An awareness program titled “Accident Free Nation” was held at our school on the eve of Children’s Day. The event was attended by students, teachers and dignitaries of the school. Mahesh, one of the student leaders of the school that organized the event, spoke with lot of statistics about the steps to be taken to build a nation free of accidents. Let us look at the the speech made by the student leader Mahesh.

Mahesh: “Hello everyone! I welcome all of you to this awareness program where we aim to transform our nation India into an accident free nation. The question may arise in you as to how to transform India into an accident-free nation. It is easy. Your cooperation alone is enough.

Think about how road accidents happen. Most accidents are caused due to disregard of traffic laws. Here are some examples:

• Riding a two-wheeler without wearing helmet.
• Not wearing seat belts while riding in cars.
• Driving under the influence of alcohol.
• Driving the vehicle fast.
• Ignoring road signs.
• Refusing to give way to an ambulance.
• Driving while speaking on the phone.
• More than two people traveling on a motorcycle.
• Driving a vehicle without a driver’s license.
• Traveling on the foot board of buses.
• Getting off or boarding a moving vehicle.

Many more reasons like this make it clear that we are the cause of the so many accidents.

The table below shows the statistics of deaths due to road accidents in India from 2016 – 2018:

Compared to 2016, the number of deaths due to accidents in Tamil Nadu in 2018 has decreased by almost 5000. Although this is a good thing compared to earlier years, in 2018, we still had 12,216 deaths that were reported in Tamil Nadu due to accidents. This situation needs to change. We must aim to bring road accident related deaths to zero. We have Traffic signals to prevent accidents, street signs, traffic police hand signals, vehicle lights, loudspeakers, pedestrian rules, documents to be kept by the driver, rules to be followed by the driver, 108 ambulances and so on, many laws are in force for our protection. How many of us follow them is questionable!

Take a good look at what is shown here. This is for 2018. Losses between the ages of 18 and 35 are high. Are our future generations born to perish by accidents? Think.

The various modes by which the accidents took place can be found here. Motorcycle accidents are high. Young people are usually motorcycle enthusiasts. Do not miss your beautiful future due to your indifference at the age when achievements should be accomplished. Do you buy a motorcycle with so much desire to go fast and die in a collision? Think!

Statistics show that in our Tamil Nadu, road accidents alone kill about 15,000 people a year, 42 people a day and 2 people an hour. So how many people are we going to lose in two years, five years, ten years? Just like the loss of our loved ones causes us pain, the same feeling applies to those losing their lives due to our carelessness.

Let me tell you a story for example. A house is inhabited by two school-going boys and their parents. Parents’ lives are lost in a car accident. Think about the situation of the remaining children? Who is responsible for them? Think about the future of those boys. We know of many more incidents like this in the news. A similar situation may come to you tomorrow. Such disasters can be avoided by following traffic rules. An accident-free country is in your hands … so let’s follow the rules of the road!