It is extremely risky to travel by road in Afghanistan. It is even riskier than the Taliban's time of government. In the last decade, armed insurgents, robbers or IED's have caused thousands of people to lose their life while travelling. In Afghanistan, where about 60 percent of population lives in extreme poverty, it is either quite costly to travel by air or they travel to regions where Afghans' national and private airways provide no services.

For many, especially the government employees and people working at non-government and UN organizations, travelling from one part of Afghanistan to the other is no less than a journey through the valley of death.
In addition to the risks mentioned above, every year hundreds of people die of traffic accidents.

Reckless drivers, rough and tough roads and government's failure to deploy traffic rules and regulations at national highways are the reasons behind the incidents that now take place quite frequently. On Tuesday night, 9 people got killed and 6 others were injured when their vehicle overturned and went down in a valley in remote province of Daikundi, provincial governor, Qurban Ali Uruzgani said in a telephonic contact. According to him, the incident had occurred due to recklessness of the driver and bumpy road that lacks required traffic sign and lightening.

The incident is only one example of the so many traffic accidents that occur at various highways connecting the center to 34 provinces of Afghanistan. There are no restrictions on the transportation companies who have focus on increasing their passenger coaches but neglect travelers comfort and safety.

Most of the drivers are drug addicts who drive wildly and with an eagerness to reach the destination as fast as they can. The problems remain the same in capital Kabul and other major cities of Afghanistan. Even in the Kabul city, public transportation is insufficient and there is an absence of laws over the vehicles that are always overloaded and drops people anywhere on the road they want creating traffic jams and causing deadly accidents.

With all these problems, the roles of Ministry of Transport and Aviation and other concerned organizations have been only symbolic. The traffic irregularities at highways and withincities will continue to take lives until government pays serious attention.