Kakinada: Sirens and blaring horns in vehicles, particularly those of some political leaders, pose a big nuisance and cause immense inconvenience to the public and other drivers.
Most of the vehicles belonging to MLAs, MPs, MLCs, ministers and sarpanches have sirens emitting loud sounds and threatening other drivers or people at large. Some vehicle owners use horns playing different types of sounds that could be dangerous to other drivers. Use of sirens is rampant at road junctions and in main roads. There are also instances where police pilot cars stop traffic to clear the way for some VVIPs.
A social activist A.P.J. Vinu said, “According to a reply given under the Right to Information Act, traffic can be stopped only for the President of India, the Vice President, the Prime Minister or some visiting foreign dignitaries who are given President and Prime Minister level security cover.”
“The Supreme Court, in its order last year, had said those engaged in emergency assignments such as ambulance, fire services, emergency maintenance and police vehicles that require unhindered access to roads for performance of their duty would be entitled to use blue, yellow, white or multi-coloured lights instead of red beacons,” he said.
The social activist wrote a letter to the Superintendent of Police to curb the use of sirens, requesting the police officials to launch a campaign for not using sirens and other horns for the safety of the people. He stated in his complaint that during peak traffic hours, such sirens from vehicles make life difficult.
He also said that vehicle discipline and proper behaviour are to be inculcated in the minds of drivers, including political leaders, by holding high-level meetings.
At a meeting held at Kakinada recently, eminent spiritual speaker, Brahmasri Chaganti Koteswara Rao, exhorted the youth not to drive vehicles carelessly or use different types of horns which caused inconvenience to the general public.
He said the drivers should behave properly and should be appreciated by the people. He said the drivers, particularly the youth, while driving, should remember their family members who would be waiting for them until they reached home.
