Hoot the speed demons to a halt

Hoot the speed demons to a halt
Deccan Herald

Terrori-sed by speed demons on the City roads? Hoot them to a halt. At least, that’s what K S S Iyengar would suggest. The 75-year-old retired engineer is the brain behind the ‘hooter signal’ at Seshadripuram Circle, that has proved a worthy tool to check traffic woes in the area.

Installed two months ago in front of the Sree Rama Temple, the signal — when switched on — beams a red light, accompanied by a loud hooter for 10 seconds.

“The sound puts some pressure on the overspeeding drivers to stop. Before the 10 seconds are over, all the vehicles stop. For the next 20 seconds, the signal will have another hooter of lesser volume — a cue for pedestrians to cross the road,” said Mr Iyengar. After the 30 seconds, vehicles continue plying for 60 seconds, before the next hooter is sounded. The signal works from 8 am to 2 pm, with a Home Guard around, to switch it on and off.

The signal has helped children, visually-challenged people and the aged in battling the rush hour traffic in the area.

According to Mr Iyengar the bustling neighbourhood, which has three colleges and three banks, could do better with a traffic management innovation like his. “This is just a pilot project on which I’ve spent around Rs 15,000. The set-up is small and we’ve taken power for the signal from the streetlight lines. However, the idea has immense potential to be implemented elsewhere in the City,” he said.

He said the Traffic Police had been very supportive of the initiative and was following up on the concept’s potential for other parts of the City. He admitted that the signal hoot had a flaw, in that it sounded similar to an approaching ambulance. “That’s something that could be addressed by those who want to take this up as a mass-scale project,” the senior citizen added. Contact 98808 20972.