Jaywalkers abound in Rawalpindi

Every year several people are incapacitated or killed on Rawalpindi roads for not using Zebra crossing. Jaywalking seems to have increased city-wide.
Obstructing the road or crossing it at a place other than a regular crossing or in a heedless manner, as diagonally or against a traffic light is a common sight throughout the city. “I have seen people crossing in a junction without waiting for an indicative signal or crossing a road in prohibited areas,” says Bagh Ali from Tipu Road.
“Reckless pedestrian behaviour is at its height when schools and colleges are on and the roads are overcrowded with students. At the school and college off-time the chances of pedestrians getting knocked down by vehicles are very high. They risk their lives to cross the busy vehicular junction like Sir Syed Chowk,” says Waheehul Hasan, a shopkeeper.
“I remember a man at Airport Link Road Dhoke Hafiz intersection, and the light across the road from him said “Walk.” It meant that there was a red light above him, and that the traffic heading towards him could not move, but he was crushed by a driver making a turn. After remaining in a coma for about a month he died of head injuries. In fact, turning motorists may be even more risky for pedestrians than a head-on attack, since they are harder to notice,” says Ghayyur Abbas, an area resident.
Wali-u-Zaman, a trader from Iqbal Town, says: “In a place like Islamabad Expressway where traffic is high-speed and heavy, crossing without seeing left and right can indeed be dangerous. The more vehicles there are on the road, the more potential risk they create to both pedestrians and other drivers. This situation arises for two reasons. First, where there are more vehicles on the road, there is a higher chance that one of those vehicles could be driven in a slapdash fashion. Second, where pedestrians are uncommon, vehicle drivers are less likely to anticipate them and as a result more likely to drive fast, creating extra risk not only for pedestrians but even for other vehicle drivers as well.”
“The other day a mother and her two sons wanted to cross the Islamabad Expressway when they decided to take a shortcut. Rather than walk up to the nearby overhead bridge, they walked across in the middle of the road. To cross a road carelessly or in an illegal manner or to walk into or across a road at a forbidden place or without the right of way so as to be endangered by traffic is a suicidal act,” says Munawwar Hussain, a traffic cop.
“There should be a larger policy in terms of penalty for jaywalking and it should be made part of the city traffic plan. City residents need to be made more sensitive to the fact that they must have a way of life and the city fathers ought to educate people to the dangers of jaywalking,” says Iftikhar Taqi from Koral.
Zamir Zaidi, a dairy farm owner from the same locality says: “People are generally not willing to walk hundreds of feet to an intersection, and drivers can pick up a lot of speed between intersections. I have seen women with kids and both young and old along with their bicycles or bikes crossing the Islamabad Expressway very quickly or standing in between the lanes indifferently.”
“I don’t know whether there exist anti-jaywalking laws or not. If they do, they must be applied forcefully,” adds Zamir.