Road Safety Afghanistan!

Concluding part.......

Sincere apologies to all those who have been following this story and were eagerly awaiting the concluding post. I was completely snowed under with work, which was followed by my well deseved one month break. To say the least the break wasn’t less stressed either. We were busy with our daughter’s eleven plus exams! It was a nightmare situation for all. Appearing in exams at such a young age is a big challenge -hats off to her! Whilst the upside is it’s done and dusted, the downside is that we aren’t finished yet as a) it takes six months to know the results; and b) we will be experiencing it all over again in two years time for our son. It appears by then I might be in a good position to write a book about the whole expereince. However this posting as yet is not covering any such thing. I am fully aware about the current title and have made a promise to myself on being regular in my postings!
We left the last posting at the point where I was too intrigued to ask Dr why most of the drivers here in Kabul were so keen to get into the near side lane of a roundabout even if they have to take the first exit. I didn’t ask him that question as I thought it to be rude for the simple reason that he too was guilty of driving in the same fashion.

By now we had crossed Abdulhaq roundabout and were about to go out of the city limits. We had already stopped once for topping up the fuel in the car. We stopped again to buy some fruits for the journey. Not sure if I had already mentioned this before but one thing that most readers of this blog might not be aware is that throughout my entire life I have not tasted such variety; and quality of fruits that I have tasted here in Afghanistan. Be it pomegranates; grapes; apples; strawberries; cherries; black berries; melons; watermelons; persimmons; all are so juicy and so delicious that my mouth waters even when I think about them or as at this instant whilst I am writing about them. To an extent some times I feel I am blessed to be here tasting them- I am not exaggerating!

Back to road safety, we were now on Kabul- Jalalabad highway fast travelling towards Sarobi. Within minutes we were travelling through this breathtaking mountainous region. I could easily see the deep valley floor (300-400 meters down) on one side and it started getting scary. Drivers must have been driving between 60-80 kmph on this two lane road (just wide enough for one lorry) on which a sane person would not drive higher than 30 kmph. It suddenly reminded me of Stremnaya Road, which is nicknamed “the road of death”, situated in Bolivia. I had seen photos of that road and Kabul- Jalalabad highway was a sharp reminder of it. The next three quarters of an hour was breathtaking. Remember right in the first part of this post I wrote that the name Sarobi rang some bells. I now knew what it was. There was a recent article on this section of the road in The New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/08/world/asia/08road.html). I could not believe more than what was written; and that I was actually traveling on that section. The article set out that one fatal day the road saw as many as 13 fatal accidents in space of two hours. I could see the proof as on our way to Sarobi and back we saw atleast 5 crashes. Whilst it does not mean that similar catastrophic incidents are happening on all the roads, it does, however, highlight the state of affairs in the country (the topic I am covering). An another article that I read suggested that on an average 15,000 people are killed (per annum) or injured because of accidents in Afghanistan. One must appreciate that these accidents not only place a heavy burden on national and regional economies (long extending queues including massive waiting periods, pressure on national health system etc.) but also on households. In Kenya, for example, more than 75% of road traffic casualties are among economically productive young adults. So much so World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that road traffic injury will increase from being the ninth leading cause of death in 2004 to the fifth leading cause in 2030.

Some astonishing information includes:
• Afghanistan’s estimated population in 2008-09 is 25m and the annual growth rate of population is expected to be 2.03% per annum;
• Reported number of road traffic deaths (fatalities) 2007 = 1,779
• Number of registered vehicles in 2007 = 731,607
• Reported fatality rate per 10,000 motor vehicles (2007) = 24.32
• Modelled/Estimated (WHO Global Status Report on Road Safety) fatality rate per 10,000 motor vehicles (2007) = 85.2- 312.9
• Modelled/Estimated road traffic death rate per 100,000 population = 39.0, fourth worst among all the countries of the world;
• Currently, there is no National Road Safety Strategy in Afghanistan; and
• Although the new drivers have to take a driving test before obtaining a driving license but only few people seem to take and the rest obtain them by “other means” (I am told if I pay USD 100 then I too can have one albeit I am not a national here);
• There is no vehicle insurance required to run the vehicle in the country.

So what’s causing these accidents and what could be done?
• Substandard roads and traffic signs (Engineering, Education)
• Lack of traffic lights (Engineering)
• Lack of awareness of traffic regulations (Education)
• Non compliance with traffic regulations by drivers and passengers. (Education, Enforcement)
• Alcohol/Drug use by drivers ( Education, Enforcement)
• No fining of violators (Education, Enforcement)
• Child Safety Belts (Education, Enforcement)
• Lack of awareness/interest in using Helmets/protective clothing (Education, Enforcement)
• No serious implementation of punishment by the justice system (Education, Enforcement)
• Listening to loud music by drivers (Education)
• Battered Vehicles (Education, Enforcement)
• No driving licenses (Education, Enforcement)
• Underage driving (Education, Enforcement);
• Poor to no Driving Skills (Education, Enforcement); and
• Speeding (Education, Enforcement)

Besides the above engineering solutions, I feel what is also lacking here is political willingness to raise the awareness among the road users. Even if it is there then it is certainly not reaching at the grass root level. I would for sure recommend a couple of quick wins including:
• Advertisements on the national TV channels; and
• Some road safety awareness programmes;

On a mid to long term basis I recommend:
• Develop National Road Safety Strategy in Afghanistan - Setting out a vision for road safety. Slowing progress in fatality reduction and the need for a new approach to address risk reduction is the need of an hour. In order to develop thinking on the practicalities of using a vision for road safety in Afghanistan, consideration has to be given to how targets, infrastructure, behaviour, institutions and public opinion interplay with the proposed vision.
• Make Safe Drivers for the Future – I have been recommending this for quite some time. Statistics reveal that irrespective of how good or bad the infrastructure is, Road Users account for as high as 70% of accidents. We have to appreciate that it is extremely difficult if not impossible to educate (driving skills) the current lot of drivers as they have been driving with no skills for ages. Having said that we can certainly increase their awareness. We should now start looking outside the box with an eye on the future. Start educating children at schools. It is never too late. Educate them about good road users’ behavior/skills in line with other subjects like English or Mathematics. Make them responsible and hence get safe drivers for the future!

Back to our trip, we reached Sarobi around 12 noon. Dr and his four brothers, who were following us in another car, went straight into the lake for a swim. I, FB and AH stayed back. The lake also offered us fresh fish, which was caught, fried and eaten with afghan naan and yoghurt. Delicious it was. We then moved a few kms away to see Sarobi Dam on Kabul River- yes the same dam which was in the news due to recent unfortunate floods in Pakistan. Even after a continuous plea of Dr, we were not allowed to go near to the dam- least we forget we were in Afghanistan!

The trip ended once we reached back at our base around 5 pm. On our way back we noticed a few more crashes (atleast one of them appeared fatal) on the highway. I was happy I returned home safe, perhaps I was lucky. What I am not entirely sure is about so many Afghans who travel regularly on Kabul- Jalalabad road or on other roads in Afghanistan and who may not be returning home safely to their families!