For 3 years every time I drove in Hyderabad from Miyapur
where I lived to Hi-tech city where I worked I had just one question in my
mind, why is there so much traffic even though the roads are so wide. Yes it is
true, after staying in Bangalore for years when I came to Hyderabad the roads
looked amazingly wide and yet the traffic did not seem to move. However my
recent stay in US gave me some clue as how could we look to solve some traffic
problem in India. Another realization I had is that most of the solutions to
traffic problem in India does not need extremely costly solutions. Hardly 10-15
percent of extra investment on our roads can make our roads extremely safe and
can substantially increase the average speed of the traffic. Coming down to
specifics below are some of the points I felt we can introduce in our roads to
make them world class.
Issuing of Driver licenses
Yes this should be the number one issue which we
should address. The whole system of awarding a driver’s license is flawed in
India and it urgently needs radical overhaul.
Comprehensive
booklet/CDs/Recorder
What is needed is a small but comprehensive guide/booklet
(50-60 pages at most) with all the traffic signs and rules compiled in it.
Recently a video went viral on Facebook where vehicles were seen not giving way
to an ambulance, while people’s apathy is one reason for that behavior a more
important reason for such behavior is ignorance. Most drivers in India will
fail to answer the question as to which side should they move the vehicle in
case they hear an ambulance siren behind them. And the reason behind that are
the poor training programs when they were granted the license. We must
therefore strengthen our program and fix the knowledge gap among drivers. A
well-documented book with all the rules and signs , with rules telling where to
park , what do in case of hearing an emergency vehicle or an ambulance behind
you , who has the first right to take a left turn or a right turn, how to merge
on a highway , what to do in case of a crash or break down, what to do when you
see a school bus and numerous such issues will go a long way to make the
driver well informed about the decision he is taking on road and will also
increase the general safety and speed of all vehicles. Once the temporary
license exam is fixed next we need to go ahead and fix the way permanent
licenses are awarded. While like in US in India also we have the two level
exams where we first get a temporary license and then get a permanent license
the way it is implemented on ground leaves a lot more to be desired.
Temporary
License
The first level of temporary exam should be made a
comprehensive knowledge test of all the rules, regulations, signs etc. all of
which should be addressed in the driver’s guide/booklet. The test can be
conducted online on various private authorized prometric centers. The govt
should simply move out from the business of conducting exams so that no one in
the country gets a license based on influence. However conducting such a test
in India throws lot of challenges, a lot of our population is uneducated and therefore online written objective type tests may
not be suitable for all. However for such candidates the govt can come up with
visual CD’s and recorders in all regional languages which the candidate can
listen at home and then come prepared for the exam which can again be a
computer based test but where the candidate listen to the questions and then an
interactive computer program can help the candidate to find out the correct
answer.
Permanent License
What I admired in US was the way they take the permanent
license exam. In a two-step process the candidate is required to either clear a
maneuverability test or a parallel parking test (both these require extensive
practice with parking cones and by the time the candidate learns to do these
he/she actually gets a very good grip of the handling the car in both
forward and reverse directions). In the second part of the test the instructor
asks the candidate to drive on road where instructor observes the candidate if
he is following the rules or not. On successful completion of both these steps
the candidate is cleared to drive independently on road. Getting a license in
US or any other developed country is a moment to cherish, we get it after a lot
of hard work and the strong training programs before getting the license is one
of the reasons we see such a disciplined traffic in developed countries.
STOP sign and
Speed Limits
Signs, signs and signs … signs are key for smooth movement
of traffic and some signs like the STOP sign have immense value. Accordingly to
me it is one of the most important signs when on road. Initially I didn’t
recognized the value of this sign and it rather looked insignificant, it was
only when I started driving on US roads I realized that how this sign helps to
regulate traffic. You can find this sign in every street. When an incoming
traffic sees this sign it comes to a complete halt, looks around and then move
again when safe. This sign is therefore very useful when we are coming from a
street to the main roads or at crossings with no signals. What it does is it
forces the traffic to stop and then look around and then move when it is safe.
It therefore reduces the chances for an accident due to blind spots on the
roads, most of which happens in our streets because the incoming vehicle could
not see a vehicle coming from another side as none of them stopped to observe
the traffic. The placement of this sign is also extremely significant, I don’t
see this sign usually on the main streets rather I see them on lanes which are
coming and merging to the main street. It therefore allows the traffic on the
main street to continue with their speed and at the same time forces the
merging traffic from narrow lanes to look around and merge to the main street
traffic or take a turn only when it is safe.
Another important thing is the very clear speed limit signs
placed right at regular intervals on streets and highways. So when the driver
is moving within populated areas the speed limit comes down from 45-70 miles on
highways to 25-35 miles.
Lane driving
Center Lanes
Also on roads with traffic in both direction and without a
divider there is usually a center lane where the traffic which needs to take a
turn (left in case of US) can wait for clear road on the other side of the
road. This is exclusive for such purpose and it saves so much on traffic jams
as it keeps traffic running on both sides of the road. Such a small thing but
such a big impact. Even on the remotest of places we will find proper markings
done for driving on both sides with a distinct divider lines.
Highways – Exit Ramps
Till now we discussed some ideas which were relevant to
streets , coming to highways even they need lots of design considerations to
avoid congestion during peak hours, or to be able to provide free flow of
traffic at the maximum permitted speed. If we look at the picture below we can
see how an exit ramp is designed in US and other parts of the world. Instead of
signals managing the traffic, the place where vehicles need to take exit an
exit ramp is provided. Much before the ramp sign boards indicate that an exit
is coming and any vehicle looking to take that exit move to that lane. It is
also to be noted in picture below how when an exit approach an extra lane is
provided exclusive for the exit ramp. There are then signs that tell the
traffic at what speed should they take turn on the ramp. Similar ramps or merge
lanes approach is used to merge vehicles coming on the highway using. Again
this is not an extremely costly solution , India for last few years is building
huge network of roads , what we need is just application of mind thinking for
every inch of road that is built thinking of all possible scenarios.
Fencing the highways
All of us must have sometime in our lives faced the scenario
when a cattle jumped in front of our vehicle while we were at high speed on the
highway. To avoid such a scenario it is extremely important to fence the
highways. With a high density of population staying next to the highways govt
can even plan to make sound walls which can both act as protection against some
intrusive element on the road and provide a peaceful life for the people
staying around the highways.
Mannerisms on road –
awareness campaigns
Last but not the least are the mannerisms we follow on road.
After all the techniques and methods the truth is that every part of the world is
facing traffic jams during peak traffic hours. And here the role of good mannerisms
make such a significant impact that it is difficult to explain till the time we
have not experienced it ourselves. Every day In US I face huge traffic jams
during peak hours, much worse than I saw in Hyderabad but due to good traffic
mannerisms the traffic jams never results in deadlocks. People give you space
to change lanes when you need to do so, people do not honk at each other,
people move to the exit lanes much in advance so that they do not obstruct the
traffic going beyond that exit point, if an accident happens the individuals
involved in accident immediately move their vehicles on the shoulder lanes and
allow others to move, If someone gives you space to move between the lanes you
wave off as a mark of thanks, such small gestures but they leave you with a
much better driving experience and far less stressed than what we face on
Indian roads. Govt can look to run awareness campaigns to achieve the same.
With a dynamic PM like Mr. Modi such a task is more doable than any other time
in recent history. Social media can be used effectively to spread such
awareness.
I have often heard expatriates/foreigners describing the
cultural shock when they visit India, frankly speaking the filth in our cities
and the madness on our roads are what people call as cultural shock. With Swach
bharat and safe roads we can just not make traffic move smoothly we can also
make India a better place to live in. Not all ideas that we see elsewhere in
other countries may work for us but then these are some of the points I think
are worth trying on Indian roads.
