A Descriptive Study on the Consciousness of Traffic Rules among the people of Amdavad

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1 A Descriptive Study on the Consciousness of Traffic Rules among the people of Amdavad (Poonam Arora, Assistant Professor, St. Kabir Institute of Professional Studies, Ahmedabad) Introduction One of the biggest problems regarding transportation that the city is facing is the congestion that millions of commuters face each day on roads. With the elevating population and growth of a country, transportation has become one of the most important aspects of people s life. With the elevation in standard of living and busy life style, people are in race to achieve more and more by accomplishing loads of work which needs a better work life management and flexibility which in turn requires free movement and commuting whenever required. One of the major reasons for traffic problems on rise is multiple ways of commuting. People prefer different ways such as public transport i.e. auto rickshaw, taxies, state transport buses, metro etc and personal vehicles like cars and scooters for ease of commuting. These many options cause acute traffic problems in the growing cities of India like metro cities and mega cities. The Times of India Survey study of 2001 says that out of 100 Amdavadis only 15 to 18 use the existing public transport system and the rest rely on their personal two- and four-wheelers. The ideal percentage of people who should be using public transport should be 55-60% but in Ahmedabad on a weekday, in peak hours average 68% people are commuting using their personal vehicles. In a mega city like Ahmedabad having population of 7-8 million, transportation has become the spine of the city. Ahmedabad is a place to earn the regular living for many people living in semi urban areas around the city who commute daily for it. Ahmedabad being one of the fastest growing cities in India has AMTS and BRTS for public transport. It has almost all kinds of 4 wheelers and 2 wheelers available in the city. Cabs and rickshaws can be caught just in a single call even at a midnight. The number of college going and high school students is also significantly high in Ahmedabad. Also during the office hours the traffic in Ahmedabad is at the peak and it is very difficult to manage the traffic on the rushed cross roads as people are in hurry during the commuting hours. The Global status report on road safety 2013 says that every year more than people die in road traffic in India. Approximately half of all deaths on the country's roads are accessible road users - motorcyclists, pedestrians and cyclists-2013 [4]. As Ahmedabad is heading towards being metro city, traffic problems among the people of Ahmedabad are one of the major burning issues that people are dealing with. Problems like accidents, rash driving, noise pollution, ineffective traffic management during rush hours, less sense of August - September, socio - economic voices

2 responsibility in drivers, casual implementation of traffic rules, a little awareness of the traffic signs and signals and many more. The paper signifies the importance of awareness of traffic rules which can help decrease the traffic problems and can bring out the probable solutions to some of them. The paper evaluates the importance of following the set rules made for the smooth flow of traffic avoiding congestion. Road Traffic Safety Government of India has created the rules and regulations to be followed while driving to ease the transportation. The Road traffic safety project has been started to support the Government of India to implement good practices in road consciousness in hand with the national road safety strategy [2]. The focus of the project is on promoting motorcycle helmets and reducing drink driving. More signs which can help people to operate better on cross roads while driving are mounted to manage the traffic better. With more training given to the traffic police there are new improved types of sign boards and signal lights on the roads. These sign boards show mandatory, cautionary or informatory signs. Even the roads have markings on them. These all signs and markings are made to facilitate the drivers and footsloggers. For road traffic consciousness, the safe system approach is a new term which is introduced for lesser traffic errors; roads having proper surface, signs and self explanatory road marks. The approach says that the vehicles should have safety guards in it such like air bags, electronic stability control, head restraints. Road users should be well aware of all the possible risks and conditions. This system will help having lesser injuries and deaths. Such kind of road designing and practices will help improving the driving skills and road infrastructure both. Purpose of Study Ahmedabad being a mega city, there are numerous problems being faced by people in Ahmedabad and this majorly is because of citizens not following all the rules and taking them very casually like avoidance of wearing helmets, breaking the signals, taking over from the wrong side, attending the phone calls while driving, Less understanding of some of the signs of traffic officer, Driving on the wrong side, No appropriate usage of vehicle s indicators, Less parking sense, No proper training for professional drivers and many more. These generalised problems are faced by the people of Ahmedabad because of less collateral responsible efforts from them only. In regard to all these, the paper tries to find the major problems actually faced by commuters and the reasons behind the congestion on road. August - September, socio - economic voices

3 Objectives of Study Having found the need of the study in this area and a contribution to the betterment of the society leads to this study. The main objectives of this study are: 1. To find the reasons and seek solutions of traffic problems in Ahmedabad 2. To know the awareness of traffic rules among the people of Ahmedabad 3. To know whether people follow the traffic rules or not. 4. To find out the problems faced by respondents. Research Methodology The study follows a systematic and scientific approach. The Research Methodology used here is descriptive in nature. Since already much has been said and written on similar topics across various studies, this study is aimed to gain further insight into the topic and look at it with a new perspective. For this, a survey is conducted on 204 respondents who are a mix of professional and Non professional drivers of Ahmedabad. The responses are recorded using a structured questionnaire. It had questions on the following categories: 1. Bio-data: to gain an idea about the sample demographics like age group, etc. 2. Possession of Driving License: To know whether they follow ethics and traffic rules. 3. Driving Habits: To interpret the effect of these ways on traffic congestion Data interpretation The data for the survey is collected from the respondents of age group between 18 to 60 years. 60 percent of the respondents fell in the age category of 18 to 35years. About 57 percent were male respondents and remaining were females. From the respondents 174 had the driving license whereas 30 were driving without license. Further the data analysis is divided in two categories one being the problems faced and other is opinions by respondents. Data interpretation has been done with two different approaches, as the paper talks about the awareness & problems of traffic. The analysis is given a dual direction doing equal justice to both the approaches. RESPONSES OF PEOPLE: Firstly the respondents were asked questions to understand whether they follow basic traffic etiquettes or not. It is now compulsory in Ahmedabad city to wear helmets. The first question relates to that. August - September, socio - economic voices

Figure 1: Showing number of respondents wearing helmets while driving Only 24% respondents said that they always wear helmets and never drive their two wheelers without wearing it.

4 Figure 1: Showing number of respondents wearing helmets while driving Only 24% respondents said that they always wear helmets and never drive their two wheelers without wearing it. This interprets that out of 204 people 46% never wear helmet and 30% sometimes wear helmet. This to a great extent reflects the negligence of major traffic rule. One of the major reasons there is over crowding on roads is because most of the people don t understand the traffic signals and signs may be because they had never been to the training schools or have never read the literature on rules and regulations of traffic. The next question asked to respondents is about their understanding of traffic signs. Figure 2: Showing number of respondents and their understanding of signs of traffic police This interprets that there are only 47% of the people who claims that they know all the signs of traffic police, there is a huge amount of people who don t understand the signs of traffic police. The next important variable is the use of phones while driving and use of side lights which avoids confusions while taking turns and can prevent mishaps on roads. There are more chances of accidents if people use phones and take calls while driving. August - September, socio - economic voices

Figure 3: Showing number of respondents wearing ear phone and using side light while taking turn There is a considerable amount of people who use the hands free or Bluetooth

It is always advisable to use such equipments while driving to attend a call so that a person may drive safely.

5 Figure 3: Showing number of respondents wearing ear phone and using side light while taking turn There is a considerable amount of people who use the hands free or Bluetooth to make or attend a call while driving, which actually is a good sign to prevent an accident or a traffic rush. It is always advisable to use such equipments while driving to attend a call so that a person may drive safely. The number of people who use side lights while taking turn is considerably very high and it can be considered as a good sign still the rest cause huge problem by taking turns without showing signal. There are certain unintentional moves by drivers on road which are discussed above but there are certain intentional breaking of rules like breaking of signals and using wrong sides for driving. Figure 4: Showing the number of respondents that break the signal and drive on the wrong side From above data we can see that there are a significant number of people who one or other way breaks the signal. Even though there is 62% of the person who claims that they never drive on the wrong side, we cannot ignore the number of people who usually drive on the wrong side. Also, by observing the data collected above we can say that there are huge amount of people driving on the wrong side seldom, which shows the less awareness of the traffic safety rules among the people of Ahmedabad. PROBLEMS FACED BY COMMUTERS: It is a common understanding that usually it is the carelessness of people that invites accidents and mishaps on roads as they do not follow traffic rules and take the instructions of traffic police very lightly. Apart from bringing out the above result, the survey also reveals August - September, socio - economic voices

This percentage is significantly very high not to take any action. The amount of people i.e. 43% who have seen the traffic police chatting and not managing the traffic is considerably very high even though it is lesser than the amount of people who have not seen so.

6 that it is not the negligence but sometimes the misunderstandings by commuters and even they face lot of problems while driving. Figure 5: Showing the respondents view about the management of traffic by traffic police 56% people feel that more than one traffic police cause confusion on the cross roads. This percentage is significantly very high not to take any action. The amount of people i.e. 43% who have seen the traffic police chatting and not managing the traffic is considerably very high even though it is lesser than the amount of people who have not seen so. REASONS BEHIND CONGESTION: After finding out the problems faced and responses of people, the important finding is to know the reasons and cause of traffic. The next section tries and deals with finding the main reasons because of which congestion increases. Figure 6: Showing the causes of traffic according to respondents and the reasons behind breaking signals The survey revealed the opinions of respondents and says that around 48% people believe that rickshaw drivers are the main cause for traffic. Their rash driving and taking turns without giving proper signals is the cause of confusions and hence increases traffic problems. 28% people said that AMTS drivers are cause of traffic which mostly causes long waiting lines on main roads. Around 9% people said that normal vehicle drivers i.e. non professional, four wheeler drivers are cause for traffic and just below that 6% people said it is 2 wheeler drivers who cause traffic by entering in BRTS lanes and using pedestrian roads from easier and faster exits and drives. The reason is that the daily commuters are always in hurry August - September, socio - economic voices

7 or are getting late and so these are the people who break signals. On asking the reasons of breaking signals, various reasons were found out. 44% people said they break rules because they are usually in hurry to reach and report somewhere. 31% said they break the rules because they are in hurry and the timing of signals and waiting is so long that they can t wait and hence break the signal and find their way. 13% break signal because they enjoy breaking rules. Equal percent of people said that they don t care about the traffic rules, signals and systems and there are no specific rules as in why they break signals. One of the important aspects of this survey is to find out the reasons behind accidents on roads. These reasons are brought out by the respondents only who commute daily and have seen number of accidents happening on roads. Figure7: Showing the reasons behind the accidents according to respondents The survey reveals that almost 30% people believed that the accidents are because of the speed with which people drive on road which is beyond the acceptable limit. Almost equal percent of people believe that the reason is people using phones while driving and not wearing helmets that they meet with accidents. Only 15% said that because of driving on the wrong side the probability of mishaps increases. Results and Findings The Descriptive study on professional and non professional drivers brought out very interesting and exploratory results. A very strong positive co relation is found between the respondents rating themselves as drivers and number of times they have met with an accident which came out to be as it shows that the people who drive sensibly are less likely to create chaos as they are well aware about the guidelines of driving. The above study clearly infers the following points: August - September, socio - economic voices

8 Around 46% people never wear helmets while driving. 47% people understand all traffic signals which is a good sign though 49% never use earplugs but 56% said that they don t mind driving on the wrong side. 10% people believe in breaking the signals if they are in hurry but a very good chunk, i.e. 62% people said that even if they are in hurry, they never break signals. Around 73% always use sidelights before taking turn to avoid any confusion.56% drivers said that more than one traffic police on cross roads always cause confusions. The paper suggests that it is not the heavy transport vehicle drivers or the daily commuters who cause traffic problems but the rickshaw drivers are the major source of creating problems on roads. 44% people said they break rules because they are usually in hurry to reach and report somewhere. 31% said they break the rules because they are in hurry and the timing of signals and waiting is so long that they can t wait and hence break the signals. Almost 30% people believed that the accidents are because of the speed with which people drive on road which is beyond the acceptable limit. Conclusion The paper reveals and concludes that the majority of the drivers follow rules and traffic signs while driving. A very small chunk doesn t believe in following traffic signal which causes accidents and other traffic problems. With the better training of the learner drivers and strict testing techniques for issuing the license will reduce number of accidents in the city. Awareness program on road safety from the student level will also help in reducing the accidents and traffic chaos. Following human factors are found to be responsible for nuisance: Failing to keep lane Failing to yield right of the way Driving in excess of speed Inattentiveness Car following too close was more likely found among male drivers Youth feeling a sense of fun in breaking the law Ignorance of traffic control devices or law Lack of time management, trying to reach somewhere quick created jams Change in lifestyle and work pattern caused traffic hazards Inadequate infrastructure against number of vehicles From the study it can be stated that Ahmedabad is witnessing lack of traffic sense and people are facing problems and with the extension of highways and transport growth of the city this is likely to increase however with following suggestions it can be reduced to a certain extent. CCTV cameras should be kept on possibly every cross roads. Footages or clips of accidents should be displayed on the traffic booths of the concerned areas. Professionals should be well trained and educated about the rules and regulations August - September, socio - economic voices

9 of traffic. Govt. should create more ways to increase the roads i.e. by creating new over bridges expanding roads etc. Strict actions should be taken by traffic police for those who are found driving without licence or driving beyond speed limits i.e. by increasing the fine rate which is comparatively low. License issuance procedure should be stricter and corruption free. People need to manage time and understand the importance of decorum of traffic. References 1. David Lewis, America's Traffic Congestion Problem: Toward a Framework for National Reform, Hamilton publications 2. Geetanjali Singh, Neelima Chakrabarty, Kamini Gupta, Traffic Congestion Detection and Management Using Vehicular Ad-Hoc Networks (VANETs) In India, International Journal of Advanced Computer Technology, Volume 3,No John Glen wardrop, Some theoretical aspects of road traffic research, BA 4. Mitchell, rapkin, Urban traffic--a function of land use, Columbia university press 5. Neelima Chakrabarty, Kamini Gupta and Harsha Soman, A Pilot Study on Driving performance and Crash Characteristics under Simulated Indian Traffic Condition, Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (IJIR) Vol.1, Issue-6, Neelima Chakraborty, Purnima Parida, Arun Lakshman and Kamini Gupta, Visual limitations for drivers and problems of road accidents, Bharatiya Vaigyanik evam Audyogik Anusandhan Patrika (BVAAP) 7. Neelima Chakrabarty, S. Velmurugan, Kamini Gupta, Reetesh Rikku, Shriya Shatakshi, Assessment of Visual Traits of Heavy Vehicle Drivers in India, Global Journal for Research Analysis, Volume-4, Issue-4, April-2015 ISSN No Sharon cullinane a, kevin cullinane b, Attitudes towards traffic problems and public transport in the dartmoor and lake district national parks, journal of traffic geography 9. Taylor, Map young, w bonsall, Understanding traffic systems: data, analysis and presentation, P washgate publishing limited. 10. Webster FV, Traffic signal settings, Road research lab tech papers, the national academy of science 11. Y Jin, Modelling of Traffic Congestion with a Structural Change and Its Economic Cost Seoul Singal Highway, Korea, Tec magazine 12. Yafeng Yin, Special Issue on Management of Future Motorway and Urban Traffic Systems, Transport research journal August - September, socio - economic voices

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