⚫ Guardrails appear out of nowhere in dense fog
⚫ Speeding cars overtake at will without alerting the other vehicle
⚫ Cows squat in the middle of a main road
⚫ Bikers race as if they are on a MotoGP track
⚫ Pedestrians run across roads with their hands raised or with cellphones to their ears as vehicles speed past them
On Wednesday night, The Telegraph came across these instances while criss-crossing all three action areas of New Town.
Night driving in the planned township is nothing short of a game of Russian roulette, fraught with multiple hazards. What makes matters worse is fog that descends on New Town during winter and reduces visibility.
In order to curb speeding along the Major Arterial Road (MAR) in New Town, the Bidhannagar police commissionerate’s traffic wing has placed guardrails in a zig-zag fashion to create chicanes to ensure that drivers reduce their speed and make a series of turns.
The guardrails, most of which are blue and white in colour, have patches of retro reflective tapes (which glow when the light from a vehicle falls on them).
However, more often than not headlights fail to illuminate the tapes from a distance because of dense fog and the guardrails become visible only at the last moment, forcing motorists to suddenly slam the brakes or dangerously swerve past the barriers.
The MAR, which connects New Town with the airport on one side and Salt Lane on the other, is a 10.5km-long, six-lane artery with a clearly demarcated median divider.
Guardrails are also placed on the MAR extension that leads to housing complexes such as Elita Garden Vista and Sukhobrishti Housing Complex from Unitech. The stretch also has multiple speed-breakers.
A section of motorists tends to pick up speed and drive recklessly till the next set of guardrails, often overtaking other vehicles from the left and without any warning.
On Wednesday night, a herd of cattle was squatting on the MAR in front of Eco Park’s gate number 4. Vehicles had no option but to swerve left and right to avoid hitting them.
In front of Axis Mall, pedestrians crossed the airport-bound as well as the Salt Lake-bound flank of MAR at will.
Many had simply raised their hands or had their cellphones glued to their ears as vehicles zipped past them.
Bhargab Maitra, a professor of civil engineering at IIT Kharagpur who specialises in road safety, said placing guardrails to serve as speed-cutters has become a common practice.
“But that should be done only when there are chances of heavy pedestrian movement such as when schools start or end for the day,” he said.
“If guardrails are placed on main roads, there should be adequate signage at proper locations to warn people. In foggy conditions, they should be fitted with warning lamps that blink to warn motorists from a distance.”
Across Kolkata, guardrails are painted in blue and white, which may not be visible in the dark. Ideally, the tubular pipes that make up the frame of a guardrail should be wrapped in prismatic reflective sheets so the guardrail glows in the dark.
“Unless a guardrail is spotted from a distance, one can’t slow down. A border with a reflective tape is crucial in ensuring efficacy of a moveable guardrail,” said a senior engineer of the traffic and transportation department.
The minimum braking distance depends on several factors, including the drivers’ ability to react, braking system of the vehicle, condition of the tyres and the speed of the vehicle. “A vehicle needs some time to slow down after spotting a guardrail,” the engineer said.
Across the city, guardrails are positioned arbitrarily.
Traffic police insist guardrails are required for two reasons — to serve as a sudden checkpoint and to force drivers to slow down.
Without guardrails, it is impossible to run checks on vehicles and drivers, more than one officer said on Thursday.
“Guardrails help slow down vehicles and control speed in areas where there aren’t speed cameras,” said an officer of the Bidhannagar commissionerate.