The Hindu : Kerala News : Need to create more public awareness Traffic in focus

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jan 28, 2009
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Kerala

Kerala

Need to create more public awareness Traffic in focus

The bus bay in front of the RDO has to be realigned to avoid confusion. Here the city buses bound straight south are halting close to the junction, blocking the view of drivers who want to turn left. There vehicles al

most collide in the confusion. Worse is the plight of pedestrians crossing Pavamoni Road when vehicles appear all of a sudden from behind the parked buses. There is no need for parking the buses so close to the junction as there is ample space some distance away which remains unutilised. Also the road is very narrow at the junction and is a traffic bottleneck.

J.J. Vellara

The suggestion is most welcome. The City Traffic Police are working on a realignment proposal for the area. We are looking at increasing the span of bus bays in that area and demarcating it for specific routes. Since it involves physical reconstruction at places, it would take some time. As for city buses bound south which are halting close to the junction, we are regularly taking legal action against them, over the past couple of weeks. I do hope that you would have seen a perceptible difference. For pedestrians to enable safe crossing, we intend to set up traffic signals, hopefully pedestrian actuated, and the first one is slated to be on Pavamani Road.

I wish to point out that the present traffic behaviour in Kozhikode city is caused by road users and authorities. The city roads are single lane, though they are marked two-lane and four-lane and one-ways. During a st

udy I conducted, 40 to 50 photographs were taken at random in roads and crossings and on examining them, it is found haphazard vehicle movements are the root cause traffic problems in the city. Two tracks are marked in the roads and hence the vehicles are divided into two groups, as heavy and light for easy management. Test runs can be done in one-way road stretches in Kannur and Waynad roads and decision taken if acceptable to the road users. Discussion were held already on the above subject with the traffic authorities.

K.S. Narayanan

Retired chief engineer & water resources consultant The suggestion if effectively implemented would bring distinct order to the roads. However, in a narrow two-lane road, it poses problems as no overtaking would be possible on those roads. Further, it would really be impossible to keep tabs on the effective implementation of this, as even on the Wayanad / Kannur roads, it would require large deployment of traffic personnel. However, we are exploring the possibility of working it out, overcoming the bottlenecks stated above.

Driving along the Kozhikode city roads is becoming a nightmare. The real problem is the lack of discipline of the drivers and ignorance of safe driving procedures. Many drivers are unaware of the traffic rules to be f

ollowed at multi-lane roads and junctions. Even in four-lane road it is quite normal to see a driver keeping himself on the extreme left of the road and then signalling and making a right turn, holding up the free flow of traffic along the road till he accomplishes his turn. Many drivers do not maintain their lanes not knowing their purpose. Overtaking from the left is the order of the day, especially for the two-wheeler drivers. It would be useful if the traffic police could convey through the TV network the traffic procedures as most drivers are not used to the lane-system on wide roads. Moreover, a stricter vigil would be helpful to the good road users.

A.K. Pradeep Kumar

Civil station The City Traffic Police could not agree with you more on this point. For a city of such impeccable tradition and history, Kozhikode city unfortunately lacks a traffic culture. Enforcement is just one method of building up a traffic culture. The year 2008 saw the highest enforcement on the part of the traffic authorities in Kozhikode city. However, a single track approach clearly does not deliver results. It is with this objective that we started the Traffic Warden System in schools across the city in association with NATPAC and KARMA. We hope that by this method, we could ensure a future citizenry enlightened about traffic rules and regulations. The Safeway Project on the Malaparamba- Ramanattukara stretch, where we achieved a zero accident rate for seven days on an accident-prone area, was an attempt to marry enforcement with education. The lessons from this experiment were positive. Further, for offenders in traffic accidents and cases of rash driving, particularly heavy vehicle drivers, classes are arranged at the Institute of Traffic Safety and Research, Chevayur, and it has started showing results. Most TV channels and radio stations have a slot for traffic rules. We will take up with these networks the possibility of airing more content programmed by the Police.

The problem with our city traffic is the increase in the number of vehicles. Owning a stylish four-wheeler is the trend and the affordable rate at which they come is like adding fuel to fire. Even an average income ea

rner can afford a four-wheeler without much hassle – the result of which is of course more traffic and even more congestion. Don’t you think following the trend that Beijing employed during the Olympic Games can be a solution to the rising traffic problems in Kozhikode. Using the last two digits of the registration number of a four-wheeler as codes, traffic can be made open to ‘even’ and ‘odd’ numbers on equal days in a week. For example: If Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays are made accessible only for even numbers, then all four-wheelers ending with odd numbers like 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 will be restricted. This will help reduce traffic in a huge way. If the solution seems far-fetched, it can be limited to certain areas where traffic is dense, exempting the other areas. Such an act will encourage travellers to make use of the public transport system and thereby help in reducing smoke and noise pollution.

Sangeetha Gopi

Cresent Garden Apartments The suggestion laid out is an attempt to make more people use the public transport system. Measures to make the system more attractive are already in the pipeline, like the proposal to get air-conditioned buses for the city. The Beijing experiment is definitely worth pursuing but it would require amendments to legislation and decision by the Regional Transport Authority.

I am living at Court Road (now Dawood Kapasi Road) near the BSNL Inspection Quarters. This area, from South Beach Road up to the Beach Hotel, is heavily utilised by lorries. Sometimes drivers park the lorries right in

front of the gates. Moreover, since there are no basic amenities, lorry drivers and their helpers do all natures’ call in public places, causing embarrassment to the residents and those who visit the beach.

Anil V Shah

Court Road One round of meeting with the lorry owners was called and after that we have been able to ensure no lorries are parked on the walkway at the beach. Another round of meetings will be called soon.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Kerala

News Update

Stories in this Section

Proactive steps in budget: Isaac

KPCC ban on speculation

Real economy needs technology: expert

Next issue

RV’s death: seven-day mourning in Kerala

Need to create more public awareness Traffic in focus

Kannur university starts tribal study centre

Ready for the show

Title deeds will be given to genuine settlers, says Minister

Ensure accountability in all aspects