How safe are the roads today?

So the 'common mans car', NANO is going to hit the roads soon. Thats great news, a car for 1L buks, is unheard of. Super going India, well done! Bravo Bravo! But lets take a minute here. Instead of celebrating what superficial achievements, let us get down to issues which are more critical and important to the 'real common man'.

The real common man my friend does not need a car. He will travel from a place A in Mumbai to place B in Mumbai using the public transport and spend a fraction he would have spend on gas using the NANO. The real common man, does not need luxury, he needs safety. The real common man does not need the comfortable seats of the NANO, he just needs a small place to sit in the train/bus. Yes, it is true 1L is not a very huge amount for many Mumbaikars today. But its not the initial cost thats the concern. Spiralling fuel costs, lack of infrastructure, insurance for the vehicle and finally the maintenance of the car. These are what will desist the 'real common man' from going for the NANO. But screw the NANO, we have to look at an even bigger issue today and tomorrow.

I was just reading the Sunday Times. And what i read on page 2 shocked me. 6 deaths on the Mumbai roads and not one seems to have happened because the person using the public utility was at fault. So whom do we blame? The goverment, the other person involved in the accident, God, fate, Pakistan??? Well, the blame game will always continue. It always has!! Thats what is special about our country, The NANO is just a phase, but the governance of the country, the value for human life is what makes me feel ashamed about our country.

6 lives!! What the hell!!!! I mean, a mother and daughter are walking on the street and are knocked down by a car. 2 people are crossing the road and are knocked down. A speeding Air-India bus driver rams into a biker and he is dead. There are more on the page, but i feel too shaken up to mention about those.

You know whats the hard part. Those 6 could have been anyone of us, or our family members. Crossing the road, walking on the pavement, riding a bike... its part and parcel of daily life, isnt it? I understand some of you must be defending saying that accidents happen. I know they happen, but 6 lives in one day. In 5 different places. And that too this comes after 16 people died in 1 single accident. We would have expected the authorities to be more rigid and stern. But NO, they are busy gobbling the 50 rupee notes from poor motorists like you and me!!!

So what does the common man want? A NANO, or safer roads? But are we even striving to achieve better facilities? From what I have seen in the past few years, we can just forget about safer roads and just live on a prayer and God's grace. There is no law and order. And our politicians are quick to point that other states are having a goonda raj. My dear Politician, please ask a Mumbaikar like me. I can give you the real picture. People lose their lives everyday, you dont give a f***, you are busy in vote-banking politics and making strategies as to who will vote next for you and how are you going to please his a**.

I beg the authorities to make the law of the land a MUST BE FOLLOWED norm. But, I wonder if anyone is even listening. Even if they are, they will ignore me thinking he is just another fool with no understanding of what the common man wants. Of course, the common man wants a NANO, isnt it?