Traffic rule breach takes place in the very presence of the traffic police at many junctions here. A peer into traffic violations appear apt at a time when the Road Safety Week is currently on.
Jumping signals has become a common problem in the cityAutorickshaws, two-wheelers and even cars stop on the other side of the divider to break rules. There have been incidents in the past where citizens following traffic rules were run over.
The city traffic police had claimed in December 2011 that 42 traffic surveillance cameras were fixed at various traffic signals to ensure safe traffic movement and identify offenders. Cameras have helped the police catch the culprits who jump signals, who stop their vehicles on zebra crossings, ride without helmets and so on. Notices were being issued too. But, that has not deterred the offenders.
In some junctions, signals do not work while in some policemen start manning the points well before 9 a.m. A top police officer told The Hindu that there were plans to install more than a dozen traffic signals in the city.
No one has addressed the crux of the traffic problem, says Chandraprakash of the Mysore Grahakara Parishat (MGP).
He agrees that multiplicity of vehicles had compounded the situation in the city. Significantly, there is no reliable public transport, people were using private vehicles, Mr. Chandraprakash said. However, this statement contradicts the claim of the KSRTC which says that the Bus Days organised to increase bus trips had made more people use public transport. Traffic signals are installed by spending huge amount of money but many do not function at several locations, he adds.
There are more than five lakh vehicles, including over four lakh two-wheelers alone, registered in the East and West divisions of Mysore Regional Transport Office. That there are hundreds of new vehicles getting registered in Mysore RTO every day.
