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Beware, jaywalkers! Now you will be fined

Pedestrians must think twice before carelessly walking on roads that have proper footpaths, subways or skywalks. Police will penalise them.

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Police commissioner BG Jyothi Prakash Mirji has directed the traffic police to levy fine on pedestrians walking on the roads where footpaths, skywalks and subways are available. They will be fined as per the Karnataka Police Act, which stipulates a fine of Rs100-Rs200 for jaywalking, depending on the nature and extent of violation.

This decision was taken while calling for an urgent meeting with officials of BEL and traffic experts to make pedestrian crossing signals scientific to allow them more time to cross roads at major junctions safely.

The decision is significant, considering that at least 80% of the road deaths in Bangalore involve pedestrians, especially in a city that lacks footpaths and the citizens carelessly indulge in jaywalking, although aware of risks involved in it. On an average, at least two people die every day in the city while walking on the roads.

Mirji has directed the traffic police to deploy men near subways and skywalks to ensure that pedestrians use them instead of crossing the junctions by indulging in jaywalking (walking on the roads which are domains of vehicles). He has also directed that additional law and order policemen be provided for this, if necessary. “This has to be strictly implemented,” he said.

This move particularly comes in the wake of the Johnson Market accident on Friday afternoon, when three ladies were crushed between two vehicles after a BMTC bus rammed into one of them while the women were trying to cross the road from between the vehicles to beat the 15-second signal time set for pedestrians.

DNA’s
story published in the Saturday edition questioned the extremely short time allowed for pedestrians to cross roads at big junctions.

Responding to the story, Mirji ordered deputy commissioner of police (East) BS Lokeshwar to organise a meeting at the earliest involving the officials of BEL, which designed the signals and the timers, besides traffic experts for consultations.

The accident involved two elderly ladies and a young nurse, who sustained fractures and bruises (no deaths) when they got crushed between the two vehicles. Although from the safety angle it is not right to cross between vehicles—as the pedestrians are supposed to cross on the zebra crossings—the three women realised that if they went to the junction to cross the road, they would miss the signal. They instead preferred crossing between vehicles that had stopped for the red signal when the mishap occurred.

Mirji told DNA that in most places, the pedestrian signal timings were set scientifically. “But since the aged people are finding it difficult, we will call for a review meeting at the earliest with the experts. Based on their recommendations, we will reset the signal timings for pedestrians across the city,” he said.

He, however, said in most places in Bangalore there is a need for skywalks, subways and footpaths. “We have recommended that to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to take necessary measures. The pedestrians are not supposed to walk on the roads, but they are forced to do so because of various infrastructure problems. Hence, many pedestrians die in accidents while crossing roads or walking on the edges of roads.”

He said that although there are a few subways and skywalks, people do not use those for various reasons, including inadequate maintenance and lack of lighting. “(But) We will not entertain people giving such reasons because it is the responsibility of the elected bodies concerned and officials to provide such facilities to the people,” he said. 

“We have written to the BBMP several times to take initiatives to provide proper infrastructure to pedestrians, keeping their safety in mind and to bring down road deaths. But unfortunately, for various reasons, our recommendations are not being taken seriously. We will once again bring these needs to their (BBMP’s) notice,” Mirji said.

@chetustar99

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