Why Traffic Violation should be the Rule - not exception - in India?

Why Traffic Violation should be the Rule - not Exception - in India?

K S VENKATARAMAN

A few months back, a friend had come from Singapore. The hotel management had given a car for our use. He had not come to India earlier. Just within five minutes, after watching the style and behavior of the driver, he asked, “Are you not at all afraid of the cops?” The driver promptly replied, “Why should I? If he catches for anything, what is needed is only Rs.50. He is going to get it from me and go back like a dog.”

A few months back, the traffic police had booked the son of the British Premier for traffic rule violation and had taken him to custody. The Premier went in person to the police station, tendered apology on behalf of his son and promised to be more careful in future and got his son released. Outside the police station, he talked to journalists as a parent and shared his worries with them about the growing recklessness of the youngsters and difficulties of parenting.

We have inherited most of our political institutions from the British. Can we imagine anything like what I have referred to in the last paragraph to happen in India?

In India Social Importance is measured by one’s ability to violate rules. If you are a bigwig, you should not stand in the queue; you should not respect the rules; you should be a law unto yourself!

Once an MLA’s car was parked in a no-parking area and the traffic constable insisted the driver to move the car away. For this ‘mistake’, the constable was directed to tender apology to the ‘people’s representative’ personally and then report for duty.

Once an auto-driver violated traffic signal in the most important road in Chennai; I was travelling in that auto and asked him why he did like that. He replied, “The owner of this auto is an SI. They won’t stop me and if they do, all I have to do is to tell them his name. They would allow me to go. You don’t worry sir.”

The pedestrians would show to the world how heroic and adventurous they are, by crossing the busy road anywhere they like. In another few yards there might be a pedestrian crossing or an over-bridge. But our friends would prove how much they value the time by crossing the road in a hop, step and jump, surprising the few responsible drivers in the city!

Generally the road condition would be bad. In rainy season it would be worse. To add fuel to the fire there are a number of departments whose men would appear from nowhere at any point of time and start digging across the road. Once the job is done, they would cover the hole haphazardly and disappear. Such things are very common.

There are highly improved methods of road formation and there are organizations that can do it very well and give a warranty for five years. But no, the local bodies would prefer to have roads that would not last for more than six months, so that they can float tenders every year with incidental benefits to many persons.

Once, a cab driver spit while driving. He had to stop for a signal. A girl who was following us in a scooter came to him and told him politely not spit while driving. Our driver simply asked her to go to hell; after starting, he turned back and told me, “In this independent country, we have no right even to spit as we like!” He was expecting me to support his moral stand!

When I tried to impress on him the need to be decent, cultured and responsible, he replied, “I am after all a driver. This is my fate. Am I a collector to be decent?”

I can go on like this. What is the use? So let me conclude this lamentation with a list of areas that need attention in India to minimize traffic accidents.

1. The police and officials of the transport department should be honest. Being honest does not give a right to any official to be inefficient or to take their own time to dispose of official business. They should understand that being honest is normal and ordinary; and being dishonest is extraordinary. Some officials, if they do not receive money for a change, start thinking that they are extraordinary and so nobody could question them!
2. The local bodies should opt for qualitative road formation; and should repair whenever they have to be tampered with. They should provide enough lights, especially on bends, centers and blind spots.
3. The traffic rules should be implemented without fear or favor, without harassing the members of public.
4. There should be periodical training and development courses for drivers. The drivers should be motivated properly and they should be taught to respect their job. They should be proud of their work.
5. The pedestrians should develop an improved road sense. They should realize that by their unwarranted acrobatic display they could die; worse than that they could cause death of other persons.
6. The people in general should be trained in time management. Instead of wasting the valuable morning hours, they should plan their day properly, leave as early as possible, leaving enough cushion time for traffic hurdles.
7. Our leaders rarely talk to common people. When they do, there is not enough time for them even to complete their bragging about their ‘sadhanas’. Instead they should find more time to talk to the common men. And they should talk to the people about the matters like patriotism, social responsibility, honesty, discipline, citizenship, queue system and so on. Before this, they should improve their personal standing and become worthy of talking on these subjects.

K S Venkataraman is the Associate Editor, Dynamic Youth Online Magazine. His e-mail: dynamicyouth_development@yahoo.com

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