Hyderabad: Lane mark awareness can curb accidents

Hyderabad: Indian Road Congress norms strictly prohibit motorists from crossing their lane or overtaking a vehicle when there is a continuous white line in the middle of the road, something that is rarely followed in the city.

The lines with different patterns hold instructions for motorists. The city, however, doesn’t even have lanes marked properly on the roads except on some stretches in Begumpet and Hitec City.

Experts said that marking lane and making drivers aware about them could potentially result in smooth flow of traffic and help in curbing accidents.

Road markings provide guidance for disciplined and safe driving. It is necessary to mark all the major roads with lanes, edge and median markings together with delineators, according to road safety experts.

On the major roads, these longitudinal markings are drawn either as broken lines, solid or double solid lines.

Broken lines allow crossing with discretion, where as solid lines are restrictive in character and do not allow crossing except for entry or exit from a side road. Double solid lines indicate severity in restrictions.

The broken lines are common to city roads, whereas solid lines and double-solid lines are mostly limited to highways and major roads. It is important that drivers driving on highways should understand these markings.

Experts said that the lane system was one of the most ignored traffic concepts in the country, as these are neither mentioned in traffic education at the school level nor is that knowledge checked during the process of obtaining licences.

Whether a road should have double line markings or single broken lines is decided on the width and the type of the road on which it is painted, said, Mr Vinod Kanumala, chief functionary, Indian Federation of Road Safety.

Mr B. Rama Krishna, a city-based traffic volunteer, said, “Our roads do not even have basic zebra crossing lines which mark places where pedestrians can cross the road. It's no wonder that many of our roads do not have these lane markings.”

Whenever a new road is laid, road markings should be marked wherever necessary with the coordination of the traffic department and the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).

However, many times, lane markings and zebra crossings are ignored, till there is a personal request from the commuters in that area.