Sir,

This is with reference to traffic movement in city during the recently concluded Dasara. Though there is no link between festivals and road safety, many vehicle users ignored road safety rules during the festive season.

As Traffic Police were busy in regulating vehicle movement, violators had field-days during entire Dasara season. Triple riding, all without wearing helmets, became the order of the period. Not wearing helmets and seat belts became a routine by many.

Many parents were seen carrying their kids standing on the two-wheelers while on the ride. In the absence of road dividers at the city centre on Albert Victor Road and Sayyaji Rao Road, lane discipline by many vehicles including buses was quietly ignored till the start of one-way rule.

Like in the past, criss-crossing of the vehicles by not following lane discipline was noticed at K.R. Circle too. Several minor mishaps were noticed due to this. An elderly couple fell from their two-wheeler when a car hit their vehicle on the first day itself.  The bumper of a car was damaged partly by a jeep while negotiating at the Circle. A two-wheeler rider and pillion fell on JLB road when the rider failed to control his speeding bike and hit a Nano car.

Not bothering the vehicle coming behind them, many vehicles were seen moving slowly to take photos or videos of the illumination. Extending the illumination beyond Dasara affected normal movement of vehicles.

To avoid piling up of vehicles, one-way rule should have been extended till the end of illumination or at least during weekends. Allowing U-turn at Dasappa Circle towards KRS Road on Vijayadashami Day, especially after the completion of the procession, created traffic snarls. Many vehicle users ignored the directions being given by the Traffic Police and created a mess at the Circle for nearly two hours on that evening. Hope these violations will not be repeated during next Dasara.

– Dr. S. V. N. Vijayendra, Traffic Warden & Member,  City Traffic Advisory Committee, Roopanagar, 13.10.2019

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