This news will surely send the surge of a shock to all the bus drivers and the drivers of the government vehicles who are usually found speaking on the phone while driving. Talking on the mobile phone while driving is not a new thing in the state. Every third person you find using a mobile phone while driving in the state and some of the experts even go one step ahead and do the texting while driving. Have you spotted any??
Regardless of the fact that you are government servant or driving your own private vehicle, making the use of mobile phone while driving is illegal and lead to an accident. The bus drivers, taxi drivers and many government servants who drive the government vehicles can be easily spotted talking on the mobile phone while driving.
According to Times of India Bus drivers and drivers of government, vehicles caught speaking on mobile phones while driving will have their licenses suspended for six months instead of the present three months. A decision to this effect was taken by the state road safety advisory council on Friday at a meeting headed by transport minister Ramkrishna Dhavalikar.
Speaking to the media, a government official said, “If we have decided to implement road safety norms strictly, then we should also start with our department.” The meeting was attended by the transport secretary, PWD chief engineer, PWD officials, transport department officials, municipality officials, and others.
The implementation of the new norms taken over by the transport department due to the increasing road accidents in the state. There was a comprehensive review done by the member of the council on the road accidents took place in the state, said the sources.
The officials also stated that due to the strict implementation of traffic rules by the RTO and Traffic Police, bringing down the number of accidents and fatality became possible in the state. “This year, till October, 187 people lost their lives in road accidents as compared to 216 lives last year,” an official said.
The issue of potholes and damaged roads also came into the discussion as from 2013 to 2017 around 15000 people across the country died due to the bad condition of the road. Sources said the PWD has been asked to come out with a strategy to prevent potholes from developing on Goa’s roads and to also to repair existing ones.
The minister also discussed the recommendations of the Supreme Court committee on road safety and urged transport and PWD officials to implement the recommendations in the state.
The implementation of the new regulation may result into the decrease in the road accidents, especially the ones caused by the private and government bus drivers. besides the use of mobile phones, there are other factors that are responsible for road accidents. Pathetic condition of public transport, no use of helmets and rash and negligent driving. If the government also look into the following aspects, there will be a big relief for the innocent people driving on the Goan roads.
