It is not an unusual sight to see women riders/drivers on roads of our Chennai as well as the mistakes and rule breaking by them. Apart from their behaving 'equally' bad it is their speed which surprises me. I and many other riders suffer from back pain because of our roads which exist in between pot holes. Will not the women mostly in their early twenties suffer the same? Will it not affect their health during their pregnancy?
It is not new. It is not a brain wave. It is once in a while announcement by the traffic police. Three deaths of elderly people aged 60 & 73 on the same day made them announce once again that foot bridge is being contemplated to help pedestrians cross over and thus hope to reduce the accidents. But did they consider the following:
1. Can the elderly climb the stairs?
2. Are the existing foot bridges being used and if not why so?
3. Are there enough space on both sides of the road to build a foot bridge?
4. Will the foot bridge solve the problems of no foot path or unusable foot path, if they exist?
5. What is there to stop our tankers, buses and lorries crashing against the foot bridges?
6. Will the foot bridges facilitate the flow of non-crossing pedestrians by having spaces to walk around them?
7. If the answer is negative to 6 then will not the pedestrians walk on the road which is the perennial problem?
As it has been already mentioned in some other post the problem to be tackled is haphazard parking which not only reduces the width of already narrow roads but also force the pedestrians to walk in the middle of the road.
Then where will they park? They should have enough parking lots. The parking fee should be small and the fine for parking in no parking zone heavy. The roads are public property. That does not mean we can use them for our private use, be it parking or urinating. Maybe the people who park their vehicles on roads, whether it is in front of their homes/flats or elsewhere should be treated as encroachers of public land.
Pic. 1 - Neither of them wearing helmet but both of them with headphones!
Pic. 2 - Not wearing helmet but has this on his number plate 'if you dare catch me'!
Pic. 3 - Nice slogan for our roads I feel(give me strength is what it means-for those who can't read tamil)
These two slogans remind me that I should also put one on my bike which I am postponing for a long time. The slogan is 'If you can't be on time, be early'.
What will be your choice. Please let me know.
Pic. 1 - Safety for head No safety for Lungs
Pic. 2 - Helmet covering number plate instead of head!
Pic. 3 - Vehicle with blank number plate. I saw another vehicle also of the same make with blank number plate but with party flag!
Pic. 4 - Picture says everything about helmet & law!
Some move their vehicles not waiting for signal to change while some even go through the oncoming traffic - all to save seconds forgetting there is no second life! Rising at idling speed or rising with brake on in the case of gear less vehicle is what many do either due to ignorance, habit or engine problem. This not only increases the pollution but also eats(drinks) up the precious black diamond, petrol. Maintain your vehicle and save yourself, others from pollution and the world from oil crisis! Camaraderie without concern about other motorists on road is another problem seen frequently.
The tn government has once again said that it is going to do some thing about traffic problems, accidents, etc. And once again has announced that it will tame our auto drivers! Some weeks back it was also announced that a website is going to be launched by chennai traffic police. If my memory is right they had launched twice already, once in 1998 and once recently in 2004. Both have expired and I hope the new website doesn't get the same treatment.
But in my opinion drastic measures are needed to control our erring motorist than announcements. They are
1. All stop lines at the signals should have spikes springing up on red light and retract on green light. A war like measure as our roads resemble war zones.
2. All one way streets should have spikes bent towards the wrong side and depressible so that vehicles from right side can easily go over.
3. Cars with single occupants should be fined heavily to encourage car pooling.
4. Empty autos should not be allowed to cruise around looking for gullible victims aka passengers.
5. Erring motorists should not be fined. Their families should be made to come to the station and give a written declaration that it will not happen again.
6. Rash drivers should be directed to do service atleast for one day in the trauma department of any hospital.
7. People who get into accident because of their own fault should not get any compensation.
8. The contractors who lay the road should get their payment only if a citizens' committee approves of their work.
9. Cable, EB, Sewerage digging work should commence and finish overnight.
10. The garbage cleaning should commence and finish overnight.
11. All the places other than those marked for parking should be made No Parking areas even if it is in front of our own houses/flats. Those who don't have the power to increase the width of the road don't have the right to decrease it.
Hi can you think of anything I must have missed:-)
Recently I heard a news and read one. Both are related in a way. Both show how over confident drivers are and how foolish. Some how people seem to have a rebellion towards any law imposed, even if it is for their own good. Maybe a fallout of Satyagraha movement!
The first one narrated by a friend of mine. A couple just 35 days into their marriage riding a bike, gifted by girl's father of course. Both without helmet, of course. Two vans full of youngsters racing on road crossed their path. Head on collision. What else. Both are in the hospital in serious condition.
The second one is that of a elderly couple going in a car. Wife was driving lost control crashed through the centre median and crossed to the other side. What happened next would have been funny if it had happened in a movie. In the impact the door of the car flung open and the couple were thrown out in the path of a lorry. Both dead. If only they had their seat belts on...
Where does the government come in this? How can it monitor our educated illiterates? Common sense seems to be the most uncommon sense on roads.
Narrow Streets becoming narrower...
Broad roads becoming narrower...
Narrow street and garbage clearing at 12 pm...!?
