The Mumbai police especially their Twitter handle often comes up with interesting ways of reminding people to follow the traffic rules. They have announced that the driving licences can be suspended for three months if the driver jumps the red signal or talk on the mobile while driving or riding a two-wheeler. This is not the first time that such rules are passed, the repeated warnings indicate that neither the people take the rules seriously nor the traffic cops those who are corrupt. In India, we don’t follow traffic rules strictly because we have seen other person who never follows and never get caught or punished. The Government, Media, and the Police department are making adequate efforts in creating the required awareness about road safety. But still, people risk their lives by not abiding the rules. Traffic signs are the silent speakers on the road. Be it the person behind the wheel or a pedestrian, having a sound knowledge about road safety is absolutely necessary for all before hitting the roads. Traffic signs give information about the road conditions ahead, provide instructions to be followed at the major crossroads or junctions, warn or guide drivers, and ensure proper functioning of road traffic. Being unaware of road signs is akin to throwing caution to the wind. By not following rules and signs leads to the loss of life and property.
We need to realise that the traffic rules are for us, and not for the policemen. We have to follow these rules; we have to save our lives and the lives of others. We just can’t blame the government for everything. Your life is precious; don’t lose it just to gain a minute. There are a lot of people who dislike authority and the traffic rules are a type of authority. These people will not only disobey traffic laws, but they will also most likely disobey other laws as well.
Other people have a Type A personality and are always in a hurry to get nowhere. These people will constantly disobey speed laws, run red lights, etc. as they are so self-important and self-absorbed that they just don’t care about others on the road. These people also tend to leave the scene of accidents. In my opinion, they are the most dangerous drivers on the road. Those who don’t follow traffic rules tend to be less respectful of the authority. Others who disobey the traffic rules merely are impatient, like instances when they see no car or person on the other side, while there’s a red light. Some find it thrilling to break rules, whether traffic-related or not. This is common in teenagers who are trying to get an adrenaline high.
You might read many articles on how ‘bad’ drivers in India are and how rules do not exist outside of the regional transport offices. Some of them were fun when I read about the “Sudden Brake Bus”, “All lanes are my lanes – Auto Rickshaw” or even “I won’t stop honking until I get my way – bikers”.
When one person out of 10 follows them, maybe a couple of others will try this the next time. Indians are good historically, and we only need good examples than bad and we will follow them. The rules here are not new but constant reminders are to save your lives and make you safe while on the road.
A very simple thing to understand is that the Pedestrians have the right of way and at any place where there are no pedestrian crossings, the drivers need to respect this more. Think of this from the other person’s shoes and you will realise the hardship faced by the pedestrians to cross the road.
Do not park your vehicles in a manner that will obstruct traffic. It may be for a small duration but look for a proper parking space always. You might end up spending five more minutes, but definitely worth the effort in saving so much of time for other fellow drivers who were behind us. We are never on race on our roads and it should not bother you if the other person overtakes you. No, not that you should slow down for every traffic to go past you, but never try to put another person in trouble just because they overtake.
Let’s look at it this way. With a lot more people honking, you may put the person in front of you to pressure and find him not able to start moving. Let’s be fair, and give a few moments of time for someone in front of us to move. If it is a one way – let it mean the same. Even for a short 10-20 feet, let’s not break this.
Let’s plan our travel and avoid switching lanes without notice. On a busy street, I notice one-person switching lane without a proper plan or notice is affecting about six vehicles around him. This is a lot, let’s be a bit more civic here. Let’s only take U-turns after checking out traffic behind us. If we see a lot of traffic behind us, let’s make sure we move left completely and allow vehicles to pass. We will then take a U-turn when the traffic reduces.
Let us know our hand signals and follow them wherever possible. This usually helps the person behind us. We can get to some other websites to check out hand signals that we can make use of. Let us respect traffic signs and traffic police. We should never try to outsmart these since they are there for a reason. Following traffic signs is one single largest reason to make our roads better. Unfortunately, most of us don’t do that sometimes. But let us change. We should never over speed inside city limits however good condition our roads are in. The risk of trying to be fast and quick is high and the time we saved in this is definitely not worth this risk. We see a lot of posters on this on the road; it’s time we take notice of this. That is it, very simple ones to keep in mind when we ride/drive. By ensuring Traffic rules and simple things you can inspire many citizens to follow you.
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