that caused havoc last year in Bengaluru and Mumbai. Persons in the cars thought they are safe and took cover in the cars. As the rain water on the road rose to dangerous levels they could not open the car doors and died of suffocation. In Hyderabad, two-three persons stepped into open drains in the water pool and were washed off.

Let us be prepared and also teach our children about road sense so that every body will be safe.