The traffic maze

Olivia Gurumayum *

Imphal city is changing but traffic problem still a menace (Picture in October 2017) :: Pix - IT News

Rules are to be broken because we need all our courage to maintain and stick to rule and its little tough. And who wants to follow rules. Everybody loves to be “free-spirited being” forgetting human beings are immortal. Some gets so high on life that they just want no traffic to stop them while rolling their two/three wheelers.

To err is human but to speed up the vehicle and crash on someone driving or riding in front of us and taking life is inhuman. As we all know and could see it every day that the roads are way too congested for even two vehicles to drive along side. Amidst the chaotic traffic there are also people who choose to drive on the wrong side. And they cannot tolerate if the right side driver scratch them by mistake.

Another group of people are the honkers. No matter what, they have to HONK. Even if they know there is no single space to even walk for pedestrians, they have to HONK. When traffic signal turns red, HONK MODE ON! If in case anyone sees someone stuck ahead of you On the SAVE MODE, get down from the vehicle and help the person move. It will save a lot of time than sit and Honk and wait to do it by themselves.

We are surviving in an era of fast changing society; everybody seems to be really busy. Everybody is rushing to drive or ride ahead all. There were many pictures posted in the Sangai Newspaper of those who break the traffic rules. But, there are many people who need to learn about traffic rules, thoroughly.

Within these two-three years the number of vehicles increases rapidly. Everyone wants to reach their destination early, but, nobody wants to start driving little earlier from home not to disturb anyone on the road and to reach early and safely to wherever they are going.

Besides all these, there are also many complains about the incoordination of traffic personnel and the traffic lights, which is the most dangerous of all. Yes, traffic light just introduced recently everyone will take time to learn but not before it’s too late.

Following the traffic light is much easier. It is just three colours to remember. Yellow colour indicates to slow down the vehicles. Red signals to stop the vehicles WITHOUT occupying the zebra crossing. And, Green signals Go! (Everyone’s favourite).

With the new amendment, Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Act, 2019, the new fine for the traffic violation has also been increased by 5 to 10 times than the previous fine. It is a major step though yet a beneficial decision. We do not visit doctor unless we become immovable and reach the stage to pay thousands. “Prevention is better than cure”.

There are many changes in the Act. To mention some;

1) Aadhar mandatory for getting driving license,
2) Providing compensation of Rs. 2 lakhs or more, which was just Rs. 25000, to the victim’s family from government side for deaths in hit-and-run cases.
3) For juveniles violating the traffic, the guardians or the vehicle owner would be held responsible and will cancel the registration. The juvenile will be tried under the Juvenile Justice Act.
4) To Protect Good Samaritans from civil or criminal liability giving optional for them to disclose their identity to the police or medical personnel.
5) The minimum fine for drunk and drive increased from Rs.2,000 to 10,000,
6) Rash driving from 1,000 to 5,000.
7) Driving without license fine increased to Rs.5000 to 500.
8) For over-speeding from 400 to 1,000-2,000.
9) For not wearing seatbelt the fine goes up to Rs. 1,000 from Rs.100
10) For talking on a mobile phone while driving the fine will be of Rs. 5000 from Rs. 1000
11) A motor vehicle accident fund will provide compulsory insurance cover to all road users in India for certain types of accidents.
12) It will be mandatory to alter vehicles to make suitable for the specially abled people.
13) Contractors, consultants and civic agencies will be accountable for faulty design, construction or poor maintenance of roads leading to accidents.
14) A time limit of six months has been specified for an application of compensation to the claims Tribunal with regard to road accidents
15) The Bill removes the cap on liability for third part insurance. The 2016 Bill had capped the maximum liability at Rs. 10 lakh in case of death and Rs. 5 lakh in case of grievous inquiry.
16) The renewal time limit extended from one month to one year before and after the expiry date.
17) Manufacturers can be fined upto Rs. 500 crore in cases of sub-standard components or engines.

The smart card driving license is a modern version of driving license that has a microprocessor chip of 64kb memory. It is a biometric data accessed by RTO/ARTO office to provide a unique identity to each driving license holder. But, the smart card driving license doesn’t make the person smart allowing them to break the traffic rules.

As we all know the condition of the roads in Manipur, it will be wise to think of the other fellow’s inconvenience too rather than only think of oneself. The roads are no less than riding a roller coaster with the smallest track. Better reach home safe than trying to a rough-tough rider/driver.

It is high time to take precautions and understand than playing blame game. Especially the younger generations need to learn how to ride calmly as the roads isn’t designed for rough-tough riders to play with speed. And it doesn’t look so hero. There are many older generations taking walk on the road side, some still drive their cars and scooters.

The most important thing to learn before even touching the vehicle is to educate ourselves the rules and regulations. Learning how to control instant reaction towards others rather than suffering from lalochezia leading to batter each other than solving the issue.