Bangalore motorists and their killer instinct

What is the difference between a child with a loaded pistol in its hands and a car with a motorist at the steering wheel in Bangalore? None. They both are equally dangerous. They can kill.

What proves the similarity is the recent spate of life-claiming road accidents due to blatant violation of traffic rules. It has created an urgent need to enforce traffic rules and introduce stringent punishments to deter motorists from speeding and killing pedestrians or others on the road.

If that is not done on a war-footing, one might as well arm kids crazy about gun-fight-filled western flicks with loaded pistols and let them loose on the roads. The result would be the same—death and destruction.

Bangaloreans have seen that happen often in the city, right up to Monday night’s ghastly accident claiming four in Channakeshavanagar and again two on Wednesday with a senior citizen being killed in Jnanabharati Campus and a college lecturer running over students (injuries only though) of her own college in Vasanthnagar.

If you wonder why this is happening, all you have to do is step out on the
road—and you will see traffic rules being violated in every way possible.

For many a motorist in Bangalore, the white lines that divide the lanes are merely designs which are meant to be crossed. Shockingly, some motorists with authentic driving licences from Regional Transport Offices (RTOs) in the city, are ignorant about the meaning of double-lined lanes and broken line lanes.

Lanes are meant to be driven over, no matter what—even if it means leaving behind a dead two-wheeler rider (it happens almost everyday), a crumpled autorickshaw with dead occupants in it (the speeding Audi case on MG Road), or a dead or maimed pedestrian (as happened in Jnanabharati on Wednesday morning).

Speed limits mentioned on the boards adjoining the roads are mere figures that make no sense to Bangalore motorists. Watch Bellary Road, Tumkur Road, and you will see most of the vehicles being driven at speeds over 80 kmph—the maximum speed limit allowed on the highways.

Despite interceptors positioned at various intervals, cabbies and private motorists in posh and powerful vehicles rip on the roads with no regard to life or property.

Cut to traffic junctions. It is a usual scene to watch motorists—two-wheelers, three-wheelers and four-wheelers—caring two hoots for the red signal; nor do they understand the meaning of the yellow signal.

The general speed limits for four wheelers within the city, according to the traffic police, is 50 kmph; for two-wheelers, 40 kmph; and heavy vehicles, lesser than that. That too, following strict lane discipline. But how often do we see these vehicles driven within these speed limits?

We have motorists honking to force those ahead to move on at a traffic signal even before the light has turned green. Many oblige, coming in the way of other vehicles coming at high speeds from the right or the left.

Powerful, sophisticated vehicles smoother roads with plain disregard for traffic rules and the lives of others have formed a deadly combination that has turned Bangalore roads into killing fields.

High court advocate Amar Correa reasons this is because of the basic lack of fear of law.

“There is no proper enforcement of law. The fine amounts imposed as punishments date back to decades ago. People do not mind breaking motor vehicle rules as they have to pay meagre amounts as fines and then go almost scot-free. The only solution is that fines and punishments should be made stringent to the extent of confiscation of vehicle and cancellation of the licences for habitual traffic offenders. Rash driving is usually done by those who think they have mastered the vehicle. The speed has to be limited to 60kmph, not beyond that in the city limits on all vehicles,” he says.

City-based traffic expert MN Sreehari, says: “There is no strict patrolling, besides a dearth of CCTVs. At present, Bangalore has only 265 cameras for surveillance. That is not adequate. We cannot depend on the police all the time.

There are 3,500 traffic constables in the city. Such small numbers cannot perform a miracle. People may get their licences only when it is imbibed in them not to violate norms and it should come from within themselves to follow rules.
We cannot expect the police everywhere. Drivers should be responsible.”

He too feels that licences of habitual traffic offenders should be taken away and ensured that such drivers are not allowed to drive anywhere in the city or in the country.

Civic expert V Ravichandar feels that it is the stringency of punishment that would deter motorists from violating traffic rules.

“There have to be punishments that can drive fear into them. For rich defaulters, penalty is not the answer. A strong penal action is required that can as a deterrent. For example, in Mumbai, they have introduced the punishment of keeping the defaulters of drunken driving in the jail for one night. This punishment has brought down the number of cases in drunken driving there.”

Another high court advocate AV Amarnathan feels that death causing accident cases should not be made non-bailable for the violators.

B Dayananda, additional commissioner of police (traffic and security), agrees that strict implementation of suspension of driving licence for repeated offenders of the traffic rules is the best way to bring down accidents.

“We can recommend suspension of driving licence for repeated violators if they have resorted to violation more than three times. We will do that strictly in future for better enforcement of traffic rules,” Dayananda promises.

He points out to a proposal pending before the state government to increase the strength of traffic police and officials in Bangalore. There are only 3,776 traffic policemen in the city from the rank of DCP to police constable, and the force needs at least 600 more. He feels that an increase in traffic police strength will help in better traffic law enforcement in the city.