Ruchika, a diligent student with a reputation for helping friends, also took pride in her clean driving record. She says she has never received “a speeding ticket, not a fender bender, nothing.”[break]
Until a few days ago, she left the parking lot of a City Center in Kamaladi. After a movie show with her friends, she was as usual listening to her favorite band on her way back home.
She was so engrossed in the music that she failed to notice the tempo behind her. Luckily, she happened to get a call from her sister and she moved left to halt her bike.
“Something deadly could’ve happened that day,” she exhales.The dangers of distracted driving have long been discussed as a result of which the traffic authorities have put restrictions on using cell phones while driving.
Other current measures to prevent distracted driving are alcohol intake tested through breathalyzers, and the orders to remove obscene or vulgar hoarding boards.
Also, traffic officials restrict drivers from using any kind of gadgets. There has, however, nothing been done to to restricting people from listing to music while walking on the streets although the plugging in of gadgets while walking has resulted in numerous accidents all across the world.
Results of a recent research were published on January 16 through Injury Prevention, an international peer-reviewed journal for health professionals and others in injury prevention. The study found that the number of deaths of people wearing headphones increased from 16 in 2004-2005 to 47 in 2010-2011.
The study, although based in the US, is an alarm for all over the world. Yet Nepalis have largely ignored such researches. Instead, they increasingly use their iPods, music players and cell phones which come enabled with FM, making roads more dangerous.
Prakash Amatya uses his cell phone on regular basis. It’s his pal, he says, while no one is around and during traveling. Ask him which feature he most utilizes, and “the radio” is a prompt reply.
“I get my daily dose of news while I walk to office,” he shares. Prakash, however, in recent days keeps the volume on a minimum. It was a few months ago when he hurt his ankle after being hit by a bike from behind. “By which time I realized I had fallen flat on the ground.”
The Chief of the Traffic Metropolitan Police, Ganesh Rai, accepts the increasing dangers on the streets owing to people plugging in music devices while walking. He believes it is mostly the young who do this.
“It’s absolutely dangerous,” he says, adding “listening to music while inside your room and walking out with headphones are two different things.”
In 2003, a Harvard study estimated that cellphone distractions caused 2,600 traffic deaths every year, and 330,000 accidents that resulted in moderate or severe injuries.
The local traffic authority for now is not taking measures in this area. Rai explains that people have increasingly erratic behavior – swerving across lanes, running red lights, overtaking from the wrong side. “We’re caught up in explaining to people the basic traffic rules and have no time for this issue.”
The officials, he says, are however observing that most of those who have devices plugged in are literally unaware of their surroundings.
And its not only iPods, music players or cellphones that are in vogue. Rajesh Agrawal, owner of the Hallmark gift store in New Baneshwor, observes another phenomenon. The air warmers which are available in all shapes and colors are a hit among teens these days. These are a style statement.
“It was a hit last winter and this year too the sales were good,” he says. These ear warmers are made of soft fleece on the inside and have a metallic cover which is further covered by colorful clothes. Some of these even have acoustic foam which absorbs sound. The buyers, Agrawal informs, are teens, and therefore mostly unaware of the dangers.
Pushing this as a future agenda, the Chief of the Traffic Metropolitan Police gives out a word of advice: “Everyone likes music but risking your life for it is being stupid.”
Related story
Singapore gets sweet pandemic distraction as Museum of Ice Crea...
