Is traffic management so very difficult?

[sibu eye]

It's funny and godawful that both the citizens and media in this great city of Hyderabad and its twin, keep shedding tears about the traffic problem. Nothing seems to be able to work. Yes, there are more cars and other vehicles, yes, Hyderabadis are lousy drivers unless they drive abroad and yes, the cops are a lost lot.

Why is it so very difficult to place traffic lilghts at all crossings and along all city roads at reasonable intervals. The traffic lights will space the flow of traffic and afford mobility. this simple truth seems to have ever struck the authorities.

Also the belief here seems to be that traffic lights are not needed along city roads. You go to any city in any developed country, traffic lights are located at almost every half kilometer along cityroads. This makes the roads manuverable [Yes, I know, the spelling is wrong].

additioanlly the cops are most untrained in traffic management. There is also a spirit of live andlet live when it comes to regulating traffic by the cops. where they are present, they are unnerved by the size and look of the car ans the occupant. They are afraind of stepping on powerful toes. this really is a shame that the police are averse to enforce discipline.

The powerful bosses in the department must find time to allay the fears of the traffic cops and assure them of the support of the department. remeber Kiran Bedi? She is still vernerated in Delhi essentially due her strict enforcement of traffic laws. But then she is a Punjabi and has the genes. Here we are Hyderabadis with genes evolved on good biryani and the siesta culture. It just does not have the guts to enforce anything.



it is a shame to see the citizens, that is the pedestrians of all ages and shapes, men and women, aged and young, fit and the handicapped trying to negotiate the killer roads of the twin cities.

Much copius tears have been shed. In fact if the tears had been collected, maybe we could have a seperate 6 lane waterway in the city.

Who is the authority to implement the law strictly according to the book and book those that are not per law.



Anyway who bothers if pedestrians and kids get killed on the roads? As long as those who can get away with irresponsibility are at thehelm of affairs, kids and others would find their martyrdom on the killing fields that are designated as roads in this hyped up hi-tech jungle.



The only way is to strict and blind implementaion of the traffic laws and heavy penalties even for minor infringement. The people have to be disciplined by the system while a system able to deliver.

May be this can even be outsourced and bring in the much neeeded discipline and revenue to the government.



Hullloooo, is anyone listening?

[Fiddler]

Well, considering no one knows what the traffic rules actually ARE, I'd say it's a little difficult to enforce 'em. Took me an hour to find them on the net, even. And NOT on the AP Road Transport official site, I might add...

[Krishna]

I agree with Mr. Fiddler about heavy penalties to discipline people.

I dont know how easy it is to implement that (in a democratic nation).



I do not however think that the police at junctions can be blamed for anything. It's a high pressure job. Air and noise pollution is a serious occupational hazard here. For this reason, I do not think humans should be posted at traffic junctions at all(Ideally). One has to understand the plight of the traffic police. I feel these people go beyond the call of their duty.



There's no easy way to deal with bad-drivers, pollution, jams. Giving highest priority to improvement of public transport, planning& implemeting that well ... (who is listening?, who the f*** is listening?)



While we are at it, I thought I will list down some bad driving habits and urge the readers of fullhyd to not do such things on the road



1. Being impatient: This shows up in many ways.

a, driving fast,

b, jumping signals,

c, swerving (to avoid slow moving vehicles in front), not sticking to a straight-line drive

d, honking.



I have seen many sane people go mad behind the wheel. What can we say about fast driving? What is fast to me is not fast to you. It is difficult to be objective here. Even if we put a legal limit on speed, it doesnt apply on all roads. Driving at 40kmph(though legal) will be dangerously bad in narrow lanes of a market place and will be considered slow on KBR park road (the abode of all speed maniacs).



I would say, readers of fullhyd- cool things down in your head when you drive. Be considerate. Accomodate other people on the road. Do not think slow drivers have no place on your lane. Slow down - live and let live. Ultimately, the sense of speed and restlessnes will affect your sanity and general health.



Honking: I would especially appeal to car drivers, please do not scare two wheelers with loud horn. As such, a two wheeler is an unstable vehicle. Do not get too close to them, you never know if the driver decides to brake suddenly. There should be a decibel level limit and car manufactureres should stick to that.



Swerving: Mad two wheeler drivers, cannot stick to driving in a straight line. If a vehicle in front slows down, you slow down too. Do not try to get around the slow vehicle. Will save you a few seconds may be, not worth it. Applies to all types of vehicles ofcourse.





Jumping signals: Cultural problem, I think. Deep rooted (may be from the times of freedom struggle or even antique - the days of anarchy after the fall of magadh empire), requires more analysis of our collective psyche



2. Stopping: Do not stop dead on the road because you missed a turn. Do not park vehicles on busy roads. If you have to park at a far off place and walk - be a man to do that.



3. Do not get close to vehicles in front or on your side. I have seen people drive with millimeter gaps between vehicles.



4. Do not drive in opposite lanes (this happens in hyderabad far too much,

like jumping signals it is a sort of problem that bears resemblance with corruption in our 'system')



5. Talking on your cell phone while driving, or crossing the road.

All of us hyderabadis, are familiar with the picture of a man on a scooter, bending head slightly to the left, squeezing a mobile between the shoulder and bent-head and talking on the phone.



6. Drunk driving: Everybody does that. Grow up, stop doing that.



Things you should do:

1. Helmets and safety belts

2. Use public transport where possible, try it sometime - See if it works for you.

3. Take sometime to curse our elected representatives (bad m**f**) who were supposed to have put the system in order - you can also do this whenever you are stuck in a traffic jam, will help you relieve.



Statistics say, 3.5 people are dying our city roads every day. I think there would be about 10 times more people suffering minor to major injuries per day.

[sidjor]

Yesterday night (Sunday) while driving back to Madhapur -- the cops were stopping cars to check for drunken driving. The cop who asked me sounded drunk.