Traffic experts slam Jaipur road safety, cite poor pedestrian measures and faulty junction engineering

Jaipur: In the presence of senior state bureaucrats, including DGP Rajiv Kumar Sharma, traffic experts from different parts of India sharply criticised Jaipur’s road safety arrangements during a an event on road safety held in the city Thursday.The symposium, titled Beyond Road Safety Awareness: A Symposium on Systems-Led Road Safety Action, was organised to mark the 25th anniversary of the Muskaan Foundation For Road Safety.Experts said most Jaipur roads do not provide basic pedestrian protection. Safe crossings are missing or poorly marked, footpaths are discontinuous or absent, and signage is inadequate, they said.They added that junctions across the city function without essential traffic engineering inputs such as lane discipline, signal design suited to traffic volumes, and speed-calming measures that reduce crash severity.“When it comes to traffic, there are two types of engineering – road engineering and traffic engineering. All engineers engaged with civic bodies, like the Jaipur Development Authority (JDA), are civil engineers and are experts in road engineering. This is the reason why all junctions in Jaipur lack safety aspects of traffic engineering,” stated Dr. Rohit Baluja, president, Institute of Road Traffic Education, Faridabad.“The city lacks basic pedestrian facilities and proper traffic signage,” stated Sewa Ram, dean (Research), department of transport planning, at the School of Planning and Architecture and vice president of Indian Road congress.The experts linked these shortcomings to Jaipur’s repeated placement among India’s most accident-prone, high-fatality cities over the past three years. “This is why Jaipur recorded such a high rate of traffic accidents and traffic fatalities in the last few years. Jaipur ranked second in terms of road accidents in 2024,” stated Sewa Ram.Organisers said recommendations from the symposium will be compiled into an action plan for Rajasthan and shared with relevant stakeholders for implementation.Senior officials present included DG Jail Ashok Kumar Rathore, ADG law and order VK Singh, transport and road secretary Bhawani Singh Detha, and senior traffic officials from the Jaipur Commissionerate.