Bengaluru: The traffic police in the city have started booking jaywalkers on the Hosur Road stretch to bring down pedestrian-related accidents and deaths, while traffic experts blame the improper road safety planning, which does not consider pedestrians as an entity at all.
The police on Monday booked 28 pedestrians and produced them before court for jaywalking. They were fined Rs 110 each. “We are carrying out the drive for the safety of the pedestrians. This will continue till the menace comes down. Last year, 26 pedestrians died while crossing the road. We are not booking everybody who crosses the road, but those who jumping over medians,” said Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) M.A. Saleem.
The police conducted the drive in Kudulu, Nagnathpura and Garebhavipalaya, where it is rampant. “We started the drive on Hosur Road only after an intense campaign and after learning that it is the most dangerous stretch for pedestrians,” he said. Traffic experts said that the Hosur Road stretch, from Silk Board Junction till Electronic City, has been built without considering the safety of pedestrian at all.
“Guidelines have to be followed not only during the construction of roads, but also before and after that,” said Mr Sanjeev Kumar B.H., a traffic management consultant. “Has the Road Safety Audit been undertaken in this project? I doubt it. It should be taken up before, during and after the project. Checks should be conducted every year to avoid problems like these,” he said.
“This is an example of improper planning. The stretch has 1,30,000 passenger car unit traffic every day. There are no subways or skywalks for pedestrians to cross the road. They can do it only at traffic signal junctions, which are far from places of use. That is the reason they cross the road wherever they wish. The police should identify such spots and implement pedestrian-friendly measures for crossing at those spots in a scientific and holistic manner, he said.
