Calls That Kills

Calls that Kills

Mobile phones has changed our lives drastically cutting short distances between people but at the same time this technology has got its own shortcomings. The death of 9 children and a teacher in a maxi cab which capsized into a pond at Vedaranyam is one such instance. Investigations revealed that the driver was chatting on his cellphone when this gory incident happened. He managed to escape from the spot after the accident but not the school kids who were all in the age group of 6 to 8 years. Four children were seriously injured and eleven children escaped with some minor injuries from this accident. The kids revealed that the driver was talking on his phone while taking a turn on a narrow road when the van skidded and overturned into a 30 feet pond.

Just because of the carelessness of one person, ten people are now not with us. Ten families are now mourning for the death of their loved ones and the state government was quick to announce a relief amount of Rs 50,000 to the families of the dead children and Rs 1 lakh to the family of the teacher. It’s a good gesture on the part of the Government as usual to comfort the victims family with a compensation. Nothing can comfort or compensate the loss of innocent lives especially children.

Eventhough there is strict law that bans drivers from using cellphones while driving its very much only on paper. Traffic police on its part fine a few drivers for using cellphone while driving. Still we can see many people using their cellphones with their head tilted towards one side and driving at the same time. If its an emergency call, that can at least be considered an excuse but mostly its all blah blah and silly talks which is a major concern for the pedestrians and other road users. National Crime Records Bureau latest reports show that every hour 13 people die on the roads of our country. Our roads have virtually become a death trap for everyone of us. Now the onus is mostly on all of us to use our roads sensibly. Talking while driving is a perfect recipe for accidents. Its even deadlier that drunken driving.

Also another group of accidents that goes unnoticed is the considerable number of deaths on railway tracks. Suburban commuters are paying dearly for flouting safety rules. Recently Eleven people died while crossing railway tracks on a single day under the Chennai division ( Korrukupet, Perambur, Tambaram ). Railway police attribute that the majority of the victims were in the age group of 20 – 35 years who were talking on their cellphone while crossing railway tracks. Some of them were hit so badly that they could not be identified at all.

“ Even if you write thousands of articles like this or make television campaigns not a single person will change their attitude towards using cell phones. I am not sad to hear about people losing lives rather angry with the people behind these accidents and our system ” fumes Emmanuel a software consultant.

Life is all about learning lessons from the lives of people around us. We have to inculcate the values of living a life that should serve as a model for others to follow. Rule or not, we should try to be a responsible citizen.

Just as Gandhi used to say, “ Be the change that you want to see”. Lets make it a point never to use cellphones either while driving or railway crossings.