04 June,2014 06:09 AM IST | | Shashank Rao
Motorists continue to brazenly jump signals at traffic junctions despite rising death toll; one such offender caused the death of Gopinath Munde in Delhi yesterday
If figures of traffic police are to be believed, out of the 12 lakh road accident deaths that occur worldwide, almost 1.5 lakh are in India. The island city too has a bad record, with 700 deaths and 3,000 people injured on an average every year, highlighting the utter disregard towards following traffic rules.
In case of Gopinath Munde's accident as well, the incident that occurred early morning, the driver of the other vehicle allegedly jumped the signal and ended up hitting his car at 90 degree with Munde's vehicle.
One can observe the clear-cut disregard for following traffic rules by simply standing at a junction during rush hours. Four- and two-wheelers barely slow down before zebra crossing, bikers often check if the traffic cop is paying attention or not and decide to make a dash at red lights without a second thought, while motorists start their engines and accelerate even before pedestrians have managed to cross the road.
Transport experts agree that for most motorists, there is no fear of law.
"There is a need for discipline when it comes to driving. The new government should ensure that such behaviour is not acceptable and they should increase fines and make laws more stringent," said Ashok Datar, transport expert, Mumbai Environmental Social Network.
Sources at Mumbai Traffic Police said that while they try to post cops at as many junctions as possible, with the total strength of around 3,000, it is difficult to cover every junction.
Dr B Upadhyay, Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic), said, "The proposal to increase fines is still pending with the Central government. Over the last few days, we have caught as many as 6,000 motorists breaching traffic rules."
