Spiritual help for reckless drivers

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To control the road accidents that happen because of the involvement of commercial vehicles, the Delhi Traffic Police plans to come up with an orientation programme that would provide spiritual and moral lessons to the drivers and owners of commercial vehicles.
Special commissioner of police (traffic), B.S. Bassi was quoted as saying that such programmes will be conducted frequently. The eight-hour programme would not only include moral lessons like traits and responsibilities of a good driver but also a two-hour spiritual session that would help the drivers get rid of habits like drunken driving. DTP has also tied up with spiritual institutions like Brahma Kumari’s Spiritual University (BKSU) to conduct the session.
Delhiites think that it’s a wise intervention by the traffic cops to control accidents, especially during night hours when commercial vehicles ply the roads in large numbers. “I drive from Delhi to Gurgaon at night as I work the graveyard shift and often come across trucks plying on the roads during that hour. It’s not only their driving that is rash but even their behaviour is very bad,” says Sudhir Sharma, an IT professional.
Sudhir mentions an incident where after being hit by a truck driver when he asked the driver for an explanation, he kept arguing with him for more than 15 minutes but refused to accept his mistake. “Some spiritual intervention may help them to at least accept their mistakes,” says Sudhir, who thinks that DTP’s move may prove helpful.
From a psychological point of view as well the idea seems good to experts. Counselling psychologist Dr Deepali Kapoor says that any spiritual intervention will be helpful if provided in the right manner. “Till the time the drivers are not ready, the programme would not help. A lot depends on how much the drivers absorb from the sessions. Also, the maturity level of a person should be considered before providing a particular lesson,” she says.
Senior consultant psychiatrist, Dr Sameer Malhotra says that awakening the spiritual chord of the drivers will at least make them morally responsible if nothing else. “The idea seems good only if it is clubbed with other orientation programmes that involve proper training about the traffic rules and regulations, managing mental equilibrium and other health-related things like if a driver’s reflexes work properly or not,” says Dr Malhotra.
A DTP official says that they are taking every measure needed to control accidents. “The two-hour spiritual orientation programme would be clubbed with many other things like telling the drivers about the rules that they should follow, to tackle an emergency situation among others,” he says.