After the tragic bus accident on August 15, 2016, in Birta Deurali of Kavre district that killed 33 people, the traffic police implemented extensive traffic checks, especially on public transportation. They checked the documents of drivers and vehicles along with the condition of the vehicles. This immediately made the people in the public transportation business follow the rules seriously and made them drive more carefully. However, after few days, the traffic checks gradually began to slow down and decreased in frequency. This has been a recurring theme in recent times. Rules are only implemented immediately after a big accident and after the dust has settled, things go back to the way they were.

This pattern has repeated time and again. After a major accident, the traffic police become active for a short period of time and as soon as things go back to normal, they stop being active. Traffic police are not like seasonal flowers; they should be working all the time. It’s not to say that they do not work but, they seem to be more active after a major accident happens as if they were waiting for the accidents to happen to be active and praised for their efforts by the general public. The job of a traffic police requires maximum effort 24/7 so that accidents are reduced to a minimum. Unfortunately, that is not the case and as a result, road accidents due to overcrowded vehicles or damaged buses are at an all-time high in Nepal.

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