This is no city for pedestrians, trapped as they are between dug-up pavements and death-traps that roads have become, thanks to speeding motorists.

This is no city for pedestrians, trapped as they are between dug-up pavements and death-traps that roads have become, thanks to speeding motorists.
And there is no guarantee that those who brave the minefield-like footpaths are safe, as the recent instance of three morning strollers being run over by a car on the pavement of 100 feet road in Indiranagar testified.
Even a task as simple as crossing a busy road has the connotations of a Shakespearean dilemma: to cross or not to cross.
Jayaram D, in his mid-40s, was waiting for some time at the busy Hudson Circle junction to cross over to the corporation bus stand. He was on his way to pick up his family en route to a wedding reception in Jayanagar 4th block.
Vehicles whizzing past, left him with not a second to cross the road. He waited for a good 10 minutes and the signal-lights changed from red to amber to green to red again. Jayaram decided to take a gamble and cross the road.
"I had no choice; it was rush hour and there was no stopping the vehicles," he says, recollecting the hasty decision that cost him dearly.
A speeding car ran over his left foot. "My foot was badly damaged, I was off work for six months and it took another six months in rehabilitation for me to get back on my feet," he says.
Jayaram is now mortally scared at the very idea of crossing a road. "I have this thought that all speeding vehicles are headed in my direction." And he isn't alone in his fear.
Archana, in her early 30s, says, "There are so many vehicles on roads at any given time, just the thought of crossing a lane or getting out on the street is scary."
"It's a free for all; no one seems to follow the rules," complains Sreenidhi, a student from Mount Carmel College. The other problem is that motorists don't follow rules – they stand way past the zebra crossing, jump a red signal when it is the pedestrians' turn and speed and whoosh past the shocked walkers.
"It is a huge disadvantage for us," says Madhumitha, a communications student in Jyothi Nivas College. "We have to weave through traffic to get to the other side of the road. Motorists don't even wait and keep edging forward leaving no space for pedestrians to cross."
Madhumitha and her friends brave the Hosur Road-Koramangala stretch everyday in flocks. "Thankfully when we are off college, we girls form a huge group so that motorists can see us and stop."
Tripthi, a homemaker, says matter-of-factly, "It is a chance that we people walking on the roads take." She accompanies her five-year-old son to school and back. "As my son is young, I go with him but even I find it difficult to cross the road."
She points out that motorists usually speed and it is difficult to cross the road. "Even the hand signal is ignored," she complains.