According to a recent study conducted by the Institute of Road Traffic Education (IRTE) along with School of Planning and Architecture (SPA), 70 per cent of traffic control devices including road signs, traffic signals and road markings were not up to international standards and were leading to millions of traffic violations though road users were not at fault.

 Titled “Resolving the Crisis of Traffic Management”, the survey found that 801 signs amounting to 54 per cent of the total inserted in rectangular boards either in blue or yellow are against the UN code of road signs. The study also highlights that hapless road users are liable to be prosecuted with high penalties such as imprisonment up to 1 year and fine up to Rs 5000 due to faulty road signs and signals defeating the very purpose of the provisions of the new legislation.

“The Motor Vehicle Amendment Bill 2016 which is the revision of the Motor Vehicles Act 1988 has been passed by the Lok Sabha and should be tabled in the Upper House during the next session. In order to make the legislation successfully implementable it is important that these deficiencies of traffic control devices must be set right,” said Rohit Baluja, president of IRTE, adding that the findings of the study and the corrections based on the findings will enable reduction of traffic violations, and improve congestion and road safety.

The study conducted on traffic light intersections found that most  primary and secondary traffic signals were not functioning as per the prescribed standards or are wrongly installed. One of the major deficiencies was short blinking green signals used instead of an amber signal. The duration of amber clearance before the red light appears is so short that in present conditions a large percentage of drivers are being caught without any fault.

“Delhi government and traffic police should find technology-based solutions including Intelligent Transportation system (ITS), automated traffic lights system and issuing of violation challans through cameras,” said K K Kapila, chairman, International Road Federation.