Traffic rules exist for the benefit of everyone

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Traffic rules are meant to be obeyed and never more so than on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway and the old highway. The state transport department is cracking down on traffic-rule violators on these stretches. Its drive, which started with an awareness campaign on December 1, will be held round the clock for six months.

To keep drivers in line, about 30 employees from the Regional Transport Offices of Mumbai, Panvel, Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad have been deployed and 12 squads have been formed.

Interceptor vehicles have been pressed into service and NGOs and organizations working for road safety are also lending a hand. Efforts will be made to eliminate black spots, study accident-prone sites and install signs as well as take action against illegal parking, riding without helmets and not wearing seat belts, wrong use of lanes by heavy vehicles and lane cutting.

Let us see if this endeavour bears fruit and statistics tell a story about lessons learnt from the awareness campaign.

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If the drive yields good results, similar initiatives, maybe in an abbreviated or slightly tweaked form, can be adopted for city roads. It is heartening to see that an awareness campaign is being run like an ‘appetizer' to the main course, which is punitive action for rule breakage.

It is time people realise that rules were made for their safety and benefit; breaking them endangers others, but errant drivers the most.

As we careen into next year after a very trying COVID slowdown that has lasted two years, let us put our priorities in order. Safety, responsibility and regard for life are paramount. We await the day when the majority will obey rules and an in-built sense of road discipline serves as its moral compass.