Watch your step on the road

Rachna Chhabria writes about a mother-daughter conversation that gives tips on road safety

Ananya was excited as it was her first car ride in the passenger seat. Generally, she sat behind whenever she went out. She looked out of the window excitedly, as though the view in the front seat was different from the view in the back seat.

Her mother sat in the driver’s seat, strapping her seat belt. “Ananya, please wear your seat belt,” her mother said.

“Mom, why do we wear seat belts in the car?” Ananya asked, strapping the seat belt around her. “What will happen if we don’t wear them?”

“Seat belts are for our safety,” her mother replied. “They reduce the chances of getting a serious injury by 50%, and also prevent drivers and passengers from being ejected out of the car during an accident.”

“Oh,” Ananya said. She had no idea that seat belts were so important.

They drove down several roads, keeping to their lane. Every time they took a turn, her mother pushed the turn signal indicator up or down. “Mom, what does the indicator mean?” Ananya asked.

“They indicate which side I’m going to turn,” her mother replied. “It prevents the vehicles behind me from crashing into my car as they know exactly where we are going.”

“I had seen the driver of the van which drove us to the family picnic do that but I forgot to ask you the reason why,” Ananya said.

“Every vehicle has these indicators,” her mother replied. “It’s so crucial to indicate which direction one will turn, much before we actually take that turn.”

They stopped at a traffic signal with three lights: red, yellow and green. Ananya noticed that one light was illuminated at any given time.

Her mother stopped the car at the red light. “Mom, the red light means to stop and the green means to start,” Ananya said, “What does the yellow light mean?”

“Yellow means we need to get ready to start the car,” she said. “At no point should a driver take their eyes off the road. It’s risky and causes accidents. That’s why it’s not safe to either talk or check messages while driving. Even a distraction of one second can cause an accident,” she warned Ananya.

“I’ve seen many people talking on their mobiles while driving. A few days back I saw a scooterist chatting on his mobile phone which he had tucked inside his helmet. Stopping my car I advised him not to risk his life. I requested him to park by the side and finish his call and then drive wherever he wanted. Luckily he didn’t take offence, promising me that he will never do that again.”

Ananya sat stiffly in the seat, turning her eyes from her mother to the road.

Pedestrians waited at the zebra crossing, the white lines, to cross the road.

“However busy or empty a road is, always cross at the zebra crossing. It’s the safest place to cross any road. Do it only when it shows it’s safe for pedestrians to cross the road,” her mother advised. “Even if the traffic is light, never run across the road.”

Several school children were walking in a single line on the footpath, carrying their school bags.

Pointing at them, her mother smiled. “See how well these children are walking in a straight line. They are leaving enough place on the footpath for the other pedestrians. One should always walk on the footpath as people walking on the road can be knocked down by vehicles.”

A school bus drove past them. A boy threw an empty bottle out of the window. A scooterist nearly fell trying to avoid riding over the bottle. A car behind the scooterist suddenly braked, to avoid ramming into the scooterist.

“What that boy did was wrong. It could have caused an accident,” her mother said, in a stern tone. “Never throw objects on the road.”

As the light turned green, her mother started the car. They drove down a bylane. Two schoolchildren looked on both sides for oncoming traffic.

“What wonderful road sense these children have. Always watch the traffic as vehicles can emerge from any side,” her mother explained.

Checking that the street was empty, the children crossed it.

“You will be starting school soon so you must follow all the road safety measures,” she said, with a caring smile.

“I’ll keep mine and other people’s safety in mind whenever I’m on the road,” assured Ananya.

(Rachna is a children’s author and columnist.)

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