Mid-Day impact: Are traffic fines in Mumbai punishing confusion rather than carelessness?

Motorists across the city have raised concerns over what they describe as a growing revenue trap disguised as road safety enforcement From strategically placed barely visible signboards tucked behind trees and Metro pillars to electronic signals showing completely opposite signs to the lsquooldschool nonelectronicrsquo signboards commuters say they are being penalised more for confusion than for dangerous drivingNariman Point to Grant RoadSignal showing a right turn while the signboard displays lsquono right turnrsquo near Wilson College PICASHISH RAJEWhile the old signboard clearly states that drivers cannot take a right turn to go towards Grant Road if they are coming from Marine Drive at the signal thatrsquos just before Wilson College the electronic signalling system shows that one can take a right turnAndheriGhatkopar Link RoadWhile there is a lsquoonewayrsquo sign board near the signal drivers often tend to miss it especially during peak hours By the time they realise itrsquos too late as they are already paying the fine ldquoWe have tried and tested all methods Opening this road for all traffic is just not possible as it would lead to huge traffic congestion on the WEH This road directly connects to WEH which is packed northwards in the evening and southwards in the morningrdquo said Ramdas Mahale traffic constableThe left signal sign board which was removed earlier in MarchEarlier if one came from Borivli towards Bandra on the WEH and wished to take a left turn to Bandra directly from the highway instead of first entering the service road and then taking a left turn to go towards the collectorrsquos office he or she would be fined just opposite Sai Prasad Hotel on the Maruti Mandir Road one could get away with a bribe too However Joint Commissioner Traffic Anil Kumbhare acknowledged midday highlighting the confusion over the Kherwadi signal in Bandra East and the alleged bribery by traffic policeJoint Commissioner TrafficldquoWe are thankful to midday for bringing this issue to our notice While we have already taken action at one location actions will be taken at the other two locations as well at the earliest We will take strict action against the cops who take bribes We request commuters to not be involved in such practices and instead click a photo of the cop demanding a bribe and send it to our helplinerdquoThe main signal on highway shows green along with arrows pointing towards left to take a left turn at the Kherwadi signal creating confusion before the sign board was removed PicRitika GondhalekarVoicesEsha Narkar a daily commuterldquoFor someone like me who is not a local resident seeing the BEST buses and twowheelers pass you tend to just drive through Also the signboard on the signal at AndheriGhatkopar Link Road is on the extreme left which is barely visible I have paid an Rs 500 fine recentlyrdquoGaurav Joshi a resident of MahakalildquoThe road was turned into a lsquoonewayrsquo long ago around 20052006 for multiple reasons including flooding in 2005 followed by multiple constructions However it has been three years since the last construction work was completed for which this road AndheriGhatkopar Link Road was kept open in one direction We do not understand why people are still made to take a huge turn of about 15 km and keep this threelanewide road empty even during the peak hoursrdquoFalguni Ketkar a daily commuterldquoI was going to my motherrsquos home in Grant Road and my office is in Nariman Point My driver took this right turn and we were asked to take our car on the side by a traffic cop He mentioned that we had taken the wrong turn and that a board showing lsquono right turn allowedrsquo on Nariman Point to Grant Road was put up at the signal I did try to make him understand that the signal allowed us to take a right turn here How will we know which one to followrdquoRs 500Fine for taking a wrong turn200506Year AndheriGhatkopar Link Road was converted to one way