Indian media seldom carry comment on - let alone criticism of - legal judgments; if anyone writes such criticism, he is unlikely to find a publisher. The result is that courts pronounce on many matters that have nothing to do with justice - for instance, hoardings - and make insufficiently considered decisions. This was a rare instance when Business World carried my criticism ON 22 September 2003.
Remove this ban
Sometimes the thought processes of
Supreme Court justices go beyond the comprehension of the ordinary man. One
case is the ban they imposed in 1997 on hoardings in Delhi. Their reason was
that hoardings distracted motorists and caused accidents. Did any motorist who
had caused an accident declare that he was watching the blonde on the
billboard? Was the frequency of accidents per passing vehicle greater at points
facing a hoarding? No such evidence was presented or sought. The public
interest petition which occasioned it just asserted the chain of causation.
There was no law, either legislative or common, on hoardings; the Supreme Court
was creating law. And it could do so only because there is no appeal against
its verdicts.
Now the epidemic
is spreading. Other cities are not sure whether the Supreme Court’s fiat
applies only to them. But elsewhere also a zealous despot gets into power once
in a while, and hoardings begin to be removed. But the Supreme Court’s
authority is tempered outside Delhi by bureaucratic cupidity; so the ban is
never quite fully applied. All it has resulted in is chaos.
Only a high
dignitary who is driven everywhere would think that hoardings distract
motorists. The first time a motorist sees a hoarding, he will give it perhaps a
second or two. The next time, it will occupy half that time. Most motorists
will be driving past a hoarding the 16839th time; they will barely
give it a glance. But generally it will cheer them up.
The argument
would be, however, that every second the motorist takes his eyes off the road
is full of hazard. This is completely incorrect. Their lordships may think that
the sun is the greatest distraction to the motorist: it is 393,000 miles off
the road, and it can not only distract but also blind. Actually, a good
motorist will watch the position of the sun often. If it is in his eye, he will
have to watch the road carefully, for it may blind him at any moment. Objects
will be less easy to spot at midday when they do not throw shadows. The road is
full of surfaces that reflect the sun – car mirrors, windows of buildings –
which can unexpectedly dazzle a driver.
This is not
casuistry; the road is full of dangers, and it is the task of the motorist to
deal skillfully with them from one moment to the next. A good motorist has a
roving eye; he takes in everything on and off the road. He will fail to do so
sometimes; if he is then close to a vehicle, person or animal, he will have an
accident. The most frequent causes of accidents are:
- Undue proximity: The key to road safety is maintenance of minimum distance; the
closer the objects, the more likely an accident. Driving too close and
butting in front of other vehicles are most frequent causes of accidents.
- Mixed traffic: If vehicles with different speeds, maneuvrability and braking
distances drive on the same road, faster vehicles will have to brake
often, and a failure to brake in time or without sufficient separation
will cause an accident. The biggest causes of accidents are pedestrians and
cows; the next biggest, mixing of two-wheelers, cars, trucks and buses.
- Unsafe vehicles: A failed brake, a burst tyre, an engine that suddenly cuts out
– these can cause accidents even when the driver is most skilful.
- Road width variations: Whenever the road narrows, traffic must slow down; if a driver
does not expect it, he may hit the vehicle ahead. In India, road builders
often ignore the need for constant width. Even when the road width is
constant, the corridor may be narrowed by road works, breakdowns, potholes
etc. The quality of public works and traffic control are major variables
in accidents.
Let me end with an illustration and a
prediction. The Japanese bridge from NOIDA is built to the highest standards.
But one steel drain on it has been broken for over a year, and been covered
with a traffic barrier. One night a truck driver will run over it and kill
himself. Till then, it will not be repaired.
