The traffic monster

The Eid holidays are over and people have gone back to their jobs. However, it is important to mention an issue that has marred the happy occasion. Every guest that visited seemed to start their conversation by narrating their experience of a traffic jam.

Venturing on the roads in the past week has been nothing short of a nightmare, with cars snarled up in traffic. This was the state of affairs all over the country where people, out for a joyous evening, ended up in a traffic jam.

But was Eid the only reason for these scenes of chaos? I believe not, because at least in Karachi the traffic situation is deteriorating by the day. It is not uncommon to hear of traffic jams on Shahrah-e-Faisal, or on M A Jinnah Road. Getting stuck in traffic is an everyday occurrence for some people, who have accepted it and instead of resolving the problem, they work around it.

Anyone who knows how the Korangi Crossing traffic is every morning, will leave an hour early in an effort to provide themselves with a ‘traffic margin’, so as not to be late for work. But why do we even need to take such steps?

If everyone follows the rules, there is no need for such measures. No one but we, ourselves, are to blame for the nightmare that driving in Karachi has become. We do not heed the traffic signals, or the road signs, neither do we understand the meaning of a ‘one-way’ road.

The blatant disregard for these rules has brought us to this difficult situation and if we don’t learn to follow them then we completely deserve to be stuck in traffic jams.

We need a change in our driving attitude, where the only thing that we care about is ‘me first’. Many jams can be avoided by being patient and giving way to the other person.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 16^th, 2016.