Considering some of the growing cities in India such as Hyderabad and Bangalore are struggling to cope with the increasing traffic, I was wondering why not I write some traffic tips from my own experience of years of local travel in the cities.
Many city roads (both arterial and inside roads) have not been planned for too far into the future. This is partly because we had no idea cities would grow at this rate. No matter how much the traffic cops try to ease the traffic, it is we the daily commuters who need to co-operate to make the situation better.
I would like to point to some general scenarios that I observed.
When two big vehicles run parallel to each other for some time they block all the traffic behind them. The ideal thing is to have these big vehicles such as buses; lorries, vans, etc move only one behind the other rather than one next to the other.
It helps a great deal if people follow traffic rules. Some examples are to overtake only from the right side, to maintain a safe distance from the vehicle in front of you, to indicate that you are taking a turn, to stop the vehicle well before the zebra crossing and not right on it and so on.
It is better also to maintain good distance for each other when waiting for the signal to go. If you do not do this, you are unable to move freely when the signal goes off.
Some really good to have things are, signals that function properly, police that is really alert and does not spare any traffic rule violators, imagine how nice it would be if we implemented lane system in India.
Indian roads are no longer safe for pedestrians; roads do not have good and wide enough footpath or walkways anymore। The existing walkways are being demolished for widening of road. There is no place for pedestrians to cross to the other side of the road either. Zebra crossing in many places particularly in cities like Hyderabad have little meaning.
In a city like Hyderabad, it is really unfortunate that many commuters are absolutely careless. They have no awareness of traffic rules. In Hyderabad, the general public is also very self-centered. No one is bothered when a person is breaking a traffic rule. Traffic police teams should be really very powerful. General public and commuters must respect them and follow rules for their own safety and for the safety of others.
2 comments:
Yes, you are right about many things that you have said. I really do not understand why the people in are so nuts. I must say they are self-centered and foolish. At the traffic signals, they do not want to wait till the green light is on. They start even before 10 seconds are left for the Red signal to turn to Green. The City Traffic Police saw this and removed the count down system and only use a yellow light. Even then people do not want to wait. If i were to be a traffic police, whoever does this, i would siege all their bikes. Bloody hell.
To bring some order into the chaos on our roads there are a few things the government can do immediately.The first would be to greatly increase public transport. All such transport doesn't have to be cheap. You can make commuters pay more in ascending order of comfort. The second would be to enforce rules strictly. In London, if one pedestrian steps onto a zebra crossing, ALL vehicles come to a grinding halt. In India too they would if the punishments for not doing so are unacceptably harsh. I'm sorry to sound like a facist, but sometimes civic values can be taught only by inflicting pain. things like ling-term suspension or even cancellation of licenses, confiscation of vehicles, and even beating with an antiseptic cane for certain offences must be introduced and enforced.
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