Pedestrians First...Naah Discipline first

Anyone who has interacted with me knows that traffic/road discipline is my pet peeve. Never get me started on drivers and their myriad annoying ways. But let me not dwell upon that right now..it is the pedestrians I want to talk about.

This new NGO in the city asks why pedestrians are always ignored. There are no proper pedestrian crossings and the less said about footpaths the better. Okay, so our civic bodies don't care about us, but do we care about ourselves? Where there are footpaths how many people use them?

Take an early morning walk anywhere in Pune and you will see morning walkers obliviously walking in the middle of the road. I hate to use unparliamentary language but what do they think they own the road? Just because there are fewer cars on the road at that time that doesn't make it right to walk in the middle of the road.

I blame my obsession with road sense on the British! As a child of six I remember being taken from the classroom and walking in pairs down the main street near the primary school where I studied. It was a typically overcast dull London day and we were made to wear our overcoats with fluorescent bands on our arms. We were taught how to look out for traffic at the zebra crossing and then cross safely to the other side. Those lessons, taught young, have stayed with me for life.

The problem in Pune is Indiscipline, yes with a capital I. Even where there are footpaths they are never utilised. As for crossing the road, a foot high divider is no deterrent. People just clamber over it and jump off. The driver driving in the "fast"lane had better be alert because he may need to brake suddenly. No one and I mean no one is ready to walk that extra twenty or metres to the traffic signal to cross the road. After all if the shop I want is in front of me, why should I walk twenty metres away from it to cross the road?

The other day an old gentleman was walking on the road. There was a newly constructed footpath to his left. A car came from behind and had to swerve to the left towards the footpath to avoid an oncoming large heavy vehicle . The wing mirror of the car brushed against the old man and he started shouting and screaming. The driver got down saw that it was nothing serious and then told him that he should not have been walking on the road with his back to the traffic. He was so affronted that he began shouting again. The driver just ignored him , got into his car and drove away.

With parents setting a poor example how on earth will the younger generation learn any better.
I agree pedestrians have rights, car owners should not hog the roads, but hey isn't everything in this world give and take.

Start using the footpaths and then demand better ones. Learn to follow and obey rules and then demand your rights.