BENGALURU: “Stop line and signal jumping enforcement will be top priority for traffic officers in the city!” tweeted Praveen Sood, City Police Commissioner recently.
City Express went to few busy junctions in CBD (Central Business District) to see how commuters in Bengaluru are responding to this new drive.
Despite Sood's warning, many Bengalureans continue to ignore traffic signals and stop lines. On MG Road, at the signal next to Cauvery Emporium, many commuters were seen jumping the signal and vehicles particularly two-wheelers, crossing the stop line and blocking flow of traffic at the free left.
No One is Listening
The scene was not very different at Brigade Junction where vehicles stop over the zebra crossing obstructing pedestrians. Srinivasa Reddy, a mechanical engineer from Residency Road, was struggling to cross the junction when we met him. He said, "The vehicles stop over the zebra crossing regularly and we have to weave through them".
Motorists were seen driving to their own rules at all the junctions on Hosur Road, including at Johnson Market, Adugodi signal, Forum signal and Madiwala Checkpost. At Forum signal, the main violators were car and auto drivers. Again, they block the traffic on the free left and cause chaos at this busy junction.
Close to a Police Station
Even stretches that run in front of police stations, like the junction at Cubbon Park police station, don't see people heeding to Sood's call for manners on the road. At this signal, vehicles regularly block traffic flow towards Museum Road.
Motorists argued that they stop as and where they can to avoid accidents. "When the signal turns red, we have to immediately hit the brakes," said Balaji N, a delivery boy from Adugodi. "All the vehicles will be moving fast till the red light blinks... once it does, everyone has to freeze because vehicles will start speeding from the other end. This means sometimes we stop at zebra crossings or stop lines."
Manual Checks Tough
The traffic department said that manual enforcement has many limitations, like a cop cannot jump into fast-moving traffic to catch offenders. "For the signal violations, we either take down the registration numbers of vehicles or catc violations with the help of CCTV cameras," said R Hitendra, Additional Commissioner of Traffic. "Practically it is very difficult to stop a moving vehicle."
The department has high-tech gear in place. "We have identified ten no=tolerance junctions and installed Red-light Violation Detection Cameras (RLVD) to ensure enforcement," said Hitendra.