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The smartly attired young woman was screaming her head off at a nonplussed cop. Gesticulating wildly, as her demure boyfriend/husband kept a safe distance, she protested volubly about the jet black films being scratched out of the window panes of her modest Alto by two nonchalant policemen. "Madam, thande dimaag se baat kijiye. Yeh Court ka order hai," the senior cop sought to explain, challan book in hand. I vaguely overheard something about the possibility of people ogling at her if the dark films were removed and would cops come to her rescue if and when that happened? The policemen ignored her fulminations. In the two minutes that I was stranded at a major intersection in Delhi last week waiting for the traffic light to change, the gentle humour of the interaction sank into memory. Following the High Court's directive, the national Capital has become a difficult place for drivers since the new rules took effect from April 9. The driving regulations that have come into force now are about the toughest in the world, like most Indian laws draconian on paper but usually observed in their breach.

Nevertheless being a "Traffic rule Ayatollah" as a colleague recently described me, I welcome the High Court's drastic intervention. The Executive would never have had the guts to order anything remotely similar. My first reaction at The Pioneer's evening news meeting on the day that the slew of measures was announced was "Good! The bribe rates will mount sufficiently for drivers to start observing rules." Indeed, as long as the penalty for jumping a red light was a mere Rs 100, half that amount would usually suffice to grease the relevant palm. Considering that my daily packet of India Kings costs Rs 100 thanks to an extortionist Finance Minister, what is parting with a 50-rupee note for the average vehicle owning Dilliwala? It gets you just about a litre of petrol! But paying out Rs 600 for the same offence is still something. Surely, the bribe-taker won't settle for less than 50 per cent of the stipulated amount. But Rs 300 as a routine payout will get taking used to. And pinch.

It is important to comment on the newly promulgated driving don'ts of Delhi because they will undoubtedly become the model for other cities, and rightly so. The Court has directed that all vehicles, especially buses must drive on their designated lanes, that handheld s must not be used (it's silent on the hands-free variant) while driving, that no driver would be permitted to smoke while at the wheel and so on. These reiterations of the existing rules have been further empowered by the Rs 500 levy over and above the currently prescribed penalties. Some years ago, the High Court had similarly ordered buses to drive only down the extreme left lane and, if necessary, queue up to reach the bus stop.

Regrettably, the rule was enforced for merely three months or so. I am sorry to impose pure Delhi concerns on The Pioneer's readers across the country, but believe me, the efforts to enforce rules here will have consequences on other cities especially on intrinsically lawless urban conglomerates of North India. For instance, take a major crossroads called Ashram in South Delhi. The magnificent toll bridge leading to burgeoning Noida/Greater Noida requires negotiating this point. For years, vehicles would be stuck for at least 30 minutes during peak hours because there weren't proper pedestrian crossing facilities and road users were forced to halt every few minutes responding to the red light that allowed pedestrians to walk across the busy Ring Road. Finally, a neat pedestrian footbridge has been built. But it still takes a long time for traffic to flow smoothly towards the Noida Toll Bridge. Why? Because three to four buses stop parallel to one another blocking the entire traffic behind them. Now, are policemen required to be deployed in their thousands to detect and challan drivers caught smoking behind the wheel or would they be better utilised to ensure that unruly buses move in single file so that all other vehicles can proceed? This is a flagrant case of misplaced priorities.

If the authorities are serious about enforcing traffic rules on congenitally unruly cities of India, probably the only way of doing it is by installing hundreds of cameras all across our cities and constantly monitoring violations. Britain is one of the world's most disciplined nations in matters of adherence to laws. Still, the London Police resorted to installing hidden cameras to check violators. Especially after Central London was barred to motorists who did not possess the requisite permit, the only way to stop unauthorised entry to the overcrowded city centre was to put up cameras at over 150 different entry points. On the basis of the footage, registration numbers of cars without the relevant sticker were noted and the equivalent of a challan posted to the car's owner next day. Failure to comply can lead to impounding of the vehicle. That is not all. Buses in Central London are also fitted with a camera on their front grille. Since no other vehicle is permitted to use the designated bus lane, any car straying into the lane is promptly caught on camera and challaned thereafter. Some may consider this draconian. But there is no doubt that if the London Police persist with this for a decade or so, driving culture will change sufficiently to obviate the need for such gadgetry to be deployed. There is another factor that inhibits enforcement of traffic rules in Indian cities. Pedestrians in this country are probably the most uncivilised on the globe. Partly, it is a cultural flaw, a by-product of the chalta-hai attitude. But it is also a fact that pedestrian facilities in India are abysmal. Try crossing a bus arterial road in any of our metros. Chances are you will have to patiently wait for 15 minutes each way if you are a law-abiding citizen or, if you aren't, risk your life and limb scooting between demonic buses and reckless speedsters.

As I have pointed out in these columns before, the newly built Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway has virtually no pedestrian crossover facilities although the road runs through large residential colonies and business districts. Cyclists, too, are similarly disadvantaged when negotiating wide thoroughfares. Alternatively, in inner city areas, cars can't move because cycles, hand-drawn carts and other maddeningly slow moving vehicles rule the roast. Is this the kind of traffic management system that behoves a country that successfully tested an inter-continental ballistic missile capable to hitting Chinese cities just last week? Unless the people agree to voluntarily observe a modicum of safety rules on our roads, no amount of stringent measures against errant drivers will work. I have a drastic option to control this problem: Challan errant pedestrians the same way as you penalise vehicle drivers who violate rules!

Author : Chandan Mitra
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