Deadly Roads

An infant boy was killed and seven others—including six women—were injured when a heavy water tanker crashed into a civilian transport van in Karachi. This latest incident adds to the growing and unacceptable number of casualties caused by such accidents in the city. While road accidents are a global issue and among the leading causes of death worldwide, what’s happening in Pakistan’s largest city is both alarming and distinct—and the data backs this up.

A troubling pattern has emerged. Heavy vehicles—most often tankers, water carriers, maintenance trucks, and commercial haulers ranging from small vans to large buses—are consistently at the centre of these crashes. They frequently collide with motorcycles and smaller vehicles, resulting in severe damage, injuries, and loss of life.



The high frequency and intensity of these accidents point not just to the random cruelty of road travel, but to a systemic failure of regulation and traffic management in Karachi. Three women die in Burewala road mishap This is not just a Karachi-specific issue. Highways in Sindh, including those leading to Punjab and along the Makran coast, report similarly staggering accident rates.

The evidence suggests a deep-rooted problem: vehicles are not regularly checked for roadworthiness, drivers often lack proper training or licensing, and when accidents do occur, there is rarely accountability—either for the drivers or the companies they work for. In Karachi, this breakdown is worsened by inadequate traffic enforcement in a city already strained by unregulated urban sprawl. The result is a road environment that has become dangerously lethal.

Though the Sindh government has taken some steps to address the crisis, these measures remain far too limited and long overdue. A fundamental rethinking is needed—of how traffic is managed, how commercial vehicles are regulated, and how accountability is enforced. Without urgent, large-scale reform, the roads of Karachi will continue to exact a tragic toll.

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