Raising awareness: Traffic Educational Park opens in Faisalabad

CTO says penalising violators doesn’t solve much

FAISALABAD: The country’s first Traffic Educational Park has been constructed at the University of Education campus, Faisalabad Chief Traffic Officer, Arif Shahbaz Khan said on Monday. The park features information regarding zebra crossing, traffic lane discipline and safety gadgets.

“We realised there was a crucial need to raise awareness about traffic rules…precious lives can be saved,” Khan said. Most road accidents took place because drivers were not aware of basic traffic rules, he said.

Students of the university, faculty members and various civil society groups had been taken on board in planning the park, the CTO said. The idea was to ensure that people, children and adults, would be informed about traffic related issues, he said.

The Faisalabad traffic police have taken several steps to improve the hitherto haphazard traffic system, Khan said. One of the ways progress on these initiatives has been tracked is by using Android applications and various other gadgets. “We have an app to educate citizens about traffic laws, to facilitate the process of obtaining licences, traffic diversion plans and safety guidelines.”

The city traffic police have recently launched an information desk to guide motorists regarding traffic flow and jams in the city. Road safety clubs have been made at 30 universities and schools so that students could learn about the importance of adhering to traffic laws and respect going through a process of training to drive.

The CTO said traffic was a neglected subject in the country. “It has never been given due importance by city planners and local governments…this is why there is traffic chaos, hazards and ruthless driving.” He said it was unfortunate that planners did not consider the toll traffic chaos took on commuters’ minds and bodies.

“Faisalabad has 850 traffic wardens against a sanctioned strength of 1,050.”The warden force was launched in 2007 and there have not been additional recruits in the last nine years even though the volume of traffic and population has grown exponentially, he said.

“Faisalabad is the third largest city in the country with a population of over 7.9 million. The city needs a modern road infrastructure and traffic signals at important intersections. There are only 12 traffic signals in this big city.”

He said the traffic police directed traffic and tried to prevent traffic jams. “However, providing road infrastructure – traffic signals, zebra crossings, visible traffic signals and U-turns – is the responsibility of the city government.”

He said in recent years, stunt riding on busy roads had become popular among the country’s youth. “Boys like to show off and perform stunts on motorcycles…there has been a corresponding rise in the number of road accidents.” He said the number had gone down after traffic wardens had started arresting these ‘performers’.

The CTO suggested that traffic rules should be included as a subject in school curriculum.

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