The number of vehicles jumping traffic signals have increased by 157 percent in 2023.
According to the Bangalore Traffic police website the vehicles booked for jumping traffic signals have shown an increase by 157 percent in the year 2023 compared to last year.The cases registered till the month of September this year has surpassed the cases registered last year, resulting into a huge impact. The drivers in Bangalore has a completely different opinion with how to deal with traffic signals in Bangalore.
Riza, a University student who regularly drives on the streets of Bangalore has a different notion on the traffic signals as she said, “there have been moments where I have escaped from an accident because people drive ruthlessly just to cross the signal before it turns red. It’s also because there are a lot of traffic signals. To drive one km, it sometimes takes half an hour, and we don’t have that much time to waste on traffic.” It clearly shows how a driver finds a way to escape from the heavy traffic to go on with their lives.
The traffic police are implementing ways to prevent the cases to rise furthermore. The traffic police inspector Anil Kumar said, “we have installed ANPR technique that is Automatic Number Plate Recognition System with cameras to recognize the vehicle which breaks the law. So, we are able to generate cases along with the proof so that people don’t argue that he has not broken the signal. So, because we have the proof, they end up paying the fine. The challans are also automatically generated.” Along with the cameras they also have traffic police at most of the traffic signals helping manually to check on the lawbreakers.
The traffic management experts emphasize the importance of teaching people basic driving behaviour to improve their knowledge on how important it is for the drivers to follow the traffic rules and prevent accidents. The SAFE NGO coordinator, Dillip Panda said that “there is a need to do more than fine the violators and emphasized the need for better training and awareness of traffic rules. Through AI camera data we just gather information that how many vehicles are violating the rule in the traffic. Basically, we have to work at the root on how and to whom we are giving the license. We can give training to drivers on basically driving behaviour.”
According to the traffic police, the underage drivers have contributed in the increase of vehicles booked for jumping traffic signals. It is everyone’s duty to follow the law and avoid any consequences.
