Bombay HC urges citizens to follow traffic rules and civic sense

The Bombay High Court stressed the need for citizens to follow traffic rules and develop civic sense, while enhancing compensation to a victim’s family in a road accident case and highlighting shared responsibility between pedestrians and drivers

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has said it is high time Indian citizens inculcate civic sense and follow traffic rules, and added that they should learn from developed countries on how to drive vehicles and cross roads.

A single bench of Justice Jitendra Jain said this in an order passed on Wednesday, wherein it enhanced the amount of compensation to the family of a man who died after being knocked down by a bus while crossing a road.

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“In my view, it is high time that the people of this country inculcate within themselves the civic sense which we all have to follow without anyone compelling us to follow,” the HC said.

When Indians travel abroad, they obey all the traffic rules and regulations, it said.

“I do not see any reason why we should not follow the rules and regulations of our country when we return and are staying in India. There cannot be any justification for not following the same,” the HC said.

The court further noted that elders and parents violate rules while driving and crossing, setting a bad example for children who follow suit.

“Therefore, it is the moral duty and obligation of elders and parents to follow rules and regulations while driving and crossing so that children learn this basic civic sense from them, rather than learning how to violate rules and regulations. It is rightly said that children adopt quickly what they observe,” the HC said.

Pedestrians in this country should be careful in following the rules and regulations, it said, adding that it is generally observed that people cross roads ignoring signals, which results in accidental death or injury.

“It is high time that we, as responsible citizens, follow the rules and regulations while crossing the road and obey signals,” the HC said.

It added that even vehicles, especially two-wheelers, have a tendency to break signals and not follow rules and regulations.

The traffic police, though doing a commendable job, should take strict action against people driving two-wheelers and violating signal rules, Justice Jain said.

The order was passed on a plea filed by the deceased man’s family against an April 2016 order of the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, seeking enhancement of the compensation.

The tribunal had awarded a compensation of Rs 13 lakh to the victim’s family members.

The victim, suffering from Parkinson’s disease and also partially paralytic, met with an accident in November 2012 when he was knocked down by a Thane Municipal Transport bus while crossing the road. He died in March 2013.

The court noted in its order that since the deceased was suffering from partial paralysis, he should have been accompanied by someone or taken help from a bystander to cross a busy road.

“A pedestrian should try to cross the road only at the signal by following signal rules,” the HC said, noting that to some extent negligence is attributable to the deceased.

At the same time, the driver of the bus should have also slowed down after seeing a person limping while crossing the road, the bench remarked.

The high court enhanced the compensation to Rs 15 lakh.