No space in between

The ‘keep distance’ board screams at you from the rear of heavy vehicles likes trucks and lorries. The plea seems to be apt on highways, where truck movement is more.

Keeping distance is something that is vital on City roads as well, where rear-ending of vehicles are the order of the day. It is rare to find a vehicle that does not have a dent on its back.

People who drive within the City limits simply refuse to maintain a reasonable amount of distance while the traffic cops too turn a blind eye to it.

They say that when people in the City cannot drive more than 20 km per hour given the heavy volume of traffic, why bother about maintaining the prescribed distance.
But dents on the hind side of vehicles are proof that people need to keep a distance to avoid rear-ending and frayed tempers thereafter.

Metrolife interacted with the Bangalore Traffic Police, traffic analysts and people in general to understand why rules pertaining to maintaining distance when driving in the City is flouted with impunity.

The Bangalore Traffic Police says that it’s impossible to ensure that people follow the distance rule. According to the statistics available with them, there are 9,03,478 cars, 28,81,791 two-wheelers, 1,12,155 autorickshaws, 98,191 buses and 47,683 heavy vehicles. The other vehicles come up to 1,27,764.

“This is the volume of traffic on Bangalore roads almost everyday. There’s congestion almost all the time and maintaining a distance is impossible because people don’t drive more than 20 km within the City. So where is the question of enforcement?”asks additional commissioner of police (traffic) M A Saleem.
He points out that distance is directly related to the speed.

“It makes more sense to follow the distance rule on the highway than within the City. And maintaining distance is an unsaid rule. If people had followed it, then you wouldn’t find dents on the rear of cars,” he adds.             

Traffic analysts observe that bumper-to-bumper traffic has become common.
Ravi Shankar S N, a traffic analyst, points out that most vehicles don’t follow the ‘breaking distance rule’ (maintaining a certain distance) on the road.

“There are four lakh vehicles plying within the City and about one lakh that pour into the City from outside everyday. The roads are narrow and you will notice that the traffic is more toward the traffic signal lights and everybody is in a hurry,” observes Ravi.  

Most people feel that maintaining a certain amount of distance between vehicles is an overlooked aspect when driving.

Jerish Sebastian, an IT professional, feels two wheelers are the main culprits.
“They worm their way through and are the most impatient among motorists. Even I try to do the same thing. So I think that has become a rule on the roads,” says Jerish.

H Nizamuddhin, a business consultant says, “It’s hard to find a car without a dent or a scratch. People just don’t maintain distance and I often see pedestrians struggling to get across the road because they can’t walk through. It’s bumper-to-bumper traffic on the roads.”

Nishad M, a hotelier, shares the same view. “People drive so closely that sometimes they end up bumping against the vehicle in front of them.

People must not only maintain distance on the roads but maintain some sanity as well,” he concludes.