Goa woke up on Tuesday morning to a horrendous crash that saw the President of the All India Sepak Takraw Association and a senior player from Uttar Pradesh killed after a speeding tanker jumped the divider, crossed lanes, and rammed into their rented car at Bambolim.
The tragic incident once again brings to the fore the urgent need for comprehensive road safety reforms in Goa, where infrastructure and enforcement often fall short. While the Bambolim accident points to reckless driving by the tanker driver, the broader picture of fatal road mishaps highlights both the immediate circumstances and the underlying structural deficiencies. The sad irony is that lessons have not been learnt. Accidents such as these have become brief moments of mourning, nothing else.
Goa has been witnessing one death every 32 hours, with reckless driving identified as a primary cause, contributing to 98% of accidents. From January 1 to July 11, a total of 1,248 accidents were registered. Interestingly, youth under 35, particularly young men, represent a major portion of fatalities.
Against a grim backdrop, the enforcement had set an ambitious target to reduce road fatalities by 20 per cent in 2025. Traffic challan volumes increased, awareness drives were conducted, and recommendations were sent to rectify road engineering deficiencies.
Earlier this May, while speaking at the 8th UN Global Road Safety Week, Director General of Police Alok Kumar said behavioural changes are required to bring down the alarming rise in road accidents. “If we educate children about road behaviour early on, we won’t need to keep talking about it to adults in their 50s,” he had commented. DGP has a point here, but road discipline involves a wide spectrum of factors, with instilling behavioural change in the community as just one of them. To discipline motorists, enforcement becomes crucial. Lax policing encourages indiscipline and which is why thousands of minors take to the roads fearlessly, breaking virtually all laws.
In the Bambolim accident, the narrative points out that the tanker driver was engaged in a high-speed race with another vehicle, revealing a culture of dangerous driving practices. Goa’s highways have gone wider and spacious, but we haven’t set deterrents. Just as criminals have no fear of the law, errant motorists, too, have no fear of enforcement, and hence the culture of speed driving and risk-taking. Round-the-year awareness campaigns or other soft approaches are not helping.
There are hundreds of vehicles speeding along national highways, dangerously exceeding the prescribed speed limits of 70-80 km per hour. There are countless motorists using cellphones while steering the wheel single-handedly, leave alone violations like seat belts and helmets. If we recall a recent case, it took the police six months to seize a Ford Mustang that was blazing through the lanes of Anjuna, that too with a modified silencer.
A major drawback is a lack of a comprehensive surveillance system for enhanced security and better policing. We agree that policing may fall short given the limited strength of the force, but why is the State dragging its feet on AI-powered surveillance? A 2011 report outlined plans to install unmanned surveillance cameras on all major roads and public places to enhance security and monitor violations. In 2025, except for a few areas like Panaji, Margao, Fatorda, and some others, CCTV surveillance still remains a pipe dream. The tale of the defunct Merces junction cameras tells the story.
We are sure that this accident, like the many earlier, will become a trigger point for traffic police to bring out their enforcement gear — speed guns and alcometers, till the issue dies down. Unfortunately, being reactive and not being proactive has been the biggest failing of enforcement. If deterrents are set, then there can be no half-measures. Road rule violators, especially those engaging in reckless driving, must be dealt with ruthlessly.
Furthermore, the Bambolim accident has brought to focus major infrastructural deficiencies. Police sources reveal that in prior communications, the PWD were asked to heighten barriers and improve signage, yet no action was taken. The fact that accidents have been recurrent along this Bambolim stretch should have prompted authorities to rectify these issues on priority. A properly elevated road divider could have saved the situation.
Goa needs a political will to drive the change in road management. Intensifying manual policing is unlikely to yield the results that the police leadership is aiming for. A 20 per cent decline in fatal road accidents will remain a theoretical proposition if the government doesn’t show intent in reforms. It’s time policing moves in the fast lane.
