Cyclists and pedestrians mostly ignore the pedestrian overbridge at the Chingrighata crossing on EM Bypass and continue to cross the road on foot even with vehicles zipping past them.
A large section of pedestrians and those on bicycles don’t even attempt to head towards the ramps leading to the overbridge and instead cross the busy intersection even when the signal for vehicles remains green.
The result: a motorist or a biker who has a green light is forced to slam on the brakes as a pedestrian or bicycle appears suddenly in front.
The Telegraph spent a few hours at the intersection on Saturday and found how blatant violation of basic safety norms has made the place a death trap.
A 47-year-old woman, who was crossing the road near Nicco Park on Thursday afternoon, was hit by a speeding Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire. She succumbed to her injuries in the early hours of Friday.
The car went on to hit multiple vehicles, including a bicycle, a scooter and an SUV and ended up injuring eight others.
On one side of the crossing is Sukantanagar and on the other is Beleghata.
Pedestrians and cyclists are barred at the crossing and yet it sees a constant stream of people crossing over from the eastern side towards Beleghata — by foot or on cycles — to fetch water and to shop at the market in Beleghata.
The Chingrighata crossing on EM Bypass — where roads from Sector V, Beleghata and Chaulpatti meet — is one of the busiest intersections on the 29-km stretch.
On Saturday, bicycles as well as pedestrians flouted every traffic rule and crossed the Bypass even as cars, bikes and buses whizzed past them.
Pedestrians crossed the road while the signal was green for vehicles. Several cyclists zig-zagged on the road dodging moving vehicles.
Traffic cops were spotted trying to dissuade some of the cyclists and pedestrians from crossing the intersection while the signal was green for vehicles.
“We tried telling them not to cross but the majority ignore our warnings,” said the traffic sergeant on duty.
The overbridge has an escalator and a separate ramp for cycles. There are two crossover points, on the Bypass — one near Jal Vayu Vihar and the other at the Chingrighata intersection.
On Saturday however, this newspaper counted less than 30 pedestrians using the bridge to cross EM Bypass. No cyclists were spotted using it. Traffic sergeants posted at the intersection said they had a trying time controlling the pedestrians and bicycles.
“Pedestrians and cyclists often ignore our warnings and pose a danger not only to themselves but to other road users,” said a sergeant.
