Road Traffic Hazards No. 4 Traffic Congestion & Traffic Jam THE LAST EYE OPENER

In India we lose 10 hours a week due to Traffic jams

In Terms of Pollution Reduction of speed from 50 km/hr to 25 km/hr can increase the emission of toxic fumes by about 100%

To solve the problem of jams we construct flyover

Within 5-6 years we find traffic crawling over the same flyover

Then we go for some more flyovers and so on

from a Roller coaster

Hon’ble R K Laxman has rightly commented on this many years ago

Wake up friends! Before traffic finally ceases like - -

- - - a dead or ruined city

Dear friends, are you waiting for the Aliens to come to discuss and solve our problems? We don’t disagree with you as probably your wish may be fulfilled!!

- - for Gods’ sake please don’t wait for government in this matter. “often, there is a blame game going on between the public and the authorities. People complain that concerned authorities are not taking it seriously while the authorities maintain that it is the people who do not follow rules” Please come out of this blame games. Consider it OUR own problem and start an honest analysis to find out the solution.

If you see a problem, it's yours, If you think somebody should do something about it, remember, you're as much a somebody as anybody. - Hank Edwards

Now the question is, what should be done or what should be our priorities? In fact, the problem is extremely complex and there is no easy and single solution to it. There are four main components of road traffic: 1.the road itself, 2. the public or commuters on the road, 3. the vehicles on roads and 4. the agencies and authorities that regulate traffic and build road infrastructure. We should consider traffic problem from all these angles to fully comprehend it. Unless we know the real situation or the root cause of a disease, we cannot treat it completely and whatever measures are taken, will only prove to be symptomatic or temporary and not curative.

From next digest onwards we will discuss these issues in detail. On the basis of priority, we would consider road accidents first then about traffic congestion and environmental pollution These above problems are interlinked and many facts about causes and management are common. However, it would be correct to consider these issues separately. Besides this, some other issues like Road Rage, drinking and driving, pedestrian’s problems, Global Warming etc. would be taken up in between at an appropriate time.

Our criticism may not be to the liking of persons of concerned fields and departments. But here we are trying our best to remain honest in criticizing them. We believe that unless we are honest in analyzing the problem, we cannot find a proper solution to it. Our sole purpose here is to sensitise the public and authorities about it, so that all of us start thinking seriously about this problem.

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Jai Hind