Traffic and National Crime Records

Traffic is terrific on roads Be it a weekend or a weekday, traffic is terrible on roads in India. The number of vehicles on Indian roads is simply alarming and in populous cities like Mumbai, Calcutta and Delhi, there is no space for pedestrians on the roads. In Delhi, it is just not the number of moving vehicles that create traffic on roads; a huge number of stationary vehicles parked along the roads are also responsible for traffic congestion.
Since cars and motorbikes are parked on roads, the amount of space for moving vehicles is reduced significantly, resulting in more traffic jams and a delay in commute. According to a report published by the National Crime Records Bureau, the frequency of traffic collision is the highest in India, as compared to the rest of the world. Every year, more than 135,000 deaths occur in India due to traffic collisions.
The traffic in India has increased over the years because people, especially the middle class and upper class people, are not keen on taking public transport. Slowly, this mindset is changing with the latest development of metro rail transport system in big cities in India. However, since safety and connectivity are major issues pertaining to public transport, people continue to use private vehicles for travel purposes. And this constitutes heavily to traffic congestion.

In India, the entire population uses the same roads unlike certain countries where cyclists and slow moving vehicles use separate lanes. In India, we can see motorbikes, cars, trucks, autos, rickshaws, bicycles, and even animal carts travelling on the same road. Since the speeds of these vehicles are different, traffic congestion is more likely to occur. In addition, people do not follow traffic signals, and at times, traffic signals don’t work, forcing drivers and bikers to make and follow their own rules.
The booming population, an increase in the number of vehicles over the years, lack of civic sense and the lack of proper traffic rules have resulted in chaotic roads and traffic congestion on Indian roads. Every individual thinks he is the king of the road, travelling at his own will and on his own rules, putting other road users at risk. Traffic concerns are not just limited to drivers on roads. Even pedestrians find it difficult to navigate in traffic and cross the roads. It is time that the traffic police put on their thinking caps and helped the citizens of India travel decently on roads.