While 1,346 pedestrians sustained injuries in 2017, the number has risen to 4,251 in 2017
Bangalore, January 24, 2018: Pedestrian accidents have increased in the city by 30 per cent in the year 2017.
“One of my friends was trying to cross the road, and the bike came and hit him out of nowhere, the people especially the bikers should follow traffic rules, because people on the road do not have proper safety while walking also these days” said Jose Loui, a graduate student at St Joseph’s College.
People have also been complaining about how vehicles cut into the footpaths to avoid the traffic and try to reach their destination faster.
“I was walking through KR market and an auto suddenly ran over my foot, and I was injured and couldn’t walk properly for a week. People never follow traffic rules that are meant for their safety, these accidents can easily be avoided,” said Rose Johnny, another student at St. Joseph’s.
The traffic police has taken sufficient measures in order to curb this problem by prosecuting people for jaywalking and rumble strips have also been installed to control this issue, but the accidents keep increasing day by day says the ACP Police office.
Mr Srinivas Alalvalli, citizens for Bangalore organizer, who organised the #walksignalbeku protest said ” The entire city is in distress, we have organized a protest regarding this issue, everybody is using public transport and for that people have to walk, but they feel so unsafe while walking itself, the worst thing that the government could do is build skywalks which is now just causing more problems. Walking should be the top priority and the government should take care of the citizens of the city. These violators of traffic have caused a lot of nuisance throughout the year and this needs a solution to cut down on the number of mishaps that happen. ”
Mr Ramesh Babu, an urban planner at IISC said: These accidents are definitely to do with infrastructure and design, better footpaths and zebra crossings at a nearer distance and pelican signals should be installed with utmost urgency.”
Only through better urban planning and enforcement of traffic rules can the city curb the problem of increasing pedestrian accidents.
