Road safety: This bridge was made for walking, under

Pedestrians of twin cities fail to follow traffic rules, overhead bridges heavily under-utilised.

ISLAMABAD: Most pedestrians of Islamabad and Rawalpindi who must cross Islamabad Expressway do not use the highway’s overhead bridges built for their safety. Despite police warnings, pedestrians continue to ignore traffic rules and put their lives at risk by walking across the busy roads. The situation is similar on other major arteries such as Seventh Avenue in Islamabad and Benazir Bhutto Road in Rawalpindi.

An Islamabad Traffic Police official said they were doing their best to educate road users on road safety and had erected signboards across the federal capital’s roads for guidance.

Despite this, he was saddened by the number of avoidable deaths in road accidents that have occurred on the Expressway due to the negligence of pedestrians.



The Islamabad Expressway is one of the twin cities’ busiest roads and is apart from intercity traffic, it is also popular among travellers coming to the capital via GT Road.

The official requested pedestrians to use the overhead bridges, which were designed for their safety and to ensure the smooth flow of traffic.

Atif Noor, a motorist, said millions of rupees had been spent on the construction of the overhead bridges, and by not using them, pedestrians were endangering the lives of both themselves and motorists. Zohaib Kazmi, a public transport driver on Route 21, echoed Noor’s sentiments, stating that those who refused use the bridges were disturbing the traffic flow.

Qaiser Zaman, a government employee, claimed that he has always been using the overhead bridges.

A CDA spokesman said that a proposal was under review to build a six-foot high safety wall along the Islamabad Expressway to discourage pedestrians from crossing the road from points other than those with bridges.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 18^th, 2013.