How the roads should be, and how they are in India

Two Hyderabadis, Bhaarath and Ajay, research about lane discipline to come up with a few suggestions and Lakshman Rekhas for the road transport authorities.
Image for representational purpose only.
Image for representational purpose only.

HYDERABAD: If you ask the public the reasons for accidents, most say it is due to over speeding, drink and drive and infrastructural challenges. But a majority of the accidents happen because of  lack of lane discipline. The  cases when the vehicles try to overtake or when they try to change a lane, then they are likely to undergo critical and severe accidents. “As per the Report on Road Accidents in India 2016, published by Transport Research wing under Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, Government of India; In the year 2016 over 12,257 of 1,50,785 road accident deaths happen due to overtaking and when changing lanes, this number is greater than the combined road accidents deaths due to Speed breakers and pot holes which are accounted at 5,720 fatalities,” says Patchamatla Sai Bhaarath Varma and  Muchakurthi Ajay Kumar, who have been researching on roads and lane discipline.

The former is a Chartered Accountant and the latter is a Btech graduate and the friends have recently studied the roads and road symbols in other countries, especially in the UK and Europe to come up with suggestions to make the Indian roads safer.  Says Bhaarath, “India spends more time behind the wheels more than China. The number of road accidents and traffic violations are also quite significant when compared to many other developing countries.

Indian roads witness 17 deaths on road every hour where many reasons cater to it like infrastructure and discipline. On average the number of traffic violations a persons made accountable for is high in western countries when compared to India. For example we never heard a traffic police imposing a fine because of changing lane in a restricted area.  The USA and Australia have penalty points and fine structure for changing lanes in restricted zones having appropriate solid and broken line markings,” he says. The duo want to submit their proposals to road transport authorities later this month.

Roads have broken lines dividing the road into lanes. When the line are broken then the commuters may change between lanes but when the line is solid they should restrict to their specific lanes i.e.,overtaking and lane hopping is cautioned or prohibited when road has solid lines. In practice several roads, if strategically represented with these solid lines, then it would significantly decrease the lane changes bringing up the lane discipline in turn reducing accidents and improving traffic movement.

These solid line will address the accidents happening due to overtaking and lane hopping. Not just by marking in solid lines but also government should take measures in displaying clear boards restricting the lane change. This concept is still not known to most of the public and there is a special need for government to educate general public on lane discipline and type of lanes, they sayd.

“I recently filed an RTI case which reveals the fact that very few national highways display the solid lines (restricting or cautioning the lane change) including the use of boards educating or displaying lane discipline. Not just that, as an example we can consider the city roads in Bengaluru; the stretch of old airport road marked with solid line but due to lack of awareness in public regarding the relevance of these solid lines there in no proper compliance. Not just the road deaths related to overtaking and lane changes but also the over speed accounted deaths to the extent of 73,986 can be addressed by making proper markings on lanes and by bringing proper awareness on lane discipline,” he elaborates.
 
Other suggestions
Adopt Intelligent Traffic Management System and  focus on interventions to bring behavioural change in public. Interventions may include mandatory strategical markings on roads and use of proper nudges to encourage commuters in following these markings. Smileys and thank you messages should be marked near zebra crossing for encouraging pedestrians for crossing road at the designated zebra markings. Promote  lane discipline. 

Red raised pavement markers or red blinking LED’s should be established at solid lines so that the commuters will be alerted to change the lane. Solid lines should not be used in a stretch where there are crossings and junctions as the commuters need to definitely need to change the lane using solid lines at these stretch of roads with crossings might lose the relevance and effect the compliance by the commuters. Mark critical road sections with solid lines and indicating the lane restriction signs might bring relevant intervention in the traffic behavior. The practical utilization of concepts like solid lines are necessary.

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The New Indian Express
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