With footpaths shrinking, pedestrians face threat to lives

With footpaths shrinking, pedestrians face threat to lives

M. Raghuram

— Photo: K. Gopinathan

DANGEROUS: Riding on the footpath puts pedestrians to hardship.

BANGALORE: Pedestrians have no safe haven anymore in the city; with roads widening and footpaths and sidewalks ever shrinking in width, their safety is being challenged day in and day out. As if that was not enough the incidents of motorcyclists using footpaths to tide over the traffic snarls are increasing the risk levels that the pedestrians face.

Traffic snarls cannot be warded off in a growing city but insensitivity of motorists towards pedestrians is an attitudinal problem and can be corrected by the law. Those snazzy motorcycles can go anywhere and it has become almost a routine for the people in the city to watch helplessly as their riders take over their [pedestrians] walking space without any remorse or fear of the law. It is also true that the police cannot be there at all the time and at all the places where such outrages take place.

On an average day, there are at least a couple of dozen traffic snarls, including those at the signals. According to Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) K.C. Ramamurthy, the problem of motorcyclists occupying the pedestrian spaces has come to the notice of the police and on several occasions on complaints of the citizens, they have tracked down the offenders and fined them and seized their vehicles.

However, the problem appears to persist, he agrees. There is, however, a decrease in the number of such offences in 2007, Mr. Ramamurthy said.

According to the Indian Penal Code, such acts, if they cause death of other than the person involved in driving, could be charged under several sections, including 304A, which could land the driver in jail with or without fine, and compensation awarded to the dead persons’ relatives. Such incidents of riding on footpaths could be seen on Mahatma Gandhi Road (the stretch between Cauvery Emporium and Trinity Circle) and on Infantry Road (the stretch between Hotel Ashraya International and Coffee Board).

There have been many occasions when senior citizens, children and women were troubled by such riders. While walking on the footpaths, people feel that they are safe and tend to be carefree also. However, once they are confronted by a motorcycle charging in their direction they tend to feel terrified — quite rightly so, and their first reaction is to escape a collision. In the melee, they take some clumsy steps and eventually, end up coming in contact with the motorcycle.

In a particular case, Leena Mendonca, who suffered a fracture, was given compensation and the rider fined.

Mr. Ramamurthy has appealed to the people to note down the number of the offending vehicles.