The Delhi Traffic Police have identified over 65 roads in the Capital where the height of the railing on the central verge will have to be raised as a measure to curb jaywalking and consequent pedestrian fatality.
These roads include August Kranti Marg, Ring Road (near lajpat Nagar), Sarai Kale Khan, Rani Jhansi Road, among others. Apart from these, new railings will be installed at Khajuri Khas, Seemapuri and other areas.
The move to increase the height of the railings has been taken after the experiment carried out at Road number 56, opposite the Anand Vihar Bus Terminal proved successful.After the height of the railings was increased from 4.5 ft to 6.5 ft, the number of fatal accidents on the stretch plummeted five times.
"The low height of the railings on the central verge led to accidents. Once the height of the railings was increased by two feet, the number of accidents came down to two this year, as against eight, last year. Most importantly, no pedestrian was involved in any accident on the stretch this year," said Taj Hassan, Special Commissioner of Police (Traffic).
During a seminar on urban mobility in Delhi, he drew attention towards the fact that in order to cross Road number 56 towards Seemapuri from Anand Vihar, five pedestrians had lost their lives till June 30, last year.
"Raising the height of the railing on central verge to 6.5 ft and providing a foot over-bridge as a cross-over facility reduced fatal accidents drastically. The intervention also helped in smoothen the traffic flow, as pedestrians do not jaywalk anymore by leaping the railings. The number of deaths on the stretch has dipped from 10 to two, till June this year. No pedestrians were involved in any accident or death on the stretch till June, this year," he added.
According to traffic police, there are 65 stretches in the national Capital where either the central verge is damaged or the railings are missing.
This, according to the officials, provides opportunity not only to jaywalk but also two-wheeler riders to cross through them, resulting in fatal accidents. As per the suggestions from traffic police, the civic agencies are not only preparing to raise the height of the railing on the central verge as a safety measure, but are also planning on installing railings of improved design. "The modified design will not have space for the pedestrians to place their legs and leap over them," said an official.