Daily Times

Traffic rules violation has always been done in almost every country of the world and has resulted in severe accidents but for us Pakistanis, this has become a habit and a behavioural norm to violate traffic rules.

This violation is done by almost every age group but mainly it is done by the young lot on motorbikes or cars and they cause heavy damage to the people around them, especially the drivers who want to drive by the book. This traffic violation is indicative of our disturbed social psychology and undamaged chaotic lifestyle which is gradually turning into an anarchist one. Here not only are the citizens involved but also the neglect and ignorance involved on the part of the authorities responsible for the smooth and safe flow of traffic as per the rules and regulations of the traffic.

The violations are of many types. Firstly, lane-lessness, where the drivers don’t care to drive in the specified lane and mostly impinge upon the lanes where other drivers have the right. Secondly, no one gives indicators to change the lane. Thirdly, three- and two-wheel traffic which is supposed to tread the slow lane, they prefer to make the fast lane slow and even after honking, they insist on doing the same. Many of these drivers have been found insisting on driving in the fast lane even if fast vehicles are demanding access to their rights. The same holds for fast traffic when the traffic is blocked, it tends to block the lanes of even the traffic coming from opposite directions and so all are blocked. But if the same remains in the specified lane, it may be slow, but it will not be a traffic jam.

Similarly, it has been seen that the zebra crossings are also covered by vehicles at the traffic signal which is a clear violation of the rights of pedestrians. Another type of violation is the entry and exit on the main road on one’s will and wish rather than as per rules.

No one should be issued a traffic license unless one is found well-versed in traffic laws and has a well-developed civic sense.

There are so many traffic crossings where no one knows where to go because drivers are entering and exiting right or wrong from and to all the directions of the crossing thus creating a huge mess and risk to the life and safety of the people.

A few drivers are of the habit to attend their telephone calls while driving which divides their attention and so, they cause the vehicles behind them to suffer from their attitude because in the divided attention, they make mistakes and become a nuisance for the driver coming behind them, or they would park their vehicle right on the main path or even on the side of the road and cause blockage for the vehicles that don’t want to stop there.

There is another menace of LED Lights which are mostly used to blind the coming drivers and to show power instead of finding the way, even within the city where drivers are required to keep their headlamps down, such sharp stingy power lamps can cause accidents because it virtually makes one unable to see the path.

Not only do the pedestrians enter and exit at their will and wish but also the U-turns are never used and instead the driver would prefer driving on the wrong side of the road hence causing worry for the drivers who are on the right side. And because of this, no one can take a safe U-Turn. Moreover, U-Turns are so ill-engineered that most of the traffic blockages occur at the U-Turns.

This causes not only the loss of life but also frustration on the road resulting in anger and road rage. The blocked traffic arteries also cause loss of time, fuel and time delays. Law-abiding drivers also find it difficult to follow the law in this regard and tend to toe the line of the erring drivers.

The system can be amended or improved by manning each crossing in the main cities or at least by installing electronic traffic management systems. The lanes of the roads must be constantly repaired so that all the drivers may not try to tread on the smoother part of the road. Not only the traffic engineering and management need improvement but also traffic education must be prevalently given at a wider level.

No one should be issued a traffic license unless one is found well-versed in traffic laws and has a well-developed civic sense of the traffic systems. The ever-growing vehicular population is demanding right now that some systematic regulation must be enforced for the flow of traffic instead of slowing it down or jamming it altogether because after all a well-managed traffic system is a more agreeable face of the country and the society.

The writer is a professor of English at Government Emerson University, Multan. He can be reached at zeadogar
@hotmail.com and Tweets at @Profzee