“It is always frustrating for motorists when both lanes are occupied by trucks in open violation of traffic rules,” says a resident of Bahria Town. DESIGN: SAMRA AAMIR
ISLAMABAD: Overtaking and traffic violations by truck drivers have become the leading cause of accidents on the Islamabad Expressway, which links the federal capital with Rawalpindi and GT Road.
Overloaded trucks plying on the main thoroughfare pose a very serious danger to the motorists as they often veer out of the designated lane to overtake each other, forcing the small vehicles to slow down.
This creates inconvenience for motorists, who, in turn try to overtake the trucks from the wrong side and increases the chance of accidents, said a commuter.
“It is always frustrating for motorists when both lanes are occupied by trucks in open violation of traffic rules. They force us to move at a speed of 10 to 20 kilometres per hour,” said Abdul Rehman, a resident of Bahria Town.
He said that many housing societies were located on the main highway and the residents of these societies use the road on a daily basis, which results in bumper to bumper traffic during peak hours.
The situation, it is feared, would become worse in the next two to three years following the completion of work on under-development societies.
“Traffic police are rarely observed on this section of the highway. Most drivers break them with impunity,” said Rehman.
“The reduced speed limit of 40kph is not observed and the road remains without proper lane-markings,” he added.
As far as further widening of the highway is concerned, a CDA official said, “No immediate plan to widen or repair the road was underway. However, he said discussions in this regard were in progress and the project could be initiated following the approval of the Joint Venture Ordinance, which is under consideration.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 22nd, 2013.
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It is not just truck drivers, but vagan-wala and taxi-wala too. These transport drivers are the most dangerous people on our roads. 90 percent of accidents involve these transport vehicles. They never take any driving coaching or test, they dont know the traffic rules so they dont abide by them, and they are the most disrespectful people on the road. Punishing them by imposing minimum of Rs.1000 chalan could make things better; as it was at the launch of Islamabad Traffic Police few years back.