Errant drivers and shirkers

Wednesday 16th September, 2020

The traffic police are all out to enforce lane discipline strictly, again. They tried to do so several months ago, but coronavirus put paid to their efforts. The offence of lane jumping carries a fine, they have warned motorists. Many a motorist does not seem to have taken kindly to this scheme.

Lane discipline, however, is a prerequisite for making roads less chaotic. Undisciplined drivers are a nuisance to other road users. They are mostly private bus and trishaw drivers. Private buses determine the pace at which vehicular traffic moves on any road. If they are getting late for their turns, they drive like bats out of hell, scaring away other motorists, or they move leisurely impeding the movement of vehicles behind them.

Some drivers jump lanes habitually, and others do so for want of a better alternative in desperate situations where police do precious little to clear roads. Therefore, while action is taken to enforce lane discipline, the causes of traffic congestion should also be tackled.

What is needed most in managing the problem of congestion is common sense. Bad driving is only one of the several causes of chaos on roads. How do the police and the government propose to solve other issues such as numerous bottlenecks, bad road surfaces, narrow roads, lack of flyovers and underpasses and the inefficiency of the traffic police? Congestion can be managed if the police, local government authorities and the government are capable of innovative thinking.

Police took decades to realise that the roundabout on the Galle Road near the Galle Face Hotel was too large and caused traffic congestion. Its size has now been reduced and traffic moves smoothly! The monstrous roundabout near the Presidential Secretariat is also an obstruction. The same is true of the concrete sculpture, etc., occupying half of the Kollupitiya junction. There is only one lane for the vehicles that proceed towards Nugegoda and turn right at the High Level Road-Stratford Avenue turnoff. If the median which is about six feet wide there is removed and overhead traffic lights are installed, there will be room for another lane. Instead of having this bottleneck cleared, the police catch and fine motorists who slip past the single line of traffic out of desperation. One can see many such places in other parts of the city.

There has been a pressing need for several more flyovers in the city and its suburbs all these decades. Congestion at busy intersections like Orugodawatte, Borella, Battaramulla, Kirulapone, Kohuwala, just to name a few, cannot be tackled without flyovers. There is no alternative to extending the Marine Drive at least up to Mount Lavinia if a smooth flow of traffic is to be ensured on the Galle Road, where the rush-hour traffic grinds nose to tail.

Traffic congestion aggravates the country’s balance of payment woes by causing a colossal waste of fuel and adversely affects national productivity owing to the loss of man hours on roads, fatigue and stress people undergo. The government is struggling to shore up its foreign reserves. It has even resorted to import restrictions out of desperation. If it cares to tackle the problem of congestion, it will be able to save a lot of forex.

Straight-talking Defence Secretary Maj. Gen. (retd.) Kamal Gunaratne, recently, raked the heads of police stations over the coals for their failure to combat crime in their areas. Similarly, the Traffic OICs must be held responsible for congestion in their divisions. They must be made to explain their failure and propose how to tackle the problem. Public views should also be sought on the issue.

The blame for traffic congestion should be apportioned to three groups—errant drivers, inefficient cops and failed politicians who have not invested enough in road development where it is needed most. Penalising only the bad drivers will not do.

It is doubtful whether the enforcement of lane discipline alone will help ease congestion in the city. Grand preparations police are making to ticket lane-jumping drivers will warm the cockles of the heart of only one person—the Secretary to the cash-strapped Treasury—unless they are coupled with a plan to ease congestion; the Treasury will be able to rake in more revenue by way of fines for lane jumping.