Traffic sense
Tuesday, 22 July 2008
IT is one thing if the persons behaving oddly (even criminally depending how you look at it) on the streets with respect to traffic rules is a peasant just arrived from the village. But, if those people are city dwellers on motor vehicles, then the matter is highly reproachable. I shall give an example to illustrate the matter.
I live on Indira Road and as exercise in the later afternoon usually walk down Manik Mian Avenue, turn right from Aarong, turn right again from Ganobhaban and turn right once more from Manipuripara and back at Indira Road. Thrice it happened on the same day. The first time I was trying to cross from the footpath on the left side to the right near Aarong so that when the signal was clear I could get on the other side of the Mirpur Road. Vehicles are not allowed to turn left when the signal is on for vehicles on Mirpur Road but one vehicle nearly hit me! Then when I was crossing Mirpur Road to be on the Aarong side a bus that was supposed to stop at the signal almost ran me over as it tried to sneak past at high speed! I calmed myself having survived twice in five minutes.
I continued my walk and was crossing the bisecting road that passes near the Ganobhaban and goes past what house the previous Mohammadpur Thana (I forget the name) when another vehicle braked hard just a foot away when my attention was on the right and behind to see if any vehicle was coming - vehicles coming from the Mohammadpur area have to be on the other side of the divider before the crossing. I was a nervous wreck and somehow managed to finish my walk.
The most alarming thing I noticed was that in all three instances these phenomena of disobeying the traffic rules I narrated were widespread! Everyone who got a chance was doing it! And what were the traffic policemen doings? Well, near the Ganobhaban when tried to draw the interest of a traffic policeman he looked at me and then turned his attention back to what he was doing totally ignoring me.
So what is the solution if the very people who are supposed to see that people follow traffic rules look the other way? There is a sinister side to it as one bystander told me: the only time it is "appropriate" for traffic cops to look into the matter is when an accident takes place!
M. Azad
Indira Road
Dhaka
I live on Indira Road and as exercise in the later afternoon usually walk down Manik Mian Avenue, turn right from Aarong, turn right again from Ganobhaban and turn right once more from Manipuripara and back at Indira Road. Thrice it happened on the same day. The first time I was trying to cross from the footpath on the left side to the right near Aarong so that when the signal was clear I could get on the other side of the Mirpur Road. Vehicles are not allowed to turn left when the signal is on for vehicles on Mirpur Road but one vehicle nearly hit me! Then when I was crossing Mirpur Road to be on the Aarong side a bus that was supposed to stop at the signal almost ran me over as it tried to sneak past at high speed! I calmed myself having survived twice in five minutes.
I continued my walk and was crossing the bisecting road that passes near the Ganobhaban and goes past what house the previous Mohammadpur Thana (I forget the name) when another vehicle braked hard just a foot away when my attention was on the right and behind to see if any vehicle was coming - vehicles coming from the Mohammadpur area have to be on the other side of the divider before the crossing. I was a nervous wreck and somehow managed to finish my walk.
The most alarming thing I noticed was that in all three instances these phenomena of disobeying the traffic rules I narrated were widespread! Everyone who got a chance was doing it! And what were the traffic policemen doings? Well, near the Ganobhaban when tried to draw the interest of a traffic policeman he looked at me and then turned his attention back to what he was doing totally ignoring me.
So what is the solution if the very people who are supposed to see that people follow traffic rules look the other way? There is a sinister side to it as one bystander told me: the only time it is "appropriate" for traffic cops to look into the matter is when an accident takes place!
M. Azad
Indira Road
Dhaka