Last week the General Directorate of Traffic organised a series of lectures in Hindi as part of its efforts to reach out to various expat communities to make them follow traffic and safety rules. The lectures focused on safe road-crossing to reduce accidents involving pedestrians. The advice cuts both ways.
FOR THE DRIVERS: At a traffic signal, when the light is red for the vehicular traffic, the pedestrians have the right of way to go across, zebra crossing or no zebra crossing. But wait. If a pedestrian has walked half way through and the signal turns green, have patience. Some people try to browbeat such lingerers by menacingly trying to approach them; some nasty drivers tend to pick up speed if the light is green and a pedestrian is trying to cross taking advantage of the absence of traffic. Bad manners on the driver’s part.
Be considerate to pedestrians if they are trying to cross the road when it is your right of way.
Be magnanimous. Give way. In a contest between the man on the road and your machine it goes without saying who would win. But the cost sometimes can be heavy. Imagine the consequences if the pedestrian is injured or is hit fatally.
Especially in the case of children, the old and the infirm, if you spot them in a lane, it is best to freeze. Come to stop at a good distance so they are reassured. And let them cross at their own pace. And yes, slow down if you see a cat or a dog and blow the horn to alert and give them time to scamper away.
FOR THOSE ON FOOT: It is an old advice that when trying to cross the road first look to the right and then left and then right again and then cross. But there is more to it. Hold your children’s hands firmly when crossing the road; never let them scurry off alone. If crossing at a point where there is no zebra crossing or traffic signal make sure no vehicle is approaching speedily since a driver would have no reason to slow down [or rather not to speed] in the absence of a crossing or a signal. Do not take chance in the face of a speedily approaching vehicle. You may think you may run across but you may also misjudge the approaching vehicle’s speed and miscalculate your own timing.
And definitely do not try to cross a road at a bend where you cannot see an oncoming vehicle.
Happy driving, happy road-crossing!