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| Wednesday, 4 February 2004 |
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Safety first? Not here by Tharuka Dissanaike If one tries to follow the new pedestrian traffic lights at Town Hall junction, there is bound to be a nasty accident. I tried it, waiting patiently for the green 'walking man' to appear, while around me people simply dashed across the road right in the face of on-coming traffic in the normal Sri Lankan fashion. I was lucky to escape with my life. As the green man appeared and confidently I stepped on the marked pedestrian crossing, a 138 bus came screeching round the corner. The driver was as surprised as I was, and pointed to his green light in reply to the best glare I could muster after such a fright. Having attempted the same feat a couple of times after that, I have to conclude that the calibration of these lights are a little out of sync. Thankfully, many of us Sri Lankans have absolutely no problems with that. We never follow lights to cross a road anyway and in this case, I am sure this 'bad' practice saved many a life. Town Hall junction is one of the busiest spots in the city, frequented by many old, sickly, injured people who come to the National Hospital and messed up traffic lights could not have found a worse location, really. Road safety is an alien issue to many of us in Sri Lanka. The complete lack of respect for road rules and road manners is amply demonstrated by the way parents carry their children on the road. If a mother or father ignores safety rules when it comes to children it demonstrates not just ignorance or negligence but a total disregard for other road users as well. A commonly seen and most disturbing sight parents walking their children on the side of on-coming traffic. Mothers are especially guilty of this practice, when they hold the child by hand but force the youngster to take the dangerous side of the road. The child often tries to tug at the hand or step even further into the road playfully. It is truly incredible that parents do not see the danger in this practice. An especially harrowing story was recounted by a friend recently. A mother was carrying her toddler on the road on her way to pick up another child from school. Unthinking, the mother carried the baby on the wrong side. The child was asleep and leaning over towards on coming traffic. An overtaking lorry tapped the child on the head. It was just a tiny, swift knock. The child woke, believing the mother had tapped him on the head. Soon he developed severe haemorrhage and died in hospital. A mother's love may be supreme, but such negligence should surely not go unpunished. Fathers are by no means absolved of negligence on the road. Take the average motorcyclist father. It is not uncommon to see the parent sporting a helmet while the young children go bare headed. Often, too many children are crammed into the limited space of a motorcycle. The children in the rear fall asleep while vehicle weaves dangerously through traffic. In New Delhi, even the taxi drivers wear seat belts. Parents here, however, believe that toddlers should enjoy riding on the driving seat, on the father's lap with their hands on the steering wheel if possible. Too many mothers allow children to stand on the seats and press their faces against the windscreen. Road safety should start at home. If more people were conscious of their families' and their own safety, the roads would be a much more pleasant place for motorists and pedestrians. It would help, however, if the traffic police took a closer look at some of the new traffic signals at major junctions. |
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