Just as everything and every institution require a set of I rules, traffic also needs rules

in order to remain orderly and disciplined. The question that next arises in our minds
is that, what is the necessity of rules?
It is necessary to have rules everywhere in order to make the functioning smooth and
efficient. If there were to be no rules then, it would be a picture of total chaos and confusion.
Rules regulate the work and help it move along the desired path.
Thus, in order to have a smooth movement of traffic on the roads, the traffic rules are made
by the traffic police. These rules are meant to be followed to the last word by each and every
individual moving on the roads, and becoming a part of the traffic.
It is necessary to have rules for the road, but it is still more important for all of us to follow the
set of rules. Once an individual is on the road, it is absolutely compulsory for him/her to
follow the rules, and that also explicitly.
We have just got to follow rules because, without following them there will be absolute chaos
and confusion on the road, and no one will be able to move about. This chaos would lead
not only to delays in movements but would also lead to struggles and even accidents.
When, for example we are supposed to cross the road from the zebra crossing, we must
make sure that we do so, for, if we cross from elsewhere, there is a chance that we meet
with an accident. If we jump a red light we are putting ourselves to danger and are inviting
trouble with the possibility of an accident.
Thus, rules must be followed for maintaining discipline on the roads, and above all for our
own safety. It is in our own interest that, when on the road, we follow the road traffic rules to
the last word. The rules are there to keep us safe, and following them is in our own interest.
When we break the rules we are inviting trouble to ourselves and doing no harm to any one
else.
The traffic rules in India are as strict as they are anywhere else in the world. However, the
difference between the rules outside India and the rules in India is basically just one. That is
the rules in foreign countries are followed, and here in India they are broken day in and day
out.
Besides having more or less the same rules, over here we Indians have an instinct to break
all laws and rules. That instinct is so very vivid on the Indian roads. Traffic rules are stringent
but, when they are not followed, what is the use.
Besides, another major difference between foreign countries and Indians in this matter is,
when a person in a foreign land breaks any traffic rule, he is punished according to the set
rules. Here in India, the punishment is also there but, no one gets punished for flouting the
road rules.
When rules are there and are broken with impunity and no one can do anything about it,
there is utter confusion. That is the exact situation in India. The roads of at least the Metros
look like racing tracks, with cars and other vehicles just rushing to where - God alone knows.
There is a speed limit for different categories of vehicles but, who follows the norms? Thus,
in India, rules are the same and as stringent as elsewhere but there, in other countries the
rules are strictly followed but in India they are strictly broken.
This is the basic difference in the traffic rules and the following of them. A road for instance
in Delhi looks a motley picture of confusion and chaos, and this, because everyone is
making the road a racing track instead of using it as a road.


Traffic in other countries appears to be more disciplined because these rules are followed
and here in India they are not followed. This is exactly why rules are made, and they are
made to be followed, and not to be broken as in India.
Every day people die on the roads due to reckless driving, speeding, etc and we
blame the government for failing to provide good roads. But as responsible citizens,
we can make the roads safer for all by simply following some basic traffic rules.
PEOPLE HOLD the government responsible for all the problems in the society ranging from
corruption to inflation, poor health system, deteriorating educational system, etc. We even
blame the government for frequent road accidents. We always complain that the government
has failed to provide good roads, the police is only interested in issuing challans and no
safety measures are adopted by the government and the list goes on.
Agreed. The government is heartless, clueless about our problems but as responsible
citizens what is our role? Dont we give our children driving lesson at the age of 14? Dont
we wear helmet at the sight of a policeman? Dont we fasten our safety belts at the sight of
policemen? Dont we jump the red light when there is no policemen? Dont we take
dangerous shortcuts to save fuel.
The list seem endless. For every 20,000 people there is one traffic policeman. Is it the duty
of that one policeman to do everything and the rest 20,000 will do nothing but simply obey
him, provided if he is there.
Traffic rules are for us, and not for the policemen. We have to obey these rules, we have to
save our lives and the lives of others. We just cant blame the government for everything.
Your life is precious, dont lose it just to gain a minute.
Take care, it is your life

"We reject every form of legislation," the Russian aristocrat and "father of anarchism"
Mikhail Bakunin once thundered. The czar banished him to Siberia. But now it seems
his ideas are being rediscovered.
European traffic planners are dreaming of streets free of rules and directives. They want
drivers and pedestrians to interact in a free and humane way, as brethren -- by means of
friendly gestures, nods of the head and eye contact, without the harassment of prohibitions,
restrictions and warning signs.
A project implemented by the European Union is currently seeing seven cities and regions
clear-cutting their forest of traffic signs. Ejby, in Denmark, is participating in the experiment,
as are Ipswich in England and the Belgian town of Ostende.
The utopia has already become a reality in Makkinga, in the Dutch province of Western
Frisia. A sign by the entrance to the small town (population 1,000) reads "Verkeersbordvrij" -
- "free of traffic signs." Cars bumble unhurriedly over precision-trimmed granite
cobblestones. Stop signs and direction signs are nowhere to be seen. There are neither
parking meters nor stopping restrictions. There aren't even any lines painted on the streets.
"The many rules strip us of the most important thing: the ability to be considerate. We're
losing our capacity for socially responsible behavior," says Dutch traffic guru Hans

Monderman, one of the project's co-founders. "The greater the number of prescriptions, the
more people's sense of personal responsibility dwindles."
Monderman could be on to something. Germany has 648 valid traffic symbols. The inner
cities are crowded with a colorful thicket of metal signs. Don't park over here, watch out for
passing deer over there, make sure you don't skid. The forest of signs is growing ever
denser. Some 20 million traffic signs have already been set up all over the country.
Psychologists have long revealed the senselessness of such exaggerated regulation. About
70 percent of traffic signs are ignored by drivers. What's more, the glut of prohibitions is
tantamount(equal) to treating the driver like a child and it also foments resentment. He may
stop in front of the crosswalk, but that only makes him feel justified in preventing pedestrians
from crossing the street on every other occasion. Every traffic light baits(attracting,tempting)
him with the promise of making it over the crossing while the light is still yellow.
"Unsafe is safe"
The result is that drivers find themselves enclosed by a corset of prescriptions, so that they
develop a kind of tunnel vision: They're constantly in search of their own advantage, and
their good manners go out the window.
The new traffic model's advocates believe the only way out of this vicious(cruel,violent) circle
is to give drivers more liberty and encourage them to take responsibility for themselves.
They demand streets like those during the Middle Ages, when horse-drawn chariots,
handcarts and people scurried about in a completely unregulated fashion. The new model's
proponents envision today's drivers and pedestrians blending into a colorful and peaceful
traffic stream.
It may sound like chaos, but it's only the lesson drawn from one of the insights of traffic
psychology: Drivers will force the accelerator down ruthlessly only in situations where
everything has been fully regulated. Where the situation is unclear, they're forced to drive
more carefully and cautiously.
Indeed, "Unsafe is safe" was the motto of a conference where proponents of the new
roadside philosophy met in Frankfurt in mid-October.
True, many of them aren't convinced of the new approach. "German drivers are used to
rules," says Michael Schreckenberg of Duisburg University. If clear directives are
abandoned, domestic rush-hour traffic will turn into an Oriental-style bazaar, he warns. He
believes the new vision of drivers and pedestrians interacting in a cozy, relaxed way will
work, at best, only for small towns.
But one German borough is already daring to take the step into lawlessness. The town of
Bohmte in Lower Saxony has 13,500 inhabitants. It's traversed by a country road and a main
road. Cars approach speedily, delivery trucks stop to unload their cargo and pedestrians
scurry by on elevated sidewalks.
The road will be re-furbished in early 2007, using EU funds. "The sidewalks are going to go,
and the asphalt too. Everything will be covered in cobblestones," Klaus Goedejohann, the
mayor, explains. "We're getting rid of the division between cars and pedestrians."

The plans derive inspiration and motivation from a large-scale experiment in the town of
Drachten in the Netherlands, which has 45,000 inhabitants. There, cars have already been
driving over red natural stone for years. Cyclists dutifully raise their arm when they want to
make a turn, and drivers communicate by hand signs, nods and waving.
"More than half of our signs have already been scrapped," says traffic planner Koop
Kerkstra. "Only two out of our original 18 traffic light crossings are left, and we've converted
them to roundabouts." Now traffic is regulated by only two rules in Drachten: "Yield to the
right" and "Get in someone's way and you'll be towed."
Strange as it may seem, the number of accidents has declined dramatically. Experts from
Argentina and the United States have visited Drachten. Even London has expressed an
interest in this new example of automobile anarchy. And the model is being tested in the
British capital's Kensington neighborhood.
Following traffic rules proved costly for a 33- year- old engineer when he was
physically assaulted by a Maruti Swift car driver on Thursday evening at traffic
intersection in south Delhi's Jungpura. The victim, identified as Deepak Kumar,
suffered injuries on his head when he was attacked with his helmet, police said.
The accused, identified as Abhinav Singh, was driving a car bearing Haryana registration
number which was registered in his father's name. Singh was going to drop his family
members at Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway station.
" Deepak was waiting at the traffic signal when a Swift car stopped behind him and the
accused asked him to move away his bike.
However, Deepak, the officer said, signalled the car driver to wait for green signal following
which the accused entered into an argument and started beating him, the police said.
Later, the accused was apprehended and brought to the police station.
His mother and other relatives were also seated inside the car that was eventually
impounded by the police, the officer added.
BANGALORE: "I get yelled at for following traffic rules," so went an email by a
Bangalorean, taking city traffic police officials by surprise on Saturday. The email was
sent to the official id of additional commissioner of police (traffic), B Dayananda. And
the confused commuter had just one question: do I or do I not follow traffic rules?
Mani Jayaprakash's dilemma was understandable. He wrote that fellow commuters would
get into petty fights with him, as they were "irritated" that he waited at the signal till it turned
green.
Jayaprakash, who travels daily on his two-wheeler at 6.45am from Rajajinagar to
Bommasandra, wrote: "In a week, twice or thrice there will be small fights with the fellow
riders and drivers, because I follow traffic signals. And it has become difficult for me to follow
traffic rules. Please suggest what I should do, follow the traffic rules or not?" read the
contents of the email.


The traffic commissioner later replied, appreciating Jayaprakash's sense of traffic and asked
him to keep following the rules. The traffic commissioner also promised action if he
contacted the police control room with any such complaints.
The letter from this commuter soon went viral on Facebook with more than 200 people
sharing this link on their walls. Among the 60 odd people who commented on it, were some
commuters who had faced similar problems.
Samiulla Ahamad, one of the followers, posted on the post: "It has happened with me as
well. It is dangerous sometimes when cabs that are rushing don't slow down. What good are
CCTVs if offenders aren't punished?"
Dayananda told TOI that the email was indeed surprising. "I asked the complainant to keep
doing the good work that he was doing. Also we want to people to use the public eye facility
on our webpage, where people can upload the photos of violations come across on the
roads," he said.
Quotes
SUPPORT GROWS LOUDER
* Amanat Dev, a freelance photographer, said that waiting at the crossing for the signal to
change has become a crime. "They are not just breaking the rules but forcing others to
break the rules, even though they don't want to," she said.
* "Being a responsible citizen, I don't move if the signal is red, even if the junction is clear.
But then there will be at least one driver who could honk to glory just so that I may jump
signal and he can move on. More than traffic police enforcing rules, people should have
some rules," said Aparna Rao, a management student.
New Delhi. An unidentified 40-year-old male has been detained by Delhi police for
suspicious behavior after he was caught following all the traffic rules on the road in
the national capital. This is the rarest of the rare behaviors witnessed on Delhi roads,
authorities confirm.
Addressing a press conference traffic inspector Mr. Hafta Ram gave a detailed account of
how the suspect was nabbed, I was driving home after duty in my civilian clothes when I
saw this car performing strange antics on the road. The driver was driving in a proper lane,
he was giving indicator while turning and as well as while changing lanes, and surprisingly
he gave correct indication each time!
Not only this, whenever the traffic lights turned red, he stopped at the faded zebra crossings
to let the pedestrians, who were already crossing the road even when the traffic light was
green, cross the road. And to top it all, he was well within the speed limit even on an empty
stretch of road, he added.
Hafta Ram claimed that such behavior was highly uncommon in Delhi so he stopped the
suspect for questioning. Even though Hafta was in civilian clothes and demanded to check
the papers, the suspect didnt make any phone call to anybody.


He didnt even mention about his father, or about his mother-in-law, not even once! a
visibly shocked Hafta Ram recounted the vivid details to the reporters, At this point, I got
suspicious that this guy must have got something to hide, and detained him to investigate
this matter further.
finally I want to conclude saying that we should follow traffic rules for our safety but
we shouldnt blindly follow them which in turn create a problem for us.