For Vinod Velayudhan, traffic signboards are an interesting medium to poke fun at the establishment. The information technology professional, who is on the road for nearly three hours every day, found so many wrongly-placed, badly-designed signboards on the road that he started blogging about it.
Giving one particular example, he says that there is a huge U-sign at the Velachery junction right next to the Vijayanagar bus stand, but when one goes near it, a tiny ‘No' is written in the middle. There are many such signboards in the city which are arbitrary and do not prescribe to any standard.
“I blog in the hope that someday, some higher official will chance upon my blog. He will be able to understand what is going on in the city's roads,” Mr.Velayudhan says with a laugh.
Three types of signs are prescribed by the Indian Roads Congress: Mandatory signs (violations that attract a penalty), cautionary signs (warns the road user about obstacles) and Informatory Signs (gives distance and route information).
A.Veeraraghavan, Transportation Engineering Professor at IIT-Madras, says that signboards are lacking in many places and even if they are present, many are not according to the specifications. “A signboard must be adequately visible, draw the attention of a user and give the motorist adequate time to take evasive action. For example, according to IRC specifications, a sign must be visible from at least 45 m away. While guidelines stipulate the diameter of a signboard to be 60 cm, most signs in the city are only 45 cm in diameter. They do not serve any purpose,” he adds.
According to him, if the fine amount collected from traffic violators (about Rs.8 crore every year) is put to proper use, adequate number of well-designed signboards can be installed across the city within a year.
Signs found wanting
The Chennai Traffic and Transportation Study observes that traffic signs are found wanting on several roads in the city. It recommends priority installation of signboards in school zones.
Apart from signboards, the CTTS proposes road markings such median lines, kerb markings, obstruction markings, parking space limits and pedestrian crossings on all major roads.
Many of the 64-km of one-way roads in the city do not have ‘No Entry' signs. Accident rates peak during night time in the city because of the absence of retro-reflective signs (which glow in the dark) on most roads.
Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Sanjay Arora, who is currently in charge of traffic, said that most of the time when a signboard is installed, the police get calls from residents to post a constable to enforce the sign. “A traffic signboard is never obeyed. Installing them just becomes an additional burden.”
P.K. Sikdar, former Director of the Central Road Research Institute, said that if a signage is deficient or wrongly placed, there is no point in accusing people of not complying.
“People do not believe in traffic engineering anymore. Design and deployment must be done by traffic engineers. Traffic police must concentrate on enforcement. Indian cities must revive the concept of traffic engineering cells. In our cities, the traffic police are allowed to designate one-ways without knowing anything about traffic pattern studies,” he added.
Corporation Commissioner D.Karthikeyan said that attempts were being made to standardise signboards across the city. “It is true that there are places where conformity to standards is not in place. We are taking up this issue on all the new roads that are coming up.”
