CHENNAI: Walking may be the most common form of commuting, but pedestrians are the second-most vulnerable commuter group. A total of 1,254 pedestrians, including 291 in Chennai (the second highest in the country), were knocked down by speeding vehicles in 2018.
While the absence of pavements forces pedestrians to jostle for space on the city’s busy carriageway and risk getting hit by vehicles, two-wheeler users put them in danger by riding down footpaths to bypass traffic jams. Though the practice is common on Nelson Manickam Road, Chamiers Road, Old Mahabalipuram Road and in Vadapalani, the traffic police do little to stop and penalize errant motorists.
“Many riders don’t realise that they are violating the law. Utter lack of driving sense is the prime reason for this,” said V Santhanam, a civic activist from Chromepet who has been campaigning for safe pedestrian commute over a decade. Blaming the corporation for designing footpaths that “invite bikes”, Santhanam said, “The height of pavements is so low that bikes can easily get onto them and in due course the edges of a footpath become a slope for bikes.”
But a Greater Chennai Corporation official said bollards are placed on “vulnerable stretches” to prevent bikes from entering platforms but still riders enter through gaps kept for differently abled people. The gap between two bollards in roughly two feet (0.6m) but for wheelchair access it is around three feet (0.9m), he said.
Urban experts said if walking near bus stops and railway stations became unsafe, fewer people will take public transport in the future that will result in more private vehicles on the road.
While the absence of pavements forces pedestrians to jostle for space on the city’s busy carriageway and risk getting hit by vehicles, two-wheeler users put them in danger by riding down footpaths to bypass traffic jams. Though the practice is common on Nelson Manickam Road, Chamiers Road, Old Mahabalipuram Road and in Vadapalani, the traffic police do little to stop and penalize errant motorists.
“Many riders don’t realise that they are violating the law. Utter lack of driving sense is the prime reason for this,” said V Santhanam, a civic activist from Chromepet who has been campaigning for safe pedestrian commute over a decade. Blaming the corporation for designing footpaths that “invite bikes”, Santhanam said, “The height of pavements is so low that bikes can easily get onto them and in due course the edges of a footpath become a slope for bikes.”
But a Greater Chennai Corporation official said bollards are placed on “vulnerable stretches” to prevent bikes from entering platforms but still riders enter through gaps kept for differently abled people. The gap between two bollards in roughly two feet (0.6m) but for wheelchair access it is around three feet (0.9m), he said.
Urban experts said if walking near bus stops and railway stations became unsafe, fewer people will take public transport in the future that will result in more private vehicles on the road.
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