The traffic police who provide vehicle security are insecure

This is not the first incident that raises questions about the safety of the traffic policemen working in road safety. According to Jeevan Shrestha, Senior Superintendent of Police of Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police Office, 107 traffic policemen were injured in accidents in Kathmandu Valley in the last five years (from 76/77 to 80/81 February). This rate is increasing every year. Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police Office records that 17 people were injured in the year 076/77, 20 people in the year 077/78, 27 people in the year 078/79, 28 people in the year 79/80 and 15 people were injured in the current year. It is clear that the traffic policemen working in road safety are at risk.

According to the website of Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police Office, there are 1,113 traffic policemen working in Kathmandu Valley. For the safety of the traffic policemen, wear fluorescent jackets, stand in safe places, use magic lights at night. Senior Superintendent of Police Shrestha says that notice boards are placed in front of the check point and masks and glasses are arranged for health precautions. Even though he said that the traffic is deployed in the field with provisions, the traffic policemen are not afraid to go out on the road with confidence.

traffic Bhagwati Sedhain, a road safety expert, said that due to the lack of adequate policies and standards to reduce the risk of road accidents, there is a possibility that such accidents will increase in the future. Policemen who wear traffic uniforms and work on road safety and management on a daily basis never know when they will become victims of an accident on the road. "Though the Labor Act covers the issue of safety in their field of work, the road safety action plan and standards do not cover it," Sedhain said. According to him, rules such as walking on the sidewalk for pedestrians and overtaking on the right for drivers have not been made for the traffic police. "There is a custom of conducting a one-day orientation class and sending them to road safety, there is no training, no training, no refresher training," she said.

Traffic expert Ashish Gajurel suggests that the traditional practice of managing the road by standing in the middle of the road should be upgraded to technology. "There are still not enough safe places i.e. islands for traffic to stop in the middle of the intersection," Gajurel said. Not only has the workload of the police increased, they have to stand in the middle of the road all day. Gajurel says that due to similar reasons, the risk for traffic is increasing every day.

Gajurel said that new plans for technology-friendly traffic management and operations should be prepared and implemented as in foreign countries. He said it will make road management efficient and economical along with the safety of traffic. "Since the road itself is a dangerous area, it becomes unsafe to stand there all day and work between the vehicles, increasing the use of technology will reduce this problem," said Gajurel. The increase in the number of accidents involving the traffic police will frighten every road user and worsen the pathetic state of road safety in the country. Not only that, experts argue that if such risks cannot be reduced, the profession of traffic police will become risky in the future.

– trainee