Confusion galore at many traffic signals in the city.
At the LIC Junction, vehicles heading from the one-way road close to YWCA School to LIC Road and those turning right or taking free left in the opposite side, need to be careful. This is because the signal for those waiting near the YWCA schools turns green even when the countdown timer shows two more seconds for the signal to turn green. This happens even while the signal is yet to turn red for vehicles in the opposite direction. A similar confusion prevails at the Lakshmi Mills Junction.
This poses a two-way threat to motorists, to either get hit by vehicles coming from other direction or by the impatient vehicles behind.
“This is dangerous as most road users jump signals even after the signal turns red and cross the junction. Synchronising the signals by properly studying the time allotted for all the directions and giving breathing time for a couple of seconds for the other directions would minimise chances of getting hit,” says M.P. Vijayakumar from Peelamedu who crosses both the signals every day.
On the other hand, vehicles from the one-way road at LIC Junction heading towards Anna Statue Junction on the Avinashi Road take the right turn even while there is more than 30 seconds for the signal to turn green. The traffic police personnel at the umbrella are mute spectators for this violation – that is on for months.
A private bus driver, who did not want to be named, said that at times one would be surprised to see traffic police signalling the vehicles heading in this direction to keep moving even while the signal is red. It adds to confusion of vehicles heading to LIC Road as they assume that the police was signalling them too.
“The police should either properly synchronise all the signals at a particular junction based on the complexities or resort to manual regulation with the signals turned off as it poses a threat to innocent lives,” says R. Samuel, a resident of Papanaickenpalayam.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) R. Sivakumar attributed technical snag and lack of stability in the signals and timers in some signals – including the ones at LIC Junction and Lakshmi Mills Junction – despite frequent synchronising, as the equipment have become old and worn out.
“We have asked the technical persons maintaining signals to rectify them,” the Deputy Commissioner said. He added that advertisements will be removed from faulty signals if they are not rectified without delay. Heavy winds and electricity disruption were among reasons attributed for disruption of signal functioning.
