Despite the new emphasis on lane discipline coming up at the major junctions of the City, Bangaloreans are yet to get familiarised with the rules.
While some of them are attempting to follow the regulations, others are confused and have pinpointed many loopholes in the lane discipline rules.
“I agree that it will help in reducing congestion during peak traffic hours but most of us are not aware of the rules. Many people are also ignoring the rules. The administration should take proper steps so as to punish the offenders,” says Hemank, an IT professional.
The amount of penalty to be paid by offenders differs depending on the extent of the violation.
The traffic police will collect the data from three sources — enforcement cameras on a few roads, digital cameras with the policemen and the CCTV footage at various junctions.
The rubber safety cones have been installed at a few critical junctions, which will be replaced with permanent metallic cones after a month.
However, many city-dwellers have pointed out that these cones have not been installed till the end of the road, which creates a lot of confusion.
“I feel there are many loopholes at present. We don’t really know where we need to follow lane discipline and where we need to stop, as the cones which have been installed end halfway down the road. A lot of unnecessary chaos is created due to this,” says Chetan, who drives 10 to 15 kilometres a day.
Additional commissioner of police (traffic and security) M A Saleem informs that alternative measures will be introduced in the areas where the cones have not been installed.
“Till the time these rubber cones are not replaced with metallic road safety cones, the two-wheelers will continue to break lane discipline. We still have to see if lane discipline is as successful in the City as it is in Chennai and Mumbai,” says Mani, a bank official.
Despite the awareness drive by the police officials, many autorickshaw drivers have no clue about the lane discipline rules.
“Many of us had no clue about the new rules initially, but other autorickshaw drivers, who have come to know about the rules, have informed us. However, we feel that the awareness should be increased in this regard,” says Haider Sheikh, an autorickshaw driver.
The city administration is doing its best to spread awareness regarding the rule by putting in hoardings and stickers in the City. However, there is a need to take the right steps to ensure the rule is implemented effectively.