Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 10 (BPNS)
The Kerala High Court has ordered for marking of pedestrian crossings on all main roads. It also highlighted that (pedestrian crossings) marking and enforcement is the forensic duty of the authorities and officers concerned.
The court, Justice Devan Ramachandran, was dealing with an appeal of the Kerala State Insurance Department against an award of Rs 48,32,140 by the Motor Accidents Claim Tribunal in favor of the kin of a 50-year-old woman who lost her life after she got hit by a police vehicle when she crossed the road using the zebra crossing.
The court in its order also rejected the argument of the State Insurance Department that the deceased was careless and negligent while crossing the road.
“This case is an eye-opener for everyone. Our roads are still woefully inadequate in pedestrian safety. There are seldom pedestrian crossings properly marked, and even when they are, very few drivers heed it,” said the court in its judgment.
While observing that the most vulnerable of all road users are pedestrians, especially children and the elderly, the court said that the case exposes the complete lack of knowledge of road safety by drivers, their recklessness, and their cavalier regard for the law.
“It is internationally accepted, and thus does not require any restatement by the court, that pedestrian crossings or zebra crossings are meant to offer priority to pedestrians and it is their right to use it as and when they require it,” reads an excerpt from the judgment.
Earlier, the court condemned the conduct of the police driver as unconscionable, ‘especially since his liability to follow the law is much more imperative than any other.’
The court also directed the Registry to send a copy of the judgment to the chief secretary, state police chief, public works department, and National Highway Authority of India for compliance.
Though the appeal of the insurance department was dismissed, the court posted the matter to March 10 to examine the action taken report of the concerned to whom it had sent the copy of the judgment.
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