Motorcycle or bike accidents in the country have now taken the form of a silent epidemic. News of accidents has become so familiar and commonplace to us that, at times, even the report of a death seems to arrive merely as another number.
Yet behind every number is a family, a few dreams, several people waiting, and the unfinished story of a life.
Recent statistics from the Road Safety Foundation show that more than 16,000 motorcycle accidents have occurred in the country from 2020 through July of this year.
Excessive speed, loss of control, head-on collisions, and crashes involving heavy vehicles are among the major causes of motorcycle accidents. Moreover, motorcycles account for around 71 percent of the country's registered motor vehicles, meaning they constitute a very large share of the total.
As the number of these vehicles on the roads continues to rise, so too does the risk of accidents. In other words, there is no longer any scope to dismiss the severity of motorcycle accidents as a series of isolated incidents.
The most alarming aspect is that more than half of those affected in these accidents are between 13 and 35 years old. There can be no justification for such a large number of the country's teenagers and young people losing their lives on the roads in this manner. Rather, it raises serious questions about our social and institutional failures.
There is another question as well: How are motorcycles ending up in the hands of teenagers in the first place? How did this dangerous trend begin?
At an age when they should be on school grounds, holding books and dreaming of building their futures, they are speeding along highways at more than a hundred kilometres per hour on motorcycles.
Families are buying vehicles for their children—but are they teaching them a sense of responsibility? The state is issuing licences—but is it properly assessing whether applicants are actually capable of driving? Is society discouraging reckless speeding?
It is also true, however, that the responsibility does not lie solely with the riders. The lack of safe and affordable public transportation, unbearable traffic congestion, poor road infrastructure, limitations in traffic management, and weak enforcement of the law have all combined to make the problem more complex.
Of course, none of these factors can justify reckless speeding. A reckless rider not only puts their own life at risk but also endangers the lives of pedestrians and passengers in other vehicles.
Looking around the world, we can see that many countries are giving priority to speed control, stricter licensing, automated monitoring, safer road infrastructure, quality helmets, and rapid emergency services as part of their road-safety management systems. Our country must also take realistic and effective measures.
Age and licence verification must be made stricter to prevent teenagers from riding motorcycles. Technology must be used to detect and control speeding.
Alongside making quality helmets mandatory, action must also be taken against illegal loud horns and modified silencers. At the same time, road-safety education should be introduced in educational institutions, and regular awareness campaigns should be conducted through social media.
Above all, we must ensure easy, safe, and affordable public transportation. If people have a reliable way to reach their destinations safely, no one will feel compelled to take the reckless risk of speeding on a motorcycle with their life in their hands.
Seeing the alarming rise in bike accidents, many people refer to motorcycles as “death cycles.” A motorcycle, however, is not inherently a “death vehicle”; but because of irresponsible speeding, violations of the law, and weak management, it can become nothing more than a vehicle for death.
Therefore, the question is not simply whether we will be careful while riding motorcycles. The deeper question is: How many more lives must be lost before we understand that road safety is not a luxury, but a basic human right—the right to live?
Let us not forget that the life of a young person cannot be brought back; neither can a mother's anxious wait, a child's future, or a family's dreams be restored. But if strict and effective measures are taken in time, perhaps the next death can be prevented.
Will we still fail to understand our responsibility to save that one life?