The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Signalling compliance with traffic rules, even at night Law and order

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Saturday, May 24, 2008
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Signalling compliance with traffic rules, even at night Law and order

At night, more accidents occur owing to rash or negligent driving, writes L. Srikrishna

— PHOTO: S.R.RAGHUNATHAN

LIGHTS ON: Automatic traffic signals at night are aimed at minimising accidents, police say. A scene at a junction on Kamarajar Salai in Chennai late on Friday.

There is a tendency among many motorists to ride/drive faster during nights (between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.) as the vehicular movement is relatively less on many stretches. During this time, more accidents occur owing to rash or negligent driving. In some cases, the vehicles cause hit-and-run accidents, police said.

Keeping this in mind, the traffic police installed automatic traffic signals at major road intersections, which were identified as either congested or highly accident prone. During January 2007, the timings of all automatic traffic signals which were operating from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. were extended till 11 p.m., while they were advanced by 30 minutes to 60 minutes in the mornings, depending on the location.

With the increasing number of vehicles on the roads, particularly during nights, the extension of the timing for automatic signals appeared to be imminent. As part of a pilot study, round-the-clock signals were introduced about a fortnight ago on Anna Salai, EVR Periyar Salai, Inner Ring Road and at the Madhya Kailash (S. P. Road) junction leading to the IT corridor. After setting right the initial hiccups, traffic police manning the signals feel that the functioning of signals round-the-clock has helped.

Earlier, private cars and two-wheelers used to drive in a rash and negligent manner at night. After noticing the signals now, motorists have started obeying the road rules, police noted. In case of any violation, the traffic police sent a notice to the addresses of the vehicle owners, who had to pay a fine of Rs.1,050 at the nearest traffic police office.

Commissioner of Police G. Nanchil Kumaran told The Hindu that the extension of timings of automatic signals at select stretches is an initiative to regulate traffic at night also. By obeying the traffic signals, accidents, sometimes fatal, and damage to vehicles can be prevented.

Traffic police officers at the Madhya Kailash intersection said that vehicle movement, particularly, those transporting BPO employees, had increased manifold in the last one year during nights. Apart from movement of private cars and SUVs, the number of private taxis too had gone up substantially. Three major IT companies alone hired nearly 1,000 cars from different tourist operators, which picked up and dropped the employees at different destinations between 2 a.m. and 7 a.m. depending on their shift timings daily, they added.

225 cases booked

During the last 10 days alone, the police had booked 225 cases during nights for violations such as signal jumping and drunken driving at these points where the automatic signals functioned. There are about 50 policemen and officers supervising the signals which are equipped with cameras, Mr. Kumaran added.

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