Long wait at traffic signals to go after 11pm

Long wait at traffic signals to go after 11pm
New Indian Express

BANGALORE: The wait at a traffic signal after 11 pm may not be more than 20 seconds now on, as the east division traffic police are planning to cut down the existing waiting time by a quarter.

The move is aimed at bringing about some order during the late hours.

The city police have found that a good number of accidents take place at night, especially around midnight.

On account of this, the east division, which covers the busy central business district, has of late been operating traffic signals well into the night. Earlier, the lights were switched off at 11 pm.

“We held a meeting with Bharat Electronics on Saturday and asked them to set the signals during night to about a quarter of the daytime waiting period,” DCP East M A Saleem told this websites newspaper.

Normally, after 11 pm, there is a steady stream of vehicles on the roads in the central parts of the city.

While many motorists obey the signals, a good number of vehicles jump the signals because the waiting time often runs into over 100 seconds.

Incidentally, last month, the number of fatal accidents in the city leaped from an average of around 60-65 cases to 90 cases, almost three a day.

The reasons for this ranged from speeding, jumping traffic signals, accidents involving bus commuters to drunken driving and the lack of sustained enforcement. The police, however, cannot seem to explain the sudden increase in a space of 30 days.

“We are analysing the situation,” Saleem said.

846 motorists booked: The East division traffic police on Friday booked 846 cases against motorists who were obstructing footpaths and hampering the free flow of traffic by violating parking rules.

The police have realised a total of Rs 60,400 in fines.

The traffic police had conducted a special drive on Friday, targeting vehicles parked in a haphazard manner.

The maximum number of violations was noticed in Shivajinagar, Frazer Town and Indiranagar.