No parking vehicles on pavements, no jay walking :

Motorists, pedestrians should be civic conscious - WP Traffic Chief

By Ranil WIJAYAPALA

The development of road stretches, pavements and roundabouts in Colombo city gives the impression of Colombo emerging as a world class city very soon. A smooth flow of traffic strictly adhering to road lanes and pavements for the pedestrians to walk without a hassle are essential to achieve this.

A trafiic police officer chides the jay walkers

Pedestrians in Colombo and other major cities in the Western province now enjoy a hassle free walk along the pavements and roads which were earlier invaded by thousands of pavement hawkers, after the defence authorities took action to remove them from the pavements and provide them with alternative places for their businesses, the city looks cleaner and more beautiful.

But the haphazard parking practices of motorists has become an obstacle for the pedestrians to use the pavements as motorists now invade the pavements vacated by previous pavement hawkers.

Speaking to the Sunday Observer Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of Traffic Administration, Road Safety and Western Province Traffic Operations, Asoka Wijetilleka said that there will be strict enforcement of the law that prohibits parking on pavements and pedestrian crossings from February 14.

“Pavements have been designed nicely under the initiative of Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa and roads are being resurfaced in the metropolis. We can’t afford to allow pavement parking”, the DIG said.

There are good reasons for the traffic Police to strictly enforce this law, he noted.

“Firstly , if we allow parking on pavements, the newly done up pavements will be damaged. The second thing is that pavements are meant for pedestrians. Earlier we had a situation where pavements were used by pavement hawkers. That problem is non-existent now. If pavements are blocked by the parking of vehicles it will add another problem,” he explained.

“When vehicles are parked on the pavements, pedestrians have to walk the roads. As a result there had been accidents and injuries to pedestrians caused by some reckless motorists.”

The third reason is that if the pedestrians get onto the roads it will affect the smooth flow of traffic.

According to DIG Wijetilleka, prior to enforcing this law the traffic Police had conducted programs to educate motorists about parking habits and then embarked on imposing fines.

“But still many motorists breach this rule for their own convenience and for selfish reasons. They park the vehicles somewhere and leave the car unattended and work at some places for hours. We are not in a position to trace them”, he added.

“So now we have embarked on a new program. We will tow vehicles parked unattended,” he added.

If the vehicle is towed to the nearest Police station for parking illegally and blocking the road the motorist will have to pay the towing charges.

“We tow them to the Police station of the respective area. They have to pay the towing charges for the private companies towing the vehicles and in addition we will prosecute them in Courts,” the DIG added.

“I have introduced a new system of motor vehicle patrols so that within a matter of minutes vehicles parked on pavements will be detected” the DIG added.

But to strictly enforce this law the traffic Police has also taken the initiative to increase the number of parking areas especially to facilitate school vans which are usually parked around schools.

“Earlier there was a system where school and staff vans park in some by lanes. We are not permitting that because we have received complaints from households that their entrances are being blocked. So we have found them alternative places for parking at places like Maitland Crescent where the road is large. The other area is off the carpeted area of Marine Drive,” the DIG added.

Then the vehicles can come 15 minutes before the school closes and they can park along the road in single file. They cannot be static there for more than 10 to 15 minutes.

“So with the introduction of this rule there is some order in picking up the children. We have to look into the safety of the students as well. That is why we have given them 10 to 15 minutes and they have to park in an orderly manner without obstructing the traffic,” he added.

However, they can’t park in two or three lanes as traffic officers will detect them if they are parked in that manner. “We are deploying additional traffic Policemen on a regular basis to monitor the situation,” the DIG said.

“We will also take action against parking attendants if they allow motorists to park on the pavements and charge money,” the DIG added.

The traffic Police will also enforce the law with regard to the pedestrians, initially in the Western province.

Traffic Police in the Western Province have conducted educational programs to educate the public on why they should use the pedestrian crossing for their own safety and to avoid accidents.

“We have conducted this awareness program for a couple of months and I think the time has come to prosecute those who do not practise them. We find, not to a great extent as earlier, but to some extent pedestrians still crossing the road in a haphazard manner. This is dangerous,” he added.

“People must not think we are harassing them. We are trying to discipline them. We are not trying to discipline them for our own convenience or any other reason but for their own safety,” Wijetilleka added.

“We are going to deploy additional personnel and do a special operation for a couple of days and prosecute pedestrians who do not use pedestrian crossings to cross the roads.”

Imposing spot fines on pedestrians is not possible by current law. “It is mandatory to produce them in courts and charge them. They will be notified to come to court,” the DIG said.

Since the new enforcement on February 14, the Western Province Traffic Police prosecuted 1,379 motorists for parking on pavements and 126 for parking on pedestrian crossings.

“People must be civic conscious. They can’t blame the congestion and heavy accidents for their mistakes. We are responsible for traffic management. If you are a motorist you have to follow the lanes”, he said.

It is important to avoid traffic jams and accidents. Similarly pedestrians must also be civic minded to follow road rules.

They should use pedestrian crossings to cross the roads instead of haphazardly crossing the road,” the DIG added.

“We are starting this program in the Western province and with time implement it in other areas especially in townships because this happens mostly in the towns,” he added.