Marathahalli Ring Road needs some attention
Yes, if it sounds like a newspaper headline, so be it..
One evening, I was on my way back from work on a Volvo bus. Just the previous night, I had gone through this wonderful piece of work:
http://themadmuggle.blogspot.com/2009/07/chicken-that-never-crossed-road.html
An article worth your time and effort.
So, it was easy to imagine the chicken trying to cross Marathahalli Ring road. If it ever did, it would be on CNN-IBN Flash news. The ring road is quite wide; a two way road, each has got two lanes ( or is it three? shall check today); then there is a lay-bye area sort of a road on both sides, used by two wheelers and pedestrians to reach the side roads on the ring road. So, if you set out from a side road to cross over to the other side, you will have to cross four stretches. Do not talk about pedestrian crossing here. Between two signals on this road where you see the Zebra crossing lines, the distance is at least ten minute walk. There are times when you need to cross the road and cannot walk ten minutes to reach the pedestrian crossing at the signal. On an average traffic day, it takes about three minutes, some common sense, some sense to gauge the speed, and some patience to cross this road. All this statistical ( they say, most of it is incorrect or most days!!!! Don't question me on those lines...:)information is for us.
What about animals? When I was just thinking about a dog or cat or chicken (unless it escapes from the broilers') trying to cross this road. Just then I saw a dog victimized in a hit-and-run accident. No one seemed to have any problem. My bus crossed the scene too. If it was a human being, there would have been a traffic block and some action would have been taken. Just because it was an animal ( sadly with no road sense required to cross the Marathahalli Ring Road ), I guess no one bothered.
The mind is argumentative. I was thinking that this dog must have been a stray dog, because domestic pets have tags around their necks and people chain them and take care not to let them loose on busy roads.. So, if it is a stray dog, it does not have any care and anything that happens to it, is seen as no one's problem. This bothered me a lot for quite a long time that day.
The mind is also very imaginative and very creative. The best idea my mind could come up with was to put a fence on both sides of the road; the pets/people wont be able to cross the road at random points on the roads. Every few meters, there can be a break in the fence where a pedestrian crossing can be laid out. There could also be a gate arrangement like you have in toll gates or railway crossing. In regular intervals, the Gate is closed and people and pets can cross. This way there can be a better control on the accidents - people and animals. The traffic signal can remain as is, but closely tuned to the time that these gates close and open. The technology can make it possible.
You cannot teach people to think and make the right judgement and cannot rely on luck or fate to keep safety. We must go one step further and enforce something to this effect, so no one has an option, but to comply with the rules.
One evening, I was on my way back from work on a Volvo bus. Just the previous night, I had gone through this wonderful piece of work:
http://themadmuggle.blogspot.com/2009/07/chicken-that-never-crossed-road.html
An article worth your time and effort.
So, it was easy to imagine the chicken trying to cross Marathahalli Ring road. If it ever did, it would be on CNN-IBN Flash news. The ring road is quite wide; a two way road, each has got two lanes ( or is it three? shall check today); then there is a lay-bye area sort of a road on both sides, used by two wheelers and pedestrians to reach the side roads on the ring road. So, if you set out from a side road to cross over to the other side, you will have to cross four stretches. Do not talk about pedestrian crossing here. Between two signals on this road where you see the Zebra crossing lines, the distance is at least ten minute walk. There are times when you need to cross the road and cannot walk ten minutes to reach the pedestrian crossing at the signal. On an average traffic day, it takes about three minutes, some common sense, some sense to gauge the speed, and some patience to cross this road. All this statistical ( they say, most of it is incorrect or most days!!!! Don't question me on those lines...:)information is for us.
What about animals? When I was just thinking about a dog or cat or chicken (unless it escapes from the broilers') trying to cross this road. Just then I saw a dog victimized in a hit-and-run accident. No one seemed to have any problem. My bus crossed the scene too. If it was a human being, there would have been a traffic block and some action would have been taken. Just because it was an animal ( sadly with no road sense required to cross the Marathahalli Ring Road ), I guess no one bothered.
The mind is argumentative. I was thinking that this dog must have been a stray dog, because domestic pets have tags around their necks and people chain them and take care not to let them loose on busy roads.. So, if it is a stray dog, it does not have any care and anything that happens to it, is seen as no one's problem. This bothered me a lot for quite a long time that day.
The mind is also very imaginative and very creative. The best idea my mind could come up with was to put a fence on both sides of the road; the pets/people wont be able to cross the road at random points on the roads. Every few meters, there can be a break in the fence where a pedestrian crossing can be laid out. There could also be a gate arrangement like you have in toll gates or railway crossing. In regular intervals, the Gate is closed and people and pets can cross. This way there can be a better control on the accidents - people and animals. The traffic signal can remain as is, but closely tuned to the time that these gates close and open. The technology can make it possible.
You cannot teach people to think and make the right judgement and cannot rely on luck or fate to keep safety. We must go one step further and enforce something to this effect, so no one has an option, but to comply with the rules.
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