Traffic Inhumanity

Accidents obviously are unexpected and uncalled for. But who should be blamed for them?? Can’t there be a minor mistake on the driver’s part? Or even if he is driving carefully can’t there be a malfunction of any of the mechanical parts in the assemblage of so many rods and bearings?

Mostly it is seen that commercial vehicle drivers are being treated mercilessly by public because his vehicle had done something unusual while he was on the driver’s seat. Abusing and assaulting them has turned out to be a habit and also a matter of pride. The common person without judging anything by his conscience breaks out on the driver and the helper. This sort of passive hooliganism is present in every street of the country.

Is it right to assault the driver and the helper? There are traffic rules that states to investigate whose mistake it was and on conviction has appropriate punishments. If hitting the driver and the helper is booked under law then a criminal offence can also be registered against those chocolate heroes who hit them.

It was once when I was in a Guwahati city bus, where I got up at Adabari and was heading towards Panbazar. A lady tried to get up on the bus even after the bus left the bus stop. The bus was at around 15 Kmph. The lady couldn’t maintain her balance on the running bus and she fell down. The driver didn’t accelerate and decently stopped the bus. The bus passengers got furious at this and ran to grab held of the driver. He got a slap instantly by a well-dressed gentleman. I couldn’t understand why the passengers got so furious. I grab hold of the second person who was about to punch him on the face. The driver tried to hide behind me. While I tried to stand there and advocate for the driver, the lady suddenly arrived and made it clear that it was her mistake. The so looking gentleman who hit the driver felt ashamed and realized his mistake. There was no one who went to pick up the lady who fell down from the bus. The driver realized something wrong and instead of accelerating his vehicle and running away he showed his decency and stopped immediately. While the well-dressed gentle that should have run to help the lady get up, showed his indecency by hitting a poorly paid, over time working labour.

We should try to place ourselves at their position and imagine life for a minute. How would we feel if we have to get up early morning and hurry to work? How would we feel if we are asked to drive from 6 AM to 9:30 PM? While driving is a passion for many rich brats, there is this community of drivers who is actually fed up of pushing clutches and brakes after every hundred metres in a traffic jam and they are doing this just to earn two square meals a day for their family. There is nothing called human resource management or any organizational behaviour to monitor their livelihood and health. After working so hard, they have to face a bunch of idiots who are all into assaulting and abusing. Even if they commit mistakes and admit it, they are sure to get beaten black and blue. The best irony is that there is nobody to stand up for their human rights.

The public agitation in accidents is obvious. Rather than out bursting and handling the driver physically, the agitated public if calls an ambulance and helps clearing the passage to enable smooth fly of other vehicles shall exhibit a sense of responsibility and maturity.

 

I feel that the public is not at all bothered about accidents and causalities. It is just that they are trying to express their frustration upon this class of poor and helpless citizens. They are fed up of their household troubles or India losing the cricket match or their boss’s scolding in office and they have none upon whom they can really outburst their frustration. By abusing and assaulting these helpless people they are trying just to minimize their frustration.

I doubt if the world we live in is really civilized or it’s all namesake. Carrying smartphones and wearing formals doesn’t really mark our progress. Our progress is hidden in a change in mentality. When we will learn the basics of humanity, only then we can approach towards modernisation.

N.B- This piece of my writing was initially published for Guwahatian - An E-Magazine from Guwahati.