Issue No. 612
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14 - 20 November 2002 Issue No. 612 Home news |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Recommend this page | ||
Dead end highway
Defective road planning or human error? A recent highway tragedy sparks a heated debate over the current surge in roadway fatalities. Gihan Shahine sifts through the wreck for answers
The sun's rays had just begun to light the sky when an explosive noise broke the silence of the Suez highway 60 kilometres east of Cairo. It was the first day of Ramadan, and in an instant, 29 people were dead. A horrific collision involving a truck negotiating a U-turn, and a bus -- filled with workers from several Hurghada tourist resorts heading home to celebrate the holy month's first days with family and friends -- scattered bodies, luggage and dreams across the pavement.
It was an all-too familiar scene. The previously serene roadway started to buzz with activity, as police cars zoomed in and ambulances rushed to curb the flow of blood. Police said 18 passengers died on the spot, including the bus driver and a front seat companion, while seven died a little later. 25 others with serious injuries were rushed to hospitals in Heliopolis, Al-Salam, Suez, and the 10th of Ramadan city. The dead bodies were whisked away to the Zeinhoum morgue for forensic investigations; some of the bodies were distorted beyond recognition.
Police are still investigating the reasons behind the accident. Speeding, poor driving, and defective road planning were amongst the potential causes proffered by witnesses who provided conflicting accounts of the event. Those passengers who survived the crash, however, all agreed that the bus's seats were somewhat loosely fitted, which resulted in bodies flung about like tennis balls into the air.
One of the passengers, a disgruntled Gamil Ali Mohamed, placed the blame squarely on the bus driver. Recovering from painful injuries in a Heliopolis hospital, Mohamed said that the bus had been "all over the road ever since the beginning of the trip". A seasoned bus traveller, Mohamed, who works in Hurghada, thinks the driver was napping, since he had just returned from another long trip before he drove the Cairo-bound bus into tragedy.
Mohamed asked the driver to delay the trip until morning if he felt drowsy, but the driver insisted that 'he was awake'. The response did little to dispel Mohamed's worries. "I felt a disaster was imminent," he said.
Most of the survivors seem to have been too drowsy to take notice of the driver's alleged misconduct. Having just had their sohour (late night meal before fasting), most passengers were asleep when the accident occurred, probably dreaming happily of cozy family iftars (the meal that breaks the fast) when the Cairo-bound bus suddenly slammed into the truck, which was loaded with its gravel cargo.
Other drivers on the road said they saw the bus travelling at a very high speed. The driver, they said, probably lost control of the steering wheel when he saw the truck slow down to take the U- turn.
The accident, though tragic, is only the latest in a flood of highway crashes that claim the lives of an estimated 5000-6000 people every year. Road accidents are the second most frequent cause of death in all Third World countries. Accident specialists maintain that more than 50 per cent of casualties are in their mid-20s, and that one fifth of children between one and five years old who die in hospitals are the victims of accidents. Losses caused by traffic accidents are estimated at LE1 billion a year, including damaged vehicles, health care, hospital fees and lost working hours.
The surge in accident fatalities has opened a Pandora's box of questions about road planning and its relation to other causes of crashes. According to general estimates by the Ministry of Transport, human error (mainly speeding) accounts for 69 per cent of all highway accidents, burst tyres 21 per cent, and defective road planning 10 per cent.
Urban planners, however, insist that flawed road planning is the main cause of road accidents.
"Egypt does not have highways in the true sense of the word," lamented urban planner Abdullah Abdel-Aziz. "A highway should be built according to international building codes, which either don't exist in Egypt or are totally ignored."
A highway, Abdel-Aziz explained, should be well paved, furnished with three lanes on each side, and devoid of any intersections -- which is rarely the case in Egypt.
"Many roadways, for instance, are built with villages on both sides, encouraging all modes of transport -- from pedestrians and cattle crossing the road, to defunct open-bed trucks overloaded beyond safe levels -- turning highways into death traps," said Abdel-Aziz. "Desert roads are also poorly designed and unevenly paved with asphalt."
Instead, Abdel-Aziz suggests, highways should be built with cement concrete to guarantee a safer and more even surface, with special lanes and speed limits for heavy transport vehicles. More cat's eyes, traffic lights, rescue stations and telephones need to be available on Egypt's road network.
Drivers and their vehicles -- whether trucks, buses or passenger cars -- should be subject to thorough periodic checks, and trucks, especially, should be loaded according to safety regulations.
"More importantly," insists Abdel-Aziz, "there should be a master plan for Egypt's road network and traffic. This plan should be high up in the priority list of the government's budget. Otherwise, accidents will continue to wreak ever increasing financial and human losses."
In this case, those who suffered injuries, or lost loved ones, will receive a four-month salary in compensation from Orascom, the company which owns many of the Hurghada resort villages where the victims worked. LE100,000 in insurance for each of the company's staff fatalities will also be paid out.
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