City motorists are aware of how lawlessly people flout traffic norms and the fact that there is complete absence of basic road sense or etiquette among most drivers, but that, it seems, is normal.
"Motorists are irritated because they spend a lot of time travelling. Use of indicators is totally absent in most of them. Lane-cutting and overtaking has become a normal thing and many have started treating this as an accepted way of driving," a traffic officer said.
President of Western India Automobile Association Nitin Dossa said, "The road space is shrinking and vehicles are increasing. The only solution I see is to make a sea link from Nariman Point to Versova, which will reduce the number of vehicles on roads by at least 40%. Also, multiple parking spaces will have to be made so that people don't park on roads and, thereby, give motorists more space to drive on."
A constable attached with the Andheri traffic division said, "Most incidents of road rage are reported during peak hours, when the traffic is unbearable. Almost everyday, there are brawls among motorists even if a vehicle just brushes past them. The most notorious and dreaded during traffic jams are bikers, who have a tendency of making their way through the narrowest of spaces. If their vehicle even touches another vehicle, they get into an argument."
Dossa said it is mostly youngsters who are involved in road rage. "Youngsters should learn to control their temper. However, if someone's vehicle is damaged due to another person's recklessness, they are bound to get angry,"he added and said BEST drivers too are dreaded as they tend to drive rashly. "People have reached a saturation point now and have started dragging the drivers out of the cabin," he said.
"A solution to all these problems is driving properly. The licensing process needs to be made more structured and stringent, traffic laws need to be amended and heavy fines should be imposed for flouting traffic norms. Only then will people drive with a sense of responsibility," said Dr BK Upadhyay, joint commissioner of police, (traffic).
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