When fast-moving vans turn bullies

RAWALPINDI : As if not all the chaos we have on our roads was enough, here is a new one that has come to trouble us in recent times. There is a new bully of a traffic problem on the road, which revs up and down the road around the clock throughout Rawalpindi. This bully takes the shape of four-wheeler carriers that transport goods and soft drink companies' merchandise.

“Some of these vehicles not only dash around at breakneck speed but also blast loud music and honk indiscriminately late night and early morning, waking up the entire neighborhood. The sick and the elderly have complained about this to the authorities,” says Aziz Hussain.

“Motorists who return home late after duty hours are the worst affected, who maneuver these zipping vehicles with great difficulty. The police wash their hands off the issue saying they do not have enough workforce to handle night traffic. Give us more manpower, and we will deploy traffic policemen in the night too,” says Esa Naqvi, a traffic official.

“Expressing sympathy for the victims, he recalled that an elderly resident in Gulzar-e-Quaid complained about a particular four-wheeler pickup that would honk constantly in the early hours of the day to wake up an employee it was to carry,” adds Esa.

“There have been witnessed many brawls between the drivers of such vehicles and the residents of certain localities. Even vehicles that carry students to their schools indulge in such abominable act of sounding the horn fitfully. The police track down such drivers and warn them. The police initiate action if people inform them about such rogue vehicles,” says Hamayat Ali.

“The problem stalking the city roads could be gauged by the fact that the city is home to around several thousand employees and hundreds of thousands of private companies' workers, who work 24x7 round in shifts. However, the four-wheeler carriers that ferry goods and soft drink companies' merchandise defend rash driving as they have a tough deadline to meet,” says Shabbir Naqvi.

“We work on strict time schedules. If the driver delays a bit in picking up the goods and merchandise to be delivered at various points of the city including roads and streets, then the companies hire some other transporters' vehicles and dump the bill on us. This is the reason we drive fast and only to keep time schedules, says Mohib Ali, who has contracted a fleet of vehicles to different companies.”

Another police officer says, “At least two accidents involving such goods-carrying vehicles are reported every week from the inside streets of the old city. Roads surrounding Raja Bazaar, DhokSyedan Road, Chungi No. 22 Road, DhokKhabba, Dhok Farman Ilahi, DhokHassu, EidGhah Road, Tali Mori, HathiChok Road, Kamran Market Road or other congested areas are suffering.”