Bikers using the pavements to ride has been a massive problem for the Bengaluru traffic police. Despite strict enforcement, the number of cases haven’t come down.
But now, Manju Thomas has taken it upon herself to school bikers on road sense and not riding on the footpath. She stands at the Corporation bus stop (towards Lal Bagh) everyday after work for an hour to guide the two-wheelers to take the road and not ride on the footpath.
In a video that has gone viral, Thomas can be seen directing a two-wheeler not to take the footpath. While the rider got into an altercation with the woman, a few passers-by stood in support with her.
I was not doing anything to catch attention. I was just standing there and it just happened that the biker came. He was honking at me and being very aggressive. It was because of his honking that there were a lot of people coming out of their cars.Manju Thomas, to The News Minute
“I was trying to jest with the biker, but he started abusing me,” added Thomas.
Manju Thomas is an HR professional and shifted to the city in the year 2013. She told The News Minute that when she was in college she noticed the unruly behaviour of the bikers.
There was one instance when a biker left me cornered on the edge of the footpath. That’s when I decided that this was not cool, and I need to do something about it.Manju Thomas
Now, whenever she sees a biker riding on the footpath, she stops them and forces them back on the road.
Bengaluru Traffic Menace
In the first two months of 2018, traffic police have booked 2,735 motorcyclists for riding on the footpath and in 2017, the number of riders booked were 18,889.
R Hitendra, Additional Commissioner of Police, Traffic said more than enforcement, there is a need for better pavement designs.
The civic authorities should design the pavements in such way that motorcyclists can’t get on them. On some footpaths granite bollards have been erected. Such measures should be implemented across the city.R Hitendra, Additional Commissioner of Police
However, the granite bollards haven’t been successful either. While the bollards are erected on TenderSure roads, a gap is left for the wheelchair access. Many offenders have been using this gap to ride the motorcycle through footpaths with bollards.
In 2013, Bengaluru police had introduced a provision where the licences of those caught with riding on the footpath could be suspended, however the provision was seldom used by the cops.
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