Every time I take my car on to the street, I get scared. Scared of the growing number of reckless drivers who cause a lot of fatal and tragic accidents. Their callous attitude toward life is all the more chilling because not only are they endangering their lives, but also putting others in danger, due to no fault of theirs. They were at the wrong place at the wrong time. After seeing such sheer recklessness on the streets, I always ask myself the same question: When is this situation going to change? Our government has built underpasses and overhead bridges but we still see these reckless drivers committing harakiri on the streets and not learning any lessons from the terrible and horrendous accidents they have seen. I would like to put forth an idea that might help solve this problem. I suggest that four ministries should begin working on a 15-year plan aiming to build a generation who knows the meaning of traffic and road safety when they get behind the wheels. The Interior Ministry (through its Traffic Administration), and the Education, Culture and Information, and Transport ministries should act in concert to bring this plan to fructification. The plan should also focus on having qualified traffic officers who are fully aware of traffic and road safety rules. The Ministry of Education should also design a curriculum on road safety and safe driving and that should be taught to elementary, middle, and high school students. Students need to learn about safe driving from an early age. The Traffic Administration should develop the skills of its officers in terms of traffic control and management. In addition, the Ministry of Transport's road administration should devise creative designs for roads and sidewalks and, their designs should conform to international standards and traffic rules. The Ministry of Culture and Information's role will be to launch an extensive campaign to educate the general public about safe driving and the importance of complying with road rules. The problem our young men have today is that they do not understand the meaning of safe driving. Neither society nor schools have been able to make them understand the need for safe driving or practice safety. In addition, the young men are not deterred from speeding or reckless driving, due to lack of strict punishment. Raising awareness and implementation of strict deterrents are needed to limit reckless driving and fatal accidents. Fatal accidents are still on the increase and young men still drive recklessly and they do not care about Saher System and cameras fitted on traffic lights. The above ministries should start working on such plan to protect the lives of our sons and family members from reckless drivers, and to make the next generation and the ones after aware of safe driving skills.
