Wednesday 28 September 2011

Traffic Tragedy

 “Better a thousand times careful than dead once”, is a famous proverb and it is so true. The Chennai traffic police wing was formed way back in 1929. It has been ages since it was formed and at present they do have their hands full. What with the metro work going on and every one on the road deciding that he has to go fast as he has urgent work to attend to. I have been living in Chennai for the past 9 years and only recently have I noticed that the traffic police are being strict about rules in order to regulate traffic and enforce rules and not for other reasons.
They seem equipped with some nice gadgets, cars and bikes and can actually be spotted at almost every traffic signal irrespective of whether it is month beginning or month end. I really do appreciate their efforts but they have to be more organised and learn to enforce the rules with equality. It is a must to wear helmets but half the population are left scot free. The vehicles are being towed and the owners are unaware of it being towed as they are not intimated and they are towed even from places which they are unaware that parking is prohibited as there is no sign board. The scene just gets worse as you do not know where to find your towed vehicle and are made to run around for an hour or two and finally you get to spot the treasure, your vehicle after quite an exhausting hunt.
All said and done the efforts taken by the men in white uniforms is laudable. Some are still corrupt and they try to skip the electronic bill procedure and try to strike a deal where they can earn some money. It is going to be quite a task to clean up the system which has existed for decades and the mentality of the cops who think that they have to earn while they are at service and in more ways than the government offers. I wonder if we can make the traffic more regulated with this mind set but we have to start somewhere.
It is also not right to always blame the cops. We as citizens should also take it upon us as a personal responsibilty to follow the rules and safety measures. It is not going to benefit anybody else but us. It is better to be precautious than sorry. We just have one life and it is going to be sinfully sad if we are going to throw it away for some adrenaline rush.
We just witnessed Azharuddin’s son’s superrr bike cause a tragedy. It is the responsibilty of the parents to show the right way. If Azhar had not gifted the bike to his son who did not have a licence he would still have his son with him.
Take a moment to think if what we are going to do on the road is more important than our life and act according to the answer you have got. This and the effort by the cops should be enough to make our city a great place to drive around without so many curses being hurled at each other. Let us drive in peace and safety….

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