TRAFFIC – A Problem More Than Convenience
In this generation, traffic jams have become a major problem we face. Especially here in the Maldives, in our city in Male’. The roads of Male’ are small and narrow and always packed with vehicles so that there is hardly any space for any more transport. It gets worse as people from other islands are also moving to Male’.
Heavy traffic can also cause a lot of accidents. However, most accidents happen because people don’t follow traffic rules. Nowadays, the traffic police don’t do anything to make the roads safe and this encourages people to break rules and do reckless things while driving. Many people, around the age of 20-25 year go above the speed limit and often get into a lot of accidents.
Another reason why there are so many traffic problems in the Maldives is because there are too many vehicles in Male’ and in addition to that there are many reckless drivers. These days more and more people from other islands move to Male’ and bring their vehicles along with them or buy a new one and because of this there is so much traffic on the roads. Most of the reckless drivers are around the age of 14-17 year olds.
Surprisingly, littering can also cause a lot of accidents. Especially on busy roads like Majeedhi Magu and Boduthakurufaanu Magu and Ameeni Magu. People litter or leave their garbage bags outside their houses on the roads. Because of this, vehicles have a hard time driving as they have to avoid all the garbage.
Some accidents happen not because of the drivers but because of their surroundings. There have been countless accidents happening near construction sites. Construction workers are not that careful anymore and it will not only endanger the drivers but the pedestrians who walk near the area as well. Pedestrians jay walking has also become a problem. When people cross the roads they usually pay attention to their phones while walking, while others walk without a care in the world and that is not good. Pedestrians aren’t the only ones who focus on their phones while on the road. Even there are drivers who pay more attention to their phones than the road, causing them to get into accidents that hurt themselves and others.
There are so many problems on the road that we can fix. We can start by avoiding to litter the road and follow the traffic rules. If you were to get a phone call or text message you can simply pull over to the side of the road to answer. And just in case, it is good to wear safety gears such as helmets. And most importantly we should start making traffic rules stricter to avoid these problems.
