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How many lives will be lost before Pakistan wakes up to road safety?

On a usual examination day, the students of this high school in the eastern Pakistani district of Bhakkar would hasten to their allotted seats to take their test amid clarion calls by invigilators. But last Monday, before they were to sit their Physics exam, they went to the seven chairs they knew would remain vacant. Their occupants had died the other day when a bus sped into their rickshaw taking them home from the exams. Amid sobs and tears, they put flowers in the chairs of the candidates whose death in the crash had made the nation cry.
Pakistan ranks first in Asia and 48th in the world for most deaths caused by traffic accidents, courtesy lax safety standards and disregard for traffic laws. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, as reflected in targets 3.6 and 11.2 of the SDGs, aims to halve global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents by 2020 and to provide access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport system for all, improving road safety, by expanding public transport, specially catering to the needs of those in vulnerable situations, women, children, persons with disabilities and older person by 2030.
In response, the government in Pakistan has launched "National Road Safety Strategy 2018-2030", envisaging saving more than 6,000 lives by 2030. It sets out a long-term road safety vision for Pakistan and practical, evidenced-based actions to improve safety on national, provincial, and local roads. This vision is supported by ambitious road safety performance targets for each of the United Nations road safety pillar areas: road safety management, safe roads and roadsides, safe speeds, safe vehicles, safe road users and post-crash response.
But the progress on the agenda in Pakistan remains far from sufficient. Around 36,000 people were killed in road accidents across the country last year, according to police. The figure includes people who got killed in explosions while rushing to collect leaking fuel in pots from crashed oil tankers. Someone is killed or badly injured every five minutes in a road traffic crash in the country. Road accidents are causing a loss of around $9 billion annually to the national economy that is three per cent of the Gross Domestic Product or GDP. So high is the price of mobility in the South Asian country that academics fear that if the number of road accidents did not decline, it could become the third major cause of death. 
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) global status report on road safety 2018 that has recorded a rise in road traffic deaths, with an annual 1.35 million fatalities, road traffic injuries are now the leading killer of children and young people aged 5-29 years. Such needless deaths need to be prevented. 
"Road safety is one of our great opportunities to save lives around the world," said Michael R Bloomberg, Founder and CEO of Bloomberg Philanthropies and WHO Global Ambassador for Non-communicable Diseases and Injuries. "Strong policies and enforcement, smart road design, and powerful public awareness campaigns can save millions of lives over the coming decades."
In the settings where progress has been made, says the WHO, it is largely attributed to better legislation around key risks such as speeding, drinking and driving, and failing to use seat-belts, motorcycle helmets and child restraints; safer infrastructure like sidewalks and dedicated lanes for cyclists and motorcyclists; improved vehicle standards such as those that mandate electronic stability control and advanced braking; and enhanced post-crash care. Some other measures for an improved road safety are education and training of drivers and other road users in traffic rules; issuance of driving licenses and vehicle fitness certificates after a tough test; regular maintenance of roads and the spots where accidents occur repeatedly; restriction on the use of highways; attention to facilities for pedestrian and handicapped people; discouraging underage driving; and fencing of highways to stop animals. No country where these measures are lacking can demonstrate a reduction in deaths. 
To quote Lotte Brondum, Executive Director at the Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety: "The crisis is not just about the numbers, it is personal- fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, sons, and daughters lost through preventable tragedies". Another Bhakkar should not happen! 
Waqar Mustafa is print, broadcast and online journalist and commentator based in Pakistan