Road Safety Weeks are observed throughout the year in Goa, yet road accidents continue to claim lives. While some roads are well tarred, it remains unclear whether proper road engineering standards are followed during construction.
A recent and worrying cause of fatalities is the installation of cement block dividers on Goan roads. Unlike road signboards, speed breakers, and speed limit boards”which require the Collector’s approval”these dividers are often erected without any public notification or visible approval.
PWD road engineers, in consultation with elected representatives, frequently install such dividers arbitrarily, ignoring side roads, village MDR speed limits, and inadequate setbacks near commercial establishments. Traffic enforcement also remains weak due to limited manpower.
Goa urgently needs a strict Road Safety Enforcement Committee comprising qualified road safety experts to identify accident-prone black spots and correct flawed road designs.
Appointing professional road engineering consultants can help redesign roads to be safer and more efficient. Ultimately, drivers and riders must also strictly follow traffic rules.
