Good Motoring
Let us obey traffic rules
H. Kishie Singh

H. Kishie Singh

The traffic light is red. You are waiting at the stop line. Four or five motorcycles will go zooming through the red light. A couple of cars will do the same. No one bothers to look left or right, endangering lives. Where is the police? While you are still waiting and standing, a couple of cars will squeeze past and park on the zebra crossing. Where is the police? Indian drivers do not park. They simply abandon their cars, often with a door open in front of a "No parking sign." The pavement is also a handy place to park. Where is the police?

Cycle tracks have been made to de-congest roads. These are used mostly by motorcyclists and are easy parking places for trucks and buses. Where is the police? Every bus in town — be it CTU, Haryana Roadways, or Punjab Roadways — and most trucks have air horns. The Motor Vehicle Act bans the use of air horns. Where is the police?

The answer is quite simple. The police cannot be everywhere to oversee the flow of traffic. The question to ask is where are the responsible citizens? Do residents of Chandigarh have no responsibilities to make the streets of their City Beautiful safe? After all, the lives of their families and friends are being endangered. The ego and arrogance of the drivers is the reason for our unsafe roads. To break the law is the order of the day, and it is fun! An example of this was seen at the Sector 9 market recently. The Sector 9 market is one of the most up-market shopping area in the city and caters to the hoi-polloi of Chandigarh and VIPs. According to my colleague, that means Very Irritating Persons! Very apt.

At peak shopping hours the Sector 9 market is in utter chaos. This in spite of the fact that the design of the market is ideal for getting in and out. The main market is horseshoe shaped; go in from one side and exit from the other. That is common sense. There is a third entrance-exit to help the flow of traffic.

Fed up with the chaos, the market association has hired guards to help with the parking. They put up barriers with ‘Exit only’ and ‘No entry’ signs. Not one person pays attention to the signs. Instead of improving, the chaos worsens. The cream of Chandigarh society in Mercs and SUVs object to being told how to maintain order. Painted lines on the tarmac are ignored. In total defiance, they would park their cars at the entrance and exit to prove a point.

The High Court has warned that not obeying traffic rules could be construed as a contempt of court. This is another example of the paradigm shift in the functioning of the country. The judiciary is doing the job of the executive, the executive is doing the bureaucrat’s job and the bureaucrat is filling in for the politician. This leaves the politician free to concentrate on mega scams and other allied criminal activities.

Another area which needs the judiciary’s attention is public transport. "12 killed in bus-truck collision", says a news item; "6 killed, 22 injured," says another one. The reason is always the same. Bad roads and unsafe buses and trucks, plus rashly-driven cars. The DC rushes to the spot, announces Rs 1 lakh for the deceased and some amount for the injured. This is the pacifier in the mouth. But nothing is done to address the actual problem; that is why 15 people die in road accidents every hour.

In any civilised country, governments would be held accountable and may even fall. Not in India, where life is cheap. In one of the instances of a bus accident which killed six and injured 22, the survivors reported that there were foggy conditions, and the driver was busy on the cell- phone and loud music was playing. Since the driver died in the accident, no action could be taken.

Why do we need loud music at all times? A walk in the corridors of the City Beautiful, and loud, raucous cacophony surrounds you. Walk into any shop or restaurant and it feels like a disco. The latest to jump on to the noise bandwagon are the toll booths on NH 1. As you stop to pay the toll, loud blaring music greets you. What for? The New Gen of music is rowdy, sometimes meaningless and often vulgar. Let us obey traffic rules and keep the roads safe for driving.

Happy motoring.