Bangalore Traffic Police Wants America-Style 'Right Side Driving' To Beat Traffic Jams

With the rise in the number of vehicles, traffic jams are a common sight in most metro cities. Bengaluru is one such city that is infamous for its traffic jams and road rage incidents. Bengaluru Police is now planning to come up with a solution for this issue using a unique idea. We all know that in India we drive on the left-hand side of the road. Bengaluru Police now wants people to drive on the right side to reduce congestion on roads.

This idea is still in the proposal stage and, as per reports, the cops want people to drive on the right side of the road on a few city roads close to junctions that are infamous for traffic congestion.

Junctions like Goraguntepalya on the Bengaluru–Tumakuru Road might soon see this right-side driving, as it is known for heavy traffic congestion. By making this change, police hope to see relief from the everlasting congestion and bottlenecks during peak hours.

Director-General and Inspector-General of Police M.A. Saleem, who is known for his expertise in traffic issues, said, “Vehicles exiting the city should move more speedily compared to those entering. This ensures empty roads inside, particularly at junctions of the central business district. Thus, vehicles entering the city from different directions can enter at a steady pace.”

Saleem told the media that they soon plan to implement this between CMT Junction, Outer Ring Road and Mysuru Road. As per the current planning, vehicles entering the city from Tumakuru can use right-side driving on the lane that moves without any disturbance. Currently, they stop at regular intervals at traffic signals and junctions. With right-side lane driving, they won’t have to stop at traffic junctions.

This is not the first time Bengaluru cops have come up with a plan like this. This is, in fact, a method that has already been in practice in the city for years now. Vehicles drive on the right-side lane opposite Garuda Mall.

This was introduced around four to five years ago. This system allows vehicles to use the right lane and permits right-side driving for a stretch of 400 metres between Mayohall–Garuda Mall–Dsouza Circle. Vehicles moving from Mayohall have a free right turn and reach Dsouza Circle without actually stopping anywhere.

If this system had not been implemented on this stretch, motorists would be forced to stop at the Garuda Mall traffic signal. With one traffic signal out of the picture, it is actually helping in the smooth movement of traffic in this stretch.

Bengaluru is considered the Silicon Valley of India. We have several MNCs and Indian companies operating from the city. People often migrate from other regions for work and bring their vehicles for convenience.

Bengaluru as a city doesn’t have the road infrastructure to accommodate all these vehicles, and that causes traffic congestion and road rage incidents. Using public transport can resolve this issue to some extent, but in Bengaluru only 47 percent of people make use of public transport. This is much lower compared to the 82 percent in Mumbai. Hopefully, this new system turns out to be a great solution to the traffic problem in the city.