Prime Minister’s pep talk on road discipline

The foundation stone laying ceremony for a ten-lane elevated expressway in Bangalore on Saturday gave Prime Minister Manmohan Singh an opportunity to give a pep talk on road discipline among countrymen.

“Mere wind-swept roads and fancy cars alone do not reflect progress. Good road manners and discipline are equally important”, he said.

The Prime Minister said people must learn road manners, which include giving way to pedestrians, observing rules while overtaking, know how to park and when not to blow a horn. “These are simple rules, but their observance makes a lot of difference to our daily lives”, Singh said.

“We Indians, behave with great courtesy with friends and relatives at home. But, sometimes, when we go out, we leave these good manners at home. On the road, we lose control of our good senses. Why should this be so? I think we must ask ourselves why can’t we be more polite to each other, more caring about each other, more respectful of each other”, the Prime Minister said.

Building modern roads and driving modern cars is not the end all and be all of progress. Good road manners and adherence to road discipline are equally important, Singh said.