GOOD MOTORING
Make city roads safe
H. Kishie Singh

Two recent news items should result in a drastic improvement in the flow of traffic. Justice Thakur of the Delhi High Court has told VIPs to stay home if they have to move around with a ring of heavily-armed security guards and a dozen cars.

Have you ever seen a photograph of Mayawati’s mode of travel ? About a dozen Land Cruiser Prados accompany her when she is travelling. The registration numbers of the vehicles are all written in Hindi in blatant violation of the Motor Vehicles’ Act. Whenever she is in the city, I wonder if the Chandigarh Police has ever challaned any one of them.

The other news item is even more heart-warming. In Mumbai a jail sentence awaits cell phone users. Maharashtra is the first state to amend the motor vehicle rules to put a restriction on the use of cell phones while driving. The states do have such powers. The Maharashtra M.V. rules (Section 250-A) ban the use of cell phones while driving. It invites a fine of only Rs 100. Section 184 of the M.V.Act is for rash and negligent driving. This could mean six months in jail. The Maharashtra police has combined the two. Three drivers have already been awarded jail sentences. When will Chandigarh introduce such measures and make our roads safer?

The U.K. has gone one step further. Mobile phone users while driving could be charged with manslaughter and given life sentences.

It is truly amazing how we pick up bad habits, ignoring common auto sense with total disregard to our personal safety. The situation has assumed such alarming proportions that the Pope has issued a 30-page document called Guidelines for Pastoral Care of the Road. It contains 10 commandments like ‘thou shall be a careful’ driver. The reason? Cars bring out the primitive side of human beings, thereby producing rather unpleasant results.

Here are some of the commandments. "Thou shall not drive under the influence of alcohol. Thou shall respect speed limits. Thou shall not consider the car an object of personal glorification or use it as a place of sin."

There is another bad habit which our challaning authority should avoid. Traffic cops often rest their challan book on the bonnet of the car or put their foot on the bumper to use their thigh as a rest. Not done. A car is your personal possession and no one, not even the police, has a right to use it as a desk or a footrest. I would object most vehemently if a policeman used the bonnet of my car as a desk. I would also object if a dirty shoe was rested on my car.

Another complaint from people who have been challaned. The driver’s RC comes back with stapled pin holes. These are smart cards and need to be treated with some respect. A small plastic zip-lock bag will hold the cards and keep them safe. The bag can then be stapled to the paper work. A clipboard to rest the challan book would be so much more professional. It would keep the shoe off the bumper.

Happy motoring.

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