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What will help ensure vehicles stop behind stop line
asj - 26 April, 2008 | Traffic | Bangalore
Typically in India at traffic lights we see vehicles stop well beyond stop lines.
In my observation, the location of traffic lights is faulty in first place.
A significant number of traffic signals in UK are designed such that the signals are adjacent to stop lines and not at the far end of the junction. Thus vehicles going beyond stop line cannot see the signal and are forced to stop ehind stop line.
Simple but effective - to see the pictures to comprehend what I say please view this PDF.
Hope the pics with one suggested modification reaches authorities in our cities and the required change is considered and implemented.
ASJ
COMMENTS
Excellent!
shas3n - 28 April, 2008 - 08:35
ASJ, your PDF is a wonderful piece on design of traffic signals. Very informative and clearly enumerates the applicability of the concepts to Indian conditions. Do consider writing a 'best practice guide to traffic signals design' when you find time. It might be of tremendous value if it attracts the attention of right eyes. -Shastri
presence of a traffic cop!
blrsri - 28 April, 2008 - 09:28
this is an easy answer to the question here..what is seen in Bangalore is with the presence of a traffic cop at the junctions..every one does it right!
Just for the fear of being fined!
The higher the rank of the officer..the more organized the traffic is..have seen poor traffic wardens trying and crying their heart out against the violators..but to no change! However as a cop comes on the scene, things change!
Maybe electronic eyes in terms of cameras could also help..this was installed in Bangalore at certain junctions..Kamaraj road and cubbon road jn..in the evenings there used to be two flashes from the cameras capturing the violators..wonder what happened..the flashes have stopped but the violations havent!
If at all you follow the rule, be ready to get abused!!!
ramesh_mbabu - 28 April, 2008 - 10:09
If you happen to stop at the stop line and if there are no traffic cop in the vicinity, be ready to listen abuses and continuous honking by the drivers behind you. Soon a couple of them will over take you and push into the space in front of you, while doing this circus they will block the free flow lane(assuming you stopped at the stop line to take a right turn or U-turn)
Observing the general behavior of drivers (all kind of drivers) they can be categorised in general as follows
Type 1: NO OVERTAKING ALLOWED - Will not allow any one behind to over take even if am driving at 10Km/h. Oh yea, who the hell told the right most line is for speedy vehicles? It is for me kinda drivers!
Type 2: ALL OF YOU GUYS SHOULD DRIVE BEHIND ME - Even if you are driving at 50Km/h, there is no space in between your vehicle and the one in front of you, that is the same case as far visible, but there was a small gap on your left lane, these kinda will push through that space and squeeze the vehicle some how bringing the continuous flow of vehicle on that lane to a stop.
Type 3: NOT IN ABOVE 2 GROUP: These tribes are near extinct creatures, a few weeks/months expereince with the above type (99% belong to the above 2 types) of fellow beings will make you tribe 1 or tribe2.
Now which of the above types are tougher on the road for other road users? Tricky, one has to deal with both type 1 & type 2 throughout the journey, half of the time you will be sandwitched in between type1 & type2 which is a deadly cocktail.
Ramesh.
Need a danda - what does that say about us
asj - 28 April, 2008 - 13:53
A friend had an American colleague visit him in Pune and he said he was astonished that we need traffic lights and a cop at the same junction. This says a lot about our culture (or what it has come to become).
ASJ
near end signals
tsubba - 28 April, 2008 - 14:12
i think near end signals makes sense. they have a psychological impact. i think the natural tendency is to get as close as possible to a barrier, which in this case is a signal. keeping it at far end you only increase the zone into which you can over step. also if they are at the near end and you overstep them then you cannot see the signal. thanks.
It's really is a sad state
roshanrk - 1 May, 2008 - 14:58
It's really is a sad state of affairs. In almost every sphere of our life, we try to take the easy way out, break the rules or get special treatment whenever possible. VIP treatment while visiting temples, cutting the queue to get ahead are just a few examples. The same behavior is seen on the roads. Unless there is someone with a stick in his hand enforcing the law we do not bother to follow it. So many times I have been honked at or abused because I stop behind the stop line or I do not jump signal even if there isn't too much traffic on the other side..I have to admit, sometimes I succumb to the pressure and jump signal...it's difficult to keep getting honked at :(
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