For an outsider in the city, the most striking feature is the traffic chaos. The sound, the sight and the experience of a maze of vehicles, small and big, jostling for space and competing to outrun each other can be concurrently comical and tragic; but the outcome is always dangerous.
Violating safety rules with impunity on roads, drivers of almost all vehicles seem to be following a single mantra: “to slow is to falter, to brake is to fail and to stop is to accept defeat.”
This is not to say that the road users do not have challenges. They share the space with cows, buffaloes and dogs besides heavy trucks, auto-rickshaws, pedal rickshaws, buses, motorcycles and of late, the frequently-traffic-choking convoys of Ministers and other VIPs.
Safety has always eluded Vijayawada roads. Despite persistent efforts by the Transport Department, which had been taking up special drives with the assistance of the law enforcing Police wing, to create awareness and strictly implement road safety rules to bring down incidence of deaths in accidents, the authorities have not been able to make people comply with the rulebook.
The root of the problem, according to different sections, lies in different factors. “Safety involves rules. People often get hurt in accidents for ignoring safety norms. They should understand the simple logic that if they follow the rules, they wouldn’t lose lives,” says Joint Transport Commissioner (Road Safety) SAV Prasada Rao.
Citing implementation of the helmet rule that came in effect from September 1, he says self-regulation should play a key role. “The department can’t deploy large number of its personnel on the roads all the time to keep a check. People should realise the significance of safety and follow rules.”
A large number of people have been found routinely and wilfully violating traffic norms, especially the head gear rule. “People have started wearing grey colour caps, covering their heads with handkerchiefs or other pieces of cloth that they think can pass off as a helmet in a crowd. It is difficult to spot the violators in these circumstances,” says a traffic cop manning a busy junction.
The section giving the helmet a miss largely comprises youngsters who often come up with bizarre reasons for not having the head gear in place. The reasons range from messing up of their hairstyle, suffocation due to closure and inability to hear sounds from behind.
‘Modify the design’
The authorities concerned have never tried to get to the bottom of the issue. The rule has repeatedly failed in the past. Public opinion must be sought on it and the departments concerned could probably think of remodelling the design of the helmet, says Ch. Vimala, founder and chairperson of Chigurupati Sudheekshan Foundation, an organisation she floated to spread awareness on traffic rules among public after losing her young son in a road accident in 2006.
The officials should, she maintains, analyse reasons why people have this strong reluctance towards embracing a helmet and explore innovative ways to ensure the head gear gains acceptance among the youth. “The objective is to save lives and the authorities should do whatever it takes to ensure strict implementation of the law,” she says.
