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HOARDINGS - ARE THEY SAFE!
Rightly or wrongly,
Chennai is called the Hoarding City of India. Hoardings are everywhere in
the city. They are on top of sky-scrapers, on railway bridges, on fly-overs,
on public and private land, on foot paths and at times even outside crematoriums,
perhaps advocating the use of some goodies in the next world. But Chennai
is perhaps not alone in this dubious distinction.
A powerful outdoor advertising medium in a market driven economy, the hoardings today have become hi-tech. Brightly coloured, at times illuminated with blinding lights, they have evolved in to modern display units with electronic gimmickry. At times, however, they become an eye sore and tend to disturb the general aesthetic characteristic of the neighbourhood.
Chennai today has over 5000 hoardings, and perhaps with the exception of Delhi, they dot the skyline of all our major metros. According to some, they are only another medium to communicate with the masses. But hoardings tend to distract the attention of the road users. Highly vulnerable zones, like road junctions, bridges, and road crossings, which require drivers and other road users to pay extra attention on driving, are favourite hoarding spots. They become a threat to road safety.
More often than not the hoardings are so positioned that they obscure traffic control devices like signals and signs that are essential for safe traffic movement. Many hoardings are illuminated by lights that are identical or similar to traffic signal colours (red, amber and green). Such situations cause serious confusion and traffic safety problem.
A majority of hoardings are illuminated, both from front and back, giving it a three dimensional effect. However, the intensity and brilliance of illumination is such that it causes glare and impairs the vision of the road users. Some hoardings even have intermittent flashing lights or roving lights, which distract and confuse the road users.
Our ever shrinking roads are so over crowded with hoardings that they even obstruct and interfere with the visibility of the approaching traffic. They also play havoc with pedestrian movement on footpaths. Some mega hoardings are so positioned that besides physically disrupting pedestrian movement, they also hamper free flow of traffic.
At times obscene and vulgar hoardings distract the attention of the drivers and add to the hazards on road. They also offend our sensibilities.
A scarcity of vantage hoarding sites leads to stiff competition between advertisers. In such cases several hoardings overlap each other. This not only presents an ugly skyline but also offends aesthetic sense.
Certain spots are too solemn or dignified to merit these huge structures in their proximity. However they continue to cause visual pollution near religious and educational institutions and even at crematoriums. Recently I came across a huge billboard extolling the virtues of a new model of a coir- mattress outside a cemetery. Conclusions are for the reader to draw.
There are clear guidelines regarding the size and placement of hoardings on roadsides but these are observed more in breach than in practice. The Indian Roads Congress has come out with an extensive code, 'A policy on Roadside Advertisement' (IRC-46-1972) which deals with all aspects of hoardings on roads.
The traffic rules also do not permit any distraction for a driver's eye in the zone of acute vision, a 30 cone from the eye to 50 metres away. The mind takes cognisance of any distraction, visual or otherwise in this zone.
All devotees of safe driving preach: "Be safe. Devote your full attention to your driving!" But in reality this is not possible. We humans have a very strong tendency to "multi-task" and it's not uncommon for drivers to attend to a variety of other tasks, both mental and physical, as they drive along and negotiate traffic. In easy driving conditions, absentmindedness is probably the greatest danger. Hoardings aggravate the situation and add to the hazards.
Of course the votaries of hoardings harp on their revenue generation potential but it needs to be weighed as to what are our priorities: Safety or casualty wards of our hospitals over flowing with the victims of road accidents.