On a single day this month, Rescue 1122 responded to 1,374 road crashes across Punjab’s 38 districts. Fifteen people died and more than 1,600 were injured. About 80 percent of those crashes involved motorcycles, and 71 of the people affected were underage drivers.
This was not a holiday rush or a winter fog day. It was an ordinary day on Punjab’s roads.
In Lahore alone, the city has recorded 255 crashes in a single day. Numbers like these rarely make headlines because they arrive every day.
Every year on August 5, the world marks International Traffic Light Day to remind drivers what a simple signal means. A traffic light is more than coloured glass at a busy junction. It stands for respect for the law, responsible driving, and a shared duty to keep the road safe for everyone.
In Pakistan, that reminder cannot wait for one day a year.
The first traffic signal was tested in London in 1868, and it failed because of technical problems. On August 5, 1914, the first successful electric traffic signal was installed in Cleveland in the United States. That marked the beginning of modern traffic management.
Today, rapid urbanisation and rising vehicle ownership are putting unprecedented pressure on roads worldwide. Many countries now use artificial intelligence, sensors and cameras to monitor traffic and adjust signal timings automatically. These systems ease congestion, save fuel and improve air quality.
Pakistan has made progress too. The Punjab Safe Cities Authority has introduced modern traffic management systems. Lahore is expanding its enforcement tools. Traffic police have been issued body-worn cameras. Challan defaulters now risk losing access to excise and Khidmat Markaz services. The city has also ordered bike lanes and camera-monitored zebra crossings.
Technology alone cannot prevent crashes. According to the World Health Organization, about 1.16 million people die in road crashes worldwide every year, and millions more suffer serious injuries or lifelong disabilities.
WHO research shows that drivers using a mobile phone are about four times more likely to crash. Speeding, running red lights, and not wearing seat belts or helmets remain among the leading causes of fatal accidents.
The good news is that these risks are within our control. WHO says a correctly worn helmet cuts a rider’s risk of death more than six times. A seat belt reduces a vehicle occupant’s risk of death by up to half.
Pakistan’s own numbers are sobering. WHO estimated that around 28,000 people died in road crashes in Pakistan in 2021. Rescue 1122 recorded 4,791 road deaths in 2025, a 19 percent rise on the previous year, even though the number of crashes rose by less than 6 percent. Crashes are not only more frequent; they are becoming deadlier. January saw 463 deaths, and May another 434.
The economic cost is just as serious. The Asian Transport Observatory estimated that road deaths and serious injuries cost Pakistan about US$12 billion in 2021, roughly 3 percent of GDP. That is more than the country spent on healthcare that year.
A deeper problem sits beneath these figures: we do not know the true scale. National statistics recorded only about 5,000 road deaths in 2021. The WHO estimated 28,000, and the Global Burden of Disease study 38,000. A country cannot fix what it cannot count accurately. Reliable, unified crash data should be the first step of any serious national road safety policy.
Motorcycles were involved in 75 percent of Punjab’s road crashes in 2025, according to Rescue 1122. Recent daily figures put the share at about 80 percent. The common causes are well known, such as speeding and not wearing a helmet, one-wheeling and driving against traffic, and running red lights.
Lahore police say they arrested 127 people for one-wheeling in August alone. The city has now launched a city-wide “no helmet, no entry” drive.
Pedestrians are just as vulnerable. Nationally, they accounted for an estimated 41 percent of road deaths in 2021, far above the Asia-Pacific average. The August tragedy in which five people were killed when a speeding car ploughed into pedestrians near Taj Bagh showed how little protection a person on foot has.
Many of our footbridges and underpasses are poorly maintained or hard to reach, so people cross busy roads where they can. Safer crossings and pedestrian-first planning are not luxuries. They save lives.
Outside the cities, the danger takes other forms. Earlier this month, seven people were killed and more than 60 injured when a tractor trolley carrying wedding guests collided with a trailer in Rahim Yar Khan. That is a reminder that vehicles unfit for passengers are still carrying them.
Reducing road deaths takes more than stricter laws. Punjab is taking useful steps, including approving 3,565 new traffic assistants and constables, introducing new driving licence rules, and ordering zero tolerance for violations through Lahore’s traffic police.
But no number of wardens can stand at every junction. Lasting change depends on how each of us behaves on the road. Simple habits save thousands of lives, such as stopping at red lights, keeping to speed limits and staying in lane, giving way to pedestrians, and putting the phone away while driving.
Road safety education should begin at home and in schools. A child who watches a parent run a red light learns that rules are optional. A child taught to wait, look and cross safely carries that lesson for life.
Parents, teachers, the media and public institutions must work together to build a culture of responsible driving. Road safety should be part of the school curriculum, not an occasional awareness walk.
International Traffic Light Day reminds us that waiting a few extra seconds at a red light may seem trivial, but those seconds can save a life. Respecting a traffic signal is not only about obeying the law. It is about respecting human life, our own and everyone else’s.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Lahore Times.
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