How many times has it been that you’ve felt off
guarded just by looking at the Indian road conditions? How many times have you
reached someplace late despite getting out on time because of the heavy traffic
line? It is not just about driving safe that concerns us. Driving into a road
line of uncertainty has taken away the comfort and peace from our everyday travel
lives.
The number of Indian commuters has increased since the 1980s and traffic jam has been a problem for households ever since. People have been suffering
for many decades because of stuck up problems. While Metro cities are the worst
hit, others too have faced these problems.
Causes of Traffic Jam
Since modernization,
our country has had an increase in automobile consumers. With the rising population,
it has only grown with little to no increase in road
maps. The car to road ratio has gone down and hence there’s an overlay in the
busy areas and networks.
The traffic signals give out insufficient green moving time causing stagnant and slow travel around the area. This leads to a vicious cycle of waiting. A lot of times, traffic lights malfunction which in turn causes havoc amongst the civilians.
Sometimes, traffic police fail to manage the chaos and this leads to a commotion especially during festive seasons. The improper footpath construction has
taken a toll as people walk on streets, slowing down the movement further.
Lack of proper planning has led to repairing or constructing roads multiple times for underground construction work delaying up the process of building a smooth well functioning road network. It also holds up areas for months for utility work, leaving even lesser area for the public to drive in.
Improper vision has led to this menace. Broken and pathetic road conditions due
to floods and heavy load on streets have further added to this problem as it
slows down vehicles and does not allow smooth movement.
Improper Parking is another critical factor that has caused the traffic to go bonkers slow. Double parking in narrow roads, parking in the middle of the road by some insensitive civilians has caused trouble for the rest. There are several other traffic rules that are broken while driving, causing an unending condition of unrest and slowdown.
What Will Happen If Roads Continue to Be the Way They Are?
The free flow of travel is nothing but a coma. The
area of concern is that there isn’t any peculiar rush hour in any city of the
world, let alone a crowded country like India. This has made it impossible to
predict and act and has made life uncertain.
Road Injuries
Every year, a fraction of the population dies or gets injured due to road casualties making it a key concern for the authorities. Preventive measures mostly include setting a stricter licensing system and upping the age limit. But, any age could be the cause and result of road injuries.
The undying traffic rush causes
drivers to feel anxious and frustrated over the time it takes to reach a particular destination which encourages rash driving and hitting, causing
injuries.
Economy and Lifestyle Deceleration
Believe it or not, traffic is slowly slowing you down
and you do not even realize it. Every hour you lose could be benefitted into doing
something productive or in adding to your rest hours and general well being. It
thereby slows down your growth and output. Just like the cars stuck up in tangled and impassable, our
economy too slows down because of the substantial cut down on work hours.
A recent CNN data says that commuters lose 54 hours/
year on average. These 54 hours are the extra hours we slag in our car,
unnecessarily. It cannot mount the possible tiredness that comes after being
stuck in a rush hour. It’s unhealthy and makes us unwilling and distasteful of
going out.
Pollution Due to Traffic Jams
Staying long hours in the same spot causes fuel
wastage which in turn adds up to the pollution. In fact, vehicles in standstill
account for most of the air pollution in everyday city life. It disrupts the
atmosphere and in turn, heats up the air causing fuel emissions.
Traffic Jams also lead to unnecessary honking by motorists and car drivers causing noise pollution in cities where cars crawl at snail's speeds. This noise emanating from cars is said to be a potential risk to people's health. Therefore, it is necessary to avert this existing problem.
Conclusion
There isn’t anybody out on the street who won’t look
out for their own self-interest and we can not blame them for it. Although,
building and planning better can atop this disarray and mess.
Building more subways, planning more details into road
mapping and traffic control through systematic traffic lights and police systems
would help build better discipline. While fighting against it is difficult,
it’s not impossible. It is important for us to realize it as a major problem so
that the authorities see to it. It is also our responsibility to move responsibly.
Written by - Aatreyi Dutta
Edited by - Aishwarya Khandekar
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