“But when a minister responds by telling motorists that no matter what the government does, speeding can cost them their lives, the public is entitled to ask: what has the government actually done to curb that speeding?
This is not a new problem.
In May 2023, Godinho himself said speeding and rash driving were major causes of road accidents. At the time, the government announced portable speed radar guns, AI-enabled cameras, new signage and additional breath analysers. The government also said AI cameras would become operational from June that year.
Three years later, the government is still talking about the rollout and effectiveness of AI enforcement.”
Transport Minister Mauvin Godinho is right about one thing: speeding kills. But after yet another tragedy on Goa’s roads, repeating that motorists must slow down cannot be the beginning and end of the government’s road-safety response.
The more uncomfortable question is this: after years of identifying speeding, black spots and dangerous stretches as major causes of accidents, what exactly has the Transport Department under Godinho done to ensure that motorists cannot simply continue breaking the rules?
The Baina flyover tragedy has once again brought this question to the forefront. Police have attributed the crash that killed two people to speeding.
But when a minister responds by telling motorists that no matter what the government does, speeding can cost them their lives, the public is entitled to ask: what has the government actually done to curb that speeding?
This is not a new problem.
In May 2023, Godinho himself said speeding and rash driving were major causes of road accidents. At the time, the government announced portable speed radar guns, AI-enabled cameras, new signage and additional breath analysers. The government also said AI cameras would become operational from June that year.
Three years later, the government is still talking about the rollout and effectiveness of AI enforcement.
In June 2026, the State Road Safety Council, chaired by Godinho, deferred the rollout of AI-enabled traffic enforcement cameras at 26 locations, citing the need for an awareness campaign.
By August, Godinho was still describing the AI camera system as being in a trial phase and acknowledged that enforcement remained lenient.
That raises a legitimate question: if speeding has been identified as a deadly problem for years, why has enforcement taken so long to become consistent and uncompromising?
The government cannot simultaneously say speeding is a principal killer and then operate enforcement systems cautiously, gradually or leniently.
Goa already has a Road Safety Policy 2025, a State Road Safety Council and district-level road-safety mechanisms. The Transport Department itself lists these institutional structures and the policy on its road-safety portal. � The government has also claimed that coordinated measures addressing black spots and accident-prone stretches helped reduce road accidents by 17% over two years.
But statistics alone cannot answer the questions raised by individual deaths.
If a particular stretch is known to encourage speeding, where are the physical speed-calming measures? Where are adequate warning signs? Where are functioning speed cameras? Where is regular enforcement during the hours when speeding is most prevalent? Where is the engineering audit after every fatal crash?
And most importantly, where is the public accountability for measures promised years ago but still being implemented in phases?
Road safety cannot become a ritual in which every accident is followed by a statement asking citizens to drive carefully. Citizens undoubtedly have a responsibility. Goa’s Transport Department itself advises motorists not to overspeed and to obey traffic signals and signs.
But government has a responsibility too.
A minister cannot merely tell citizens to behave better. The government possesses the law, enforcement machinery, technology and administrative authority. It must use them effectively.
The answer is not to absolve reckless motorists. Nor is it to blame infrastructure for every accident. The answer is to demand both responsible driving and responsible governance.
After the Baina tragedy, Goa does not need another general assurance that black spots will be examined. It needs a publicly accessible list of dangerous locations, the corrective measures prescribed for each, deadlines for implementation and periodic reports showing what has actually been completed.
If AI cameras are effective, they must be deployed consistently. If speed radar guns were purchased, the public deserves to know how frequently they are being used and what enforcement they have generated. If black spots have been rectified, the government should demonstrate the results.
After all, road safety cannot be measured by the number of press statements issued after accidents. It must be measured by the number of lives saved before the next accident happens.
Godinho is right: speeding can undo every road-safety measure.
But there is another uncomfortable truth: years of delayed, inconsistent or inadequate enforcement can undo every road-safety promise.
Goa’s motorists must answer for reckless driving.
So must the government for the effectiveness of the system it controls.
