Missing: Road manners

H. Kishie Singh

The parking lot of this big fancy hospital had Mercedes, Jaguars, BMWs and other top-end cars. Inside, a sign at the entry to the lifts read, “Give way to stretchers, wheelchairs and the elderly!”

Really? Do you have to be told this? If the cars parked outside are any indication, the owners should be well educated. They probably are, but lack social etiquette. They push past the elderly, the frail, the unwell and the stretchers.

Anywhere else in the world, people step aside, make way for the elderly and the sick and maybe even offer to help them. That is a sign of good manners, which are absent in this country. This behaviour represents an attitude which is boorish. In spite of their education, they display a lack of manners, etiquette, decency and most of all compassion. Sad to say, this attitude and behaviour spills out on our roads. That is the way we drive without a thought for any other road user. The result is 1,40,000  road fatalities annually.

I have had to go to the PGI, Chandigarh, on a few occasions. The New OPD is a very modern building with all facilities. However, there is a major flaw. The parking lot is badly placed. It is across the road and a patient has to cross four lanes of traffic to get to the OPD Block.

No motorist slows down for the pedestrians who have absolute right of way. To make matters worse, the motorists don’t hesitate to blow their car horn. This, when there are ‘No Horn’ and ‘Silence’ signs all over. Even if they were not there, should one not have the good sense to respect that a hospital is a silence zone. 

The Cardiac Centre is a kilometre away. A motorist always in a hurry, hooting indiscriminately, insists on overtaking.  Not only is that dangerous, but is disrespectful for the ailing. The Cardiac Centre is well placed and, thankfully, the parking lot is close by. So, no crossing roads. 

Traffic at the Government Multi-Specialty Hospital, Sector 16, is much the same. I was entering through the ‘In’ gate. There were five- six cars ahead of me waiting in line because an ambulance was offloading a patient. The car behind me honked a couple of times, the owner flashed his lights. As nothing was moving, he broke the queue and entered through the ‘Out’ gate only to come bumper to bumper with an ambulance. A jam! How can a straight thinking person obstruct an ambulance?

The Maharashtra government has asked the President of India to grant permission to penalise offenders under the Maharashtra Transport and Road Safety Act 2017. Section 20 of The Act prohibits “sounding horn needlessly or continuously or what more than what is necessary to ensure safety.” It also prohibits blowing horns in Silence Zones, using multi-toned horns creating harsh, shrill loud or alarming noise or driving vehicles after making modifications in the exhaust leading to creation of undue noise. Section 23 of The Act provides a penalty of Rs 2,000 for each contravention.

If Chandigarh is to be a Smart City, this one serious problem must be addressed.

Happy Motoring!