‘It only takes a little effort to follow traffic rules and make our roads safe’
...say accident victims and their families to those whose momentary thrill for speed spreads unhappiness and ruin
Poonam Sharma rues the day she asked her husband to drive her sister’s family to the airport. “It was in the wee hours of the morning, and our car turned turtle after being hit by an oncoming truck,” remembers the 54-year-old. Although everyone else in the car miraculously escaped, her husband, Ashok Sharma, suffered severe injuries that left him incapacitated for life.
“In the 20 long years since then, I have taken him to many hospitals, but nothing has worked,” she says.
Ashok, a former executive with a PSU, can neither walk nor talk or express himself. “His writing is like that of a child, but his brain functions normally. So, you can imagine how frustrating it must be for him. How I wish I hadn’t pushed him to drive that fateful morning,” says Poonam.
The former psychology teacher takes classes at home, writes articles and looks after her husband. “Life is indeed tough for accident victims and their families,” she asserts.
Preeti Singh, whose life has become a nightmare in the past four years, ever since her husband, Dalip, became a victim of a road accident, could not agree more. Her husband was on a visit to his hometown in Uttarakhand, when the driver of the bus lost control and the bus went 50-60 metres down a mountain, leading to grievous injuries to his spinal cord.
“The accident has left him paralysed from the waist down, so much so that he can’t even turn on his own. Despite my care, he often gets bedsores,” says the anganwadi worker who barely earns ₹3,000 a month to look after Dalip and their three children, aged between 8 and 11 years. “Doctors don’t see much hope, I just keep my fingers crossed for a miracle. I am forced to do nothing but watch life go by as I can’t even sit on my own,” says Dalip, 41, wistfully.
Talking about this malaise that our roads are affected by, Kongposh Bazaz, who lost his young son, Yousmann, in an accident a few years ago, says: “Even if we have cameras at every corner, the real change will come when people follow traffic rules on their own accord.”
His son, a 19-year-old student, was crossing the road in front of his college when a speeding motorcycle coming from the wrong side of the road hit him. Yousmann suffered head injuries due to the impact. Despite hospitalisation and immediate treatment, the boy succumbed to his injuries 12 days later.
Kongposh, with his wife Asha and daughter Sahar, organises annual blood donation camps in memory of his late son. He says, “We try to help road accident victims who are in need of blood. Our message is straight and simple — why don’t we follow some basic rules to make roads accident-free for all?”
Such stories of personal loss are a reminder that following traffic rules is not an option; it is a mandate for every road user, as there are lives at stake. The Be A Road Hero Campaign, launched by Hero MotoCorp under its CSR platform Hero We Care, in association with Hindustan Times, aims to raise awareness about road safety and to sensitise people to make Indian roads safer for all. It only takes a little effort to be a Road Hero.