Latest News For 'Chennai Traffic News'
March 31st, 2007
Chennai: Chennai would soon have new traffic arrangements in place, including introduction of one-way system to tackle the burgeoning road traffic, Union IT and Communications Minister Dayanidhi Maran said.
“The first relief would come at the Velachery-Halda junction,” he said after inaugurating a joint venture company here on Friday.
He added that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi has formed a high-level multi-disciplinary group for traffic management of Chennai, Madurai and Coimbatore, which would coordinate with Indian and international experts.
Dayanidhi said traffic management had to be done in short-term, medium-term and long-term basis. The short-term plan would be one-way roads, flyovers in the medium-term and ring roads in the long-term.
Source: Chennaionline.com
January 24th, 2007
CHENNAI: Violating the stop line on roads may soon become costlier for motorists. The simple violation that draws a Rs.50 as fine, will now be deemed as a dangerous driving practice and the traffic police can levy a hefty Rs.1,000 as fine.
The proposal to increase the fine is awaiting a formal go-ahead from the government, city police officials say. While random vehicle checks are conducted at all signal points during lean hours, the police are now forced to be more stringent with erring drivers, says Sunil Kumar, Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Chennai police.
The normal fine is Rs.50 for signal jumping, but the compounding fee for signal jumping, if done in a dangerous manner would be Rs.1,000, he said on Tuesday, adding all signal violations could now be deemed as dangerous driving.
Though all major automatic signals are manned by policemen, many motorists especially State-owned bus drivers ignored signals. This led to accidents, which often turned fatal or left victims with permanent disabilities.
This is what goaded the police to impose the new fine system, he said. Change in timings In another change, all the automatic signals in the city will start working an hour earlier in the morning and go on working for one hour extra in the night, due to increase in vehicles and the changes in traffic patterns. The signals would be switched on at 5 a.m. instead of 6 a.m., and would remain operational till 11 p.m. instead of 10 p.m., said Mr Kumar.
The timings had been programmed to ensure that vehicles would not have to wait at signals longer during the lean hours, he added.
Road safety enthusiasts say the police move will be welcome if the enforcement is done strictly and in unbiased manner so that all types of vehicles are booked for offences.
More than the imposition of fines, the police should step up vigilance particularly using its newly acquired Hyundai cars or the existing surveillance cameras. These cameras were installed nearly six years ago at key junctions, but do not seem to be a deterrent to violators.
Only if the police are seen to be using these cameras to book traffic offenders and also regularly disclose details of the outcomes of this vigilance would offenders feel deterred, safety activists say.
Source: The Hindu (Chennai-epaper)
December 4th, 2006
Theni, Dec 4: More than 500 members belonging to various political parties, including PMK, JD(S), DPI and Tamizhar Desiya Iyakkam, were arrested today for blocking the road traffic at Cumbum Mettu on the Kerala border demanding raising of the water level in the Mullaperiyar dam to 142 feet.
Police said those arrested included P Nedumaran, leader of Tamizh Desiya Iyakkam, JD(S) leader John Moses and Farmers Association president Meenakshisundaram.
Meanwhile, a Coimbatore, report said about 150 persons, belonging to various political parties and social organisations were arrested when they attempted to stage picketing at K G Chavadi on the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border condemning the attitude of Kerala on the dam issue.
The workers, belonging to Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (PDK), PMK, DPI, Tamizhar Desiya Iyakkam and some other organisations, raised slogans condemning the Kerala government for its failure to abide by the Supreme Court verdict, police said.
The agitators, led by PDK general secretary K Ramakrishnan, were removed and arrested at K G Chavadi, when they were proceeding to squat on the highway and block the traffic.
Saying that there was no traffic disruption due to the picketing, police said that even Tamil Nadu buses plied as usual to Palakkad and other destinations in Kerala. (Agencies)
Source:http://www.chennaionline.com/colnews/newsitem.asp
November 22nd, 2006
CHENNAI: Two persons were killed, and four other injured, when a Metropolitan Transport Corporation bus operating between the Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminal (CMBT) and MKB Nagar went out of control near Aminjikarai on Tuesday.
According to the police, the bus developed a snag while approaching the Aminjikarai area. It dashed against the median and veered towards the right. Soon, the speeding vehicle collided with a stationary autorickshaw, killing a passenger identified as K. Balaji (30), who worked for a software company at Mahalingapuram, on the spot.
Auto driver Masthan, who had stopped the vehicle to enquire about an address, escaped with injuries. The autorickshaw was wrecked.
The bus then rammed a row of fish carts parked on the roadside, killing a coolie identified as Kannan (40) of Aminjikarai who was resting there. The vehicle came to a halt after dashing against a huge tree.
The Anna Nagar traffic police registered a case and arrested the driver Cyril Irudhayaraj.
Many road users criticised the MTC authorities for “poor” maintenance of the buses. But for the huge tree which brought the bus to a halt, the toll would have been higher, an officer of the Aminjikarai police station said.
Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Sunil Kumar told The Hindu that the investigation would focus on the cause of the snag that led to the bus spinning out of control.
Source:http://www.hindu.com/2006/11/22/stories/2006112210460100.htm
November 18th, 2006
CHENNAI: Even as road traffic fatalities in India have crossed one lakh annually, the nation is set to observe the “World Day of Remembrance for Road Crash Victims” on November 19.
The magnitude of the problem is that an estimated 1.3 million people suffer serious injuries in road mishaps, according to the Institute of Road Traffic Education (IRTE), a non-government organisation.
In October last year, the United Nations declared that the third Sunday of every November would be marked as the day for remembering road traffic victims.
The institute, which is a member of the United Nations Global Road Safety Collaboration, has taken the initiative to campaign and bring awareness among the public on the need to support road accident victims by involving the youth as partners, its president, Rohit Baluja, said. Besides pledging support, all possible steps should be taken by all stakeholders in reducing and preventing road accidents.
Mr. Baluja said a special event, to be presided over by Madan Lokur, Judge, Delhi High Court, would be organised at the Sri Ram Auditorium, Mandi House, New Delhi, to mark the day. University students had been invited to participate. Speakers from the transport, police, judiciary, medical, media, health and insurance sectors would address the students. College students would perform a skit/play. The highlight of the event would be to listen to some of the survivors or family members of accident victims.
The organisation had written to traffic police in all mega cities and non-governmental organisations to hold similar programmes as part of the observance.
The IRTE’s aim include involving the youth in creating awareness and training them to become defensive road users and ensure their safety, promoting the message of safety among their family members, friends and other stakeholders and spreading awareness about the right of a road user, responsibilities towards reducing road accidents and to care for victims, right to report accidents and right to justice and compensation.
The IRTE and other organisations are to jointly organise a three-day international workshop on “Road safety education for developing countries” from January 11 in New Delhi.
Source:http://www.thehindu.com/2006/11/18/stories/2006111803661300.htm
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