Over 40 per cent of the road accident victims in Calcutta in 2023 were pedestrians.

The 2024 data are still being compiled but traffic police officers said the figure is unlikely to be any better.

Calcutta’s roads are unsafe for many reasons but pedestrians, too, are often to blame for accidents.

On Monday, Kolkata Police launched a crackdown on jaywalkers at some of the city’s busiest intersections.

The offenders were stopped and handed a wristband that said “Avoid Jaywalking”.

“Don’t try to run across the road with vehicles on the move. Your family is waiting for you. A few minutes of wait will make no difference to your daily schedule. It will prevent you from being hit
by a vehicle,” a senior officer told a man who tried to dart across Park Street on Monday afternoon.

At other intersections, jaywalkers were shown real motorcycles smashed in crashes and mannequins to demonstrate that crossing roads defying traffic signals could result in deaths.

“Aap ke saath bhi yeh ho sakta hain (This can happen to you, too),” a traffic sergeant told a jaywalker pointing at a crash-hit motorcycle and a male and a female mannequins lying nearby.

Unlike other traffic violations where a vehicle owner or driver is penalised under the Central Motor Vehicle Rules (CMVR), pedestrians caught jaywalking usually don’t face any action.

“The maximum penalty for jaywalking under the Kolkata Police Act is ₹50.
Offenders are usually fined ₹10,” said a senior police officer overseeing traffic.
“The blame for a road accident always falls on the motorist but in many cases, pedestrians are responsible for the mishap.”

Senior officers from multiple traffic guards in the city said a section of pedestrians chooses to remain defiant when asked to stay away from moving vehicles and wait for the signal to turn green before walking across the road.

Others try running across and some remain so engaged in conversations that they don’t look either side before walking into a stream of moving vehicles.

Kolkata Police have issued guidelines for pedestrians — do not run while crossing a road, stop at a curve and follow vehicle movement before crossing, use marked areas to cross a road and look left and right before stepping on a road. But officers said not many bother about such norms.

Several pedestrians said in places like Sealdah, Park Circus and Ultadanaga, the stairs leading to foot overbridges (FoBs) are so steep that climbing them is a challenge. Pedestrian crossovers are poorly marked and street furniture and encroachments often force them to walk through the carriageway.

At some other intersections, including Ruby and Rashbehari, “pedestrian refuges” (where one can stop while crossing a road) are missing.

“There is no dedicated stretch for pedestrians at several intersections along the Rashbehari connector, including the one at Acropolis Mall,” said Soma Mitra, a Kasba resident.

The police said several steps have been taken to curb pedestrian movement in violation of traffic signals.

“But unless pedestrians realise the threats they pose to moving traffic, it is difficult
to prevent accidents,” said a senior police officer. “Pedestrians continue to walk past moving traffic while talking on mobile phones,” the officer said.