Pedestrian parlance

THE importance of law and order depends on what it upholds. On Tuesday Police announced that jaywalking would become a punishable offence in Sri Lanka, resulting in people being taken to court if they do not use road crossings. Despite the need for such a law one must consider whether such top down implementation actually results in sustained safety for pedestrians and motorists.

Firstly, when one considers the road layout in Colombo, it must be seen that many places are not clearly marked for pedestrian crossings. Some of the distinctive coloured lines are not maintained and some simply vanish due to road repairs. In many busy parts of the city, such as Pettah, adequate crossings are not displayed and understandably pedestrians decline to walk extra metres, preferring instead to take their chances by wading across traffic. Developing an efficient pedestrian crossing system as well as installing underground or overhead passes is needed to adequately provide pedestrians with hassle free crossing options.

That aside, there are many instances when pedestrians follow the rules but motorists disregard the need to stop at crossings, causing much havoc and at times injury to people. It will be remembered by readers that recent accident statistics showed that the most vulnerable group of people are in fact pedestrians who are ploughed down by careless motorists. Therefore, before pedestrians can persecuted, the same respect for the law must be followed by motorists, especially when they are near schools and hospitals.

Motorcyclists and three-wheeler drivers are especially guilty of using the pavement to jump traffic lines. The pavement is for the use of pedestrians. Careless drivers driving down pavements can injure pedestrians as easily as they would run over one in the middle of the road. Despite this very common sight, the Police have failed to adequately curb this impulse, leaving pedestrians unsafe when walking about.

Of course, for this to be applicable there must first be pavements. Many of the new road projects, particularly by roads, are done without any regard for adequate pavement space. The road is made as large as possible while pavements are slimmed down to accommodate more lanes. Such practice endangers pedestrians and forces them to walk on the road endangering themselves. Some of these by-roads are in residential areas and this can be doubly dangerous for children. Without proper attention to pavements and easy access to crossing lines as well as considerate motorists, demanding that pedestrians alone toe the line will be inadequate.

Vehicle convoys of VIPs are released from thinking of pedestrians and usually do not bother with anyone else on the road either. Therefore, perhaps the Police need to take on what has become a rampant nuisance and would visibly increase road safety. This would be all the more possible as top officials in the country have repeatedly insisted that the Police are empowered to work independently and as such should have no problem in dealing with any highhanded results.

Punishment must be in proportion to the crime. When there are such significant shortcomings in providing holistic road safety, is it fair to make only the pedestrian appear in court? Is it fair to put him or her to all the trouble of appearing in court? Would a spot fine not suffice? Will this be like the seat belt law that is largely ignored less than a year after it was put in force? Such questions are natural, but it can only be hoped that despite arguments to the contrary, this latest step is one in the right direction.