Unfortunate death of Union Minister in road accident

Death of Member of Parliament today in road crash at least have wakened the nation up with tv debates and analysis. Most people are blaming Delhi roads, traffic police, forgetting the fact it is the people behind the wheels who flout laws, and ultimately are facing the consequences. As per the news report, red light jumping was the cause of the road accident.

Red light jumping is one of the most common traffic violation and the reason for road crashes. In order to probe as to how many of us do abide by the traffic rules. In one of my published article, I asked few questions on abiding traffic rules, especially red traffic lights. The study was conducted in Chandigarh, India on a sample of one hundred drivers, and the responses were as follows: 

Questions Gender Yes Always Yes Sometimes Not at all  Unanswered Do you stop at the Red Traffic Lights? Male 76% 20% 4% -- Female 80% 18% 2% -- Do you stop at the red traffic light, if there is no traffic on roads? Male 42% 42% 14% 2% Female 68% 32% -- -- Do you stop at red traffic light if there is no policeman at traffic lights? Male 58% 28% 12% 2% Female 80% 14% 4% 2% Do you stop at red light at night, if there is no traffic on road? Male 34% 36% 28% 2% Female 46% 46% 8% --

It clearly showed that compliance to red traffic lights was dependent on the enforcement,  where there was no visible enforcement, i.e. no traffic police to issue challan/ticket for violation,  there was more probability on part of the driver to violate it. The tendency to violate traffic rules  was more among male drivers than females. Also, there was more likelihood of jumping red lights during night where there is no traffic and no policeman to catch hold of the violator. We forget at times that compliance to traffic rules is an obligation we do for our own safety and  not for the traffic police. Road crashes are preventable. Spread the word.   References: Vinayak, S., and Assi, G.S. (2011). Do gender differences really exist when it  comes to Driving Anger? A psychological probe. International Journal of Current Research,  Vol. 3, Issue, 10, pp.194-199.