You may not hear Grim Reaper
Earphones may soothe your mind but they may also claim your life if you wear them while walking or driving on the roads. The City traffic police have noticed that the widespread habit of listening to music has become one of the major causes for the road accidents.
Recently City traffic police conducted a special drive against using cellphone while driving, in North District covering 13 police stations, and booked 2,122 drivers for using earphones while driving. Interestingly, of the 2,122 booked, 1,226 were car drivers, 857 are motorcyclists and 38 of them are auto rickshaw drivers.
Ironically, many of them who were booked for the same violation are posting their queries on Hyderabad Traffic Police Facebook page saying “Why can’t we use headphones while driving?
Police commented: “Head phones are a form of distraction as they interfere with hearing. A distraction is anything that draws the driver’s attention away from driving towards something within or outside the vehicle, thereby affecting his driving performance.”
While pedestrians are posing threat to motorists by walking along the roads or crossing the roads while listening to music through mobile phones/Mp3 players, motorists are hitting pedestrians while they are walking along the road. Pedestrians are forced to walk on the roads since there are no footpaths in many parts of the City.
“Parents now-a-days are allowing their children to carry mobile phones to the schools and such freedom would sometimes lead to disasters. In foreign countries there are proposals to introduce legislation for iPod oblivion. However, we don’t think making it illegal to cross the road using a device is the answer unless it really changes once behaviour,” said DCP (traffic) GVG Ashok Kumar.
Incidents
- D Shanti Kumar, 19, an engineering student of Methodist Engineering College in Abids was run over by a train while he was walking on the tracks while listening to music through his mobile phone. He failed to hear train coming from behind since he was wearing headphones , said the Government Railway Police.
- A few months ago, Mohini Shanti Priya, 23, a software engineer was hit by a train at Fatehnagar while she was crossing the tracks while listening to music from her mobile phone using earphones.
- In yet another case J Theresa, 16 died after a train hit her at Sitaphalmandi railway station. Here too she was listening to music and hence couldn’t hear the warnings of other passengers.
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