A Road Safety Plan For The City of Lahor

A road safety plan for the city of Lahore
Dr. Charles Goldenbeld (SWOV) & Peter ter Meulen (ITC)
A-2000-3
Confidential
A road safety plan for the city of Lahore
The road safety component of the Lahore Urban Transport Project;
prepared under supervision of the World Bank
A-2000-3
Dr. Charles Goldenbeld (SWOV) & Peter ter Meulen (ITC)
Leidschendam, 2000
SWOV Institute for Road Safety Research and the ITC Institute for
Traffic Care, The Netherlands
Report documentation
Number: A-2000-3
Title: A road safety plan for the city of Lahore
Subtitle: The road safety component of the Lahore Urban Transport
Project; prepared under supervision of the World Bank
Author(s): Dr. Charles Goldenbeld (SWOV) & Peter ter Meulen (ITC)
Research manager: Divera Twisk
Project number SWOV: 69.915
Contract no. client: A51463
Client: The World Bank
Contents of the project: The Lahore Urban Transport Project (LUTP) in Pakistan aims at
the sustainable improvement of Lahore’s urban transport
infrastructure and services so that they meet the needs of the
city’s growing population and of its commerce and industry. This
report describes a road safety strategy and a road safety plan for
Lahore.
Number of pages: 135 pp.
Published by: SWOV, Leidschendam, 2000
SWOV Institute for Road Safety Research

P.O. Box 1090
2260 BB Leidschendam
The Netherlands
Telephone 31703209323
Telefax 31703201261
Summary
This study is part of the Lahore Urban Transport Project (LUTP) in Pakistan.
The objective of LUTP is the sustainable improvement of Lahore’s urban
transport infrastructure and services so that they meet the needs of the
city’s growing population and of its commerce and industry. This report
describes a road safety strategy and a road safety plan for Lahore.
The scope of the current project covered the following activities:

- To review the road safety in the Lahore Metropolitan Area.
- To review the adequacy of the institutional and legislative framework
(Traffic Code, police competences and traffic penalties) for provision of
road safety.
- To review the existing traffic police operation in Lahore Metropolitan
Area and training and peripheral activities such as driver licensing,
vehicle inspection, procedures for ticketing and fines.
- To identify government and non-government organizations presently
involved in traffic safety matters in Lahore Metropolitan Area.
- To recommend an institutional structure for coordinating the traffic safety
sectors at the city level.
- To meet with stakeholders to discuss traffic safety issues and make a
preliminary assessment of the level of safety awareness.
- To review ongoing traffic safety initiatives.
- To update the status of accident data collection.
- To organize a Traffic Safety Seminar bringing together the various
stakeholders and produce a consensus on a draft Traffic Safety
Strategy.
Most of these activities were performed in the period of March 25th- May 8th
1999 on location in Lahore. After an initial round of interviews with main
stakeholders, a workshop on road safety was organized in Lahore on April
17th, 1999. This workshop and a subsequent round of interviews with
stakeholders resulted in a road safety plan that was proposed and discussed
in a seminar on road safety on May 7th, 1999 in Lahore.
The aforementioned activities have led to the present report which includes
three final products:
1. A draft traffic safety strategy for Lahore Metropolitan Area discussed
with key stakeholders.
2. A multi-year traffic safety plan for Lahore Metropolitan Area with a
prioritization of the most consequential traffic safety improvements and
related institutional strengthening measures for implementation during
LUTP.
3. An implementation plan and Terms of Reference for preparation and
implementation of these prioritized traffic safety improvements and
related institutional strengthening measures for inclusion in the LUTP.
SWOV Publication A-2000-3 3

The proposed road safety strategy is focussed on seven points that can be
and must be realized in the period 2000-2005:
1. A steering committee responsible for road safety policy.
2. Legislation adapted to present day conditions.
3. Non-corrupt and authoritative enforcement of traffic rules.
4. Engineering based on clear standards and attuned to the safety needs of
non-motorized traffic modes.
5. Traffic education of children and the general public.
6. An integrated system of driver training, testing and licensing.
7. Well-organized traffic management.
For each of these points the report briefly recapitulates points of departure,
the choices to be made, and the targets to be achieved.
The report presents final conclusions regarding the feasibility of the

different elements of the plan. Several developments in Pakistan indicate a
growing interest in traffic and traffic safety amongst both politicians and the
general public. The ambition of the plan hopefully reflects the ambition of
various officials to deal effectively with problems of traffic safety in Lahore.
4 SWOV Publication A-2000-3

Contents
List of abbreviations 7
Explanation of vehicle types 8
Basic traffic concepts 9
Foreword 11
Acknowledgment 12
1. Introduction 13
1.1. Contents of the chapter 13
1.2. The Lahore Urban Transport Project 13
1.3. Scope of the current project 14
1.4. Overview of the report 14
2. The road safety problem 16

2.2. Traffic safety in Pakistan and Lahore 16
2.3. Traffic problems in Lahore: the engineering perspective 19
2.4. Traffic problems in Lahore: enforcement and traffic police
operations 20
2.5. Traffic problems in Lahore: the education perspective 22
2.6. Traffic problems in Lahore: organizations involved in traffic safety 24
2.7. Traffic problems in Lahore: the legislative framework 26
3. The road safety strategy 29

3.2. Steering committee responsible for road safety policy 29
3.3. Legislation adapted to present day conditions 30
3.4. Professional enforcement of traffic rules under good supportive
conditions 31
3.5. Engineering based on clear standards and attuned to the safety
needs of non-motorized traffic modes 33
3.6. Traffic education of children and the general public 34
3.7. Integrated system of driver training, testing and licensing 35
3.8. Well-organized traffic management 36
4. The road safety plan 38

4.2. The road safety plan 38
4.3. Clarifications and specifications 41
4.4. Overview of recommendations 43
5. The implementation plan 47

5.2. General introduction 47
5.3. Institutional strengthening measures 50
5.4. Establishment of the steering committee 52

5.5. Preparation of the demonstration project 55
5.5.1. The demonstration area 56
5.5.2. Training of police 56
5.5.3. Conditions for non-corrupt and authoritative enforcement 57
5.6. Unified standards 62
5.7. Establishment of road safety audit 65
5.8. The construction of a police training institute 65
5.9. A traffic command post 66
5.10. Road safety campaigns 67
6. Conclusions 69
7. Literature and documents 71
8. Background studies 76
8.1. Analyses of traffic in Pakistan and Lahore 76
8.2. Review of safety initiatives and legislation 84
8.3. Main stakeholders in the field of road safety 89
8.4. Organization and functioning of the Traffic Police 94
8.5. Status of accident reporting 99
8.6. Licensing 101
8.7. Provisional blueprint for an integrated system of licensing and
driver training 102
8.8. Report of the 17th April 1999 workshop 109
8.9. Report of the 7th May Seminar 122

List of abbreviations
ADB Asian Development Bank
DIG Deputy Inspector General
LDA Lahore Development Authority
MCL Metropolitan Corporation Lahore
MVO Motor Vehicle Ordinance
MVR Motor Vehicle Rule
MW&C Ministry of Works and Communication
NGO Non Government Organization
NHA National Highways Authority
NTRC National Transport Research Council
PSV Public Service Vehicle
TEPA Traffic Engineering and Planning Agency
WAPDA Water and Power Development Authority
WASA Water and Sanitation Agency

Explanation of vehicle types
Bus 62-seater/52-seater/42-seater
Challan Ticket against traffic violation to be handled by court
Mini bus 29-seater
Motor rickshaw
motorized three wheeler with 2 seats excluding driver
Motorcycle rickshaw
combination of motorcycle and rickshaw-body (not legally
regulated by technical fitness certificate)
Pick-up mini truck with open body for transportation of commercial goods
Rehra push/pull cart
Tonga horse-driven 6-seater
Wagon 14 seater (commuter van)

Basic traffic concepts
Accident rate
Number of accidents that have occurred over a given period of time,
divided by the value of another variable selected in view of the question
raised (km of roads, km driven, population, number of vehicles on the
roads, etc.). Accident rates are mostly used for comparisons between
different geographical areas or periods of time.
Casualty
Any person who has got injuries in road accident (minor .. fatal).
Dual carriageway
Road designed with two one-way carriageways (in opposite directions)
separated by a median or a central reservation.
Fatal accident
Road accident in which at least one person died as a result of the
collision within a defined period of time. The period of time is normally of
thirty days, according to WHO recommendations.
Fatality
A dead person, perished in a road accident within 30 days after it due to
the consequences of the accident.
FIR
First Investigation Report of the Police. Currently the only accident “data
form” which is to be filled in by the Police.
Highway code
Set of laws or regulations designed to organize and control the use of
the public road network and of vehicles, and to ensure safety on the
network.
Road construction
The improvement of remodelling of existing roads or the development of
roads in newly developing areas.
Road design
This encompasses the design of the layout of the various components of
the road (carriageway widths, median, footpaths, traffic islands, road
signs) and their interrelationships as well as the design of the pavement
(the actual physical constituents of the road).
Road maintenance
The routine, accidental or periodic repairs to various components of the
roads, including pavement, footpath, drainage, markings, signs, and
traffic control devices.

Road operation and maintenance
The upkeep of the road for the use of the public, including repairs to
traffic light installations and routine, periodic or accidental repairs or
maintenance to markings, signs, signals etc.
Road reconstruction or road rehabilitation

The effort to return the road to the original level.
Road beautification
Improving the roadside through landscaping and refurbishment of
roadside furniture.
Road planning
Plan for the routing and global layout of a road ensuring the capability of
the road to provide road facilities in accordance with the mobility needs
of the area.

Foreword
In commission by the World Bank, the Dutch SWOV Institute for Road
Safety Research, together with the Dutch ITC Institute for Traffic Care,
undertook a study to prepare and write a road safety plan for the city of
Lahore as part of the Lahore Urban Transport Project. This report describes
the outcomes of that study and presents a road safety plan for the city of
Lahore.
In the period 2nd March-9th May 1999 the study was conducted in the city
of Lahore where several interviews with stakeholders were done, eventually
resulting in two collective meetings: a workshop on road safety on 17th April
1999 and a seminar on road safety on 7th May 1999.
The project was commissioned by the World Bank. Mr. Amer Durrani and
Mr. Nawaid Qureshi (project leader) from the World Bank prepared and
supervised the project activities.
Mr. Peter ter Meulen, Director of the Institute for Traffic Care, has to a large
extent contributed to the road safety plan as presented in Chapter 3 of the
report. The Traffic Police Lahore strongly supported the various project
activities. They contributed to a large extent to the organization of the road
safety workshop and seminar in Lahore.

Acknowledgment
In the course of this project many persons in Lahore and Islamabad offered
hospitality, assistance and advice in ways that exceeded their professional
duties. In this place we want to express our gratitude to the following
persons:
- Mr. Khalid Farooq Khawaja, DIG/Director Welfare, Punjab, Lahore.

- Mr. Altaf Qamar, Dy:Inspector General of Police, Traffic, Punjab,
Lahore.
- Mr. Javed Zaman Khan, Chairman Traffic Task Force, Lahore.
- Mr. Ghalib A. Bandesha, SSP, Traffic Hqrs, Lahore.
- Mr. Ghulam Abbas, Chief Transport Planner, Government of the Punjab,
Transport Department, Lahore.
- Mr. Khushal Khan, Consultant, Lahore.
- Mr. S.M. Shafique, Director, R & R , Special Branch, Lahore.
- Mr. Malik Abdul Aziz, Superintendent of Police, Traffic, Lahore.
- Mr. Tom Granberg, Finnroad, Islamabad.
- Mr. Jens Haddeland, Finnroad, Islamabad.
- Mr Haseeb Athar, Secretary, LUTP, Lahore.
- Mr. Pervaiz Kandhari, DSP/SO, Traffic Hqrs, Lahore.
- Mr. Malik Muhammad Azhar, ADIG, Punjab, Lahore.
- Mr. Zulfiqar Ahmad, DSP ,Traffic, Lahore.
- Mr. Tariq Azeem Khan, PSO to Chairman, Traffic Task Force, Lahore.
- Mr. Mehmood-ul-Hassan Gilani, Inspector Traffic, Lahore.
- Ch. Muhammad Anwar Zahoor, Gen. Secretary Road Transport Workers
Federation of Pakistan, Lahore.
- Ch. Muhammad Hayat, Gen. Secretary of The Pakistan Motor Transport
Federation, Lahore.
- Mr. Sardar Humayun Khan, representative of ARUP, Lahore.
- Mr. Fuad Hameed Rai, Training Manager, NGO HELP, Lahore.
We are much indebted to our colleague Stephen Harris who improved the
English language of the report.
Finally, we would also like to extend our thanks to the firm of Mott
McDonald which has freely offered much needed office facilities in support
of the present project.

1. Introduction
1.1. Contents of the chapter
This report describes a road safety strategy and plan for Lahore that is a
part of a wider project, the Lahore Urban Transport Project (LUTP). The
objective of LUTP is the sustainable improvement of Lahore’s urban
transport infrastructure and services so that they meet the needs of the
city’s growing population and of its commerce and industry. This requires
implementing a framework where the public sector provides (a) the
regulatory environment needed for a better quality private sector transport
services and (b) an efficient road network.
In section 1.2. we briefly sketch the main components of the LUTP. In

section 1.3. we describe the scope of the present work. The plan of the
report is presented in section 1.4.
1.2. The Lahore Urban Transport Project
Basically, there are three major components in the Lahore Urban Transport
Project:
1. The Public Transport Improvement Component

Under joint responsibility of the Department of Transport and Lahore
Development Agency (LDA), work will be done to improve bus routes and
bring defective traffic signals into correct operation.
2. The Transport Infrastructure Maintenance Component

The Road Department of the Metropolitan Corporation Lahore will perform a
roads rehabilitation program, including improvements to side walks and
drainage/sewerage.
3. The Traffic Management and Transport Infrastructure Expansion

Component.
Under responsibility of the Lahore Development Authority and the Traffic
Engineering and Planning Authority, activities will be undertaken to
construct grade separated & at-grade intersections, to upgrade the Central
Business District Area, and to work out development of roads.
The Government of the Punjab plans to implement a reform framework for

ensuring that improvements to urban transport services and infrastructure in
Lahore are sustainable. In this context, financial, institutional, legislative,
and regulatory reforms are planned.
Lahore’s needs would indicate a proposed 5-7 year project of about US $

170-200 million, with possible substantial financial assistance by the World
Bank.

1.3. Scope of the current project
The scope of the current project covers the following activities:

- To review the road safety in the Lahore Metropolitan Area.
- To review the adequacy of the institutional and legislative framework
(Traffic Code, police competences and traffic penalties) for provision of
road safety.
- To review the existing traffic police operation in LMA and training and
peripheral activities such as driver licensing, vehicle inspection,
procedures for ticketing and fines.
- To identify government and non-government organizations presently
involved in traffic safety matters in Lahore Metropolitan Area.
- To recommend an institutional structure for coordinating the traffic safety
sectors at the city level.
- To meet with stakeholders to discuss traffic safety issues and make a
preliminary assessment of the level of safety awareness.
- To review on-going traffic safety initiatives.
- To update the status of accident data collection.
- To organize a Traffic Safety Seminar bringing together the various
stakeholders and produce a consensus on a draft Traffic Safety Strategy
Most of these activities were performed in the period 25th March-8th May
1999 on location in Lahore. After an initial round of interviews with main
stakeholders, a workshop on road safety was organized on 17th April 1999.
This workshop and a subsequent round of interviews with stakeholders
resulted in a road safety plan that was proposed and discussed in a seminar
on road safety on 7th May 1999 in Lahore.
The aforementioned activities have lead to three final products:

1. A draft traffic safety strategy for Lahore Metropolitan Area discussed
with key stakeholders.
2. A multi-year traffic safety plan for Lahore Metropolitan Area with a

prioritization of the most consequential traffic safety improvements and
related institutional strengthening measures for implementation during
LUTP.
3. An implementation plan and Terms of Reference for preparation and

implementation of these prioritized traffic safety improvements and
related institutional strengthening measures for inclusion in the LUTP.
1.4. Overview of the report
In chapters 2 to 5 we directly focus on the crux of the matter and present an

overview of the problems (chapter 2), the proposed road safety strategy
(chapter 3), the road safety plan (chapter 4), and the implementation plan
(chapter 5).
The activities, studies, and reviews on which these plans are based are
listed in the studied literature (7) and the background studies in sections 8.1
to 8.9. The topics of the different background studies are:
- Road safety (8.1).
- Review of legislation (8.2).
- Review of safety initiatives (8.2).

- Stakeholders (8.3).
- Structure and functioning of police (8.4).
- Status of accident reporting (8.5).
- Licensing (8.6).
- Blueprint for an integrated system of driver training, testing and licensing
(8.7).
- Results of the road safety workshop (8.8).
- Results of the road safety seminar (8.9).

2. The road safety problem
In this chapter we analyse the road safety problem of the Lahore

Metropolitan Area. First we look into the quantitative side of the problem of
traffic and traffic safety in Pakistan and Lahore (Section 2.2.). In the
sections 2.3. to 2.5 we will discuss the problems of traffic and traffic safety
in Lahore in relation to the different fields of engineering, enforcement, and
education.
Engineering refers to all physical changes to vehicle, road, road side, or

road environment. Enforcement of traffic rules refers to all activities by the
police aimed at deterring road users from committing traffic violations.
Road safety education encompasses all activities of teachers, educators,
and publicity agents to inform, advise, teach, or instruct road users. The
three main forms of road safety education are: target group publicity,
classroom instruction, and driver instruction.
The institutional and legislative dimension of the traffic problems is

discussed in sections 2.6 and 2.7.
In preparing the strategy and plan, we have profited from the rich sources of
knowledge contained in analyses of traffic and traffic problems by:
- Haddeland and Granberg (1999)
- Finnroad (1998a, b).
- Khushal Khan (1999).
- Ross (1991).
- Shafique (1994, 1999).
- The steering committee of traffic management in the Punjab (1998).
As much as possible we have mentioned the various sources we have

used. However, part of the information in this report is based on (informal)
interviews for which no explicit references are given.
2.2. Traffic safety in Pakistan and Lahore
Pakistan
Over 7000 persons die in road accidents in Pakistan every year. Tens of
thousands meet with injuries sustained in traffic every year. The loss to the
national economy is over US $ 1 billion. The accident rate in Pakistan
(number of fatalities per 10.000 vehicles) is about 30 (Haddeland &
Granberg, 1999; provincial training seminar 2).
If the current trend in road safety is not checked by countermeasures, the

predictions sketch a bleak picture: in the year 2010 there will be around
14.000 traffic fatalities (40 traffic fatalities per day) and about 700.000
accidents resulting in a total economic loss for that year of US $ 2,5 Billion
(Haddeland & Granberg, 1999; provincial training seminar 2). Furthermore,
some experts have pointed out that a negative road safety development in
Pakistan will likely put a slur upon it’s tourist image as a safe country.

Lahore
The general traffic scenes and traffic behaviour in Lahore are described in
background study 8.1. In this section we present a description of main road
safety statistics. Our analysis has to be limited since information about
exact accident locations, manoeuvres of vehicles involved, and accident
collision types was not available in computerized format. Given the time
frame of the present study and the language barrier, it was not possible to
study the raw data in the original police reports.
Annually about 50% of the traffic fatalities in Lahore are vulnerable road
users. Pedestrians constitute the largest proportion of traffic fatalities (25-
30%) , followed by cyclists (about 10%) and motorcyclists (about 8%).
Information about the exact location of accidents or the manoeuvres
involved is lacking.
Figure 2.1 presents the types of vehicles involved in accidents in periods

1989-1993 and 1994-1998.
Figure 2.1. Vehicles involved in accidents Lahore (Source: Traffic Police)
As can be seen in Figure 2.1, in over 70% of the accidents in Lahore a

commercial vehicle type is involved. Car-taxis, wagons, trucks, and buses

are most frequently involved in accidents. Over time, the frequency of
involvement of buses, minibuses, and flying coaches has considerably
increased.
The traffic fatality rate in Lahore (the number of traffic fatalities per 10.000
registered vehicles) has decreased from 28 per 10.000 vehicles in 1979 to
less than 4 per 10.000 vehicles in 1999. Compared to the 30 per 10.000
vehicles rate for the whole of Pakistan, the safety situation in Lahore seems
favourable. However, the positive development in the traffic fatality rate is
mainly due to the very strong growth of the vehicle fleet in Lahore; from
only about 200.000 in the 1989 to over 900.000 in 1999.
In absolute numbers, the road safety situation in Lahore is not improving

but worsening (Figure 2.2). There has been a clear rise in traffic fatalities
over the past ten years. In the period 89-93, 866 road user's died in Lahore
traffic; in the subsequent 5-year period 94-98 this number has risen to 1349,
an increase over 50%. For the next five year period, 99-03, traffic fatalities
in Lahore area may already rise to over 2000 if no countermeasures are
taken.
Figure 2.2. Registered traffic fatalities and casualties in Lahore in 1989-1998
Conclusion:
Compared to other large Asian cities, the road safety situation in Lahore is
at the moment not particularly bad. However, the current road safety
situation is not stable and will deteriorate fast without adequate counter-
measures. It is to be expected that due to the growth of motorization and
population, the total traffic fatalities may almost double in the next five

years. In the light of this expected development, care should be given to
implement an active road safety policy that will contain unsafety within
acceptable bounds.
2.3. Traffic problems in Lahore: the engineering perspective
Short assessment of current situation (see also background study 8.3):

From the engineering point of view, the sources of poor road safety on the
road network of the Lahore Metropolitan Area can be analysed according to
the four stages of Planning (1), Design (2), Construction (3) and Operation
and maintenance (4).
(1) Infrastructure and road planning

There exists a detailed Transportation Plan for Lahore City prepared by
TEPA with the assistance of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
and TEPA has tried to follow the plan in letter and spirit in the past. Never
theless, recent road works by different organizations have totally different
priorities and different level of service. Requirements of major road user
groups, i.e. cyclists and users of public transport, are to a large extent
ignored.
(2) Road Design

Road works carried out by TEPA, through different programmes funded by
the World Bank and Provincial and Federal Government, do cover all
necessary elements of traffic engineering and traffic management. There
seem to be considerable improvements on various road sections and
junctions in central parts of the city. However, there are problems on roads
that are controlled by other departments.
Newly constructed roads have good quality road pavements, but the road
layouts and junction geometry do not conform to any acceptable standard.
Footpaths and facilities for bus service are missing. The placement of
crossing viz. access control is unbalanced. No consideration has been
given with regard to application of standards. In fact there is a variety of
standards which have been applied. Junctions are kept wide open, with little
regard to effective traffic control. Service roads having no access to the
main carriage way; the links have been left open right into the road
crossing. The result of this is that junctions are confusing and that many
unnecessary and potentially dangerous traffic movements are created on
the junction itself. To make matters worse, the signal layouts on such
crossings are non-standardised and signals seldom work.
The placement of many signs and road markings is non-functional,

particularly at crossings. Exceptions to this are the carriageway marking on
links. Stop lines sometimes are missing and in some cases not properly
placed. Zebra crossings do not lead to footpaths and are mostly in some
way obstructed by barriers placed by the Horticulture and Parks Authority or
intruded by street light poles or other fixed roadside objects.
The traffic control on almost all crossings is manually done by the Traffic
Police. In the absence of the Traffic Police, the danger on these crossings
increases.

(3) Road construction
Safety standards at construction sites are almost non existent in every
project. Tenders for construction works do not specifically guarantee the
safety measures for diversion of traffic or placement of warning signs on
approaching routes to the construction site. For instance, there was not a
single sign posted for the large underpass project of LDA in Lahore. On the
approach road to the Motorway there is only a solid wall built across the
road, which is extremely dangerous during night time. Similar deficiencies
can be observed on other road works in the city. For instance, a heap of soil
dumped on the road surface is used as the indicator for traffic diversion on
a prestigious multi-billion rupees project.
(4) Road maintenance

The standard of road maintenance is extremely poor. Every organization,
for reasons well-understood, takes pride in prestigious construction or
reconstruction projects; but non pays any attention to the routine (often
small) maintenance requirements. The Lahore Metropolitan Corporation,
which is primarily responsible for the operation and maintenance throughout
its area, seems now more inclined towards new works rather than
maintenance. Potholes on major roads, non-functional traffic signals,
broken edges, non-existence of road markings, indicate the efficiency of the
responsible agencies. The road hazards in the Lahore Metropolis is strongly
present during the monsoon when most of the roads are submerged in
knee-deep water and drivers cannot see the potholes. Finally, the use of
road reflectors of excessive height as lane dividers is a source of danger for
two-wheelers.
Conclusions:
The overriding considerations in the process from planning to design to
construction or reconstruction of roads are almost exclusively demand and
capacity for motorized traffic. The main target in planning is to ensure
smooth flow of motorized traffic, with little or no consideration to facilities for
pedestrians or cyclists.
There are no unified standards for road-layout, road reconstruction, road

maintenance or road environment in the city of Lahore; the logical result
being that different standards (American, French, British, Australian etc.)
are being used.
Unified standards for road construction, operation and maintenance should

be agreed upon by the various organizations in the field, be written down in
a clear manual, and be made mandatory for use in future road projects.
Road Safety Audits (i.e. critical review of safety consequences of proposals

and plans by qualified expert team) should be routinely done as part of
every new road project right from the start of the project.
2.4. Traffic problems in Lahore: enforcement and traffic police operations
Short assessment of current situation (see also background study 8.4)

Forty to sixty percent of the time of traffic police is devoted to VVIP escort
duty. Legally, this is the task of traffic police. Since Lahore, as the cultural
centre of the Punjab, houses many VVIP’s, the proportion of time spent for

this activity is very large and sharply limits the time of the traffic police for
other traffic duties, such as enforcement.
Traffic police enforce traffic rules whenever traffic management duties is at

a low tide and there is some time left for enforcement. Police enforcement
of traffic rules is not supported by publicity. The Police have no equipment
for enforcement of speeding. The constables and head constables making
up the majority of the police force, have little power to stop motorized offen-
ders. Common constables have no legal authority to issue tickets or
challans. Political pressure from transport unions is put on the traffic police
to detain from enforcing certain categories of violations or categories of
road users.
In Lahore police enforcement of specific traffic rules (e.g. lane keeping,

parking, stopping for intersections) is strongly impaired by a lack of correct
road lay-out. Obviously a police officer cannot enforce traffic rules in the
absence of any signs, markings, or signals that indicate the rule.
The enforcement activities of the traffic police are not guided by information
about accidents or accident causes. In the present system of accident
registration, information about the exact locations of accidents is not
available in a computerized database. In practice Motor Vehicle Examiners
are often not present at the scene of the accident to investigate vehicle
factors. Furthermore, there is considerable reluctance among the general
public to act as witnesses in an accident investigation. The lack of
information about accident locations and contributory factor make it
impossible to direct enforcement selectively towards those locations or
those behaviours which present the greatest hazard.
In the field of accident registration or analysis, the traffic police do not get
any support or guidance from the road authorities. The road authorities
have no formal responsibility with regard to safety monitoring and they do
not collect or analyse accident statistics pertaining to the roads under their
supervision
The legislative conditions that enable police enforcement to be effective are

far from ideal. At present, pedestrians and cyclists are not legally culpable
for traffic violations. The size of fines for traffic violations is very low dating
from the 19th century, and has not in anyway been adjusted for monetary
inflation. The traditional challan system based upon present legislation
takes up too much time of the courts, and the delay between traffic and
actual punishment decided in the court, is too long. Legislation should
create room for the substitution of part of the challan system (processing by
the courts) by the much more efficient ticketing system (processing with no
court interference); see background study 8.2. Clearly, an improvement in
traffic legislation is needed to make police enforcement more effective.
Certain types of corruption of police officers in the field undermines citizen

respect for police actions. It's the nature of the corruption rather than the
absolute amount of corruption that determines how police will be perceived
by the general public (e.g. Swati, 1980). If traffic constables extort money
for non-violations or small, non-dangerous traffic violations, their action will
be perceived as purely monetary. If traffic constables extort money from
offenders who have in fact committed a serious traffic offence, the actions

of the traffic police will be seen in a more positive light, even though the
element of corruption is still present.
It should be clearly stated at this point that police corruption is not unique to
Lahore or Pakistan, but is a general phenomenon in developing countries in
Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Conclusion
The different support systems that enable police enforcement to be effective
in changing traffic behaviour (clear infrastructure, modern legislation,
information about accident locations, access to centralized vehicle, and
license registration) are not yet present or fully operational. These
supportive systems should exist or be put into operation in order to
maximize the effects of enforcement on behaviour on the road.
2.5. Traffic problems in Lahore: the education perspective
Short assessment of the current situation:

Although there is a strong belief in the beneficial effects of education
throughout Pakistan, the attitude towards introducing specific traffic
education on primary and secondary schools is mixed. Sources high in the
Department of Education express their doubt as to the possible effective-
ness of such education. School principals themselves complain about filled
curricula and about absence of relevant teaching materials. In practice,
almost no traffic education is given to school children in Pakistan or in
Lahore.
In practice, there is no formal training for bus or truck drivers who appear to
be over-involved in traffic accidents in Pakistan. The only education most
drivers in Lahore receive is during the actual theoretical and driving test,
and the Pakistan Highway Code they receive together with the license.
However, many professional drivers are illiterate and cannot read the
Highway Code.
Mass publicity road safety campaigns using various media (television,

radio, newspaper) have been scarce and were mainly focussed on specific
prestigious projects, such as correct driving on the recently established
Lahore-Islamabad motorway.
Research in Pakistan into knowledge of adult drivers and training of

professional drivers show important results relevant for the education field.
We will briefly describe these results.
(1) Traffic knowledge among adult drivers

In 1978-1979 a questionnaire study was held amongst drivers in Pakistan,
Jamaica, and Thailand. The questions pertained to knowledge of traffic
rules and correct driving procedures. In this study it was found that:
- many of the drivers in Pakistan (47%) were unsure about what colour of
light followed the amber signal,
- only one fifth of drivers in Pakistan realized that stopping distance of
speed of 30miles/hour is more than 10 metres,
- one fifth of drivers in Pakistan said they would only need to check ahead
before overtaking,

- one-fifth of the Pakistan (incorrectly) indicated that it was permissible to
overtake on both the left and the right on a three-lane carriageway.
In the study it was found that drivers who had read the Highway Code were
more likely to give correct answers to questions on pedestrians, junctions
and vehicle lights.
In general the authors concluded: "The answers provided by drivers in

Pakistan, Jamaica, and Thailand to questions on driving indicated that there
were gaps in their knowledge of traffic rules and driving procedures but only
in a few topics was there a widespread lack of knowledge amongst the
drivers interviewed." (Sayer and Downing, 1981; p. 14).
(2) Training of professional drivers

In 1982 research was done into the effects of a retraining programme for
bus drivers (Downing, 1988). The Government of Pakistan introduced a
retraining programme for bus drivers of a major urban operator in the
Rawalpindi and Islamabad area. Up to ten drivers at a time were sent to a
course, each of which lasted for six days, with the last day being devoted
entirely to practical and theory driving tests. Between 30 and 40 courses
were completed every year, so that by the end of 1984, 77 percent of the
bus drivers in the area had been retrained and 68 percent had passed the
test.
The retraining brought about an improvement in drivers' knowledge and a

reduction in their driving errors when they were tested. However the
reduction of driving errors was much less when the drivers were observed
unobtrusively under normal operating conditions. Therefore retraining on its
own was insufficient to improve everyday driving standards. It was
concluded that the drivers were insufficiently motivated to change their
normal driving patterns. Therefore it would appear that retraining needs to
be accompanied by enforcement and/or incentive schemes to encourage
drivers to adopt the recommended driving practices and procedures. The
retrained drivers may also have been reluctant to change their behaviour
because it would have resulted in some of their actions appearing to differ
from those of the majority of other road users.
What we can learn from research is that driver training on its own is not
enough to change the behaviour of professional drivers. Therefore, the
effects of driver training should be supported by other measures in the field
of licensing, driver testing, enforcement, career planning etc. It is the total
system of social and economical conditions under which professional
drivers have to work that shapes their behaviour into the safe or unsafe
direction. All the elements – training, testing, licensing, retraining, special
certificates, point system, career opportunities - should contribute towards
making the behaviour safer. In background study 8.7 we offer a provisional
blueprint for a plan of integrated driver training, testing, and licensing for
professional drivers.
Conclusion:
Driver education is a necessary measure to increase traffic knowledge and
traffic discipline amongst road users. Of course, the effects of traffic edu
cation of young children and teenagers can only be seen on the long term.
Based on research it is expected that driver training on its own will likely

have little or no effects on behaviour if it is not accompanied by other
measures in the field of driver testing, licensing, and enforcement.
2.6. Traffic problems in Lahore: organizations involved in traffic safety
In background study 8.3. a review of separate organizations is given. In this

section we present the main findings.
Responsibility structure
It has been observed in various consultancy papers about the traffic
situation in Lahore (e.g. Ross, 1990; LDA Metropolitan Planning Wing,
1980) that responsibilities for roads and road safety are scattered among
many institutions and also change over time, e.g.: “A large number of
government agencies are involved in the administration and control of
traffic and transport in Lahore. Little overall co-ordination is evident
between these bodies, and their respective responsibilities and functions
are ill-defined.” (LDA/ MPW, 1980; p. 65).
Funding
In the absence of a clear long term traffic policy funding of road projects
itself becomes rather haphazard. From an in-depth study in 1980 into the
organizational framework for traffic and traffic safety, we cite the following
conclusions that still seem valid today: "There is no comprehensive traffic
policy to steer the allocation of available financial resources. There is no
steady budget for the traffic sector, to indicate the resources for some years
ahead, and to make meaningful medium term implementation planning
possible. When large allocations are made, they tend to be for specific
schemes, rather than contributing to the kinds of institutional development
necessary for a sustained improvement program. There is no authority
responsible for the coordinated allocation of money to the different parts of
the traffic and transportation sector." (VTS, 1987b; p. 25)
Status of accident reporting

In several interviews in this study, road authorities have definitely
expressed a lack of concern for road safety statistics (see also background
study 8.3 and 8.5). None of the road authorities (LDA/TEPA or MCL or
Punjab Highway Authority) are presently monitoring the accidents on the
roads which they have planned, designed, built, reconstructed, or
rehabilitated.
The arguments given were that the statistics were incomplete en did not
allow exact location of accidents. Furthermore, road authorities seemed to
imply that accident registration was the main responsibility of the police,
with no active role for the authorities themselves. Not surprisingly, none of
the present road authorities in Lahore has a separate road safety unit or
department that is assigned active responsibility for road safety.
The responsibility for accident reporting is presently shared between

general and traffic police. When a road accident occurs a First Incident
Report (FIR) is made up which gives basic information on the incident. This
FIR form is a standard Police report form used for all incidents reported to
the police, whether they involve crime, accidents, or other incidents. It can
be understood from this that the FIR form is quite general and does not

contain the types of detailed information collected at accident sites in other
countries.
From a scientific point of view the accident registration in Lahore - like in

many other Asian cities - has several shortcomings:
- The exact location of accident is determined on the FIR, but not made
accessible for overall statistics.
- Large under-registration of all non-fatal accidents.
- One-sided, biased reporting of accidents in order to satisfy the needs of
the courts for a clear assignment of blame to one of the parties.
Moreover, only part of the accident information is available in
computerized form and thus available for analysis.
No road safety departments

The lack of attention of road authorities for accident data can be understood
if we realize that authorities have no separate task functions or departments
that have a clear task description in terms of road safety. In the past traffic
consultants have addressed this state of affairs. For example, in 1990, Ross
recommended that TEPA should establish a small full time Road Safety
Unit (RSU) with a designated staff to be responsible for TEPA road safety
activities. The proposed RSU should have consisted of two road or traffic
engineers and two or three technicians, and was also to function as the
secretariat to a Lahore Road safety Committee to follow up, coordinate, and
implement the decisions of the committee. However, this recommendation
was not put into effect. In more recent years, consultants from Finnroad
have also recommended special organisational units for implementing road
safety measures and policies at the provincial level.
Bureaucratization
Some employees of road authority, voicing their personal opinion rather
than department policy, deplore the bureaucratisation and politicizing of the
decision-making process about road design plans. Nowadays it is common
in Lahore that decisions about road infrastructure follow a political agenda
rather than survey-based analysis of the problem. Thus, political decisions
may sabotage decisions based on sound engineering design. This fact has
been confirmed by several sources at different meetings.
Given these findings it seems advisable to bring various road authorities

under central management with a separate department for safety issues. To
be clear, such an organization should be responsible for more than just
"engineering" issues but overall transportation planning, coordination, and
policy. As an example, the Government of Bangladesh has recently
established the Greater Dhaka Transport Planning and Coordination Board
(GDTPCB), which is led by an Executive Director with the same authority as
a Permanent Secretary in Government. A similar arrangement could be
established in Lahore. This arrangement is clearly for the long term. For the
short term (the next five years) it seems advisable to form a road safety
committee that can bring about more coherence in the initiatives of various
stakeholders, and that can set a clear course in the interest of road safety.
As we will argue later on in chapter 5, a steering committee for road safety
in Lahore, provided with sufficient authority and resources, is pivotal in
improving road safety.

Level of problem awareness
There is a sharp awareness among stakeholders of the traffic problems in
Lahore. The problem-analyses of traffic in the Punjab and Lahore (several
reports by TEPA; Committee on Traffic Management in Punjab, 1998;
Shafique, 1994) show insight and the recommendations certainly point
towards promising directions. From a road safety point of view, the analyses
are not quite satisfactory. Part of the monitoring of traffic that is particularly
relevant for road safety, the reliable registration of accidents, receives scant
or no attention. In short, analysis of the problems based on reliable data is
scarce. This could originate from an old problem-solving tradition of
Pakistan culture where high-level talks about a problem are considered
more relevant to problem-analysis than sheets of research data and figures.
However, the traditional modes of dispute settlement and political decision-
making can be improved by paying more attention to the collection and
analysis of accident and research data.
Conclusions:
The issues of traffic safety and traffic management tend to be placed on the
shoulders of only one organization: the Traffic Police of Lahore.
Undoubtedly this organization is responsible for traffic and traffic safety in
Lahore. But the responsibility should be shared with road authorities who
should be more active in both road safety monitoring and development of
road safety measures.
2.7. Traffic problems in Lahore: the legislative framework
Essentially, traffic rules are prescriptions given by the government to direct

the behaviour of road users, with the additional power to force penalties on
road users who violate these rules. In Pakistan, legislation with regard to
road safety stems back from the colonial time. The Highway Code, which
has a legal status in Pakistan as opposed to a mere advisory status in some
other countries, is from 1977.
In Pakistan the legal rules for traffic are laid down in four basic documents:
- The Motor Vehicles Ordinance 1965.
- The West Pakistan Motor Vehicles Rules 1969.
- The Pakistan Highway Code.
- Special Ordinances by the Prime Minister.
Most of the regulations are described in the Manual of Motor Vehicles Laws.
Given the old tradition of the legislation (sometimes dating back to the
nineteenth century) and the changes in modern traffic and traffic
enforcement, there is much to be said for introducing a new road safety act
which is better attuned to the demands of the road system and to modern
day traffic policing operations. Initiatives in this direction are already under
way. In his briefing on traffic problems to the Chief Minister of the Punjab,
the DIG/ Traffic Punjab recommended a new updated law for all road users.
Part of the shortcoming of the Motor Vehicles Act 1965 (MVA 65) are
addressed in the new draft Road Usage Bill 1998. In contrast to the MVA
65, the Road Usage Bill also covers the regulations governing the
behaviours of pedestrians, cyclists, animal drawn vehicles, and animal
herders.

The main improvements can be described in four categories (Background
study 8.2):
- Coverage of all road users, including pedestrians and cyclists;
- Better description of specific responsibilities of both police and road
authorities;
- More sharply described administrative procedures in the fields of license
registration, public carrier's permits;
- Penalties that are adjusted to modern day economics.
Challan system versus ticket system

Especially relevant for the effectiveness of police enforcement is the substi-
tution of the traditional challan system by a system of ticketing. There is
clear evidence that the ticketing system is a more efficient way of handling
traffic violations than the challan system. To be clear, substitution does not
mean that the challan system is to be totally abolished. In the case of grave
traffic violations where a road user deliberately endangers the live of
another road user, adjudication of law by the courts is indispensable.
However, a large category of traffic violations are of a less serious nature,
and these traffic violations can be dealt with more quickly and economically
by the ticketing system.
In 1969, a legal provision for a ticket system was made. The West Pakistan
Motor Vehicles Amendment Ordinance 1969 authorised a police officer not
below the rank of an Assistant Sub-Inspector of Police, to charge on the
spot any person committing, within his view, one of the following offences
(mentioned in the Fifth Schedule of the West Pakistan Motor Vehicles
Ordinance (Waqar-ul-Haq, 1998; p. 161).
The main features of the present ticket system (Section 116 MVO 1965)
are:
- Tickets of Rs. 10 (Scooter/Motor Cycle) and Rs. 20 (Car/Taxi)
- The fine is to be deposited in a post office or a branch of the National
Bank of Pakistan within 7 days, or by money order under intimation to
the court of PS concerned
- Only from level of Assistant Sub Inspector and above are authorized to
issue the ticket
Tickets may be given for 16 (minor) offences; driving without a license,

under age driving and speeding are not included.
Compared to the traditional challan system, the ticket system in theory has
several advantages:
- it is simple and speedy;
- it saves court time; and
- it reduces corruption since the fines are so low that bribery does not
seem worth the money.
However, as observed by the Committee on Traffic Management in the

Punjab, the ticketing system has not worked to full benefit yet. Causes for
malfunctioning were:
- no seizure of documents;
- Public Service Vehicles not covered by the system;
- the meagre amount of the fine limits the deterrent effect;
- the procedure of depositing the fine is needlessly cumbersome.

The following improvements to the ticketing system have been
recommended by the Committee:
- the ticketing system should cover violations of all road users;
pedestrians and cyclists included;
- the tickets should be drawn up in quadruplicate in order to streamline
(central) administration;
- the violator should pay the fine on the spot or if not, challenge the fine
and go to court or deposit the fine in a specified bank;
- the fines should be higher (Rs. 50 and Rs. 100 for two-wheelers and Rs.
100 and Rs. 200 for four-wheelers); the schedule of offences for which
tickets may be issued should be revised.
Conclusion:
The present traffic legislation in Pakistan is not adjusted to modern
conditions of traffic. To enable better results of police enforcement, it is
necessary to largely replace the old challan system with a ticketing system.

3. The road safety strategy
In this chapter we present a 7-point road safety strategy for the City of
Lahore. It is important to realize that there are already a number of plans for
improvement of the traffic situation in Lahore. This plan does not in any way
hinder or interfere with these plans. Rather it must be seen as a
complementary approach to the traffic problems in Lahore that will have a
clear added value for road safety.
In the existing plans, important traffic issues, e.g. the separation of slow and
fast moving traffic, already receive careful attention. Rather than just
repeating all the existing traffic policies we have limited our strategy to
those points which we consider to be of considerable surplus value to the
existing efforts for road safety in the period 2000-2005.
The beating heart of the present road safety strategy and road safety plan
(described in the next chapter) is formed by a special highly-visible demon-
stration project on 21 major road stretches in Lahore where professional
and intensified enforcement will bring back traffic discipline on the streets.
Within 2 years this special demonstration project, an integrated mix of road
safety measures (clear infrastructure, highly professional enforcement,
publicity) applied to a central road network in Lahore, must show benefits in
safety and road behaviour. If the project proves successful, the approach
may be expanded to a wider road network in Lahore.
The Road Safety Strategy is focussed on 7 points that can be and must be
realized in the period 2000-2005:
1. A steering committee responsible for road safety policy.

2. Legislation adapted to present day conditions.
3. Non-corrupt and authoritative enforcement of traffic rules.
4. Engineering based on clear standards and attuned to the safety needs of
non-motorized traffic modes.
5. Traffic education of children and the general public.
6. Integrated system of driver training, testing and licensing.
7. Well-organized traffic management.
For each of these points we will briefly recapitulate our points of departure,
the choices to be made, and the targets to be achieved.
3.2. Steering committee responsible for road safety policy
Point of departure:
At present there is no shared responsibility amongst road authorities for
road safety. The burden of safety is placed solely on the shoulders of the
traffic police who do not have the necessary resources and support to bring
about any improvement in the traffic situation.

Choices and considerations:
Since road safety is the outcome of activities in various sectors, the
responsibility should also be shared amongst these sectors. The sectors
should coordinate their respective activities in a common road safety policy.
The choice is whether we should allow this coordination to be a voluntary
process between organizations, or to be somehow steered by some sort of
central management. In the absence of a clearly formulated road safety
policy at the provincial or national level, the best idea seems to be the
latter, i.e. to form a central steering body that can actively steer and
encourage road safety activities at the city level.
Target to be achieved:
For the period 2000-2005, a steering committee for road safety is the ideal
platform for the coordination of the various activities of the stakeholders in
the Lahore Metropolitan Area.
The establishment of a special steering committee for road safety in the

Lahore Metropolitan Area is the first step in the Road Safety Plan (Chapter
4). In the Implementation Plan (Chapter 5) specific suggestions are given
for the tasks, powers, and requirements of this committee.
3.3. Legislation adapted to present day conditions
Points of departure:
In Pakistan, legal rules for traffic are laid down in four basic documents:
- The Motor Vehicles Ordinance 1965;
- The West Pakistan Motor Vehicles Rules 1969;
- The Pakistan Highway Code;
- Special Ordinances by the Prime Minister.
Most of the regulations are described in the Manual of Motor Vehicles Laws
(Waqar-ul-Haq, 1988).

The need for new legislation is clearly seen by stakeholders in the field.
This is attested by the recent introduction of two new legislative initiatives:
the National Highways Safety Ordinance (1997) and the Road Usage Bill
(1988). Both proposals are addressing many of the shortcomings in the old
legislation. At the moment, both of these proposals are awaiting for political
approval. The Road Usage bill has to be approved by the Province of the
Punjab, while the National Highway Safety Ordinance has to pass national
approval in the senate. Thus, there seems to be one clear choice:
legislative reform is necessary to give traffic police more authority to deal
with traffic offenders and to give government authorities better procedures
to deal with false licenses. If the National Highways Safety Ordinance and
the Road Usage Bill are not approved, then other legal ways should be
found to seek legal implementation of the important elements of these
proposals.
Targets to be achieved:
In several ways, present legislation needs to be improved. Among many
elements, the following elements are crucial for an enforcement strategy as
envisaged in this plan:

- Legal coverage of all road users, including pedestrians, cyclists, and
drivers of animal-driven carts;
- Penalties for traffic violations that are adjusted to modern day
economics;
- Extension of police authority to issue traffic tickets;
authorities
- More sharply described administrative procedures in the fields of driver
testing and licensing, vehicle and license registration, and public
carriers’ permits.
3.4. Professional enforcement of traffic rules under good supportive conditions
As we have already mentioned, road safety is the result of convergence of
activities in various sectors that support one another. This is certainly also
the case for police enforcement.
To be effective police enforcement of traffic rules needs to be supported in

several ways. Enforcement must be supported by publicity activities that
explain the importance of the enforcement to the public. Educational and
public information programmes can support acceptance of traffic laws in the
following ways (Williams, 1994). First, they may transfer knowledge about
the existence of laws, their provisions, and their penalties, in ways that in
crease their deterrent effect. Second, they may transfer substantive know
ledge about the problem behaviour (e.g. speeding, red light negation) and
its potential negative consequences (e.g. accident, punishment).
A second support system for police enforcement is a good analysis of the

accident data resulting in clear policy priorities. Accident data provides the
objective and scientific basis for determining, not only the extent and type
of safety problem experienced, but also the kinds of remedial measures
most likely to be effective. “Without the collection of accident figures, the
safety of a nation's road network cannot be assessed and monitored.”
(Asian Development Bank, 1998; p. 51). The general and traffic police are
certainly responsible for accident registration. But the responsibility for the
analysis of these accident data, and the translation of these data into a
clear road safety policy, should be shared by the road authorities.
A third important support for police enforcement is legislative and judicial

support. Police enforcement is one link in the total chain of traffic law
enforcement; the other links being the traffic laws, traffic penalties, and the
processing of traffic cases by the courts. Police enforcement of traffic rules
cannot be effective in changing behaviour of road users if penalties are
very low or if cases are not handled adequately and speedily by the courts
(e.g. Goldenbeld, 1995). Upgrading of the fines and speedy processing of
fines (without interference from the courts) are important preconditions for
effective enforcement in Lahore.

On the one hand there is a clear need for professionalization of police
enforcement; on the other hand, we may expect that any attempt to
professionalize police enforcement will be “plagued” by corruption within the

police force. In view of the corruption problem a certain political reluctance
to invest in resources of the traffic police can be understood.
It should be clear that without any further investment in organizational

resources of the traffic police, no improvement in enforcement of traffic
laws can be reasonably expected. This point has been made in several
publications about this issue (e.g. VTS, 1987). If we decide to invest in
resources of the traffic police, we are faced with the problem how we make
sure that these investments are used to full benefit for police and public.
There is little doubt that professionalisation of the traffic police is the way
ahead. The choice pertains to how we should go about it. Three points
seem crucial for the whole operation. First, corruption of traffic police
officers has to be eliminated. Second, the implementation of enforcement
on major roads has to follow professional methods and make use of modern
equipment. Third, the results of the enforcement have to be professionally
evaluated in order to establish success and to further improve working
procedures.
As we argue in section 5.5.3. Government and police may agree on

contracts where investments by Government in police resources are
compensated for by a guaranteed output of tickets and challans.
Working conditions for the police officers in the field have to change in
order to eliminate corruptive behaviours. Training and equipment is needed
to professionalize police enforcement procedures in Lahore.
To make better use of available manpower, enforcement must be guided by

an analysis of accident data indicating the type and severity of the problems
in different areas and on different road types.
Under joint responsibility of both traffic police and road authorities, serious
effort must be spent on the task of setting up a system of road safety
monitoring that allows to pinpoint the unsafe locations and road stretches.
A special Traffic Research Cell should be set up within the Traffic Police
that makes a more thorough accident investigation based on the FIR's
made up by the General Police. The main task of the Research Cell would
be to provide quick feedback to the Traffic Police and Road Authorities on
the exact location of the accidents and patterns of accidents which need
further attention or even immediate measures.
Road authorities must be given formal responsibility to monitor safety on

the roads and to take into account safety information when planning
changes to the road system. The information gathered should at least cover
the following elements:
- date of the accident;
- time of the accident;
- exact location of the accident;
- persons killed or injured;
- types of vehicles or road users involved.
Only after the level of reliability of this information is satisfactory, can

further steps be taken to extend the accident recording.

Last but not least, computerization of the license and vehicle administration
and a 24-hour per day access to license and vehicle administration will
improve enforcement operations in several ways:
- False licences will be more easily detected if the police officer can
communicate with a central licensing agency where the licenses are on
file.
- Computerization of the license administration makes it possible to
electronically mark the license instead of withdrawing the license from
the owner on the street.
- Computerization of the license administration makes it possible to
actually implement a ‘point system’ for traffic violations for which legal
provision is already there.
In the Road Safety Plan and the Implementation Plan in chapters 4 and 5,
specific suggestions for these support systems (publicity, accident data,
training, legislative adjustment) are made.
3.5. Engineering based on clear standards and attuned to the safety needs of non-
motorized traffic modes
Point of departure:
At present, road authorities use different sets of engineering standards for
construction or reconstruction of roads in Lahore. Both old roads and
recently constructed roads show a lack of facilities for pedestrians and
cyclists. The responsibilities for planning, development, construction and
maintenance of roads are scattered over many authorities and engineering/
consultancy firms. They also shift over time between different authorities.
Road authorities do not actively monitor accident data on the roads under
their responsibility.

It has been suggested in several consultancy papers to bring the various
road authorities under one central management. Such an operation may be
fruitful, but would require careful consideration of the internal organization
of each of the authorities. Moreover, such a reorganization would take some
years before it’s effects may be noticed. On the short term, within the next
five years, there seem to be more promising direct ways of improving the
engineering of road safety.
One direct initiative that could be implemented within a 2-year period is the
introduction of a road safety audit. Safety audit refers to the formal process
of reviewing road projects, specifically to identify potential or existing safety
hazards, in order to allow for timely (pro)active correction, especially for
pedestrian and other vulnerable road users. Their safety needs are often
neglected in traditional transport planning and design (Asian Development
Bank, 1999; p. 53).
Introduction of a road safety audit procedure would ensure that safety

considerations are taken into account in the early phases of the decision-
making process.

Road authorities should agree on unified standards for planning and design
of roads and road environment. These standards should be clearly
described and illustrated in English in a Standard Manual.
Road authorities should agree on a standard procedure for road safety

audits. Part of the procedure should be that the road safety audit gives an
input from the very beginning of the planning and decision-making process.
3.6. Traffic education of children and the general public
Point of departure:
Sadly, there is practically no teaching on traffic safety issues in the schools
of Pakistan. The most common explanation for this absence of teaching is
‘overcrowded curriculums’. In those few schools were traffic safety issues
are taught, this happens only when students (boys) are about the age to
reach the legal age of driving (18 years).
Koivisto (1997) points out the lack of high-level interest in safety training for
children. Some citations from his investigative report: “As far as the
statements of the representative of the Ministry of Education, Mr. Altaf Ali
Quereshi (Assistant Educational Adviser) are concerned, there are no
special problems in the traffic safety of children - or if there happens to be,
nothing can be done about it.” and: “It is ingrained in child’s nature to follow
his instincts ... it is no use teaching the child to hold back and wait till the
road is clear” (Koivisto, 1997).

The problems of traffic safety of young school children are there. In the
vicinity of schools in Lahore and other cities there are severe traffic jams
due to the haphazard flow of traffic and parking particularly near the
entrance gates at opening and closing times. It is usual that there are
hundreds of cars waiting near the school for children. Indeed, parents prefer
to bring their children to school by car rather than sending them on foot or
bicycle because of safety considerations.
Clearly, traffic education at primary and secondary schools is not being

taken seriously enough by the Ministry of Education. Too much is left to the
praiseworthy initiative of the Lahore traffic police in this respect. Traffic
education is a measure for the long run that will make the next generation
of road users more responsible.
If we teach children about traffic and traffic rules at a young age, we are
making a start towards a next generation of more responsible and more
traffic-aware road users. Traffic education is the best way to overcome the
“free-for-all” mentality that is apparent in the present behaviour of many
drivers (background study 8.1). If we do not teach children anything about
traffic, they will tend to make up their own informal rules and to imitate
behaviours of other road users that are in clear violation of rules.
Traffic education should prepare children of various ages for participation in
traffic. This can be done by training practical skills (1). At the same time,
traffic education should also address important moral values, like concern

for the safety of others and taking responsibility for own safety and others’
safety (2).
(1) Practical safety skills

The most important teachings that will increase the traffic safety of school
children are:
- how to cross the road
- where to cross the road
- where to walk as a pedestrian
- where to wait for a school bus
- not playing near roads
- the meaning of the most important traffic signs
Training of these skills in actual traffic conditions is superior in effectiveness

than training on a specially closed training ground (Asian Development
Bank, 1998).
(2) Responsibility taking as road user

Road safety education aims to prepare road users for safe and responsible
participation in traffic. In order to achieve this purpose, road safety
education should go beyond mere root learning of traffic rules, and
stimulate road users to develop an active sense of responsibility for their
own safety as well as the safety of others (e.g. Goldenbeld, 1996). To this
effect road safety education should enhance a social perspective on rule-
following behaviour. A social perspective means that road users are made
aware of the explicit social nature of participating in traffic.
This social perspective on traffic should be stimulated using active learning

methods such as role playing, group work, and the exchange of experiences
through group discussion. For young children, playful teaching methods and
materials should be devised. Ideally, road safety education should start at a
very young age. As the young child develops into a mature man or woman,
road safety education should go hand-in-hand with the development
process and use different methods of instruction according to development
stage.
3.7. Integrated system of driver training, testing and licensing
At present, candidate drivers in Pakistan and Lahore can easily slip through
the “mazes”of the testing and licensing system. In practice, licences can be
bought from the Traffic Police. The traffic police in some districts adhere to
strict legal procedures. However, the candidate drivers can easily travel to a
neighbouring district where procedures regarding testing and licensing are
less strict.
The importance of driver education and driver licensing for road safety in
Pakistan cannot be ignored, e.g.: "Driver education and control of driving
licenses is the fastest way to improve knowledge among drivers. Today, the
system is more or less an apprentice system: information, very often false,
is spread from mouth to mouth, from older driver to younger etc. Safety
matters play no role in driver education. So, drivers' knowledge of driving in
general, and specifically of traffic rules, is weak." (Finnroad, 1997b; p 3/7).

Important initiatives towards restructuring the licensing and testing system
have already been taken in the Road Usage Bill 1998 and the National
Highway Safety Ordinance 1997. However, these legislative initiatives do
not address all of the issues involved, e.g. the economical viability of
driving school, cooperation between major stakeholders in support of the
system, the practical implementation problems.
We should consider how we can restructure the testing and licensing

system to improve the traffic behaviour of especially professional drivers,
while at the same time we should not be throwing up “barriers” that are
likely to make the system unattractive to candidate professional drivers and
therefore unworkable. In our view, the system of driver training, testing, and
licensing cannot be “organized” solely by legislation. There are several
stakeholders in this particular field. Any plan to improve driver training,
testing and licensing should preferably be based on an agreement between
these stakeholders.
Training, testing, and licensing of drivers should be organized in one
integrated system, agreed upon by major stakeholders in this area. The
system should meet the following requirements:
- fair
- agreed upon by major stakeholders involved
- accessible to illiterate candidate drivers with potential good skill
- economically viable
- pre-select drivers with good potential for learning or to some extent
already well-skilled
- able to train and test a considerable amount of drivers every year
- able to monitor the safety record of these drivers áfter their training
- able to take corrective measures in case of bad safety record
- graduated in 2-3 year periods for different licenses for different vehicle
types
- able to guarantee a high likelihood of passing the test and offering good
career incentives
In the Road Safety Plan, the establishment of a professional driving school

in the Lahore area for both police and other professional drivers is one of
the central aims. Furthermore, one of the main tasks of the Steering
Committee for Road Safety is to work towards an integrated system of
driver training, testing and licensing. In the limited time for the present
project we were not able to bring about necessary negotiations for this aim,
but we have come up with a provisional plan that, although imperfect in
details, may well be the starting document for real negotiations (Background
study 8.7). This provisional blueprint can clearly be improved upon.
3.8. Well-organized traffic management
The Traffic Police is to a large extent held responsible for traffic
management in Lahore. In fact, for almost 70-80% the manpower and
resources of Traffic Police Lahore is spent on traffic management. Well-
organized traffic management ensures a more smooth flow of traffic with
better traffic discipline.

Obviously, if Traffic Police is held to a large extent responsible for traffic
management, it should also have professional instruments at its disposal to
perform this task.
Currently, there are already efforts underway to repair traffic light installa-
tions in Lahore and to built a command room for intersection light control. It
seems a logical choice to put such a command room under the formal
command of the traffic police. Furthermore, it should also be seriously
considered to put traffic police who have a daily, practical knowledge of
traffic management, in an advisory role in the planning of new road projects
in Lahore.
Under authority of the Traffic Police Lahore, a Central Traffic Command
and Registration Centre should be set up in Lahore. The Centre should
have:
1. reliable communication lines with all the point officers
2. reliable 'hot lines' to major institutions
3. link-up to traffic counts at toll-points
4. link-up to intersection signalisation control
5. professional mainframe UPS-supported computer facilities with link-ups
with vehicle registration, license registration, and - in future - with traffic
counts on major entree and exit intercity links. A Geographical
Information System could, in principle, substantially improve and
economize the performance of traffic management duties.
6. a central control room
7. a cooled computer and printer room
8. 4 to 8 offices
9. possibility to give traffic messages to radio channels in order to inform
road users about possible traffic problems in the Lahore Metropolitan
Area.
The Centre is multi-functional. It can perform the following functions:

- More efficient management of traffic flows, based on best available
information;
- Daily informing road users by radio about traffic jams or other problems;
- More efficient procedures of victim transport to hospital;
- More economical V.V.I.P. duty;
- Data analysis of motor vehicles passing toll-points entering or exiting the
city.

4. The road safety plan
In this chapter a road safety plan for Lahore is presented. In section 4.2 we
present the original plan that was discussed at a seminar on 7th May 1999
where the main stakeholders were present. The full report of this seminar is
given in background study 8.9.
On the basis of the comments received at the seminar we have made some
additions and improvements to the plan. In section 4.3 we briefly clarify
some of the issues raised in the discussion of the plan. Section 4.4 gives an
overview of recommendations per separate theme.
4.2. The road safety plan
The road safety plan for the city of Lahore which is presented in this
section, is indeed an ambitious plan. However, we are sharply aware that
there are already many developments in Pakistan and in Lahore towards
the directions proposed in our plan. The persons involved in the execution
of the plan should try to stimulate these developments, to motivate
stakeholders to work together, and to create a good working relationships
and an open exchange of information. Of course, there are obstacles on the
way and some targets of the plan may not be achieved fully or not be
achieved within the time frame. Some parts of the plan clearly require
intensive discussions and negotiations between stakeholders. Other parts of
the plan require quick action on the part of high level politicians.
Thus, there is no fool-proof guarantee that all the objectives can be

realized.
If 80% of the points mentioned in the plan could be realized within the
period 2000-2005, this would constitute in our view a good performance of
all the persons involved in the execution of the plan. Indeed a 95 to 100%
execution of all the points mentioned within the specified time frame would
be above our expectations and would constitute an excellent performance.
The Plan for Road safety Component of the Lahore Urban Transport Project
1999
1. Establishment of a steering committee for implementation of the project

in which all representatives in the field of road safety are involved. A
maximum number of 14 persons should participate in the committee,
about 6-7 from the Government sector and 6-7 from the private sector.
The committee should be headed by a chairman who, if necessary, can
wield some influence at the provincial level.
2. Adjustment of legislation
I. incorporate pedestrians as legal responsible category in legislation
II. raise fines to a minimal level of:
a. Rs. 50 for bicyclist
b. Rs. 100 for rickshaw drivers, motorcyclists

c. Rs. 250 for parking car, truck, bus
d. Rs. 350-500-750-1000 (traffic violations)
III. grant authority to traffic police for processing and investigation of
accidents (adjustment of the penal code is needed)
IV. clear legislation in regard to mandatory uniform format for license
documentation (including number plates)
V. mandatory comprehensive insurance for all licensed vehicles in
accordance with existing international standards
VI. mandatory fitting of new cars with seat belts to be followed up later
by mandatory wearing of seat belt on car front seats
3. Infrastructure in relationship to enforcement

I. select important and suitable routes for enforcement of driving
behaviour and parking behaviour as a pilot-project area to be expanded
subsequently
II. improvement of infrastructure on selected roads
a. road markings (road segment, stopping lines for traffic lines,
pedestrian crossings, get-in-lane segments)
b. road signs
c. parking lines on selected road segments
d. installation of parking meters/parking zones
e. build bus bays
f. putting into operation defective traffic lights.
4. Infrastructure general
I. unified standards for road construction, operation, and maintenance
should be agreed upon by the stakeholders in the field. They should be
written down in a clear manual and made mandatory for use in future
road projects
II. road safety audits (i.e. critical review of safety consequences of pro-
posals and plans by a qualified expert team) should be routinely done as
part of new road projects, right from the start
III. prepare standardised tenders for road construction works
incorporating sufficient details for safety measures at construction sites,
and traffic diversion measures to be taken by construction authorities
IV. create facilities for vulnerable road users, i.e. pedestrians and
cyclists:
a. footpaths and pedestrian crossing facilities
b. cycle tracks along major travel corridors
c. special treatment/provision at cyclist crossings.
5. Conditions for training of traffic police

I. improvement of working conditions in the pilot-project
a. reducing working hours to max. 8 hours per day and to 6 days per
week
b. increase salaries to level of motorway police
c. arming of traffic police officers
II. selection max. 6 trainers in range of inspector/ deputy superintendent
III. selection 150 - 200 traffic police (incl. Members of staff and 20 traffic
wardens)
IV. selection of training facilities (location)
V. trainers receive instruction in Europe for one month
VI. start training enforcement techniques/tactics (location at Lahore at
the start, guided and supervised by international specialists on location)

VII. training of traffic wardens
VIII. new specially trained unit of traffic police directly accountable to the
Mayor
IX. few links in the chain-of-command at traffic police
6. Proposal for building a practice training institute for traffic police, also
usable for training of commercial bus and truck drivers. Assumption for
investment is that revenue will be generated which can be used to return
investments over a period of time
I. selection possible location (8-10 acres)
II. EU expertise with examples of possibilities will be discussed with
authorities
III. determine need for format/size/special requirements of training circuit
and training facilities (e.g.instruction rooms)
IV. offer tender (guidance of preparation and during will take 2 years).
Important is to retain the know-how for setting up similar facilities in
other parts of Pakistan
7. Enforcement
I. start enforcement with new approach on selected routes with special
focus on regular and dangerous violations
II. 6 month publicity campaign for the new approach with special
attention to the traffic violations which will be enforced, e.g. stopping for
red light, not violating the speed limit, keeping in lane, stopping for
pedestrians at pedestrian crossings, using indicators in get-lane-seg-
ments, correct stopping, driving in right direction, correct reversing.
Sponsorship for publicity campaign to be sought from international firm.
III. 6 month publicity campaign about new policy enforcement of parking
violations (during 1 month, inform all wrongly parked drivers by way of
leaflets)
IV. complaints to be handled by independent police-citizen liaison
committee (example Karachi)
V. the revenue from parking and enforcement is to be partly rechanneled
in the road safety of the road infrastructure and the working conditions of
the special trained police unit
8. Centralisation and automatisation of the driving licensing system

I. setting up in the Punjab head office with computerized data-base for
processing of driving licenses, preferably for the whole of Pakistan
II. in each district a sub-office with direct line of communication for the
processing of application forms (application for new driving license and
renewal)
III. all applications for new or renewed driving license to be processed in
the district where applicant resides.
IV. responsibility for issue and control under the Ministry of Transport
V. theoretical and practical driving exams to be done under the
responsibility of the Ministry of Transport in five years time
9. Centralization and automatisation of the vehicle registration system

I. setting up of a computerized vehicle registration system in a central
head office, preferably for the whole of Pakistan
II. open up in the district several sub-offices where applications for a
(new, transferred/technical change/stolen) vehicle registration can be
handed in.

For the first period the further administrative completion to be handled
by the head office
III. in a period of 3-5 years all vehicles for a technical check-up to a
check-up station. Possible technical adjustments will be done at the
station before the new legally valid vehicle registration will be handed
over.
IV. the registration document should contain the technical information on
the vehicle (age, model, passenger capacity, colour, engine size etc.)
10. Standardisation of vehicle registration

I. to establish by law a national format covering the registration
document and the vehicle registration plate
II. select easily readable number plate - in terms of size and colour - to
make identification for enforcement possible
11. Setting up/improvement structure of traffic control room

I. improvement of communication between police personnel (different
radio channels for traffic police and general police "on the street" for
enforcement, escort duty VVIPS, control of operation of traffic lights)
II. 24-hour computerized access to driving license and vehicle
registration database
III. direct phone lines to public services,e.g.: fire brigade, ambulance,
and road authorities
IV. total communication under responsibility of police
V. recruitment of control-operators among experienced traffic officers
with a long experience
12. Traffic education:

I. development of documentation (teaching materials for teachers as well
as for children) for primary schools
II. police traffic officers to be trained to become traffic education
specialists who work in continuous cooperation with schools, publishers,
NGO’s, and communication scientists
III. to demonstrate examples of successful road safety campaigns (e.g.
speeding, lane keeping, using bus bay, red light, seat belt, priority
pedestrians zebra crossings)
IV. media/tv commercials covering road safety subjects, to be sponsored
by multinationals
V. road safety campaigns should pay attention to helmet use by
motorcyclists and the use of reflectors and lights by cyclists, pedestrians,
and professional drivers
4.3. Clarifications and specifications
In the discussion of the road safety plan, some attention was given to the
composition and functioning of the steering committee. It was agreed that
the steering committee should contain both members from government and
from the private sector. Furthermore, it was decided that for practical
purposes, the committee should not be too large and should be limited to a
size of about 12 to 14 persons. Since, representatives from Provincial
Departments would take seat in the committee, the committee should
preferably be headed by a chairman who can wield some political clout at
the provincial level.

In the discussion, the importance of the use of reflectors and lights on
bicyclists and specific categories of heavy traffic (e.g. tractor trolleys) was
pointed out. The road safety plan should incorporate initiatives towards
improving this situation. It would be possible to focus one of the annual road
safety campaigns on this particular subject.
It has been suggested in the original plan that authority for accident
investigation should be placed on the shoulders of the traffic police.
However, this recommendation was criticized on the ground that traffic
police would not have enough capacity to engage in court duty attendant
after accident registration. Clearly this is a point for further deliberation. Part
of the present plan is to develop a special Traffic Cell within traffic police
that is mainly concerned with, and specialized in, the investigation of
serious accidents. This could be done while general accident registration
still remains under the responsibility of the general police.
As became clear in the discussion the road safety plan should also pay
attention to the encouragement of helmet use by motorcyclists. Again, this
subject may the focus of a special road safety campaign. Before taking
initiatives in this direction, there should be some clarity about recommen-
ded and legally prescribed helmet standards in Pakistan, and about the
availability of good (and affordable) helmets. A helmet campaign should
only be started when objective information can be given to the public about
the protective value of the helmet and the prices and sales outlets of
helmets.
In the plan for road safety, no mention has been made of the development
of provincial or national traffic policies. Without doubt the traffic problems in
Lahore and the whole of Pakistan can be influenced to a large extent by
encouraging or discouraging particular modes of traffic. For this it is
necessary to develop a transport policy for the coming years. A clear and
well-implemented transport policy is likely to have significant consequences
for development of road safety in Pakistan. However, such a policy should
be developed by bodies at the provincial or national level, whereas the
steering committee for the present project is mainly working at the city level
- and sometimes at the provincial level. Thus, a transport policy is relevant
for road safety but it should be formulated at a different political level.
An important topic raised in the context of the plan was the reorganization
of the traffic police. Part of our plan is that in the demonstration project,
there will be fewer links in the chain of command from lowest to highest
level. This will enable faster and better coordination between different lines
of command. If the demonstration project is successful, it should be
seriously considered to extend this method of working to the whole traffic
police force in Lahore.
A further issue having consequences for the police organization is that

somewhere in the future, driver testing and licensing should be transferred
to the Department of Transport. However, this should only be done after
careful implementation at a time when the Department of Transport has the
necessary capacity and know-how to take over such tasks.

4.4. Overview of recommendations
In this section we repeat a number of recommendations of the road safety

plan. We order them according to topic and elaborate some of the
recommendations. Strictly speaking, some of these recommendations go
further than the global plan. It is up to the steering committee to decide
whether to take up on these recommendations.
Engineering
1. In order to improve road safety, especially for vulnerable road users, the
LMA road authorities should agree on a procedure for introducing a road
safety audit into the decision-making process about road planning and
design.
2. The LMA road authorities should agree on a common set of standards

for planning, design, and construction of roads in the Metropolitan Area
of Lahore.
3. In the long term, the separate activities of LDA/TEPA/NESPAK/MCL

should be brought under a central management body at the Metropolitan
Level. This is to be held responsible for total road network in Lahore
excluding the highway.
4. Besides the functions of planning, designing, construction, and

maintenance, the responsibilities of the body should also include road
safety monitoring and the introduction and evaluation of special road
safety measures.
Enforcement of traffic laws
1. In order to generate a larger enforcement capacity of the Traffic Police

of Lahore, it is recommended that the Traffic Police is assisted in its
VVIP duty by Army or Military Police Personnel. The main responsibility
for VVIP escort duty would still lie with Traffic Police, as laid down by
official law, but the sheer manpower required to perform the task should
be divided among Traffic Police and other enforcement agencies. In this
way Traffic Police can free extra capacity to perform necessary
enforcement actions.
2. In order to improve the efficiency of traffic law enforcement, the ticketing

system should replace the challaning system. Challans should only be
given to severe violations. For about 90% of the traffic violations a ticket
should be given.
3. It is recommended that the Traffic Police have specialists in the

following areas:
- accident and accident data analysis;
- road safety education;
- safety aspects of traffic engineering.
4. The specialists of the traffic police should participate in an advisory role

in committees deciding on new road projects.

Accident investigation and reporting
1. The responsibility of the LMA Road authorities in regard to safety

monitoring should be clearly described in legally binding documents.
2. Road authorities should provide the Traffic Police with basic facilities or
assistance in order to determine the exact location of the accident.
3. A special Traffic Research Cell should be set up within the Traffic Police
that makes a more thorough accident investigation based on the FIR's
made up by the General Police. The main task of the Research Cell
would be to provide quick feedback to the Traffic Police and Road
Authorities on the exact location of the accidents and patterns of
accidents which would need further attention or even immediate
measures.
Legislation
1. Federal Government of Pakistan should enact the proposed new

legislation in the Road Bill 1998 in the short term.
2. After the Road Bill 1998 has been enacted, the Government has the
formal power to make rules for the use of the seat belt. The Federal/
Punjab Government should require all new motor vehicles to be
equipped with seat belts and to make seat belt use by drivers and front
passengers mandatory within and outside urban areas.
3. Existing legislation (MVO 65) requires all drivers of transport vehicles to

be registered by the Traffic Police. The Traffic Police should get high-
level approval and some extra funding to implement this law. The
registration of the transport drivers should be computerized.
4. In order to streamline the process of traffic law enforcement, it is

strongly recommended that the ticketing system is put into operation
according to the provisions in the Road Bill 1998. If the Road Bill 1998 is
not accepted, then separate legal provisions should be made to ensure
wider implementation of the ticketing system.
5. In order to streamline the process of traffic law enforcement, it is

recommended that legislation is passed that allow police to issue tickets
by mail or under the windscreen-wiper to registered vehicle owners who
have been observed to drive recklessly or dangerously, or who have
parked their vehicle in a appointed no-parking area.
6. In order to improve the efficiency of traffic law enforcement it should be

made legally possible to issue a ticket to the owner of a vehicle on the
basis of license plate recognition. The owner of the vehicle is to be held
responsible for the violations committed, irrespective of whether he was
driving the vehicle at that time or not. This rule should also apply to the
owners of commercial vehicles.

Licensing, registration, testing, and training
1. Transport Federations, the Department of Transport, and the Traffic

Police should agree on a total programme for licensing, training, and
testing of professional drivers.
2. A mandatory 10-15 day training course for professional drivers should be

introduced. The newly to be established Police Traffic Training Institute
at Lahore should be the first school to be licensed to develop and to
offer this course. After they have followed the course, they will receive a
provisional license to be made definite after a 3-day follow-up course
after one year, or two years of professional driving.
3. A start should be made with the computerized registration of

professional drivers, laid down by MVO 1995, under authority SP of the
Lahore District.
4. Full computerization of driver licensing should be realized by the Traffic

Police. It is recommend that Traffic Police receive professional
assistance in setting up a reliable, easy to operate computerized
licensing system.
Funding of road safety in LMA
1. A special road fund should be established for the management of road

network in the LMA. In an annual report, the financial administration of
this fund should be reported and approved by an accountant.
2. Part of the revenue generated by traffic law enforcement should go back

to traffic police. One option is to rechannel funding by transferring the
authority over the General Police (including Traffic Police) to an
autonomous Metropolitan Government. In this way it would be ensured
that revenue gained by enforcement would also find its way back into the
Metropolitan Area. The Metropolitan Government should then provide
the Police and Traffic Police with basic facilities such as vehicles,
specialized equipment etc.
3. Another possibility to rechannel funding is 1 or 2-year agreements

between Government of the Punjab and Police about investment-return
schemes in the area of traffic law enforcement.
4. Besides revenue generated through enforcement there are various

alternative sources to “tap in” for funding road safety activities in Lahore,
e.g., a percentage of the driving license fees, of the vehicle registration
fee, and of the vehicle insurance premium. A percentage of the petrol
tax could also be allocated for road safety purposes. The steering
committee for road safety in Lahore should come up with a proposal
about the contribution from these sources to achieve sustainable funding
for road safety activities.
Road safety education
1. A special publicity director under joint authority of Department of

Education and Traffic Police Punjab should develop provincial and local

publicity campaigns on a regular basis. The campaigns basically should
serve two functions:
a. Inform the public about specific projects by the road authorities and
police actions and advise on behaviour
b. Enhance general awareness about road safety problems and
potential measures road users can take to protect themselves from
hazards
2. Together with an education specialist, the Traffic Police should devise a

5-year education plan for different road users in the LMA.
3. A driving school for traffic police drivers and other professional drivers
should be established.
4. Ministry of Education and the Punjab School Text Book Board and the
Traffic Police Lahore should coordinate and create special road safety
courses for children.
5. Traffic education for children should focus on practical survival skills for
everyday situations.
6. The special knowledge of the Traffic Police Lahore about road hazards
for pedestrians in Lahore streets should be used to focus education on
situations in Lahore itself.
Road safety publicity
1. A special publicity director, resorting under the Department of Education

or under the Traffic Police, should be assigned to support road safety
initiatives with positive publicity.
2. Existing radio channels should be utilized in giving route advise for

drivers in Lahore, e.g. helping them circumvent traffic jams.
3. Pakistan role models (e.g. famous cricketers) should be used in publicity

campaigns.
4. Road safety campaigns should address amongst others the following

topics: helmet use by motorcyclists, use of reflectors by cyclists, and
heavy traffic.
5. Campaigns should only be held when complete, good and objective

information about a subject is available. For instance, for a helmet
campaign it should be clear which Pakistan legal standards exist for the
construction of helmets and where helmets can be bought at affordable
prizes.

5. The implementation plan
Like other plans for road safety, the present plan for Lahore can only be
effective if certain conditions are fulfilled. First of all there must be the
political will to acknowledge road safety as a problem which has to be
solved. As second condition must be stated that an organizational frame-
work has to be created in order to implement the outcomes of the plan.
Finally, obviously funds have to be made available to realize the plan.
In section 5.2. special attention is given to two central elements of the road
safety plan, the setup of a central steering committee, and the
demonstration project.
Viewed from the institutional side, general implementation conditions are

discussed in section 5.3.
In Section 5.4 the composition, tasks, secretarial support, funding, and

evaluative control of the steering committee are described. The preparation
of the demonstration project is described in section 5.5.
Sections 5.6 to 5.9 present the Terms of Reference or general

implementation issues for specific parts of the road safety plan.
5.2. General introduction
There are clearly two highlights in the implementation of the road safety
plan. First, there is the crucial first step of the formation of a steering
committee for road safety. Second, there is the proposition to start an
ambitious demonstration project in the very short term. In this introductory
section, we would like to explain clearly why these two events are so crucial
for the implementation of the total plan.
As we have argued in several places in foregoing chapters, various

governmental and social sectors are involved in road safety: e.g. traffic
police, road authorities, NGO’s, transport federations etc. If these sectors
coordinate their activities and work together, they can achieve far better
results in terms of traffic management and safety than if they work in
isolation and only follow their own agendas.
At the moment, the setting up of a special committee for road safety is the
best way to achieve coordination between the different stakeholders in the
field. Of course, much more than just coordination of routine activities is at
stake. The stakeholders need to work together to achieve well-described
aims. The steering committee plays a crucial role in setting these aims and
encouraging and persuading stakeholders to work towards or support these
aims. Furthermore, an important task of the steering committee is to
ascertain that it’s activities are seriously evaluated. To perform these and
other tasks, the steering committee must have certain financial and political
powers. In the implementation plan in this chapter we have described in

some detail powers, tasks, secretarial support, funding, and evaluative
control of the steering committee.
In summary, the steering committee is the instrument that “binds” the

various elements of the present plan “together” and that makes the plan
“workable”. It is hard to imagine how the present plan can be realized
without a clear central steering party that can set a course, coordinate, and
determine the pace of work.
In our discussions with stakeholders, it has become clear that some short
term success in the field of traffic and traffic safety is badly needed. To put
it in somewhat simplistic terms: there has been too much talk, and too little
action. A quick success in the field of road safety, observable in the outer
appearance of the roads and the performance of traffic police, observable
in traffic behaviour and discipline of road users, and in reduction of
accidents, would show several points. First, of course, it would show that
visible results can be achieved when the political will and good organization
are present. Second, it would improve the public image of all the parties
involved; traffic police, road authorities, and local government.
Seen in this way the demonstration project which is clearly targeted towards
quick success, can motivate stakeholders to continue the process of
cooperation. Whatever political or financial powers the committee may
have, the motivation of participating stakeholders to cooperate with one
another in the committee will have it’s own dynamics and will certainly
depend upon the actual progress being made. An early success in which all
partners can equally share, will solidify the motivation to cooperate towards
reaching the targets set in the current plan.
In the light of these considerations, the execution of the demonstration

project deserves some special attention in this chapter. As far as possible
we have tried to specify the preparatory steps for the execution of the
demonstration project.
In the demonstration project engineering, enforcement, public education

and legislative changes must come together to achieve good results. The
engineering part of the demonstration project - the road safety audit and
resulting upgrading of a special stretch of road network in Lahore - may
already start in summer 1999. The preparation of the training of specially
selected traffic police officers can also start late summer 1999. The actual
execution of the demonstration project could already start in the beginning
of 2000. The first results in terms of behaviours and accidents could already
be monitored after the first six months of 2000.
Phasing of the project

Both the setup of a steering committee for road safety and the execution of
a demonstration project in the centre of Lahore are crucial first steps to give
the road safety plan strong impetus, coherence, and direction in the first
phase.
The road safety plan goes further than these first two steps. The other very
ambitious elements of the plan pertain to a) the establishment of a traffic
police driving school for traffic police and professional drivers, b) the setup
of a modernized traffic command centre under supervision of the traffic

police, and c) an integrated system for driver training, testing and licensing.
Obviously, these targets take longer than 1 or 2 years to realize.
Given the scope and complexity of the issues raised by the present plan, it
is logical that the implementation should follow a step-by-step, phased
approach. It is simply impossible to tackle all the relevant issues in the first
years of the project. Within the period 2000-2005 we may distinguish
between short term (2000-2001), midterm (2002-2003) and long term
(2004-2005). In Table 5.1 a tentative proposal for phasing of the different
project activities is given, together with some (conservative) cost estimates
for major elements of the plan.
In taking up these ambitious targets, the committee may take stock of the
knowledge gained by comparable projects in other areas of Pakistan or on
other levels (e.g. national initiatives in the field of traffic and traffic safety).
In the first two or three years of the project, the steering committee may
organize some tentative first discussions or workshops about topics in order
to prepare more detailed and better structured meetings in later years.
In the road safety plan we have not allocated any separate budget for a
construction of a central traffic command centre or specific costs arising
from the implementation of an integrated system of driver training, testing
and licensing. Especially in regard to these two fields, the steering
committee may play a stimulating role, but it is also to a large extent
dependent upon social, legal, or organizational developments outside its
direct sphere of influence.

Period Subject or activity Major estimated costs or
sources of extra revenue
1999- 1. Setup of steering committee (section 5.4)
2000 2. Training of Traffic Police (section 5.5.2) ->Less than 0.2 Million $ US.
3. Upgrading of selected road network (section 5.5.1) ->Appr. 10 Million $ US.
4. Formulation of 5-year road safety policy (targets, methods, and funding) included
(section 5.4)
5. Preparatory meetings about road safety audit (section 5.7)
6. Preparatory stakeholders meetings improvement accident monitoring
2000- 1. Preparatory stakeholders meetings integrative system training, testing &
2001 licensing
2. Preparatory stakeholders meetings possibility of introducing more
comprehensive insurance schemes
3. Preparatory stakeholders meetings on introduction of parking zones
4. Agreement on road safety audit procedure (section 5.7)
5. Preparatory meetings traffic command centre (section 5.9)
6. First multi-media road safety campaign (e.g. use of reflectors) (section 5.10) ->Appr. 0.3-0.4 Million $ US,
sponsorship to be sought.
7. Implementation and evaluation of police enforcement on selected road network
(section 5.5.3) ->Generation of extra revenue
8. Further fine-tuning or adjustment of the road safety policy
9. Production of first year report
2001- 1. Preparatory stakeholders meetings integrative system of training, testing and
2002 licensing
2. Second multi-media road safety campaign (e.g. importance motorcycle helmets) ->Appr. 0.3-0.4 Million $ US,
3. Preparatory stakeholders meeting about manual & legal procedure unified sponsorship to be sought.
standards
4. Introduction of parking zones in demonstration area
5. Possible extension of police enforcement to wider area ->Generation of extra revenue
6. Production of second year report
2002- 1. Preparatory stakeholders meetings integrative system of training, testing and
2003 licensing
2. Preparatory meetings traffic command centre
3. Preparation of commercial exploitation plan training institute
4. Start construction training institute (section 5.8)
5. Third multi-media road safety campaign (e.g. seat belt use) ->Appr. 0.3-0.4 Million $ US,
sponsorship to be sought
6. Possible introduction of parking zones in wider area ->Generation of extra revenue
7. Production of manual on unified standards ->Appr. 0.1-0.2 Million $ US
8. Production of third year report
2003- 1. Construction and finish of training institute ->Appr. 5 Million $ US
2004 2. Start commercial and professional exploitation of training institute
3. Decision-making meetings integrated system training, testing, driving
4. Production of fourth year report
2004- 1. Evaluation of and accounting for the total project in a separate report
2005 2. Formulation of outline of new road safety policy with recommendations for the
period 2005-2010.
3. Production of final year report
Table 5.1. Tentative proposal for the phasing of several activities in the road safety plan (Appr.=
approximately).
5.3. Institutional strengthening measures
There are a number of institutional strengthening measures that would

enhance the likelihood of effective implementation according to plan. First
of all the institutions involved in implementation should have some basic
stability as to funding and composition of middle and upper level
management. It has been observed that organizations like TEPA may

experience a sharp and unexpected cutback in the yearly funding. It has
also been observed that top management positions in Motorway police and
Traffic Lahore police usually are not held for more than a few months or a
few years. The stability and associated dependability of an institution
depends to a large extent on the stability of leadership in office. Therefore,
in laying the implementation groundwork for the plan efforts, there should
be some stability in funding and leadership structure, at least for the
persons who are involved in the demonstration project.
A second institutional strengthening measure would be a greater clarity of

respective responsibilities of institutions in the field of traffic management
and traffic safety. In the preparation and execution of the road safety plan
the steering committee should urge stakeholders to actively take up
responsibility. In many issues there should be a shared responsibility among
different stakeholders. Even in the case of a shared responsibility, it is still
possible to pinpoint in more detail the responsibilities of the separate
agencies.
To give an example. In our view the prime responsibility for safety

monitoring (analysing and reporting on accidents in certain areas and on
certain roads) would have to lie with the road authorities and the police
together. In this sense, there is a shared responsibility.
But separate responsibilities can also be distinguished:

1. Road authorities are responsible for the analysis of accident data and
the production of a formal annual report of the road safety situation.
They do not necessarily have to undertake this activity, analysis, and
reporting themselves. But they do have to make sure that some other
agency, such as the traffic police or University, will do this, and will have
resources or assistance to do this. In the case of reporting, the
responsibility of the road authorities also includes the requirement of
making the accident figures accessible to Government, NGO’s, and
journalists.
2. The prime responsibility for accident registration would have to lie with
the General Police.
3. The prime responsibility for gathering the accident reports and making
all of the information in these reports accessible to further analysis and
reporting should to lie with the Traffic Police.
This means that the police are responsible for accident registration, but the
road authorities are responsible for helping to create the conditions that
make good accident registration possible. If, for instance, the police need a
marking system on the intersections in order to describe more clearly the
location of the accident, then the road authorities should construct a
marking system for Lahore intersections. Also, if the police have insufficient
means to record the accidents on computer disk, or to analyse the data or
put the data in a report, the road authorities will have to assist with either
financial or manpower resources.
A last point regarding the institutional side of the implementation concerns

the interaction between political and engineering institutions in the field of
traffic. In order to benefit to the full extent from the professional engineering
knowledge of Lahore traffic engineers, the role of political and bureaucratic
interference in the engineering decision-making process should be reduced

to a certain extent. Of course, on high political levels targets can be set for
the traffic system. That is both the task and duty of politicians. However,
once these targets are set, it is up to planners and engineers how to meet
these targets in ways that ensure a good and safe functioning of the traffic
system. A politically independent road safety audit team that supervises the
various stages of planning, design, and construction of roads, may well be
the answer to this particular problem.
5.4. Establishment of the steering committee
Formal requirements
In order to be able to function properly the steering committee should meet
the following formal requirements:
1. The committee has a legal existence, enabling it to enforce decisions
and to manage a budget.
2. The committee comes under the highest possible authority (The Chief
Minister of the Punjab)
3. The committee only includes high-ranking decision-makers who are able
to im pose into their own sector the decisions taken collectively.
4. The committee only includes permanent members, personally
nominated for a length of time sufficient to ensure continuity of action (at
least three years).
5. The committee has the means to provide adequate training for its
members in areas where knowledge may be lacking.
6. The committee is able to order and sponsor special studies or research
from competent partners in order to get the right information and
proposals to support decisions.
7. The committee has financing powers that enable it to perform its various
functions.
We propose that the committee has about 12-14 members, about 6-7 from
the Government sector and 6-7 from the private sector. If necessary the
Chairman leading the committee should have sufficient political clout to turn
political wheels. Obviously, for effective functioning of the committee office,
facilities and secretarial support are necessary.
Task setting and funding

It is proposed here to finance the activities of the committee in the period
2000-2005 for a total amount of US $ 12 Million. This amount of money
would enable the committee to perform the following tasks:
1. To coordinate and supervise implementation and evaluation of a

special enforcement demonstration project in the Lahore Metropolitan
Area in the period 2000-2001.
2. To formulate a 5-year road safety policy for the Lahore Metropolitan
Area. The policy should include: targets, method, and funding
instruments.
3. To stimulate, and if necessary, support the Traffic Police in the task
of providing clear description and analysis of the road safety situation
in Lahore. At the least there should be an annual overview of the
exact locations of fatality and casualty accidents
4. To develop a economically viable plan for the establishment of a
training school near Lahore.

5. To develop, and if possible, implement an integrated plan for driver
training, testing, and licensing in the province. A blueprint for a
possible plan is given in this report, but should be worked out in more
detail, in collaboration with parties involved.
6. To initiate and supervise different mass-media road safety
campaigns in the Lahore area.
7. To encourage adoption of road safety audit procedures in new road
projects and to encourage professional independence of the audit
team.
8. To investigate possibilities for introducing more comprehensive
insurance schemes for road users.
9. To encourage changes in legislation that are beneficial to road safety.
10. To actively seek sponsorship for road safety activities from national
or international companies or to seek cooperation with companies in
the field of road safety.
11. To encourage traffic education programs at schools and colleges and
develop special materials for this purpose.
12. To inform stakeholders in the field about road safety issues projects
and results in the Lahore area by a two-monthly newsletter.
For part of the activities there are already plans, proposals, or initiatives
taken by other agencies or departments. The committee should not renew
investigations into areas that already have been under study, but rather
seek new ways of bringing sound proposals to the attention of policy
makers. Also, the committee should hire professionals to execute
specialized tasks, e.g.:
- Research bureaus for evaluative research into the effects of police and
publicity campaigns
- Advertising or marketing research bureau for road safety campaigns
Secretarial support
The secretarial support for the committee is very important. Two to three
full-time secretaries will have to do a lot of the ‘leg work’ for the committee.
The tasks of the secretaries are:

1. To supply the members of the committee with information or documents
relevant to the problems at hand.
2 To fully prepare all meetings of the committee and to write full reports of
results of the meeting.
3. To organize meetings, workshops, and seminars about road safety
issues with various stakeholders, and to note down the results of these
meetings.
4. To organize and safe all documents, studies, materials, records that may
be of use to study the road safety problems at hand.
5. To prepare business or sponsorship contracts between the committee
and other organizations.
6. To keep account of the financial administration of the activities of the
committee.
7. To organize special training or education for members of the committee
in fields of road safety.

It is proposed here that two or three secretaries:
1. Are hired full-time for the period 2000-2005.
2. Will be provided from the start of their tenure with modern office space,
including computer, printer, copier, national and international phone
lines.
3. Are fluent in English speaking and writing and have good knowledge of
computer software.
4. Are knowledgeable in the field of traffic.
5. Have a University degree.
6. Have some basic knowledge or experience with planning or budgeting
processes or can get training in that area.
Allocation of money
In this plan we can only give a rough outline of financial matters.
The total 6-year project would need financing of about 22 million US $ to

achieve most of the mentioned targets. About 10 million US $ is needed to
upgrade the roads for the demonstration project. It has been suggested that
this money may be allocated via the budget of MCL. About 12 million US $
should be reserved for the construction of a driving school for police and
professional drivers and for the organization of various activities
coordinated by a steering committee.
A suggestion for the division of the annual a budget of about US $ 2 million

may be as follows:
- a 45% investment (in total about 5 million US $) in the construction of
a training centre (with training ground) that can be used as driving
school for both police and professional drivers; staff of the training
centre should be paid out of the commercial exploitation of this
centre
- 25% (about 3 million US $) investment in several road safety
publicity campaigns (television spots, material, leaflets, school
materials);
- 10% (about 1,2 million US $) secretarial and organizational support
(meetings, reports, distribution of newsletter)
The success of the committee will to a large extent depend upon the
quality of the secretarial support; the secretaries are in effect the
‘ears’ and ‘eyes’ of the committee
- 10% investment in police activities (on condition that police will show
certain results in terms of number of traffic tickets)
Through more professional enforcement the police will triple or
quadruple the amount of money from enforcement of moving and
parking violations. Therefore, the investment in police enforcement
will flow back to government by other channels. The profit to be made
by police enforcement should be partly rechannelled into road safety.
An important task of the steering committee is to calculate the cost-
benefit ratio of investments in police enforcement and to establish
how much profit is being made from intensified and professional
police enforcement.
- 10% evaluation and monitoring of results
Empirical, scientific evaluation of the various road safety activities is
needed to establish the success of activities. The National Transport
Safety Council can supervise evaluative research. External

consultancy, e.g. from SWOV, can be sought for different phases of
the project.
Evaluative and budgetary control

The committee can set the terms of reference for professional sub-
contractors and can supervise the work. Of course, the committee should
use its finances well. In this respects we propose the following safeguards.
1. Every year the committee is obliged to formulate in an annual plan on
which activities money will be spent and how the results of these
activities will be evaluated. The Chief Minister is required to give his
approval to the proposal.
2. The committee produces an annual report accounting for its activities,
results, and its internal and financial administration. The annual report is
screened by a professional accountant.
It is very important that the various parts of the plan are evaluated well.
Evaluation can be seen as a continuous process that seeks to improve upon
and refine the measures taken.
Critical and objective evaluation of the several steps in the execution of the
elements of the plan is needed for several reasons. First, evaluation can
show which methods in a specific field are the most effective. For example,
the police enforcement in the demonstration area may use two or three
strategies of which one is clearly the best. Thus, the effectiveness of a
specific road safety measure is to a large extent dependent upon the
manner of implementation. Evaluation is necessary to consider how the
implementation of a specific measure can be improved if the measure is to
be repeated at a later time. For example, on the basis of the experiences
with a road safety campaign, a precise scenario can be written out for the
organization of campaign activities and can be repeated for latter
campaigns. Finally, the results of evaluation may be used very well in order
to generate positive publicity about the road safety activities and a positive
image. This will generate both political and public goodwill and support.
Evaluation literally ‘pays itself back’ by showing which measures are

ineffective and therefore can be discontinued, and which measures are
effective but can be made more cost-efficient by better implementation
procedures. The information gathered for evaluative purposes in most
cases can also be used to give a better estimate of costs and benefits of
measures.
Advise on how to conduct evaluation of project activities can be sought

from the National Transport Safety Council. A representative may be
invited to partake in the steering committee, or for some subjects
consultancy may be sought from specialized road safety institutes such as
SWOV, TRL, or ITC.
5.5. Preparation of the demonstration project
The demonstration project requires:

- selection and upgrading of a road network in Lahore (section 5.5.1),
- the training in techniques of enforcement of specially selected police
officers from the Lahore traffic police (section 5.5.2), and

- adjustment of several conditions that may support enforcement
operations during the project (section 5.5.3.).
5.5.1. The demonstration area
This section relies on preparatory work done by Mr. K. Khan, engineer of

Mott McDonald. About 35 km of the main road network in Lahore have been
provisionally selected for the special demonstration project. The roads are
basically well-maintained, main roads in the centre of Lahore that have a
important function for the processing of the total traffic stream.
The selected roads are: Mcleod Road, Empress Road, Allama Iqbal Road,
Canal Bank Road from Jail Road Underpass to Allama Iqbal Road, Davis
Road, Egerton Road, Kashmir Road, The Mall, Lawrence Road, Race
Course Road, Mozang Road, Queens Road, Lytton Road, Bahawalpur
Road, Lower Mall, Edward Road, Fane Road, Begum Road, Montgomery
Road, Cooper Road and Abbot Road.
In the short term, in August 1999, a road safety audit can be done to
establish how and where these roads will be upgraded. It is estimated that
the necessary upgrading of this road network will cost about 500 million
rupees or 10 million $ US. A road safety audit has to be initiated on receipt
of approval from the client. The duration of the road safety audit would be
two weeks. Digital mapping of the roads will take 1.5 months, and design of
roadworks will take another 15 days. Digital mapping could start simulta-
neously with safety audit cost of digital mapping and design being Rs. 2.6
million.
Improvement works can proceed on completion of road design and will take
four months. MCL would have to finance the works on these roads.
Appropriate cost of road works is Rs. 500 million
5.5.2. Training of police
On special request by the Chief Minister of the Province of the Punjab, the
Dutch Institute for Traffic Care (ITC) has made the following proposal for
training of the Lahore police:
1. To select a maximum of 6 senior police officers, who will be trained in
Holland or the UK (July/August/Sept 1999);
2. The trained police officers (trainers) will be responsible for the training of
the 150 selected police officers in the rank of HC, ASI / SI / Inspector
(Sept/Oct 1999);
3. ITC will provide the guidance during this period of training in Lahore;
4. ITC will provide the guidance during the first part of the enforcement
period;
5. ITC will provide the guidance, in association with a local infrastructure
specialist, of the road safety audit for the pilot zone, with regard to
enforcement, road accidents, attitude, violations etc;
6. ITC will provide a plan for a training institute, where the police officers
can be trained to drive patrol cars and motorbikes professionally, under
stressful conditions, and new enforcement approaches/tactics can be
worked out and skills can be improved;
7. ITC will mediate in the purchase of enforcement instruments, e.g. radar
guns, traffic cones, reflective jackets, flashlights, stopflags etc.

5.5.3. Conditions for non-corrupt and authoritative enforcement
As always, in looking at one facet of a problem broader, considerations

arise. The issues with which traffic police deal are part of a wider economic,
social, political, and environmental context. The future nature of traffic
policing will depend upon changes in the law, the development of new
technology, altered social, and political priorities and environmental
pressures.
The real problem seems to be the economical problem of scarcity of

resources. The Punjab Government faces manifold social and economical
problems and has limited funds available and may be reluctant to put extra
funding in traffic police. The Traffic Police Lahore faces many traffic
problems, have limited resources, and may, in the view of the government,
not be seen as able to deliver the services required by the community. The
way these parties, Government and Police, interact with one another is one-
sided and solely in ‘asking’ modus: Government asks improved services
from the police (without seeing any results); the Police ask extra funding,
personnel and equipment from Government (without getting any).
Most of the analyses of police functioning have rightly pointed out the lack
of resources of the traffic police and presented a plea for better funding and
better stability of tenure (Background study 8.4). What past analyses have
failed to point out is that in many metropolitan cities, police enforcement of
traffic laws is an important source of income. This is an important point
because it indicates one way out of the 'lack of' dilemma. An efficient and
fair traffic law enforcement system can bring in a considerable amount of
money. Consequently, the funding which goes into traffic law enforcement
may pay itself back within a period of one year.
The foregoing means that the Punjab Government could actually ‘invest’ in
traffic law enforcement and end up with a considerable profit, of which part
may be again rechannelled into traffic safety purposes. So this seems to be
a clear instance of a 'win-win' situation in which both Government and
Police may stand to win.
Thus from an economical viewpoint, there is a clear way out of the 'lack of;
ask only' dilemma. What should be done is that the Government of the
Punjab invests in resources for traffic police and that traffic police returns
these investments in term of number of tickets generated. However, like
business investments, it should be clear what benefits from investments
may be expected and what strategy will be used to collect these benefits.
For this purpose, the Police must present a clear enforcement plan to the
Government with objectives, methods, and expected benefits in terms of
safety, traffic flow, and amount of detected offenders clearly spelled out. As
part of this plan, an objective evaluation of results must be included in order
to determine whether the targets have been achieved. In fact, this
evaluation should be done at several times during the total project in order
to be able to change enforcement methods or priorities in reaction to
practical circumstances or difficulties.
To those who find this a far-fetched idea, it may be pointed out that in a
country like the Netherlands (population 15 million) the yearly profit from

enforcement of traffic law violations is several hundred million US dollars.
The Public Prosecutor's Office in the Netherlands which also takes interest
in detecting traffic offenders, invests money in special 2-3-year enforce-
ment projects and expects a return in amount of fixed-penalty tickets
issued. In many of these projects the costs of investment are returned
within half a year after the start of the project. The city of Amsterdam easily
earns 20 million dollars a year from parking enforcement alone (parking
enforcement being done by traffic wardens). In Germany, where large cities
have the authority to conduct their own speed checks on speeding drivers,
several cities make profits of five to ten million dollars a year. Like
Amsterdam, these German cities who earn considerable sums of money
from speed enforcement, gain a considerable of additional money from paid
parking and parking enforcement.
In the Netherlands and in other European countries, the relationship

between police and government has slowly changed over time. In modern-
day society, the dynamics of social change are so fast that the police need
to react quickly and decisively to new forms of crime, to changes in public
complaints, and to new developments in traffic and traffic violations. In such
a dynamic society, the police need to adapt quickly, to change quickly to
respond to new challenges.
Modern times undoubtedly have also reached Lahore Metropolitan Area.

Lahore also faces a rapidly changing social and economical situation:
steadily increasing population, changes in public transport, many planned
changes in the infrastructure, and, inevitably, large increases in motorized
vehicles. The sheer increase in population and motorized traffic will cause
accident rates to increase. Very likely, the problems of air pollution and
congestion will only increase over time. The traffic problems seem large
and it seems very likely they will increase over time.
What is needed more and more is an effective traffic police with the
knowledge and means to respond swiftly and decisively to the challenges of
this rapidly changing situation. Government, whether provincial or
metropolitan, has to provide the Traffic Police with the necessary resources
to adapt to this situation. Part of these resources will also include legal and
administrative reform of the system of offender detection and prosecution.
Of course, Government should have assurance that its investments will not
be wasted and will in time be returned to them (even with profit!).
Quality assurances are important for any investments Government makes,

whether it be an investment in road construction or an investment in traffic
policing resources. Through a process of planning, design, construction and
supervision of construction, a road is built. Government pays for the total
process and has reasonable quality assurance of the final outcome, the
completed road. In the case of enforcement, although dealing with a
different product, the process is not so far different, and quality assurance
can be planned and given. A global plan is being made for enforcement, the
global plan is refined into a operational design of police activities, and
finally these activities are implemented and evaluated.
Given the sheer mass of traffic violations in Lahore, paid parking, parking
enforcement, enforcement of speeding, red-light negation, lane-keeping,
and documents will bring in the money. There are two extreme outcomes.

One extreme outcome would be that despite all efforts of police, road users
continue to a large extent in violating several traffic laws resulting in a
continuous large influx of ticket money. When this happens, enforcement
would generate a continuous steady flow of ticket money, and part of this
money could then be used again for more effective road safety activities
that will succeed in changing driver behaviour.
Another extreme outcome would be that road users are so strongly

impressed by police enforcement activities that they would abstain from
unsafe behaviour. In this case, after a certain time, little money would be
coming out of the enforcement activities because of the achieved change in
behaviour. In practice, some middle outcome has been observed in many
cities: under influence of persistent enforcement activities, road user
behaviour tends to become more safe and law-abiding, but a certain
proportion of road users continue with traffic violations.
In conclusion, we may state that purely from an economical point of view,

there is much to be said for Government investing in Traffic Police
resources. However, obviously there is more at stake than just money. How
will the relations between public, especially professional drivers, and police
be affected if police significantly enhances its role as enforcing agency? A
strong adverse public reaction towards increased enforcement actions is the
last thing we want. The traffic police are in the business of solving problems
not in creating new ones.
Secondly, we may ask how the intensified enforcement actions will relate to
the corrupt behaviour of police officers. Will police corruption thrive under a
stronger enforcement regime? The two questions are intertwined. The
reaction of the public towards increased enforcement will to a large extent
depend upon the perception of safety value and fairness in police activities.
To the extent that police action is seen as fair, and in the interest of traffic
and traffic safety, road users will tend to accept intensified enforcement,
especially when officers make a good impression and can explain clearly,
patiently, and with authority why a particular offence is dangerous, and why
a ticket is given.
Until now we have painted a rather rosy picture of money flowing in from
intensified police enforcement and each party, Government and Police,
benefiting from the mutual agreement. However, it should be clear that
some drastic measures have to be taken in order to make the
demonstration project successful.
1. The stability of expertise, knowledge, and skills of traffic police must

be ensured. At present, the continuous transferral of personnel
between General and Traffic Police acts as a solid barrier for any
attempts to improve or hold on to the professional competence of the
Traffic Police. This point has been repeatedly made by several
experts and we can only repeat it again. At minimum, police at higher
management level should be given a fixed tenure - guaranteed by
law - of 3 years with automatic standard lengthening after satisfying
performance.
2. The traffic police must be able to mobilize enough well-trained

manpower to engage in the enforcement activities. At present the

police find their hand tied to traffic management and V.V.I.P. escort
duty. One option is to alleviate escort duty of the Traffic Police by
using manpower from other enforcement agencies for this purpose.
Another option is to bring the present manpower up to normative
strength. Untrained manpower should not be used for enforcement
purposes.
3. The total traffic law enforcement system - including the legal system
and education and publicity activities - should be geared towards
supporting the operations of the officers in traffic. The traffic
violations should be for 80% to 90% processed by an administrative
procedure without interference from the courts. The arguments for
this are clear and straightforward. The courts are already overloaded
with cases and would simply not be able to handle the amount of
cases which would be brought in by intensified enforcement activities.
According to the evidence we have reviewed, the challaning system
has never worked effectively as far as swiftness and strictness of
punishment is concerned. The experience with fixed penalty tickets
has been positive. Almost 100% of these tickets are being paid.
4. In order to prepare road users for intensified enforcement and to

advise them on how to behave in safe and legal ways, the use of
mass publicity channels is a necessary tool. By radio, television, and
newspapers road users should be informed in advance about the
purpose and the procedure of the coming enforcement actions. The
publicity can explain the relationship between enforcement actions
and road safety, and can stress the elements of both fairness and
strictness in the actions of the police. The results of the police actions
- i.e. number of offenders caught in the first week of intensified
enforcement - may also receive a lot of press and media attention in
order to increase the public perception of the likelihood of getting
caught.
5. Police should use new modes of operation in traffic to increase

effectiveness and visibility of enforcement actions. The present
deployment of manpower over a number of points seems adequate
from a traffic management point of view. But for the purposes of
enforcement, this deployment may not be optimal. In most countries
and cities, traffic enforcement tactics involve small teams of police
officers who check on a limited number of violations on certain
specially selected routes or areas.
6. High-level political support for the enforcement action is necessary

right from the start of the enforcement campaign. The enforcement is
targeted towards all road users who violate certain traffic rules.
Undoubtedly, a number of these offenders will be high officials. They
should realize that they cannot expect preferential treatment in these
matters. Like other road users, they have been warned in advance of
the coming police actions and of procedures. If the Traffic Police
engage in strict and fair procedures of enforcement, over time
respect will grow.
7. In the long term, special legal amendments should be made that

place the responsibility for traffic violations on the registered owner of

the vehicles in the case that the driver cannot be identified and the
only information is the number plate recognition. In the case of speed
enforcement, red-light enforcement, and parking enforcement, it will
not always be possible to stop or contact the driver himself. In that
case the law must put the responsibility on the owner of the vehicle to
identify the driver of the vehicle at the time of the violation. If the
driver denies he himself drove the car, he will have to deliver proof
that another person drove the car. If the driver does not respond to
the request to identify the driver of the car, the responsibility for the
violation will be placed upon himself since, in principle, he is
responsible for what happens with his car.
8. Information about the exact location of accidents is absolutely

necessary in order to steer police activities towards those areas or
road stretches with a high concentration of accidents and unsafe
behaviour.
9. Involvement of NGO’s is necessary in order to guarantee that police

will maintain fair and strict procedures in detection and subsequent
treatment of traffic offenders.
10. Police officers will have to receive special training in regard to the
new enforcement tactics. They must receive precise instruction on
what constitutes dangerous violations, and how they have to observe
and register these violations.
The element of personal discretion in matters of enforcement should
be minimized. Moreover, the police must be able to explain
courteously but decidedly to the road user, why his behaviour is
illegal, why it constitutes a danger, and why it is necessary to issue a
ticket for his behaviour.
11. Corruption will undermine the respect of the public for the police and
the credibility of the police officers. A special anti-corruption
campaign should accompany the demonstration project. The
elements of this anti-corruption campaign are:
- improvement in working conditions of the Traffic Police (shorter
working hours, better salaries) of police personnel since corruption
is mainly economically rooted
- full clarity of procedures of ticketing and challaning both to the
police officers and to the public.
- continuous supervision of police enforcement activities by NGO’s
- registration of complaints by NGO’s.
12. Evaluation of effects of police activities on road user behaviour is

necessary in order to determine what levels and tactics of enforce-
ment are most successful. Evaluation may improve decisions as to
how available manpower may be effectively allocated over routes or
areas.
We believe that fulfilment of (most of) these conditions is necessary in

order to enable traffic law enforcement in Lahore to achieve both safer
behaviours in traffic and considerable revenue.

5.6. Unified standards
We suggest the following Terms of Reference:

A manual in English with a clear description of standards.
The manual should be:

- complete in its coverage of planning, design, construction and
maintenance issues
- evaluated and approved of by known experts in the field
- have legal status.
The manual should contain:

- explicit definitions of concepts
- description of general requirements as to road layout, signs, markings,
traffic lights etc.
- description of specific requirement as to road layout, signs, markings,
traffic lights etc. for specific situations; requirements should specify
design parameters, materials, placement, and possible combinations of
different elements (e.g. combination of different signs or combinations of
signs and markings)
- description of particular exceptions to aforementioned general or specific
requirements
Broad areas to be incorporated in the proposed design manual include:
Guide to Geometric Design of Roads

A. Design Standards and Road Classification. Specific contents include:
(1) Road Standards must deal with standardization process, specific
urban areas requirement, and application of standards. (2) Road
Classification based on function of Roads and Traffic requirement. (3)
Road Administration covering Access Control, Degree of Control, and
Application of Access Control. (4) Design standards. Selection of
Design Standards is based on classification.
B. Design Controls and Criteria Specific contents include: (1)
Topography. (2) Traffic including Average Daily Traffic, Design
Hourly volume and Projection of Traffic. (3) Design vehicle and
characteristics covering Speed and influence on Capacity of the road.
C. Design Features Comprising Sight distances, horizontal alignment,
vertical alignment, and Combination of horizontal and vertical
alignment.
D. Cross sectional Elements include: Pavement, Shoulders, Kerbs, Side
walls, Traffic barrier, Medians, Service roads, Pedestrians crossing,
U-turns, Bridges and structures, Bus lay byes, Bus lane, and Cycle
Tracks.
E. Other elements affecting Geometric Design. Specific contents
include: Road safety including safety audit, Drainage, Lighting,
Signing and Marking, Traffic signals, Environment Impact, and
landscape development.
Guide to Design of at Grades Intersections.

Specific contents include:
A. Principles of design covering conflicting movements, at grade
intersection layout, factors influencing design, Traffic control and

junction geometry, Capacity, Channelisation, Location, and spacing
of intersections.
B. Design Controls mentioning. Priority, Speed and type of intersection.
C. Geometric Standards covering: Horizontal / vertical alignment, sight
distances, turning lanes, Islands, openings, and ancillary
considerations.
D. Capacity of Intersection including: Capacity of various types of
intersections and Level of service.
E. Other Related Elements including: Requirements for Pedestrians,
Drainage, Lighting, Landscaping and Utilities , Sign/marking.
Warrants for Traffic Sign, and Capacity calculations.
Traffic Signal Design

A. Objectives of traffic signal control.
B. Signals installation criteria
C. Signal operation requirements including Phasing and Actuation.
D. Signal Display and locational aspects, Display requirements Number,
locations, posts, lenses, equipment and material, mounting
alternates, Phasing.
E. Traffic Signal Controllers
F. Controller configuration
G. Actuation, pre-timing location and aspect
H. Traffic Signal Timings covering Design principles, Saturation flow,
Cycle times, phasing, Signal setting, and capacity.
I. Progressive Signal Timings Actuated signal facility
J. Area Traffic Control/Urban Traffic Control (UTC).
Design and Implementation of Traffic Control Devices – Traffic Sign

applications.
A. Traffic Control Devices
B. Purpose, function and requirements
C. Effectiveness.
D. Traffic Signs covering Function and application, Standardization,
local requirements, Design and location, Requirement for installation,
Materials and colours.
E. Various types of signs including: Regulatory Signs, Warning sign,
Guide signs, Classification, colour, shape lettering and symbols,
Route marker, and their application Guidelines.
Temporary Sings and Work zones Control

A. Temporary signs
B. Work Zone Control Traffic Control zone
C. Planning for Traffic Control (1) Road Safety (2) Convenience (3)
Temporary circulation, diversion arrangement (4) Utility work
zone/highway maintenance work zones
D. Function of Control Devices
E. Signs, channelisation, marking, flagging
F. Typical layout arrangements based on site requirement
G. Installation, maintenance, and inspection of Devices.

Design of Cycle Tracks
A. Purpose and various configurations
B. Planning for cycle Tracks (1) Route (2) Long term and short term
solutions
C. Design Elements covering: Speed, sight distance, horizontal
alignment, grade, cross sectional elements, pavement, Intersection
treatment, Drainage and application of Traffic Control Devices.
Design of Road Markings and Delineation

Specific contents would include:
A. Principles, materials
B. Type of marking: Longitudinal, Traverse, Others
C. Post mounted delineators
Design of Pavement Structures

A. Scope
B. Parameters structures element
C. Thickness Design (Design period,Traffic projection, Subgrade CBR,
Design layer thickness).
D. Sub base Course Material requirements
E. Base Course Material and Mixture requirement
F. Binder Course and Wearing Course Material and Mixture
G. Design Mix Formulae
Design of Grade Separation Crossing

A. Design principles: (1) Traffic and operation (2) Site requirements (3)
Types and highway requirement (4) Stage construction
B. Warrants for grade separation (1) Design designation (2) Removal of
hazards (3) Site requirements (4) Traffic volumes and other warrants.
C. Grade Separation Structures
D. Types, cross section and grade separation without ramps
E. General Design consideration
F. Determination of type, approaches, spacing, uniformity of patterns,
continuity of route, signing, marking, lane balancing.
G. Design Elements including: Weaving sections, exits, ramps capacity,
grading aesthetic, landscaping alignment, lighting, drainage and
public utilities.
Preparation of Engineering Drawings

A. Introduction
B. Drawing requirement
C. Sequence of drawings and scales, cover page, index, key plan,
location plan, abbreviations, symbols, curve plan, superelevation
plan, typical cross section and pavement details, alignment control
plan, plan and longitudinal profile plan, cross section plan, Junction
details, road marking and signs, temporary signs, drainage plan,
structure plan, relocation of utilities plan and miscellaneous plans.
D. Drainage numbering plan.

5.7. Establishment of road safety audit
We suggest the following Terms of Reference (based on Jadaan, 1993):

- The procedure for the road safety audit should be clear and legally
binding
- The description of the procedure should include the reporting
- The qualifications of the audit team should be clear. At least one
member of the team should be a road safety engineering specialist.
- The road safety audit team and all its members should be independent
of the design team.
- The safety audit report should contain the following basic materials:
a. The name of the scheme
b. The stage and date of the road safety audit
c. The names and qualifications of safety assessors who were involved
in each task
d. A brief description of the existing/proposed route together with its
status
e. The date and time of site visits and weather conditions during the
visits.
f. List of material that was made available in support of the scheme.
g. Assessment of road safety problems and providing plans referenced
to these problems.
h. Recommendation of any corrective action that is required in the light
of the assessment.
i. A signed and dated statement by the safety audit team to indicate
that they had completed the task.
The report should not include any technical, financial audit, or design team
comments; with an average length not exceeding 15 pages.
In the implementation of this measure, care should be taken to safeguard

the capacity of the investigative road safety audit team to make
independent recommendations.
5.8. The construction of a police training institute
In section 5.5 we have given 5 million $ US as a (conservative) estimate for

the construction of a police driver training institute with training ground. This
estimate is based on the knowledge of the Institute of Traffic Care of
construction costs of professional training centres in Europe. It may well be
that costs of ground and construction would be substantially lower in
Pakistan.
We suggest the following Terms of Reference for the Training Institute:

- The training course should be 60% of the time on the circuit or on the
road. Training should be given for different road types; highways, rural
roads, city roads.
- The training should be highly accessible and motivating even for
commercial drivers who have had little or no experience with formal
education. Basically, the commercial drivers who follow the training will
already have several years of driving experience with a motorcycle, car,
or rickshaw, or even minibus or truck. In some ways, these drivers are
already highly skilled.

- The training should be concluded with a driving test in which the driver
shows himself capable of avoiding or preventing road hazards. During
the driving test, the driver may be asked to explain the meaning of traffic
signs.
- The course should be made mandatory, but at the same time a special
incentive should be attached to participation in the course.
- The instructor should note down in a short report, the strong points and
the weak points of the candidate driver. This report should be discussed
with the driver and should be used as input for the follow-up course.
- One year after the 5-day training course there should be a mandatory 3-
day follow-up course.
The objective of the training is to make drivers more aware of safe and
economical driving, and to eliminate those elements in their driving style
that may cause danger to themselves or others, or may cause damage or
unnecessary wear-and-tear to the vehicle.
The contents of the training course may be:

- Basic map reading and route planning
- Attitude towards driving and safety of self and others
- Special attention to specific road hazards or difficult road situations
- Use of mirrors
- Correct way of overtaking
- Keeping distance
- Meaning of signs
- Night-time driving
- Basic maintenance tasks
- Relationship between speeding and distance travelled
The mode of teaching should be mainly:

- The instructor models the correct driving behaviour while at the same
time commenting and explaining his perceptive, cognitive operations. In
this way the candidate driver sees the correct behaviour, but also learns
to understand the underlying perceptual and mental activities that make
safe driving behaviour possible.
- After modelling by the instructor, the candidate driver is invited to drive a
certain stretch of the route himself.
The manner of feedback given to pupil drivers should be in accordance with

basic principles of positive feedback.
5.9. A traffic command post
Given the recurrent traffic jams in Lahore, resulting in undisciplined and

chaotic traffic scenes, there is clearly a need for a Traffic Command Post
that enables better traffic management. The establishment of professional
lines of communication needed for the operation of the Command Post
would also directly benefit traffic enforcement, since a better
communication network would enable the traffic police to direct manpower
more quickly to those locations where many violations occur.
We have been informed that the Word Bank is currently financing a project
to set up a command post for the signalised intersection control in Lahore. It
should be seriously considered to extend this project to include space and
equipment for the Traffic Police of Lahore. Currently, the Traffic Police

Lahore is to a large extent held responsible for traffic management on both
signaled and unsignaled intersections in Lahore. Therefore, it would seem
in the normal line of responsibilities to place the intersection signal
command post under the formal authority of the Traffic Police.
5.10. Road safety campaigns
The campaigns should concentrate on specific problems and specify the

desired behaviours and the circumstances for these behaviours rather than
using general broad messages (e.g. 'Follow the traffic rules'). The use of
multi-media and positive role models is essential for the success of the
campaigns.
We suggest that at least three separate campaigns should be organized

about the following topics:
- Importance of the use of reflectors or reflective clothing by pedestrians,
cyclists, motorcyclists, and specific categories of heavy traffic;
- Importance of helmet use for the safety of motorcyclists;
- Importance of the use of seat belts regardless of the roads.
Of course there may be other topics for campaigns. The most serious
matters for education and information may deal with (Finnroad, 1997b):
- risks of high speed;
- lane discipline;
- overtaking;
- travelling as a passenger;
- driving distance;
- use of lights and blinkers;
- overloading;
- crossing a road (pedestrian).
The choice of specific campaign topics depends in part on the actuality of
the road safety problem.
The road safety campaigns should preferably address the need of road
users for information they can factually use to arrange their own mobility in
more safe and comfortable ways. Therefore, active citizen participation in
the development of the campaigns seems desired. Furthermore, campaigns
using media like television and newspapers will be expensive; sponsorship
from national and international firms is desired.
Besides campaigns dealing with specific safety behaviours, police

enforcement of traffic rules, should be accompanied by positive publicity
intended to to increase the deterrent effect of the enforcement, while at the
same time generating a more positive attitude towards traffic policing.
Regarding implementation of the campaigns, special attention needs to be

given to the timing and duration. For example, campaign activities may
easily be ignored during days or months when there are important national
or religious festivals.
The campaign activities can be evaluated by survey research in order to

establish whether the message of the campaign was clear, and was
received well by its intended audience. Pretest research can play a role in
the preparatory campaign phase to test whether the message or slogan of

the campaign is clear and appealing to the target group. It may be that
different ways of communication have to be developed for literate and
illiterate road user groups. Media research can test the efficiency of
different communication channels and prevent bad investment.

6. Conclusions
In this report a 6-year (2000-2005) road safety plan has been presented for
the city of Lahore. The elements of the road safety plan were presented at a
road safety seminar in Lahore where endorsement of several elements was
received. The main criticisms of the plan concerned its incompleteness in
certain respects.
The costs for the total 6-year plan are (roughly and conservatively)
estimated to be about 22 million US $. The largest expenditures are for the
upgrading of a 35 km road network in central Lahore (estimated 10 million
US $), the construction of a driver training institute with adequate training
ground (estimated 5 million US $), and the organization of various (3 to 5)
road safety and education campaigns (themes: use of reflectors, seat belts,
motorcycle helmets, supportive enforcement publicity) (estimated to about
3 million US $).
In the first project year there should be more clarity about the budgeting of
the total plan. Part of the financing should come from the own budgets of
organizations and institutes represented in the steering committee. For
instance, materials for traffic education on primary schools can be in part
subsidized from the budget of the Ministry of Education. Part of the money
invested in the plan can be returned by extra revenue gained from the
introduction of parking zones in Lahore and the intensified enforcement of
traffic rules that makes use of realistic traffic fines. Furthermore, sponsor-
ship from national and international firms can be sought to finance certain
elements of the plan, such as the setup of road safety campaigns. On-going
evaluation of the elements of the plan, including the introduction of parking
and intensified enforcement of traffic rules, will indicate the extent of
revenue to be expected in the first phase of the project.
Some elements of the plan, such as the organization of road safety

campaigns, the training of traffic police, and the production of manual, can
be implemented in a well-planned way, since the knowledge to perform
these activities is present or can be sought from international institutes or
experts. Again, evaluation is needed to correct swiftly any mistakes or
confusion in starting-up these activities.
Other elements of the plan, such as the updating of legislation or the

centralization and automatization of the licence and vehicle registration, are
already being proposed or even being realized by other organizations or at
other levels. In part, the plan is simply the reflection of on-going develop-
ments in Pakistan that hopefully will find a fruitful conclusion. For several
subjects mentioned in the plan, the first initiative lies with other organiza-
tions rather than with the steering committee for road safety. Rather than
solely starting new initiatives, the task of the steering committee is often the
encouragement and integration of existing developments.
Clearly the plan needs further fine-tuning. The general aims such as
organization of road safety campaigns needs to be specified. For instance,
the organization of a special motorcycle helmet campaign requires that we
specify exactly what kind of information about helmets is available and what
is needed, and by what channels to reach the target group. The timing and

the preconditions of the campaign are also essential. One precondition of
this particular campaign is to have certainty about correct helmet standards,
the protective value of helmets, and their commercial availability and
affordability.
Some elements in the present plan may not be feasible in the time-frame
specified. For example, we have not separately budgeted the setup of a
modern traffic command centre, assuming that a central command post is
to be constructed in a separate project.
Thus, the plan presented here is surely ambitious, but the time seems ripe
for a positive change in the field of traffic and traffic safety. In the late
nineties, at the time of the present project, we see many indications that
traffic and traffic safety are attracting serious attention from politicians and
professionals as well as from the general public in Pakistan. Many events in
the field of traffic are happening at about the same time: a) the introduction
of new legislative proposals to modernize traffic legislation, b) interest in
traffic problems on the highest political level of the Punjab as reflected in a
meeting with the Prime Minister of the Province of Punjab, c) the recent
positive experiences with police enforcement and publicity on the Lahore-
Islamabad motorway, d) the recent foundation of a national road user’s
interest organization (ARUP), e) the emergence of provincial committees
for traffic management, and f) provincial road safety seminars organized by
Finnroad etc.. We hope that the ambition in this plan indeed reflects the
ambition we have seen in various officials to deal seriously with the
problems of traffic and traffic safety.

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8. Background studies
8.1. Analyses of traffic in Pakistan and Lahore
Lahore Traffic
The traffic scenes in Lahore are diverse indeed. Lahore is an amalgam of:
- The traditional old city with the 18th century mix of narrow and broad
streets, a constant high level of congestion and encroachment, and a
relatively large percentage of non-motorized traffic (pedestrians, cyclists,
animal-driven cards) with an average speed about walking pace.
- Neglected, badly maintained roads where motorized traffic, including
heavy traffic, drives with high speed (e.g. Multan Road)
- Recently reconstructed roads (e.g. Main Boulevard Gulberg, Mall Road)
with still traffic problems
- Newly developed areas such as Defense with a good road infrastructure
There are some general characteristics of the traffic system in Lahore:
1. Mix of slow and fast-moving traffic

Like most metropolitan Asian cities, Lahore traffic is characterized by a mix
of slow- and fast moving traffic. In a comprehensive traffic study of Lahore
traffic, the traffic composition was described as follows: “Motor cycles
account for over half of the motorized vehicles licensed in Lahore, and cars,
taxis, etc. for a little over a quarter. Over the past five years the number of
motorcycles licensed have increased at almost, 20% per annum, twice the
rate of increase for private cars.” (LDA/MPW, 1980; p. 62). “Existing traffic
flows comprise a wide range of vehicle types with varying characteristics
and requirements. This, coupled with the number of animals that roam at
large throughout the city, and the generally poor standard of driver
behaviour, leads to a very inefficient and hazardous use of available road
space.” (LDA/MPW, 1980; p. 63).
2. Roads combining access and flow functions

Almost all shops and factories in Lahore are along the major roads, the
economic idea being that a shop should be easily accessible for potential
clients who can drive on the road, stop immediately in front of the shop, and
step out of their car into the shop. Undoubtedly, the spirit of giving
maximum service to the client, and the forces of economical competition,
have contributed to this development. This state of affairs is also rooted in a
rich historical mercantile tradition where major shops, bazaars, and
processions have always been alongside the major roads. Besides the
commercial institutions, the concentration of primary and secondary schools
alongside main roads is also very high. On Main Boulevard there are easily
11 schools within the space of only a few kilometres. The concentration of
schools alongside G-road is at least as dense. According to the law, the
presence of these schools should be marked by a school zone (which is not
done).

However, from a modern traffic management point of review, this situation
is to be deplored. It is a well-known tenet in traffic management science that
urban roads should be categorized in different types, and that each type of
road should have one main function. One important function of roads is the
flow function: to provide easy, smooth flow of large traffic volumes with
relatively high speeds. Another function of roads is to provide access to
specific places like shops, and small streets. If a road combines both flow
and access functions it means, in effect, that it will not perform either of
these functions according to design standard. A large part of the major road
network in Lahore combines flow and access functions, resulting in a
situation where traffic management at certain peak times and places
becomes difficult indeed.
From this analysis, it is easy to understand the pivotal role the traffic police
plays in the traffic management in the city. When, at certain times and
places, the traffic system cannot regulate itself anymore and the traffic bogs
down in congestion, public irritation, and undisciplined behaviour; the traffic
police are the only agency to restore some semblance of order to the
system.
3. High concentration of commercial traffic

Lahore traffic is predominantly (80%) commercial traffic: transport of
persons and goods in direct relation to economic necessities. In fact this
means that economic imperatives and developments are dominant forces in
shaping the future course of the Lahore traffic system.
4. Scarcity of transport means

In 1980 there was still a fairly well-working public transport system in
Lahore: “Nearly two-thirds of the total passenger movement into the central
area is carried by public transport. Buses carry about half of this volume,
mini-buses a third, and rickshaws the balance. Private cars and motorcycles
between them carry less than a quarter of the total numbers entering the
central area.” (LDA/MPW, 1980; p 63).
Through mis-management, the public transport system was abolished for

the most part in the eighties, and the resulting vacuum in transport market
was filled up by private sector which is now, for the most part, catering to
the transport demand in Lahore city. Indeed, the necessity of the Lahore
Urban Transport Project is the consequence of a basic economic fact: good,
fast, and cheap transport is a scarce economic resource.
5. Substandard design or construction of roads

A short inspection of some of the roads and intersections in Lahore reveal
several striking examples of road layout that is decidedly sub-standard. One
of the main arteries in Lahore city is the (in 1998) finished Main Boulevard
Gulberg. There are several substandard elements in the road layout. To
name the most important:
- No stop lines on main intersections
- Service roads entering on to a roundabout (e.g. Liberty Market
roundabout) and in main intersections
- Inadequately placed signs indicating road work in progress
- Inadequately placed signs indicating pedestrian crossings

- Lay-out point of zebra crossings is invisible
- Unnecessary broad carriageways
- Nonsensical yellow parallel lines
- Inadequate alignment
- Inadequate traffic islands for pedestrians.
- Inadequate use of service roads
- Absence of facilities for pedestrians and public transport
This lack of basic elements of road layout has contributed to the poor use of
the broad street width. Different types of vehicle are constantly overtaking
one another. Bikes overtake pedestrians; bikes are being overtaken by
rickshaws, rickshaws by motorcycles etc., resulting in only one effective
traffic lane – the right lane - for motorized high speed traffic whereas under
more disciplined circumstances two traffic lanes would be available for
motorized traffic.
6. Lack of basic maintenance

In the past there has been a lack of coordination between several
government departments. As a result, roads sometimes were broken up
right after construction for sanitation or electricity purposes. However, this
problem has been partially recognized and is now being addressed by the
Central Coordinating Committee (representatives of WASA, WAPDA, LDA,
TEPA, SWEGAS) which meets every Monday under the Chairmanship of
the Mayor himself.
In a thorough urban planning study of 1980, the road network was also
under review. The description of the road network seems still valid today:
“An adequate network of main roads exists throughout most of the city, and
congestion is not generally severe with traffic moving freely throughout the
day. In specific central area locations, congestion is experienced, although
this may be attributed not so much to a lack of road space but to the
composition and behaviour of traffic on the road. Most of the traffic is
carried on relatively few major roads; over half enters the central area on
seven routes and these are constructed, in the main, to sufficient
standards.” (LDA/Metropolitan Planning Wing, 1980; p. 62).
“Elsewhere the quality and adequacy of local roads varies immensely, and
in many areas no suitable surfaced roads are available. The standard of
maintenance, provision of lighting, pedestrian facilities, and surface water
drainage are inadequate generally.” (LDA/MPW, 1980; p. 62).
Growth of population and traffic

Since several years now there has been a strong migration trend from rural
areas towards the Metropolitan Area of Lahore (Table 8.1 illustrates the
growth in Lahore district). People migrate to Lahore for all the services and
opportunities they cannot find anymore in the rural areas, e.g.: - job
opportunities, health care, education, housing, basic mobility, cheap foods.

Lahore Households Male Female Total Comparison 1981-1998
District 1981 Average Annual
Growth Rate
Rural 151,651 567,882 515,619 1,083,501 556,456 399
Urban 749,907 2,695,022 2,434,192 2,988,486 2,988,486 323
Total 901,558 3,262,904 2,949,811 6,212,715 3,544,942 335
Table 8.1. Results of the 1998-Census for the Lahore District (Source:
Population Census Organization Statistics Division Government of Pakistan
(1998).
Not surprisingly the growth rate in population has also launched a large
growth rate in motorized traffic (Table 8.2).
Year Car/ jeep Motorcycle Truck Deliv. Bus Taxi Rickshaw Others Total Animal Grand
Van Total
80 17106 36142 1949 653 2327 710 7597 3858 70342 9040 79382
81 21746 25348 1848 894 2267 1950 9270 3402 92725 9060 102785
82 24652 64259 2065 1142 2445 2028 9895 4512 110998 8940 119938
83 26302 68771 2543 1352 2795 2239 9738 7142 120882 8840 129722
84 33621 74973 2325 1553 2365 1904 9302 7450 133493 8240 141733
85 40939 81174 2106 1753 1935 1568 8865 7757 146097 8640 154737
86 40230 104367 1976 3313 2043 635 6805 10416 169785 8540 178325
87 46977 108319 2340 3402 2512 461 8296 11785 184092 8240 192332
88 52724 112271 2703 3491 2981 287 9787 13154 198398 8240 206638
89 56583 117442 2480 3465 2331 237 8891 13753 205002 8240 213242
90 61633 143439 2544 3678 2402 602 9270 14575 238143 8240 246383
91 65828 152311 2763 3085 2799 1080 9473 21391 258730 8240 266070
92 70022 161184 2982 2491 3197 1557 9676 28206 279315 8240 287555
93 74217 170056 3201 1898 3594 2035 9869 35022 299902 8240 308142
94 83816 194778 3568 21082 5728 2487 10051 18463 339973 8240 338213
95 150452 294420 6955 32188 12841 7280 14348 20177 538660 8240 541901
96 217087 394061 10342 43293 19954 12073 18645 21891 737346 8240 745586
Table 8.2. Number of vehicles on road in Lahore (Source: Punjab Bureau of Statistics or Excise and
Taxation Department).
The estimated growth rates of the vehicle park in Lahore have been:
Period 1980-1990: 12,9% (Development statistic of Punjab, Punjab Bureau
of Statistics).
Period 1990-1996: 20,7% (Excise & Taxation Department, Government of
Punjab).
Period 1980-1996: 15,8% (Comprehensive Study on Transportation System
in Lahore (Progress Report), 1991, TEPA, LDA.

Between 1986 and 1997, the volume of traffic has quadrupled (Table 8.2).
In 1999 the total number of registered vehicles is estimated to be over
900.000.
Specific problems Lahore situation

Shavique (1994) lists the major traffic problems in Lahore as follows:
1. Mix of slow moving and fast moving traffic
2. Encroachment along the roadside (traders, road side fruit markets,
construction material, car show rooms)
3. Insufficient parking places (especially near shopping plazas and newly
erected office buildings)
4. Poor road engineering (especially absence of road markings, road signs,
bus bays, proper drainage system, slip roads on main crossings)
5. Insufficient stands for PSVs
6. Disturbances created by processions on busy roads (e.g. Mall Road)
7. Shortage of traffic staff.
In 1998 a special committee of experts reviewed the state of affairs in

regard to traffic management in the province of the Punjab (Committee on
Traffic Management in Punjab, 1998). The engineering working group of
this committee summarized the traffic problems in the Punjab as follows:
- inadequate defective roads;
- lack of sufficient traffic signals;
- lack of arterial roads and road classification;
- operation of fruit and vegetable markets in congested areas in urban
cities;
- non-existence of separate roads for slow moving and fast moving
vehicles;
- lack of underpasses and overhead bridges.
In 1999, a number of these measures are in the ‘pipeline’:

- The Lahore Ring Road
- Negotiations with the Unions about a new Urban Transport system
- Phasing out of slow-moving traffic from certain areas
- Several flyovers and underpasses are planned
A recent analysis of the traffic in Lahore describes it as “generally

disorderly”. The factors held responsible for the disorder are (Meakin, 1998;
p. 2):
- a low level of application of traffic management measures;
- undisciplined behaviour of road users;
- poor mechanical condition of vehicles;
- conflict between the various constituents of the traffic mix of
pedestrians, cycles, motor vehicles, and animal-drawn vehicles;
- encroachment of road space by utility poles, frontage traders,
construction activity, as well as potholes and uncovered manholes;
- poor road drainage causing pools of rain water to lie for many days;
- traffic police who are poorly trained (or untrained) in traffic control
techniques, inadequately equipped, and who give priority to checking
vehicle documents above enforcing traffic rules.

Analyses of traffic behaviour
The behaviour of road users and road safety is only partly the result of
traffic law and enforcement. For a large part it is the direct reaction to road,
traffic and vehicle conditions, which enables a certain range of behaviour.
Part of this range may be safe and another part unsafe or not allowed by
traffic law. This range is created through the design of roads, the application
of traffic signs and signals, as well as through the design and condition of
vehicles.
"The traffic in Pakistan is one of the most chaotic and undisciplined among
the developing countries. Hardly anybody seems to pay any attention to
traffic safety rules and everybody drives in any manner he pleases. The
extent of speeding and reckless driving and other moving violations is
simply frightening. There is total lack of driving courtesy as everybody tries
to be ahead of everybody else. Nobody pays any heed to traffic signs,
signals, and road markings which have been installed and being maintained
at a very high cost. The extent of one-way violations, even on high speed
dual-carriage ways, is of alarming proportions. There is a total absence of
lane discipline and hardly anybody gives right-of-way if he could get away
with it. It is a common sight to see overtaking in the face of coming
vehicles, on curves, at stop sign, in no overtaking zones. Use of horns is
very high, even in the designated silence zones. Nobody seems to care as
to where he parks the vehicle, as long as he can find a place on the road or
footpath for his vehicle. It is a common site to see double and triple parking
on all busy streets. The extent of lighting violations at night-time is so high
that the night-time driving has become extremely hazardous." (National
Transport Research Centre, 1981).
According to an observation study in eight Pakistani cities, the most

common (and dangerous) violations of traffic rules in Pakistan are
(Finnroad, 1998b):
1. Speeding
2. Driving in the centre of the road (or not caring about lane marking)
3. Driving distance too close
4. Force merging into main road
5. Driving in wrong direction on dualised roads
6. Wrong overtaking (too close or when opposing traffic)
7. Vehicle parked in wrong direction/place
8. Disregard of stop sign
9. Driving on shoulders
10. Right turn from left lane (or vice versa)
11. Reversing without due care
12. U-turn without due care
As a result of driving too close, Pakistan has a lot more accidents between
vehicles driving in the same direction (nose-to-tail or side-swipe). As a
result of dangerous overtaking and neglect of lane markings, Pakistan has
also a lot more head-on-collisions than other countries (Finnroad, 1998b).
It is very clear that transport vehicles, buses, and mini-buses are involved
in a large proportion of accidents. Not surprisingly the call for better control
of driving behaviour of professional drivers has been repeatedly made, e.g.:

“The control of licensing, follow-up of companies and strict enforcement
should be priority number one”. (Finnroad, 1996; appendix 3.2)
The general description of undisciplined, rule-ignoring traffic behaviour of

the Pakistani driver has been repeated in several reports to describe the
typical driving behaviour of the Lahori drivers:
“The drivers of private motor vehicles, especially cars, behave carelessly
and selfishly, which leads to speeding, excessive lane changing, dangerous
overtaking, and a general neglect of traffic rules and regulations, even
traffic signals. The trucks use their size and horns to make their way. The
bus drivers race in competition towards the stops where they idle in as
undisciplined clumps. The cyclists take every opportunity for a shortcut,
driving against the flow of traffic, and the pedestrians walk across the roads
without taking any notice of other traffic or pedestrian crossings.” (VTS,
1987b; p. 23).
“The most frequent causes of road accidents are related to driver behaviour
and, in most cases, arise from the inability of a driver to cope with the road
environment or traffic conditions at a particular point in time. In Lahore, this
may arise from a number of underlying factors such as inadequate driving
skill/knowledge or, equally likely, inadequate traffic engineering design of
facilities or chaotic traffic conditions. The greatest scope for improvement
of road safety undoubtedly lies in bringing about improved driver behaviour.
This, in the long term requires sustained efforts to improve driver training
and driver education, but can also be brought about through more effective
traffic police enforcement and improvements in the road environment to
ease, or simplify, driving tasks and decisions at high risk locations, and by
the reduction of unnecessary conflicts between road users.” (Ross, 1990; p.
16).
According to the police accident registration the major contributory factor to

road accidents is also behaviour rather than conditions of road, vehicle, or
weather (Table 8.3). It should be kept in mind, however, that there may be
considerable bias in these statistics towards behavioural factors.
Accident cause Number of accidents
Rash & Negligent Driving 2899
Mechanical Fault 322
Bad road condition 478
Bad weather condition 75
Table 8.3. Registered accident causes in the period 1994-1998

(Source: Statistics Traffic Police Lahore).
The aforementioned analyses of road user behaviour are valid, but are also
to a certain extent one-sided. While Lahori drivers indeed violate traffic
rules to a large extent, they adhere to their own set of informal rules:

- concentrate on traffic in front
- priority rules seem to be that vehicle slightly in front (rather than from
the right) must be given priority
- honk to warn other drivers of your presence and your overtaking
- do not brake suddenly
- car drivers always try to swerve towards the best lane, being the
extreme right lane rather than the left lane
The Lahori drivers are very skilled in using rather small margins of space to
overtake or to mingle with other traffic. The major element of predictability
is that sudden braking is not likely to occur since many drivers seek solution
to potential conflicts by using narrow margins whenever possible. In fact,
there is a system where lane keeping doesn't function at all, since the
predominant mode of conflict resolution is lateral forward or oblique
movement. So-called road improvement by widening roads, even tends to
stimulate this behaviour in the sense that even more space is created for
lateral collision-avoiding movement.
Specific contributory factors to accidents

The fatal accidents that do happen have often to do with specific
circumstances in which even these well-honed skills of the Lahori drivers
are not enough to avert serious accident. These circumstances are:
- long hours of professional driving (> 12 hours);
- unprofessional drivers of commercial vehicles;
- road design not guiding inexperienced drivers new to the Lahore scene;
- high speed, aggressive driving style under economical pressures;
- potholes particularly during night time driving;
- construction sites with inadequate signing and facilities for diversion of
traffic;
- police pickets that are not indicated by lights during the night;
- broad streets which take more than 10 seconds to pass and with no
traffic islands for pedestrians.
Problems caused by heavy traffic

A large part of Lahore traffic is commercial traffic. Special mention should
be made of the problems created by a special category of commercial
traffic, the heavy vehicles. The problem of overloaded heavy vehicles is a
general problem in developing countries. Fazil (1996) sums up some of the
specific sources of unsafety caused by traffic of heavy vehicles. Heavy
vehicles are often not equipped with conspicuous warning lights or
indicators on the rear, or reflective sides. Also, there is unsecured loading
of commodities. Especially dangerous is the handling of protruding cargo,
e.g. iron bars, wide and bulky loads of steel scraps. And, of course, the mix
between heavy and light vehicles creates dangers on its own.
Besides overloading, the type of loading also may be dangerous. As

reported by Shafique (1999b) long vehicles loaded with steel bars and
tractor trolleys having loads which are expanded more than three feets on
each side are involved in accidents, particularly during the night after 10:00
pm. Shafique describes one accidents as follows: "Last year one fatal
accident in Lahore took place because the iron bars were about 6 feet over-
and-above the length of the tractor trolley, and a car driver could not see it

because there was no red or yellow light for indication. The iron bars
pierced through the wind screen and killed all four occupants of the car
including the driver." (Shafique, 1999b).
Obstacles on roads
Besides badly indicated road construction work sites, another source of
danger comes from police pickets. As Shafique rightly points out, police
pickets normally cover the half of the right-of- way of the roads without any
indication by lights, and speedy vehicles may strike against the barricades.
8.2. Review of safety initiatives and legislation
Review of recent road safety initiatives

There have been a number of important recent initiatives in the field of
Pakistan and Lahore traffic that have relevance for the safety issues. These
are:
1. A new legislative proposal for the nation, the “National Highways Safety
Ordinance” attempts to provide for safe driving on the National
Highways in Pakistan.
2. On the provincial level, the Road Usage Bill 1998 attempts to provide for
an updated traffic law legislation for the province of the Punjab.
3. The Deputy Inspector General of the Traffic Police Punjab has
formulated several briefings to the Chief Minister of the Province in
which issues of functioning and effectiveness of traffic law enforcement
have been discussed and specific recommendation have been made to
increase this efficiency.
4. In collaboration between the Traffic Police Lahore and the Traffic
Engineering and Planning Agency (TEPA) an “Integrated Road/Traffic
Improvement Plan Lahore” has been formulated.
These recent initiatives, at different administrative levels, show that interest

in traffic problems, including safety problems, is certainly present. The
proposals and recommendation in these different initiatives make a lot of
sense, and show that there is an awareness of the several factors
contributing to the problems.
What is essentially lacking is a multi-year traffic policy plan approved of at

the provincial or national level. A policy that clearly points out priorities and
mentions specific targets and a time-frame for implementation would bring
more coherence in various initiatives and give them a much-needed,
shared frame of reference. Also, a traffic policy with ambitious and realistic
quantitative targets, would make evaluation of activities possible. In most
plans or initiatives, little or no attention is given to the possible role of
research in developing new measures or evaluating already implemented
measures. Furthermore, there may be more attention in the proposals to
possible funding mechanisms in the field of traffic itself.
The problem-analyses of traffic in Pakistan (Swati, 1980), Punjab

(Committee Traffic Management, 1998) and in Lahore (TEPA, 1991;
Shafique, 1994) show much insight, and the recommendations given
certainly point towards promising directions. In this plan for the road safety
of Lahore, we have taken over some of the recommendations given. From

a scientific point of view, the analyses are not quite satisfactory. In general,
there is a lack of attention to the issue of monitoring developments in traffic
by studies of traffic counts, volumes etc.
Part of the monitoring of traffic that is particularly relevant for road safety,
the reliable registration of accidents, receives scant or no attention. In short,
analysis of the problems based on reliable data is scarce. Again, like some
other issues we have described, this could originate from an old problem-
solving tradition of Pakistan culture, where high-level talks about a problem
are considered more relevant to problem-analysis than mere sheets of
research data and figures. However, the old modes of dispute settlement
and political decision-making should be supplemented with more attention
to the collection and analysis of research data.
Pakistan, Punjab, and Lahore are probably only at the very start of a sharp
increase in motorization growth, and in commercial and public transport
demands. Scientific research can detect the possible future shape of things
to come and give clear warning indications. Continuous monitoring of
crucial traffic parameters like volumes, accidents, pollution measures, will
indicate the direction the system is heading, and the time left for
implementing effective measures. Based on a monitoring system, scientific
predictions can be made how the traffic system will evolve over time.
Based on these predictions, high level officials should make their decisions
about changes or improvements to the system.
Review of legislation
Essentially, traffic rules are prescriptions given by the government to direct
the behaviour of road users, with the additional power to force penalties on
road users who violate these rules.
The promotion of traffic safety by law only, is dependent upon certain

general conditions (e.g. Noordzij, 1988; Goldenbeld, 1996):
- Complying with traffic rules should result in a lower risk than no
compliance;
- Traffic rules are well known and clear;
- The rules are also followed by a large majority in practice;
- There is a substantial risk of detection;
- The severity of penalty is high enough to have a deterrent effect;
- When violating the rule the risk of accident is high;
- The advantages when committing an offence are minor.
The purpose of this section is to review the Pakistani traffic laws and
attendant penalties, and to offer some suggestions that may be useful in
increasing the acceptance of traffic laws and rules.
In Pakistan, legislation with regard to road safety stems back from the
colonial time. The Highway Code, which has a legal status in Pakistan, as
opposed to a mere advisory status in some other countries, is from 1977.
In Pakistan there legal rules for traffic are laid down in four basic
documents:

- The Motor Vehicles Ordinance 1965
- The West Pakistan Motor Vehicles Rules 1969
- The Pakistan Highway Code
- Special Ordinances by the Prime Minister
Most of the regulations are described in the Manual of Motor Vehicles Laws.
Given the old tradition of the legislation and the changes in traffic and traffic
enforcement, there is much to be said for introducing a new road safety act
which is better attuned to the demands of the road system and to modern
day traffic policing operations.
In his briefing on traffic problems to the Chief Minister of the Punjab, the
DIG/Traffic Punjab recommended a new updated law for all road users.
Part of the shortcoming of the Motor Vehicles Act 1965 (MVA 65) are
addressed in the new draft Road Usage Bill 1998 (see Table 8.4). In
contrast to the MVA 65, the Road Usage Bill also covers the regulations
governing the behaviours of pedestrians, cyclists, animal drawn vehicles,
and animal herders. However, the draft has yet to be politically approved.
Motor Vehicles Ordinance 1965 Road Usage Bill 1998

Animal drawn vehicles not covered Driver of animal drawn card will also require
license
3 years of driving experience required before 5 years of driving experience required before
grant of heavy vehicle license grant of heavy vehicle license
Fitness certificate for transport vehicle Fitness certificate for transport vehicle
effective for three years effective for one year
Seat belt use not mandatory outside An enabling provision has been provided for
motorways framing of rules for the construction of
vehicles and the use of safety belts
Government or authorized agency may Parking places and halting stations shall be
determine the places at which public services determined in concurrence with and on the
vehicles may stop for a longer time than is recommendations of, the District
necessary for taking up and setting down of Superintendent of Police concerned.
passengers
Government or authorised authority may Right-of-way shall be clearly indicated and
cause or permit traffic signs to be placed or marked at each intersection of a road.
erected in any public place for the purpose of
regulating motor vehicle traffic.
Duty to obey traffic signals only described for Duty to obey traffic signals extended to
drivers of road vehicles pedestrians, cyclists, drivers of animal-drawn
cards
Fines for driving at excessive speed 100 Rs Fines for driving at excessive speed between
for private drivers and 500 Rs for drivers of 2000-5000 Rs. and for drivers of transport
transport vehicles vehicles 10000-15000Rs.
Penalty for driving recklessly max 500 Rs. Fine 5000-15000 Rs. and max 6 month im-
and max 6 month imprisonment prisonment
Table 8.4. Comparison MVO 65 and Road usage Bill on major points.
In general, the Road Usage Bill 1998 represents a definite improvement

upon the old legislation contained in MVO 1965 and MVR 1969. The main
improvements can be described in four categories:

- Coverage of all road users;
authorities;
- More sharply described administrative procedures in the fields of license
registration, public carriers’ permits;
- Penalties that are adjusted to modern day economics.
Like many other plans and proposals the Road Usage Bill is in the political
‘pipeline’. One of our recommendations is that the Bill will pass political
scrutiny to be enacted in the short term.
Pakistan Highway Code

The Highway Code in Pakistan is a document with a legal status. Basically,
the Highway Code is a sound document giving appropriate behavioural
guidance for most of the traffic situations to be found. Very recently the
Highway Code was modernized and printed in a new edition by the
Motorway Police. This document in itself, or parts of it, could be used well in
traffic safety education in schools.
Of course the Highway Code could be further improved. Not all traffic
situations are covered, e.g. behaviour on U-turn. The specific use of service
roads and slip roads should be explained.
Furthermore, the Highway Code should give some specific behavioural

guidelines for motorcyclists and rickshaws. These vehicle types can operate
in smaller spaces than cars and tend to do so. It could be considered to give
guidelines as to proper conduct in driving these vehicles. Some special
guidelines could also be given for the operation of heavy vehicles,
especially for right turn manoeuvres.
Further possibilities for improvement

Pakistan, like many other countries, has a set of laws and rules that were
conceived several years ago when traffic was not yet fully developed. A
revision of traffic law legislation may be used to:
1. Introduce rules for new situations or vehicle types that were not covered
by the old law
2. Enhance the acceptance of traffic laws.
According to Noordzij (1988), the effectiveness of any set of traffic rules

can be improved in a number of ways, starting with the revision of separate
rules. Each rule should be checked to assess whether the situations to
which it refers are outdated, whether the arguments for the prescribed
behaviour still hold, and whether this behaviour can be prescribed in more
detail.
A more fundamental decision pertains to the question of whether the

Pakistani traffic rules should continue their function as the most
comprehensive and authoritative set of prescriptions for the behaviour of
road users. If this function is to be continued, several improvements can be
made:

1. The Pakistani traffic rules could be made more accessible by presenting
them in separate sections, based on different modes of transport, and
different types of roads.
2. The Pakistani traffic rules could be presented more convincingly by

starting with a number of articles explaining the intentions of the rules in
general terms, and by providing arguments for individual rules.
This could be completed with some form of priority ranking, which is
likely to lead to better compliance with the most important rules. It could
even be considered to include rules that do not carry the threat of a
penalty if violated. Compliance could be further improved by translating
the legal rules into action patterns that can be taught.
Introduction of the ticket system

Especially relevant for the effectiveness of police enforcement of traffic
rules are the legislative changes in regard to the processing of traffic
violations by challans or tickets.
In 1969, a legal provision for a ticket system was made. The West Pakistan
Motor Vehicles Amendment Ordinance 1969 authorised a police officer not
below the rank of an Assistant Sub-Inspector of Police to charge on the
spot, any person committing (within his view) one of the following offences
(mentioned in the Fifth Schedule of the West Pakistan Motor Vehicles
Ordinance 1965): driving when disqualified, failing to stop on the
occurrence of an accident, applying for a licence without giving particulars
of endorsement, driving recklessly, driving while drunk or under the
influence of any drug, taking part in an unauthorized race, using an altered
licence, driving without a license, allowing a license to be used by another
person, driving at excessive speed, driving when mentally of physically unfit
to drive, refusing to produce a license, failing to stop when required, driving
an unregistered vehicle, driving a transport vehicle not covered by a
certificate of fitness, driving in contravention of any rule made under section
74 related to speed governors, driving a vehicle exceeding the permissible
limit of weight, and using a vehicle in an unsafe condition (Waqar-ul-Haq,
1998; p. 161)
The main features of the present ticket system (Section 116 MVO 1965)
are:
- Tickets of Rs. 10 (Scooter/Motor Cycle) and Rs. 20 (Car/Taxi)
- The fine is to be deposited in a post office or a branch of the National
Bank of Pakistan within 7 days or by money order under intimation to the
court of PS concerned
- Only policemen from the level of Assistant Sub-Inspector and above are
authorized to issue the ticket
Tickets may be given for 16 (minor) offences, driving without license, under
age driving, and speeding are not included.
Compared to the traditional challan system, the ticket system in theory has
several advantages:
- it is simple and speedy;
- it saves court time; and

- it reduces corruption, since the fines are so low that bribery seems not
worth the money.
However, as observed by the Committee on Traffic Management in the

Punjab (1998), the ticketing system has not yet worked to full benefit.
Causes for malfunctioning were:
- no seizure of documents;
- Public Service Vehicles not covered by the system;
- the meagre amount of the fine limits the deterrent effect;
- the procedure of depositing the fine needlessly cumbersome.
The following improvements to the ticketing system have been

recommended by the Committee: the ticketing system should cover
violations of all road users; pedestrians and cyclists included; the tickets
should be drawn up in quadruplicate in order to streamline (central)
administration; the violator should pay the fine on the spot or, if not,
challenge the fine and go to court or deposit the fine in a specified bank; the
fines should be higher (Rs. 50 and Rs. 100 for two-wheelers and Rs. 100
and Rs. 200 for four-wheel vehicles); the schedule of offences for which
tickets may be issued should be revised.
Legal law versus tradition

Ultimately, the process of traffic law enforcement should be rooted in legal
law. In Pakistan there is a centuries-old tradition of settling conflicts and
dispute outside the sphere of legal law. In modern days this tradition is still
strongly present in Pakistan, and also affects the operation of traffic law
enforcement. If an accident results in a fatality and is registered under the
MVO 65, the case will come to court. However, the actual court decision
does not follow legal law; the court magistrates is satisfied if the parties
involved (offender and family of the deceased) come to a mutual under-
standing. This so called 'compromising' is part and parcel of the legal
culture in Pakistan. The case will be different if the accident is registered
under penal law. In that case, the court will base it's verdict on standards of
the law.
8.3. Main stakeholders in the field of road safety
Pakistan as a whole
The road authorities in Pakistan are the National Highway Authority, the
provincial Communication and Works Departments, and the metropolitan
development authorities. Traditionally, all roads were administered by the
provincial works departments. This changed in 1987 when the National
Highway Authority was established.
Based on the organization chart of the Punjab C&W Department, the C&W
Department does not have a road safety unit in the organization.
The police forces are organized on a provincial basis. The Head is the
Inspector General Police who has several deputies working under him, one
of them Deputy IG Traffic. The province is divided into ranges and each
range into districts.

Traffic control in the field is carried out by traffic police who are placed in
strategic positions, like intersections. Their work is supervised by a mobile
sergeant who works under the superintendent.
Traffic accidents are recorded by the police stations. All contacts, including
road accidents reported to the police station, are entered into a log book.
First Inspection Reports (FIR) are prepared for those accidents which are
taken to court. The police stations and the traffic police are separate
organizations.
Lahore road authorities

Table 8.5 presents an overview of the main road authorities in the Lahore
Metropolitan Area.
The Chief Minister of the Province of the Punjab
Lord Mayor Department of Transport Ministry of Communication

and Works
Metropolitan Corporation Lahore Development Punjab Highway Authority

Lahore Authority
TEPA, WASA
Table 8.5. Overview Road Authorities Lahore Metropolitan Area.
General
The most basic function of LDA is improvement of roads. The most basic
function of TEPA is planning of roads. Often it is the case that roads are
“taken over” by MCL after improvement has taken place. MCL is, then,
responsible for maintenance of the roads. In practice, this maintenance can
be seriously flawed. One example is the maintenance of the various
signalled intersections under supervision by MCL. In fact, many road work
activities by MCL are better described by the concepts of “construction”,
“reconstruction” and “rehabilitation” than by the concept of “maintenance”.
This leads to the conclusion that real maintenance work is not being done
very much. For one example, the numerous potholes on Jail Road, that
present a veritable danger at night for the stability of motorcycles, support
this fact.
LDA
Both Land Use Planning and Traffic Planning are under responsibility of
LDA. Sadly, an important opportunity for traffic management and traffic
safety is missed since there has been no coordination between those two
planning units. The Town Planners of LDA supervise the division of land
and the issuing of building controls in some areas of Lahore (not the whole
of Lahore)
TEPA
TEPA was in charge of the planning of the majority of roads in Lahore up till
the eighties. However, the failure of an ambitious road project in Old Town
led to a sharp cutback in the funding of TEPA. Since then NESPAK, a semi-

Government organization working on commercial basis, is responsible for
designing major road projects in Lahore. One of these projects is the Ring
Road project. Currently TEPA is facing problems of an unsteady cash flow.
Funding from the Department of Transport has since some years now been
capricious.
On special request, TEPA will work together with Lahore traffic police in
giving advice on route planning for special events, e.g. the celebration of
Independence Day when people from far around come into Lahore. In 1991,
there was a special close working relationship between TEPA and Lahore
Traffic Police, when they produced a traffic safety and traffic police training
programme to the Government of the Punjab. The plan didn’t receive
formal government approval.
Some representatives of TEPA voicing their personal opinion rather than

department policy, deplore the bureaucratisation and politicizing of the
decision-making process about road design plans. Nowadays it is common
in Lahore, that decisions about road infrastructure follow a political agenda
rather than survey-based analysis of the problem. Thus, political decisions
may sabotage decisions based on sound engineering design. This fact has
been confirmed by several sources at different meetings.
In 1990, Ross recommended that TEPA should establish a small full time
Road Safety Unit (RSU) with a designated staff to be responsible for TEPA
road safety activities. The proposed RSU should have consisted of two road
or traffic engineers and two or three technicians, and was also to function as
the secretariat to a Lahore Road Safety Committee to follow up, coordinate,
and implement the decisions of the committee. However, this
recommendation was not put into effect.
MCL
The Metropolitan Corporation Lahore (MCL) is mainly concerned with the
maintenance and construction of major roads in the Lahore Metropolitan
Area. If some activities are beyond the scope of MCL, a consulting firm like
e.g. NESPAK can be hired to perform the task under supervision of MCL.
To a large extent, MCL has a constant cash flow, generated in part by
taxes. In the case of large-scale maintenance and rehabilitation programs,
the MCL works together with Traffic Police to ensure a smooth flow of
traffic.
In discussion with MCL, many improvements to the Lahore Metropolitan

Area were mentioned as being “in the pipeline”. The major improvements to
the road system were:
- Road improvement.
- In the framework of the Grade Separation project, about 6 underpasses
and 6 flyovers for motorized traffic will be constructed.
- Repair of traffic light installations under supervision of international
electronics firms Siemens and Philips.
- Restricting access of certain areas to animal-drawn traffic.
- Construction of extra flyovers for pedestrians, accompanied by police
guidance actions.

- Negotiations are in process about reinstallment of a public transport
system that is comfortable, cheap, and safe.
Highway Authority
The Highway Authority is responsible for part of the Lahore road network
that comprises the highways. The Highway Authority is part of the Ministry
of Communication and Works. The “Communication” Department
supervises the construction and maintenance of the highway intercity
network in the Punjab. A separate “Works” Department is mainly focussed
on restoration and maintenance of public buildings and architecture.
Important large-scale projects of the Highway Authority have been the
Provincial Highways project, for which the Finnish firm Finnroad has done
important consultancy work, and the Restricted Access Road project.
The Pakistan Motor Transport Federation

The Pakistan Motor Transport Federation represents the interests of the
operators of motorized transport. The Federation has representatives in
every district in Pakistan. Through the establishment of the West Pakistan
Transporter Mutual Assistance Co-operative Society, the federation has
arranged for some insurance to accident victims of transport vehicles. For
every traffic fatalities caused by a transport vehicle, the Society pays 1 Lak
Rs. 70.000 to the nearest family of the deceased.
The Pakistan Motor Transport Federation has clear policy preferences:

- A driving school for professional drivers should be established in
collaboration between Government, traffic police, and private sector
(transport business)
- Government should abstain from interference with the prices of fares.
- Government should provide adequate facilities near central bus stands
in Lahore.
- Route permits should not be given to individual bus operators, but only
to fleet owners ( a fleet being at least 20 vehicles)
Road Transport Workers Federation of Pakistan

The counterpart of the Pakistan Motor Transport Federation is Road
Transport Workers Federation representing the interests of the road
transport workers.
The Road Transport Workers Federation also has training for drivers high
on its agenda. In the present system there is no formal education and
persons first become mechanics, then conductors, helper-drivers and then
drivers. The main learning process is seeing, imitating, and learning by trial-
and-error. The professional drivers mostly buy their professional license
without testing (for Rs. 300 or 400).
Since the major part of the salary of the drivers has to come out of
commission, they are forced to drive long hours and to pick up many
passengers. A professional driver who makes long days, can earn 6000 or
7000 Rs a month, which makes it an attractive profession.

NGO ARUP
The Association of Road Users of Pakistan (ARUP) is a very recently
established non-government self-funding road users’ organization in
Pakistan. Currently, this relatively new type of organization in Pakistan is
trying to seek technical and financial support from private donors, and to
find mechanisms to ensure formal representation of ARUP in decision-
making authorities and bodies, such as Planning and Development
Ministries and Departments.
In their information leaflet, ARUP state the following objectives:

- To create awareness amongst all stakeholders about their responsibility
towards road funding and their safety and culture of good citizenship.
- To educate all stakeholders on proper usage of roads.
- To ensure maintenance of roads, safety of road users, and health/clean
environment along the roads.
- To ensure proper and quality construction of all types of roads.
- To create an information network and databank of transport, road length,
condition and usage details of all vehicles, maps, environment
monitoring for air, noise and waste.
- To create a workforce at gross root level to monitor compliance with
parking, traffic, and loading rules.
- To create a dedicated work force for road side pollution (exhaust +noise)
monitoring and greening of roads.
NGO HELP
The NGO HELP (“Helping Eradicate Leading Social Problems”) is
registered with the Social Welfare Department Punjab in 1994. The HELP
organization has been working since 1993 in various fields: health,
education, women development, environment, youth development, NGO
networking, and poverty alleviation. In the past, the HELP organization has
provided school health services to mentally or physically retarded children,
and has arranged vocational training courses for girls in collaboration with
the Government.
The activities which HELP has conducted were based on a multi-sectoral or

multi-organization basis, where involvement of other people and
organizations has been sought and encouraged.
In the field of traffic, HELP seeks to start an ambulance service in Lahore

and to provide medical testing for police officers.
Evaluation of organizational framework

From an in-depth study in 1980 into the organizational framework for traffic
and traffic safety, we quote the following conclusions that still seem valid
today:
“There is no comprehensive traffic policy to steer the allocation of available
financial resources. There is no steady budget for the traffic sector, to
indicate the resources for some years ahead, and to make meaningful
medium term implementation planning possible. When large allocations are
made, they tend to be for specific schemes, rather than contributing to the
kinds of institutional development necessary for a sustained improvement
program. There is no authority responsible for the coordinated allocation of

money to the different parts of the traffic and transportation sector.” (VTS,
1987b; p. 25)
“The responsibilities for planning, implementation and maintenance of the

road network is split between different authorities and agencies, which
makes comprehensive and cost-effective planning very difficult. There is an
obvious risk for overlapping, undercovering, and lacking coordination of
different activities, which at the end has financial implications.” (VTS,
1987b; p. 20).
“A large number of government agencies are involved in the administration

and control of traffic and transport in Lahore. Little overall coordination is
evident between these bodies, and their respective responsibilities and
functions are ill-defined.” (LDA/MPW, 1980; p. 65).
8.4. Organization and functioning of the Traffic Police
General
The police forces are organized on the provincial basis. The Head is the
Inspector General Police who has several deputies working under him, one
of them Deputy IG Traffic. The province is divided into ranges and each
range into districts.
Traffic control in the field is carried out by traffic police who are placed in
strategic positions like intersections. Their work is supervised by a mobile
sergeant who works under the superintendent.
Traffic accidents are recorded by the police stations. All contacts including
road accidents reported to the police station are entered into a log book
while First Inspection Reports (FIR) are prepared for those accidents which
are taken to court. The police stations and the traffic police are separate
organizations.
Traffic Policing Tasks

The Traffic Police Lahore have 6 main tasks:
1. General Traffic Management
2. Special V.V.I.P escort duty
3. Enforcement of traffic rules
4. Accident registration and analysis
5. Driver testing and licensing
6. Road safety education
Most of the time (over 80%) of the Traffic Police Lahore is spent on traffic
management and escort duty. In some periods, between 40 and 60% of the
total time of the total work force is allocated to the special task of escort
duty. Lahore, being the cultural centre of the province of the Punjab, has a
lot of high officials and dignitaries living in or visiting the city.
The traffic police are hierarchically organized according to the model of the
British police. The 11 ranks from top to bottom are respectively: Inspector
General, Deputy Inspector General DIG; Senior Superintendent SSI; Senior
Superintendent SSP; Superintendent; Deputy Superintendent Police DSP;

Inspector; Sub-inspector; Assistant Sub-inspector; Head Constable;
Constable
Enforcement activities:
“On most days between 750-1000 challans are issued in Lahore requiring
offending motorist to appear in court and around 60-80 fixed penalty tickets
are issued for minor offences. In the case of fixed penalty tickets, the driver
must pay the appropriate fine to the Punjab Government at a Bank and take
the receipt to the local police station before he can reclaim his vehicle and
driver documents (confiscated at the time of the offence). In the case of a
challan the driver is supposed to appear in court where a magistrate uses
his discretion in imposing a fine within limits prescribed in Law. There is a
huge backlog of cases awaiting processing/completion by the Lahore courts
and drivers may continue to drive around for months before their case is
finally resolved/processed by the court.” (Ross, 1990; 28).
“Despite the court delays and problems, fines imposed on motorist for traffic
offences in Lahore amount to a total of around Rs. 0.5 - 0.7 millions per day
(approx US $ 22,700-31,800/day). All of this money goes to the Provincial
Government and none of it is reallocated to improve the traffic enforcement
function. There is precedence (from Karachi) for a portion of such fines
collected from traffic police enforcement activities to be released back to
police to improve traffic police enforcement and road safety activities and
this may be something worth considering in Lahore.” (Ross, 1990; p. 28).
In a description of several stages of traffic policing, the first stage is

described as follows: “Traffic police staffing strength is often used to
compensate for lack of training, equipment, and mobility. Traffic control is
all that is expected from the majority of traffic police and they are often
stationed at traffic signals to provide backup support. Overwhelmed and
under-resourced, traffic police earn little respect from the public.” (Asian
Development Bank, 1998; p. 4.11-8).
Problems with police enforcement

Swati (1980) mentions some particular organizational and operational
problems that may hinder effective police enforcement. On the
organizational side there are several factors that may impede effectiveness
of enforcement of traffic laws (Swati, 1980; p. 50):
1. Traffic police is still part of general police where maintenance of law and
order and control of crime is considered far more important than road
safety.
2. Local DIG's/SSP's do not consider traffic enforcement as a specialized
job requiring special training.
3. Traffic enforcement is not specifically targeted towards dangerous
violations. In urban areas the majority of traffic personnel is deployed at
traffic control on intersections (signalled or not) rather than on traffic
enforcement.
4. There is no systematic career planning arrangements for the traffic
police.
5. The lower level traffic police (constable, head constable, sub-inspector,
inspector) are hardly educated or trained.

6. Foot-constables and head constables lack means of transportation. The
authority to issue challans or tickets has been withdrawn from constables
for the purported reason that they were misusing their power.
This 20-year old assessment is still partly valid for present day situation. As
concerns the Traffic Police in Lahore, we must make some qualifications to
this rather bleak picture:
- About two third of the lower level traffic personnel have received some
basic training in the field of traffic rules and enforcement
- The management of Lahore traffic police does consider traffic
enforcement as a specialized task.
- Head constables do have the power to issue challans or tickets provided
they have received formal training.
Misuse of authority
In an incisive analysis of misuse of authority in the traffic police, Swati
(1980) sketches the main dilemma as follows:
Should we give traffic police the necessary authoritative powers to enforce

the rules for every offender, irrespective of class or status, accepting a
certain degree of misuse of authority, or should we keep the traffic police
powerless in this regard and accept a situation where road users, and
especially high officials, have a ‘free for all’? (Swati, 1980; p. 63).
This analysis is still valid today and also for the Lahore traffic police. From
several sources within and outside the traffic police it has been confirmed
that the traffic police are very reluctant to enforce traffic rules where the
offenders are well-known high-ranking officials in Lahore.
Barriers to professionalism
“In the Police, the multiple organisation, and rapid changes of traffic officers
(DIG and ADIG often serve only a few months, in maximum a couple of
years) makes it difficult to train anybody in a sustainable way. A stable
situation with reasonable work periods (3-5 years) seems neither to be
wanted by IGs nor politicians. This is one of the key reasons that the traffic
police have continuously worsened during some last 20 years.” (Finnroad,
1997b; p, 3/9).
“Also traffic enforcement which aims at limiting traffic violations is

completely missing. Only documents are actively checked. Neither any
enforcement devices are in use. Accident information is not used in
planning of the activities.” (Finnroad, 1997n, p. 3/9).
A major impediment to the development of the professional competence is

the present system of tenure: “A further major impediment to the gradual
development of a specialised, professional traffic police force is that the
senior officers in charge of Traffic have little or no control over who remains
in or transfers out from traffic. This is the responsibility of Police
Administration section and transfers in and out of Traffic are undertaken
without reference to the senior traffic officers. Consequently, traffic division
does not have the opportunity to gradually build up the pool of expertise
necessary to tackle the traffic problems facing Lahore.” (Ross, 1990; p. 32)

“... and the regular transfer of experienced personnel out of traffic destroys
the opportunity to create a pool of expertise. Just as personnel begin to
know and understand traffic regulations and gain expertise in traffic control,
they are transferred out of traffic and replaced by someone who has no
knowledge in this area. By the time the new man becomes competent and
useful, he is transferred out. This greatly inhibits the creation of a
professional and competent traffic police force in Lahore.” (Ross, 1990; p.
32)
Possible measures to increase police enforcement effectiveness

Ross’s recommendations for improving the professional competence of
traffic police:
- Establishment of an improved Traffic Training Institute (Upgrading of the
Traffic Training Institute)
- Training of Traffic Police Instructors
- Development of a new traffic police course and a number of short
specialist modules for special interest groups
- Opportunities for advancement/promotion for those who choose to
specialise in traffic.
Shafique’s (1994) suggestions for improvement of the enforcement sector

are:
- Training of traffic personnel in Traffic Rules.
- Tenure and posting of traffic staff of at least five years with a minimum
experience of the staff posted in traffic of three years (as described in
Standing Order No 8 of IGP Punjab)
- Additional vehicles (especially motorcycles)
- Separate traffic police centre combining offices of upper staff, licensing
branch, computer section, training centre, traffic staff.
- Higher punishment for traffic violations under Motor Vehicle
Ordinance/Motor Vehicle Rules legislation. The maximum fine of Rs
100, established in 1965, has no deterrent effect anymore.
- Higher fines for violations under the ticket system. The current fines are
Rs. 10 for Motorcycles Motor Rickshaws and Rs. 20 for Motor Cars.
- Mandatory personal appearance of the driver in court.
- Entry of convictions on the driving license.
- Amendments in the Motor Vehicle Ordinance/Motor Vehicle Rule to
incorporate violations made by slow moving traffic (Tonga, Rehra,
bicycle, hand-driven cart)
- Establishment of a special authoritative body (comprised of Traffic
Police, TEPA, Transport Department, District Administration and Private
Sector) that analyses the needs of transport, recommends an urban
transport policy (encouragement and provision of better transport
facilities, e.g. school bus system, enforcement of labour laws of PSV
drivers).
- Engineering measures focussed on smoother traffic regulation,
especially by-passes, ring roads, flyovers, underpasses.
- Elimination of slow-moving traffic.

Considerations about reorganization
In our discussions with main stakeholders in the field of traffic policing,
there have been suggestions to alter the organizational and political
structure under which Lahore traffic police have to operate. For instance,
instead of being part of general police it could be considered to make traffic
police a total autonomous unit. Also, the idea has been offered to make the
general and traffic police answerable to a metropolitan government rather
than a provincial government. However, these discussions tend to have an
academic character and are far removed from delivering real answers to
real problems. Whether traffic police is answerable to provincial or
metropolitan government is to a certain extent irrelevant for the problem at
hand. The simple fact is that traffic policing has been shown to be effective
under many different social and political forms of organization. Traffic
policing in American cities where police is under metropolitan government
has achieved success, but so has traffic policing in major Asian cities where
traffic police is under provincial government.
A specific proposal for reorganization has been to separate traffic police

from general police and bring it under the authority of a separate ministerial
Department, specifically the Department of Transport. One of the
arguments given for the reorganization is that this would prevent the
transferral of personnel between general and traffic police and ensure
greater stability in the work force of traffic police. However, from several
points of view, it would seem unadvisable to separate traffic police from
general police.
First of all, separation is not a good idea, since traffic police and general
police have to cooperate close together in a number of fields, e.g. training
of police personnel, accident investigation and reporting, escort duty of
VVIPS, and encounters with criminals in traffic. Second, in principle there is
nothing wrong with transferral of personnel between general and traffic
police. This can have benefits for both general and traffic police, provided
there are clear limits to the scope of transferral. Third, traffic police itself is
clearly reluctant to operate as a separate body under the command of the
Department of Transport.
Still, the idea of separate enforcement agencies not directly answerable to

police, may be well worth considering in some areas of traffic. Separate and
specialized enforcement agencies dealing with e.g. violation of environ-
mental laws, parking laws, or route regulation in Lahore could be envisaged.
In several European cities, enforcement of parking laws is being done by
traffic wardens who are being paid by private firms. Of course, such
commercial venues in the area of traffic laws is only possible when the
enforcement pays itself back, when the violations are numerous and very
specific, and there is a special legal provision that allows non-police
persons to engage in detection of violations. However, even if separate
enforcement agencies are involved, there is often cooperation with the
traffic police.

8.5. Status of accident reporting
Pakistan:
Traffic accidents are recorded by the police stations. All contacts including
road accidents reported to the police station are entered into a log book
while First Inspection Reports (FIR) are prepared for those accidents which
are taken to court. The police stations and the traffic police are separate
organizations.
When a road accident occurs, a First Incident Report (FIR) is made up

which gives basic information on the incident. This FIR form is a standard
Police report form used for all incidents reported to the police whether they
involve crime, accidents, or other incidents. It can be understood from this
that the FIR form is quite general and does not contain the types of detailed
information collected at accident sites in other countries.
To address these issues the MAAP (Microcomputer Accident Analysis

Package) developed by TRL was introduced in Pakistan in the eighties and
its use was attempted nationwide. However, the response from the police,
despite training and advise, was limited and use of the programme faded
away in a few years.
Lahore:
Accident data collection, storage, and analysis in Lahore (as in the rest of
Pakistan) are a police responsibility.
An interesting fact is that the responsibility for formal accident investigation

lies not with the traffic police, but with the general police. This seems rooted
in the tradition that only general police has investigative authority.
In practice, the procedure is as follows:

- The accident is brought to the attention of the traffic police.
- The traffic police arrive at the accident scene, make a preliminary
assessment of what has happened, and try to restore the flow function of
the road as soon as possible.
- The general police is notified of the place of the accident and arrive later
to make up their final assessment as to which party bears the legal
responsibility for the accident.
In general, the scene of the accident is not secured for investigation since
this would impede the flow of traffic on a road that is very likely already
congested. When the investigating officer arrives at the location of the
accident, often the flow of traffic has already been restored.
From a scientific point of view, the accident registration in Lahore - like in

many other Asian cities - has some severe shortcomings:
- The exact location of accident is determined on the FIR, but not made
accessible.
- Important accident information is not noted on the FIR, e.g. collision
type.
- Only part of the accident information on the FIRs is available in
computerized form and can be used for purposes of analysis.

- Large under-registration of all non-fatal accidents.
- One-sided, biased reporting of accidents in order to satisfy the needs of
the courts for a clear assignment of blame to one of the parties.
Underreporting
In 1987 a comparison of hospital data with reported accidents in Lahore
showed that the numbers of police reported fatalities were broadly
consistent with hospital records of accident victims killed, but that the
reported number of persons injured in traffic was only about 3% of those
treated in hospital (VTS Transport Systems Corporation, 1987). The
statistics for property damage only accidents are an even worse
underestimation.
Some experts even estimate the coverage of accidents as only 1 per cent
of the total number of accidents (VTS, 1987a; p. 1). "Assuming that in
Pakistan the true ratio of personal injury to property damage accidents is
commensurate with European experience, the Traffic Police statistics cover
only a fraction of one percent of the real number." (VTS, 1987a; . 1).
A recent estimate of underreporting of accidents was made by Granberg

and Haddeland in their project “Road Safety Study of the Provincial High-
ways Project”.
Type of accident Reported Real

Fatal 95% 2,5%
Serious injury 75% 4%
Minor injury 7,5% 20%
Damage only 2,5% 75%
Table 8.6. Reported and real distribution of accidents (Source: Finnroad and
ADCON Engineering, 1997).
For the reason that access of a traffic victim to a hospital requires police
approval, fatal and serious injury accidents resulting in hospitalisation have
been fairly well covered by FIRs.
The specific social-cultural dimension of underreporting has also been

described: “It is well known that in most accidents (especially those which
are less severe such as damage only or slight injury) drivers often agree
appropriate compensation between themselves and resolve the matter
without reporting the accident or involving the police or the courts. The
author has even been informed by police officers that traffic police
sometimes (unofficially) actively encourage such “out of court” settlements
– even for more serious accidents, including fatal accidents so that accident
statistics (which are based upon “reported” accidents) for their division are
kept low (Ross, 1990; p. 3).
Even if the known deficiencies and underreporting in the data are ignored,
the statistics still show Lahore to have fatality rates of around 7-10 times as
high as major cities in industrialised countries.

Role of road authorities
The road authorities have definitely expressed a lack of concern for the
road safety statistics. The arguments given were that the statistics were
incomplete en did not allow exact location of accidents. Furthermore, road
authorities seemed to imply that accident registration was the main
responsibility of the police with no active role for the authorities themselves.
None of the road authorities (LDA/TEPA; MCL, Punjab Highway Authority)

are presently monitoring the accidents on the roads which they have
planned, designed, built, reconstructed, or rehabilitated.
An important point is that medical attention to the traffic victim is only

permitted at the hospital when the investigating officer of the general police
has written up his FIR of the accident.
Accident location:
Difficulties with establishing the exact location of the accident are not
typical for Lahore, but are general in Pakistan. In a pilot study of 537
accidents in Pakistan “The most serious shortcoming in the road accident
data collected by NTRC surveyors from FIRs concern the location of the
accident. Although the FIR defines (or is expected to define) the location as
“distance from police station” the distance can either be anything from
correct or the location can be referred to as a name of a place which,
according to the Pilot Study experience was often not identifiable, even by
local residents or officials.” (Finnroad, 1998; p. 13).
8.6. Licensing
The regulations concerning licensing are the following. In order to start

learning, the candidate driver has to get a learner permit from a Licensing
Authority, which in Lahore is the Lahore Traffic Police. Six weeks after
having received the learner permit, the candidate driver is allowed to
undergo a driving test.
The driving test by the Traffic Police Lahore consists of two parts:
- A theoretical test: an oral examination about the meaning of different
traffic signs
- An on-the-road test where the candidate has to drive for about 25 miles
in the city, under supervision of the examiner.
There is no formal teaching for buses or heavy vehicles. In practice, most

of the bus drivers are first working as ‘cleaners’, who are following the
driving of their ‘masters’ during three years, and start to drive themselves.
Not surprisingly, given the high involvement of transport vehicles in
accidents in Lahore as well elsewhere in Pakistan, the recommendation has
been made to organize mandatory driver teaching for all bus drivers
(Koivisto, 1997)
In Pakistan there are about 100 distinct districts with a more or less
separate, autonomous Licensing Authority. In the Punjab, licenses can be
applied for in total 34 districts. Licensing authority in general resorts under
the DSP of general police at the District Headquarter. In Lahore district, the

licensing authority resorts with the SP Traffic posted at the Division
Headquarters.
Over the last few years, the Lahore district has experienced a decreasing
number of applicants for driver licenses. There has been a decrease from
over 250 applicants per day in the eighties, to about 30 licenses a day in
1999. The reason for this decrease seems to be that the Lahore district is
exceptional in that it actually requires applicants to participate in the legally
required theoretical and practical test. The Lahore district is one of the (few)
districts where applicants actually have to come to the office to pass the
legally required theoretical and practical test. The actual practice in many
districts is that testing is not done, and that the license is simply “for sale”
like a good in a shop. Many Lahori residents who may find taking the test
difficult or bothersome, take a trip to a neighbouring district to buy the
license.
In order to improve the functioning of the licensing system, several step

have to be taken. A first step is to make a legal requirement that, without
exception, candidate drivers may only apply for a license in the district they
have lived in for the past 3 years. This would make it more difficult for
drivers to buy their license in a district which is lenient on driver testing. A
second step would be to establish a central institute in the province of
Punjab that has the sole authority to issue licenses. The sub-offices in the
districts would have to bring in the applications for the candidate drivers.
The central institute could then check the application papers for correctness
and issue the license in accordance. Part of the application papers would
have to be a certificate of having passed the driving test. The central
institute should then hold computerized records of all new (and old) license
holders.
A third step in the right direction would be to establish a separate agency

that is responsible for driver testing and the issuing of test pass certificates.
Such an agency could very well be placed under the authority of the
Department of Transport. This step would have several advantages. The
independence and neutrality of the police in enforcing license possession is
better guaranteed when the police is not involved in the issuing of licences.
A further benefit would be that testing and issuing of official license papers
would be handled by different agencies which would make corruption
somewhat more difficult. The logical fourth step would be to decrease the
element of personal discretion in the testing procedure itself. This could be
done by introducing a standardized (picture) test with a simple yes/no
answering format.
8.7. Provisional blueprint for an integrated system of licensing and driver training
In this section we present a proposal for an interlinked system of licensing,

training, testing, and career advancement for professional drivers in which
the central unit is made up by a newly to be established Traffic Safety
Driving School.
As we have mentioned in sections 5.4 and 5.8, the estimated costs of the
construction of a training centre and training ground are about 5 million

US $. The costs for personnel should come from commercial exploitation of
the centre.
The blueprint presented in the following pages is very ambitious and it is

unlikely that all the stakeholders concerned are willing or are able to fulfill
the requirements in this plan. We presume it is very likely that some of the
contributions asked from the Department of Transport or the Pakistan Road
Transport Workers Federation are not feasible. Thus, the blueprint presents
an ideal-type vision that will have to be adjusted for practical purposes. In
fact, the blueprint can only be made into an effective, workable plan when
parties can have further discussions on the issues involved. In our view, the
new steering committee for road safety should commit itself to stimulate
these discussions with the aim of achieving a workable plan. This blueprint
can help as a starting document that may not give all the realistic solutions,
but that raises the important issues.
General systems requirements
The system of driver licensing and testing (for professional drivers) should
be:
- fair
- accessible to illiterate candidate drivers with potential good skill
- economically viable
- pre-select drivers with good potential for learning or to some extent
already well-skilled
- able to train and test a considerable amount of drivers every year
- able to monitor the safety record of these drivers after their training
- able to take corrective measures in case of bad safety record
- agreed upon by major stakeholders involved
- graduated in 2-3 year periods for different licenses for different vehicle
types
- able to guarantee a high likelihood of passing test and offering good
career incentives.
The Traffic Safety School
1. The name of the school will be the Police Traffic Safety and Driving
school.
2. The school will be located in Lahore.
3. The school will have the following basic facilities:

- Three to four work offices
- Three to four classrooms
- Two large rooms for keeping teaching materials
- Toilets
- A parking place for the school vehicles
- A computer
- A printer
- A copier

4. The school will serve the following functions:
- provide driving lessons for professional drivers
- test and license drivers
- create teaching materials to be used for own purposes and other
purposes
- organize traffic safety seminar for different interest groups (policy
makers, traffic police, drivers)
5. The school will offer one total product consisting of the following
elements: driving lessons, driving test, provisional license, refresher
training, special refresher training certificate, and final provisional
license with special certificate.
6. The school will offer this product for different vehicle types: light van,
wagon, bus.
7. The basic training course of the school (resulting with high degree of
certainty in the license) will be maximal 10 to 15 days.
8. The refresher training course of the school will be maximal 5 days.
9. In the first years of its existence, the school will have a capacity of
processing 500 candidate drivers. If successful, this capacity will be
extended in the third and fourth year.
10. The Traffic Safety School will guarantee a 90% likelihood that
candidate drivers will pass the theoretical and practical test. In this
way most drivers can be sure that they will achieve the desired result.
11. In order to guarantee a high likelihood of passing the candidates with

low skills, bad medical condition or poor mentality will be screened
out.
12. In the case of failure to pass the test, the school will return 80% of the
candidates money if the candidate has followed the total programme
and has shown willingness and motivation to learn.
The programme
1. Courses will be given to maximum 10 candidates at a time per

classroom.
2. Courses will be accessible to both literate and illiterate candidate

drivers.
3. Courses will deal with the following subjects:

- knowledge of key elements of the Pakistan Highway Code
- knowledge of the braking distance of the vehicle
- correct driving procedures for moving off, stopping, overtaking
and carrying out manoeuvres at junctions
- moral importance of safe driving
- night-time driving

- heat and driving
- use of drugs and driving
- importance of safe and economical (relaxed) driving
- attitude towards customers
4. Practical driving lessons will be given to maximal 3 candidates at a

time and one instructor. The instructor will model exemplary
behaviour.
The driving test
1. The driving test will have a theoretical, a psychological, and a

practical part.
2. The theoretical test will be a picture test in order to allow both

educated and uneducated persons to get good test results.
3. The psychological test will be a short interview between candidate

driver and a trained psychologist. The test is intended to scrutinize
the moral attitude of the candidate driver towards road safety.
4. The candidate will be clearly informed in advance of the criteria on

which his behaviour shall be judged and of the procedure of the test.
5. In order to prepare candidates for testing, they will receive one pilot
practical test and one pilot theory test in advance of the real test. The
results of the pilot tests will be discussed with the candidates, and an
analysis will be made of the particular points which the candidate will
have to improve. This will ensure better performance at the final test,
and will further contribute to the 90% pass rate.
6. The actual testing will be done by a separate examiner who has not
had contact with the candidate drivers before.
7. A special liaison officer from an NGO will supervise the testing in

order to guarantee fairness of the procedure.
8. If the candidate fails at either the practical or theoretical test, the

school will provide opportunities for free re-testing within two weeks
time.
9. If the candidate fails for the second testing, he will have to pay an
extra amount of money to engage in the third testing.
The licensing system
Candidate drivers
1. The minimum age of candidate drivers will be 18 years.
2. A provisional license will be issued to candidate drivers who have

passed the test.

3. After having had one year of driving experience, the drivers are
requested to follow a 5-day refresher training at the Traffic Safety
Driving School.
4. After two years of driving experience the provisional license will be

converted into a definite license.
5. After having successfully followed the refresher training, drivers will

receive a special certificate stating this successful performance.
6. If the final driver license is received without a formal warning during

the next two years, the driver will get a special Safety Certificate.
7. The driver may receive a formal warning from the School Committee
Board if he has been involved in:
- two serious accidents in the first year of driving
- has been ticketed by the police more than ten times
8. Receipt of the definite license may be postponed to a later date:

- If the driver has not followed the refresher course without good
reason.
- If the driver has been involved in more than ….. serious accidents
(resulting in death or serious injury) in the 2 year period.
- If the driver has been involved in more than ….. material damage
only or slight injury accidents in a 2 year period.
9. Candidate drivers may only apply for a license for a bus or truck when
they have had …. years experience on a wagon.
Refresher training of licensed drivers
10. All licensed drivers who are involved in a serious accident will be
requested to undergo refresher training at the Traffic Safety Training
School.
11. The licensed drivers who are requested to undergo refresher training
will have to register their current license at the Traffic Safety Training
School.
The Traffic Police Lahore will:
1. Deliver 3 to 4 well-qualified training instructors to work 6 days a week

at the training school.
2. The training instructors will themselves receive 20 days training a

year in order to improve their educative skills.
3. Keep a computerized record of the license of every new beginning

professional driver.
4. Do its best to ensure that the new license from the Police Traffic
Safety School is not easily forged or copied.

5. Add points to the computerized record of a new driver for every
violation he commits.
6. Add accident points to the computerized record of a new driver for

every accident he is involved in.
7. Inform the Traffic Safety School Board when the new driver has
collected more than 10 points in the first year.
The Traffic Safety School Board will:
1. Members of the following organizations will have a seat in the Traffic

Safety School Board: Traffic Police, Pakistan Motor Transport
Federation, NGO, The Road Transport Workers Federation.
2. The Traffic Safety School will fall under the authority of the Traffic
Police. Major decisions will be taken by the Traffic Safety School
Board in which major stakeholders in the field of driver training are
represented. The police will chair the board.
3. The new beginning driver will be invited to attend a meeting with the
board of the Traffic Safety School when he collects more than 10
points in one year after receipt of his license, or is involved in more
than two serious accidents in his first year. During the meeting, a
formal warning will be given to the driver and it will be stressed that
he will improve his driving behaviour.
The Road Transport Workers Federation will:
1. Strongly stimulate new beginning drivers to take lessons at the new

driving school.
2. Strongly stimulate the beginning drivers to undergo (the mandatory)

refresher training after their first year of driving experience as a
professional driver.
3. Will negotiate with Banks in order to achieve fair and favourable

lending schemes for their drivers and will stimulate drivers to only do
business with the reliable and fair Banks.
4. Explain to the candidate drivers the special monetary and career

value of the refresher certificate and the final driving certificate from
the Traffic safety Driving school.
5. Participate in the ‘intake board committee’ which will review initial

capabilities and talents of candidate drivers in order to screen out
candidates with a low passing probability.
6. Provide specific facilities, materials, and assistance to the Traffic

Safety School to be agreed upon later.

The Transport Department will:
1. Adopt a policy of preferential recruitment of new drivers who are in

possession of a license issued by the Traffic Safety School.
2. Adopt a policy of active and special career planning for drivers who
are in possession of a drivers certificate from the Traffic Safety
driving school or in possession of a refresher course certificate.
3. Regularly inform all drivers of this new policy.
The Pakistan Motor Transport Federation will:
1. Contribute in a significant way to the initial funding of the Traffic

Safety Driving School.
2. Endorse as a formal policy to only rent cars to new drivers who have
their training and license from the new school
3. Verify annually - as part of the new policy - that the licenses of the
new drivers are from the Police Traffic Safety School, and have not
been changed.
4. Give monetary opportunity and actively stimulate the new drivers to
follow the mandatory refresher training.
5. Give special financial bonuses for new drivers who have received
their refresher certificate or have received their final certificate.
6. Give advance career opportunities - again as part of the new policy -

to those drivers who can show the special Safety Certificate.
7. Keep records of the new drivers who have received temporary

license and inform them when they are due for refresher training or
due to visit the Traffic Safety school for receipt of the definite license
and the certificate.
8. Support the teachings of the Driving School about a more

economical, relaxed driving style by offering drivers monetary
incentives when their wagons or vans are low on maintenance,
damage, wear-and-tear or fuel consumption.
The NGO will:
1. Ensure reliable medical testing of candidate drivers for minimal

costs.
2. Provide assistance in creating teaching and testing materials for the

school.
3. Supervise the financial administration of the Driving School.
4. Register complaints about the Traffic Safety School.

8.8. Report of the 17th April 1999 workshop
Organization of the workshop

On 17th April 1999, a special workshop was organized to generate new
ideas for the road safety plan.
The following persons were invited to attend the workshop:
Police (12 persons):

Mr. Khawaja Khalid Farooq (Deputy Inspector General of Police), Mr. Asif
Nawaz (Deputy Inspector General), Mr. Shahid Iqbal (Senior
Superintendent), Mr. Ghalib A. Bandesha (Senior Superintendent, Head
Quarters Traffic, Punjab), Mr. Sardar Saeed Gul (Senior Superintendent
T.T.I. Chung Lahore), Dr. Muhammad Shafique (Superintendent Police),
Mr. Malik Abdul Aziz (Superintendent Traffic Police Lahore), Dr. S.M.
Shafique (Director R&R, Special Branch, Lahore), Mr. Syed Pervaiz
Kandhari (Deputy Superintendent, Police Traffic Headquarters, Punjab,
Lahore), Mr. Zulfiqar Ahmed (Deputy Superintendent, Traffic Lahore), Mr.
Mehmood-ul-Hassan Gilani (Inspector Traffic Headquarters Punjab Lahore),
Mr. Tariq Azeem Khan (PSO to Chairman Traffic Task Force Punjab LHR).
Road Authorities (7 persons):

Mr. Masood Quazi (Director Planning Studies TEPA), Mr. Khalid Alvi
(Deputy Director Traffic Engineering TEPA), Mr. Abdul Satar (Chief
Engineer (LDA), Mr. Khawaja Khalid Latif (Chief Engineer of the Ministry of
Communication & Works), Mr. Masood Ali Khan (Director Planning and
Engineering of Ministry of Communication & Works), Col. (Rtd.)
Muhammad Zafar (Chief Engineer Metropolitan Corporation Lahore), Mr.
Qazi Riaz (Chief Engineer NESPAK consultancy).
Media (4 persons):
Mr. Dr. Waqar Ch: (A.P.P. Lahore), Mr. Hameed Laiq (The News), Mr.
Rana Javed Ahmed (The Nation), Mr. Irfan Nazir (Transport Section, The
Jang)
Transport Federation (3 persons):

Ch.. Haji Muhammad Hayat (General Secretary Pakistan Motor Transport
Federation), Ch. Muhammad Anwar Zahoor (M.D. Lahore Travel Service),
and a representative of the Rickshaw Union.
Court Transport and Education functionaries (4 persons):

Mr. Dr. Abdul Rahim Khan (U.E.T. Lahore), Mr. Nadir Aqeel Ansari (Deputy
Secretary Education Punjab Lahore), Mr. Ch. Kabir Ahmed (Secretary
Regional Transport Authority Lahore), Mr. Saeed Akhtar Ansari (Assistant
Commisioner Traffic Lahore).
National Transport Research Centre: Mr. M.S. Qureshi (N.T.R.C.)

NGO’s: Mr. Dr. Fuad Hameed Rai (Training Manager Public Health
Consultant Shalimar Hospital Lahore), Dr. Muzaffar Malik (Chief Exective
Persian Oriental Rugs; Representative of Shopkeepers), Commander (R)

Asif J. Khawaja (ARUP Unit 9), Mr. Tariq Hameed (Packages Ltd.), Mr.
Khawar Farid (SheherSaaz).
Schools: Principal Divisional Public School Headmaster Pilot High School

Wahdat Road Lahore.
Present were:
Police: Mr. Khalid Farooq Khawaja, DIG; M. Ghalib A. Bandesha, SSP, HQ
Traffic, Punjab, Lahore; Dr. S.M. Shafique, Director R&R, Special Branch,
Lahore; Mr. Malik Abdul Aziz, SP Traffic, Lahore; Mr. Mehmood Hussain
Gilani Inspector Traffic HQ, Punjab, Lahore; Mr. Tariq Azeem Khan PSO to
Chairman Traffic Task Force, Punjab LHR.
ARUP: Mr. Sardar M. Humayun Khan, Pegasus International; Mr. Asif J.

Khawaja,
Transportation Sector: Mr. Haji Muhammad Hayyat, General Secretary
Pakistan Motor Transport Federation.
Mr. Ch. Anwar Zahoor M.D. Lahore Travel Service
Health Sector: Mr. dr. Fuad Hameed Rai, Training Manager & Public Health
Consultant.
NESPAK: Mr. Riaz Ahmad Quazi
Media: Mr. Hameed Laiq, The News
World Bank: Mr. Navaid A. Qureshi, Senior Urban & Transport Specialist.
Mr. Khurram Farid, Executive Director SheherSaaz Research and
Development in Human Settlements.
SWOV Dutch Institute for Road Safety Research: Mr. Ch. Goldenbeld
To the deep regret of all participants, representatives from LDA/TEPA and

MCL were not present. The meeting was videotaped.
Report of the Workshop on the Road safety Component of the LUTP, 17

April 1999.
Mr. Ghalib Bandesha opened the meeting at 10:00 hrs. He explained shortly
the starting history of the Lahore Urban Transport Project. Starting out as a
project for the enhancement of the road capacity and road signals in
Lahore, it was expanded to the subject of road safety by the special efforts
of Mr. Khalid Farooq Khawaja, the then active DIG of Traffic Police. The
road safety component would especially cater for the needs of the
vulnerable road users being the pedestrians, drivers of non-motorized
vehicles and drivers of motorized two-wheelers. The road safety issues can
be categorized under the three E's: Engineering, Enforcement and
Education. He explained further that the present workshop is part of the
final study that will cater for the safety of the road users. After this brief
introduction, Mr. Ghalib Bandesha introduced Mr. Khalid Farooq Khawaja
as the chairman of the meeting who would lead the discussion in the right
direction.
Mr. Farooq Khawaja thanked Mr. Ghalib Bandesha for the honour of being
asked to act as the Chairman of the Meeting. In his opening address, Mr.
Farooq Khawaja recollected briefly the history of the LUTP. Originally the
project was solely concerned with improving road facilities and road

transport in Lahore. World Bank was prepared to fund the LUTP project on
a loan basis for a total amount between US $ 150-200 million over a period
of 5-7 years. In conversations with the Chief Minister of the Punjab,
arguments were given for inclusion of a road safety component in the
project. The Government of the Punjab agreed with this.
Mr. Farooq Khawaja stressed that various sectors are involved in road
safety. All aspects should be researched and taken into account in order to
come up with a set of remedial measures. In principle the Chief Minister of
the Punjab will approve of recommendations that will reduce accidents,
improve traffic flow and modernise Lahore traffic (police).
The importance of road safety can be measured from the fact that every
year Pakistan loses about 1 Billion $ US because road unsafety. This does
not take into account the loss in human terms. The fact that half of those
invited did not come says something about the importance attached to road
safety.
In the Terms of Reference for the project which were worked out in good
cooperation with Mr. Qureshi and Mr. Durrani (Mr. Farooq extends his
thanks to both gentlemen from the World Bank) a programme was foreseen
for a period of 5-7 years, suggesting improvements for traffic management
in various Departments (Engineering, Enforcement, Education, Economics).
In principle, the traffic laws are good enough to create a deterrent effect,
but no one department can deliver the goods working in isolation. There has
to be a coordinated strategy. The Police Department carries a lot of the
burden of traffic management, while other Departments, and certainly the
public itself, are also involved in these matters. What is needed are both
proposals for the long-term and short-term. By and large we are going to tell
Mr. Goldenbeld what the problems are and what the solutions are. What is
expected from Mr. Goldenbeld is a priority list of the solutions. However,
unless some results are achieved in the short term, Government will lose its
interest in the total project. Despite scarcity of resources, some success
should be booked very early in the project.
Also, the functioning of the police needs to be improved. The present day
strength of 4500 traffic police for the whole of the Punjab is not much. Yet,
clearly, a better performance is needed. The experience from the Motorway
Police teaches us that traffic police can function better when working hours
are limited, services are better, and better training is provided.
It should be possible to have better trained traffic police within the period of
one year. If law enforcers are better trained, undoubtedly the public will
behave better.
Of course, the work of traffic policing cannot be seen in isolation from the
engineering aspects. Road engineering is very important in achieving a
better flow of traffic. At present, there are many design shortcomings in the
roads in Lahore. Even on beautiful, recently re-built roads, there are already
new emerging problems of traffic flow. For example, traffic police has
already experienced many traffic problems with the recently finished Main
Boulevard Gulberg.

Three more roads have recently expanded: J-Road to the Airport, Ferozpur
Road, and GT-Road. These roads require immediate attention. The Mall
Road requires immediate improvement. At this point in his address, Mr.
Farooq Khawaja expresses his regret that the representatives from TEPA
are not present. He would sincerely like to know the plans of TEPA in this
regard.
Continuing with the topic of Engineering, Mr Farooq Khawaja states that too
little attention has been paid to the issues of segregating slow and fast
moving traffic, and of providing special facilities for pedestrians.
He also mentions the poor condition in which the Public Service Transport
system is at the present time. The paradox is that well-educated Pakistanis
who have travelled worldwide expect the same facilities in Lahore and
elsewhere in Pakistan without wanting to pay for these facilities in the form
of taxes. Mr. Farooq Khawaja is very interested to hear the views from
NESPAK about the progress they are making in improving the transport sy-
stem.
After the opening address of the Chairman, Mr. Ch. Goldenbeld is

introduced as the next speaker. In his presentation about the challenge of
road safety, Mr. Goldenbeld first draws attention to the road safety situation
in his own country, The Netherlands. According to Mr. Goldenbeld, the
number of fatalities in the Netherlands has declined from over 3000 in 1971
to less than 1300 in the early nineties, while in the same period, traffic
volume increased over five times. In terms of the fatality rate (expressed as
number of fatalities per 100.000 kilometres travelled) the Netherlands is
among the top 5 of Europe's safest countries. According to Mr. Goldenbeld,
this impressive road safety record is due to Government taking
responsibility for road safety, to problem diagnosis, design of measures,
and preparation of implementation and evaluation of measures. This
process of problem diagnosis, measures, implementation, and evaluation is
actually repeated every year in the Netherlands. Mr. Goldenbeld refers to
road safety work as a ‘continuous struggle’.
Pakistan, on the other hand, has rather a bad safety record. In terms of
number of fatalities per 10.000 motor vehicles, Pakistan has a bad record.
From a colleague Road Safety specialist, Tom Granberg, who worked for
over 2 years in Pakistan, Mr. Goldenbeld has gathered the following
information: In 1998 there were 7000 traffic fatalities in Pakistan, in other
words: 20 fatalities per day. If no further action is taken, it is estimated that
this number of fatalities will be doubled in 2010. The total annual number of
accidents in Pakistan is estimated to be 300.000. Again, if no further action
is taken, in 2010 this number of accidents will very likely rise to 700,000.
Nowadays, the economic costs associated with road safety are estimated to
be US $ 1 billion. In 2010 these costs will very likely be in the order of 2,5
billion US $. Concerning Lahore, there is also a clear rise in traffic fatalities
over the past ten years. In the period 89-93, 866 road users died in Lahore
traffic; in the subsequent period 94-98, this number has risen to 1349, an
increase of over 50%. For the next five year period, 99-03 traffic fatalities
may rise to over 2000.

Essentially what we can learn from these figures is that we are only seeing
the start of problems in Lahore and Pakistan. Therefore, the necessity of
taking preventative action is absolute.
After this outline of the problems, Mr. Goldenbeld asks the audience to think
about the following problem. If a plane with 260 Lahori crashed, the
psychological reaction to such an event would be very strong. In
psychological terms, the event would be considered a disaster. Both the
public and the politicians would cry out for strong countermeasures. There
would be a unified strong call for a) intensive investigation of the causes of
the accident, b) for guarantees the accident would never happen again, and
c) for better safety and quality control procedures etc. Contrast this with the
reaction towards the event that 260 Lahori die in traffic in one year. The
reaction towards this latter event is much less strong, much more relaxed:
‘So what, accidents can happen’. Traffic accidents are not considered to be
a disaster.
In the example of the plane crash, there is a strong feeling that measures
can be taken to prevent further accidents. However, in terms of the
potential to prevent the difference between a plane crash and traffic
accidents is not that large. An aeroplane is made by human design, and so
is the traffic system. The same steps are to be taken to secure the safety of
the aeroplane - accident investigation, improved safety, and quality control -
can also be taken to prevent road traffic accidents. In the words, of Mr.
Goldenbeld, “Traffic accidents can happen because we let them happen”.
In conclusion, Mr. Goldenbeld stresses the need to plant the seeds for
positive preventative action in the field of road safety now. And like the
growing of a tree or of a child, some things cannot be hurried. More
important than any temporary success is the continuous, sustained effort
towards better road safety.
After this talk, the floor is given to Mr. Dr. S.M. Shafique, Director, R&R
Special Branch, Lahore. Mr. Shafique presents a paper especially
researched and prepared for the meeting. A summary of the main points in
this paper is given below.
With a population of about 7 million, and a high rate of migration due to

better health, education, and job facilities, the Lahore traffic has to cope
with increasing travel demands and increasing pressure. According to
recent estimates, there are about 15.000 buses/wagons/air conditioned
coaches daily entering Lahore from cities like Rawalpindi, Multan,
Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Kasur, Sargodha, Mianwali, and many other small
towns in the close proximity of Lahore city. About 3500 trucks daily enter
Lahore to unload the goods, and the same number leaves Lahore after
loading goods for different destinations. The total number of motor vehicles
on the Lahore roads is about half a million. This number varies over the
week; especially on Monday and Saturday the traffic load is greater by at
least 10 to 15 per cent.

The traffic problems are mainly in six categories:
1. Bad timing of traffic signals (e.g. Zahoor Elahi Road and Main Boulevard
Gulberg crossing), causing unnecessary traffic muddling.
2. Most of the traffic signals are not in working order.
3. Broken roads make the traffic go slow.
4. Especially in North and North West Lahore slow moving traffic of animal
driven vehicles and dilapidated buses/wagons are causing problems.
5. There are about 52 main level crossings in Lahore creating traffic
muddling.
6. Most of the roads of Lahore have been encroached, and their right of
way has been reduced by almost half.
After this taking stock of problems, Dr. Shafique makes specific recom-
mendations for engineering and education. His 9-point Engineering
proposals are:
1. Construct subway connecting South Eastern Lahore with Gulberg.
2. Eliminate vehicles with silencers emitting thick smoke and thereby
inviting dangerous overtaking.
3. A suitable place close to Saggian bridge should be selected for shifting
stands of airconditioned coaches.
4. An overhead bridge for road traffic is needed at the crossing near
Shahdara, Gujranwala-Rawalpindi road, due to the long closing time of
the level crossing.
5. From the point of Jinnah Hospital there must be a link road connecting
Wahdat Road with the road along the Canal.
6. A bridge for pedestrians should be constructed for reaching the shrine of
Data Sahib in order to accommodate the heavy rush of devotees.
7. A long term plan should formulated for the shifting or making new whole-
sale markets away from the Central Business District.
8. A parallel bridge should be constructed along Shair Pao Bridge in order
to alleviate the problems caused by breakdown of vehicles on the narrow
Shair Pao overhead bridge.
9. Beggars should be removed from important road crossings, so that they
do not cause drivers to seek for money when the light has already turned
green.
Besides these points dealing mainly with engineering, Mr. Shafique offers
another set of specific recommendations in the field of public education and
awareness:
1. In view of the low level of driver education in Lahore, and the low
number of certified driving schools, more quality driving schools with
well trained instructors should be established.
2. At present, no education is legally required to obtain a driving license.
There must be a legal condition of minimum education to get a driving
license.
3. Driver education should encourage faulty driving behaviour like: correct
use of indicators, correct use of light when driving in the dark, respect for
the law and observance of traffic signals, parking rules, stopping in line
for traffic signals, horn honking, changing lanes, meaning of red and
amber light, right procedure of overtaking.
4. Pedestrians should be made aware as to: use of footpaths, use of right
side of the road, use of zebra's.

5. Special attention should be given by parents to guiding their children.
6. Road safety seminars should be held with participation by NGO's.
7. The construction of speed breakers in front of many houses on private
initiative is a danger on the road.
After this inspiring presentation, ARUP representative Mr. Asif J. Khawaja

briefly introduces the setup organization of ARUP which is in the process of
becoming a major NGO organization in Pakistan. Mr. Khawaja opens the
discussion with a question about the exact limit of the CBD. Mr. Shafique
explains that the limits cannot be exactly given. Mr. Khushal Khan further
explains that this is due to the historical character of Lahore. There is no
clear demarcation of the CBD, but certain characteristics of the CDB area
can be given.
Mr. Khawaja mentions the necessity of introducing a no-parking zone in

CDB. Mr. Shafique mentions that there is awareness in Lahore of the
parking problem. Mr. Farooq joins in the discussion and states that there
actually is no (general) law which prohibits parking alongside the road.
Parking laws would have to be locally implemented and enforced.
Preconditions are that the public has to be informed, that the laws have to
be formulated, and that the fines for faulty parking have to increased.
Mr. Khawaja stresses the need for proper public transport arrangements if
no parking areas are to be introduced in Lahore. Then he mentions
examples of parking policy and enforcement in Australia and Karachi. In
Karachi, roads with forbidden parking are clearly defined; parked cars are
fork lifted. In total, ten fork lifts are operational in Karachi. Why not do the
same thing in Lahore? Mr. Shafique remarks that clearly there is also in
Karachi violation of parking rules as in Lahore.
At this moment, the representative from NESPAK, Mr. Riaz Ahmad Quazi,
joins the discussion. He assures the participants that government is already
aware of many of the traffic problems in Lahore. NESPAK started work on
560 roads in October 1997 (Rs. 800 million). It will do work on about 1200
roads, and in a period of 20 months, one road per day was completed.
Mr. Riaz Ahmad Qazi concurs with the statement of Dr. Goldenbeld that
problem diagnosis is essential for taking remedial measures. One of the
problems facing NESPAK is that people use new roads to wash their
clothes on, and the detergents get into the road surface. A surveillance
team should visit the road on the spot and educate the public about these
matters. For traffic problems in Lahore, flyovers and bus system are very
much in need to combat the problems.
Mr. Shafique asks Mr. Goldenbeld a question about the handling of parking
problems in Amsterdam. Mr. Goldenbeld answers that parking space is
rather scarce in Amsterdam and that enforcement of parking violations in
Amsterdam is generating a lot of revenue for the city. More in general, Mr.
Goldenbeld explains that enforcement of traffic violations is a source of
revenue generation for the Dutch government.

Mr. Shafique stresses that enforcement as revenue source would not work
so easily in Pakistan, because of the particular cultural dimension. In
Pakistan it may be easy to catch a thief, but not so easy to punish him.
Mr Shafique notes that drivers and conductors lack education. The private
driving schools operating in the Punjab are just in it for the money and do
not promote safe driving. There should be many reasonable standard
schools for professional drivers.
Mr. Anwar Zahoor begs to differ from Mr. Shafique, and points out the
economical dimension of the problem. If licenses of professional drivers are
to be limited to the educated, this will have grave consequences for the
employment of the professional drivers. Less than 5% of the professional
drivers have received formal education.
Mr. Shafique answers that, with the passage of time, the literacy rates will
improve.
Mr. Anwar Zahoor identifies the problem of driver training as one of

implementation. There is a lack of responsibility on the side of good
citizens. There is not any finance for this problem.
Mr.Riaz Riaz Ahmad Qazi also notes that many of the professional drivers
cannot read what is written. How can we educate an illiterate man?
Mr. Khalid Farooq Khawaja agrees that a majority of the commercial drivers
are illiterate. Yet somehow a minimum standard of education should be laid
down. It is clear that the licensing system is not up to the mark. Drivers are
not properly tested, and part of the blame lies with the Police Department
as well. However, if a minimum level of education is to be introduced, we
should be cautious in rendering drivers jobless. We could be turning jobless
drivers into dacoits! We cannot withdraw licenses from the commercial
drivers now.
According to Mr. Khalid Farooq Khawaja, the factors making the commer-
cial drivers into dangerous drivers are well-known:
- long working hours
- no proper salary
- driving on commission basis (commission based on the number of
passengers, which in turn is based on the number of routes completed
per day completed).
It is no wonder that these commercial drivers tend towards overloading and

overspeeding.
With regard to the licensing system, Mr. Shafique mentions that the law
should set an upper range limit for the license, so that elderly drivers with
medical problems should be tested for renewal of license.
Mr. Khalid Farooq Khawaja answers to this by saying that in regard to many
affairs, the legal framework is already there. For instance, commercial
drivers are required to give a medical certificate of fitness once they have

reached the age of 50. However, the majority of doctors do not look
seriously into the medical state of the driver in issuing their certificate.
With regard to licensing, Mr. Khalid Farooq Khawaja proposes to do away

with discretion (subjective decision making). The personal decision of the
district officer in the testing and licensing procedure should be minimized. A
test could be devised which excludes personal discretion.
Mention is made of the lack of enforcement. Mr Khalid Farooq Khawaja

agrees with the statement of lack of proper enforcement, but he asks the
audience the question: Why? All problems are interlinked. We should not
recommend measures in “thin air”. He explains the situation where efficient
responsible officer have to withstand receiving complaints from high-level
officials. The way the officer on the ground is being treated by high-level
officials sends a message to other policemen, resulting in a general evasive
attitude as far as some traffic violations are concerned. Most drivers, when
stopped by a traffic police officer for a violation, first do not agree with the
violation, second will request a pardon, and third will accuse the police
officer. Even physical assault on traffic officers while carrying out their
duties has been experienced. This is not to deny that traffic police officers
may engage in corrupt behaviour, but it shows the other side of the coin and
the mentality of drivers which they have to cope with.
Dr. Fuad Hameed Rai (Public Health Consultant) draws attention to the
health dimension of the traffic in Lahore. He gives a number of statistics:
- The population growth rate in a big city like Lahore is approximately 9%
a year. In 8 to 10 years the population will be doubled.
- The total number of motor vehicles In Lahore was 1.48 million in 1995.
- Traffic accidents are the third cause of death in Lahore.
Dr. Fuad Hameed Rai then goes on to name a long list of complaints and
diseases that are caused in a major way by the present level of air pollution
in Lahore, produced by the exhaust emissions of the motorized traffic.
With regard to the problem of air pollution, the attention of the audience
turns towards the functioning of RTA (Regional Transport Authority) and
MVE (Motor Vehicle Examiner). In general only 10 to 15 vehicles out of
every 100 vehicles to be checked by the MVH are checked in some ways,
and not in the ways prescribed by law because of the lack of measuring
equipment.
Mr. Khalid Farooq Khawaja suggests the idea that a three member board
consisting of MVE, Police Officer, and Magistrate issues a certificate of
fitness for a vehicle. The actual testing of vehicles could be done by big
firms like Honda.
With regard to the health dimension of traffic, Mr. Hameed Rai proposes
the introduction of Accident Emergency Mobile Unit.
The subjects of checking the use of drugs among commercial drivers

comes up. Mr. Shafique asks whether there are examples of drug testing in
other countries.

Mr. Khalid Farooq asks for the view of the Transporter's Federation. Mr.
Hayat answers that ultimately the government is responsible for providing a
good road system, good queue facilities etc.
Under guidance of Mr. Khalid Farooq Khawaja, the discussion returns to the
subject of traffic law enforcement. In two months time about 20.000 to
25.000 challans can be issued in Lahore. But what is the fate of those
challans? They are pending in court, get lost, or only a nominal fine is
imposed.
Mr. Haji Muhammad Hayat remarks that commercial drivers always have
their fitness certificates and their route permits with them, and that the
commercial drivers cannot understand the meaning of certain challans. For
example they get challaned for wrong parking while there are no signs
indicating no parking areas.
Mr. Khalid Farooq Khawaja stresses that even though corruption among
traffic police cannot be denied, very likely 70 to 80% of the challans are
correct, but what happens to these challans in court? In many cases
payment of 100 rupees to the checking officer is enough to get the license
back.
Again, Mr. Khalid Farooq Khawaja repeats the question: what happens to
the thousands of challans issued to commercial drives in court? In reaction
to this, Mr. Qazi Riaz observes that the challan system should be eliminated
and replaced by a ticketing system. Mr. Farooq Khawaja tells about the
positive experiences with the recently re-introduced ticket system. In about
2 months time 55,000 tickets were issued and nearly 100% of the tickets
were correctly paid.
Again guiding the discussion towards enforcement issues, Mr. Khalid

Farooq Khawaja explains that as yet, no effective deterrent action towards
commercial drivers can be undertaken. With underhand payment of about
Rs. 50-100, most of these drivers go of ‘scot-free’. Of course, a large part of
the problem is economic. Commercial drivers commit violations out of
economic motives, i.e. their own business interests. The economic aspect
also plays a role in the way police officers handle traffic violations. In their
heart, most of the traffic police officers want to be honest in dealing with
traffic violations. However economic circumstances force people to be
corrupt. We should look for ways of combining enforcement with financial
incentive. For instance, police officers could be given part of the total
amount of fines they issue. That would decrease corruption and increase
good enforcement of traffic laws.
Mr. Khalid Farooq Khawaja has now touched upon the subject of revenue
generation for road safety activities. Upon this the discussion veers back
fast to the parking issues. Mr. Qazi Riaz remarks that the construction of
parking plaza's is not always economically viable. It takes too long before
the return on investment in the plaza. The solution seems to be that police
and magistrate decide jointly upon which areas are to be (paid) parking
areas and which non-parking areas and from Day 1 you will have revenue
generation by paid parking.

In the area of parking, success has been achieved with regard to parking
alongside Main Boulevard Gulberg. A combination of publicity and
enforcement ensured that parking alongside Main Boulevard was restricted.
Mr. Farooq Khawaja also recalls some moderate success in the parking
area as a result of dialogue between Traffic Police and Trader's
Association, resulting in less double and triple lane parking.
It is important that the traders and shopkeepers realize themselves that

maximum one half-hour parking near their shop in effect maximizes the
access of many clients to their shop.
Staying with the topic of revenue generation, Mr. Anwar Zahoor makes a
strong argument for re-allocation of the money earned by the ticketing
system to both traffic police (less corruption) and to transport education and
training school facilities. Re-allocation should be decided by high-level
officials.
The next general topic in the discussion is coordination. The opening

remark is that new-built roads soon are being dug open again for purposes
of water, or gas pipes, or electricity cable repairs.
Mr. Khalid Farooq Khawaja observes that a positive development towards

better coordination has already occurred. A special coordination body has
been set up to coordinate the activities of the different provincial
departments involved in the physical infrastructure of the Metropolitan Area
(MCL, WASA, WAPDA etc.). Every Monday, the Mayor of Lahore chairs a
special meeting in which the main stakeholders discuss the potential work
for the coordination of their respective activities.
Traffic management is also to a large extent a matter of coordination. Some

of the shortcomings of Lahore traffic management are again briefly noted
by members of the audience. First, traffic lights are not working. Second,
traffic jams repeatedly occur on links between main roads. Traffic jams also
regularly occur at fixed times near schools and mosques, especially during
Friday prayers. In regulating traffic at intersections, it happens that
constables give far too much time to one particular direction of flow. This
should be addressed in the training they receive.
Mr. Qazi Riaz observes that the NHA authority is already working on
standards for rural roads. He strongly supports the argument that the cause
of accidents is to be sought in the use of the roads rather than in the design
of the roads.
Mr. Khushal Khan begs to disagree with this last observation. In his view to
be illuminated in his presentation, the use of the road, the driver behaviour,
is linked up closely to the design of the road. Mr. Khushal Khan gives a
presentation on network safety issues, illuminating the engineering aspects
of the road safety in Lahore. He dissects the total process of road mana-
gement in five stages or activities: planning, design, construction, operation
and maintenance, and evaluation and follow-up. After this he pays attention
to the areas of neglect or oversight in each of these stages.

Planning: From a road safety point of view, planning of road network in the
Lahore Metropolitan Area has made some serious errors resulting in
increased traffic risk for road users. In some places, the road geometry is
bad. The planning is sometimes downright irrational, not taking into account
the road type required for the area. An example is Main Boulevard Gulberg
which is a limited access motorway running through a commercial area. A
further example of bad planning (or design) are the service roads leading
straight to the new crossings. Furthermore, the special requirements of
vulnerable road users, who make up three quarters of the traffic in Lahore,
are ignored. Seven to eight main roads handle most of the traffic in Lahore,
but the links between these roads are deficient in handling the required
capacity.
Design: The major problem with design of roads in Lahore Metropolitan

Area is the absence of local design standards. For example NESPAK will
use American standards, Mott Mc Donald will use British standards, others
may use Australian standards or no standards at all. Inconsistency of
standards and inappropriate standards lead to confusion among road users.
Construction: Construction sites in Lahore are especially hazardous. Con-

struction work is not signalled far in advance. In this respect the contracts
are deficient. In the contracts there is only a sentence stating that the
contractor should make sure to take diversion measures. The contract
should be more clear about the exact procedure of diversion.
Operation and maintenance: The awareness of operation and maintenance

of roads among the various responsible government institutions (MCL/LD-
A/TEPA) is not very high. The main focus of these institutions is on new, big
projects rather than on - what is in their view - ‘finished’ projects. For
example, in the recently constructed Jail-road, various potholes - hazardous
to night-time driving rickshaws and motorcycles - can be observed.
However, no action is taken to eliminate these potholes, despite knowledge
of their presence.
Evaluation and follow-up: After a road project is finished, no evaluation is

being done on the way the traffic on the road operates, or in the
development of safety on the road.
Noon program: 14:00-16:00 hrs.
The next discussion topic is the status of accident registration. Pakistan

people often see no reason to report an accident if they believe that the
accident was not premeditated. Therefore, there is large underreporting of
minor and non-fatal accidents.
Inspired by discussions with Tom Granberg of Finnroad about this subject,

Mr. Asif J. Khawaja identifies two factors that contribute to underreporting of
accidents:
1. In Pakistan comprehensive accident insurance is negligible.
2. Most of the vehicles are not transported under the owner's name.
The relevance of this last factor is disputed by Mr. Khalid Farooq Khawaja.

Mr. Asif J. Khawaja also raises the questions with regard to the quality of
accident reporting in the newspapers, and the possibility to use newspapers
as a source of information on accidents. However, these issues are not
considered very relevant by most of the audience.
Mr. Farooq Khawaja explains that accident investigation some 13-14 years
back, had a higher quality than nowadays since both the Motor Vehicle
Examiner (MVE) and a traffic officer visited the site of the (fatal) accident
together. However, nowadays, the MVE - resorting under the Authority of
Transport Department - does not visit the site of the accident anymore. In
fact, he has no means of transport to do this. The investigating officers get
the certificate of fitness from the workshop.
Mr. Asif J. Khawaja is interested to hear from Mr. Khalid Farooq Khawaja
the actions undertaken by the Lahore Traffic Police in the area of education
and guidance of school children.
Mr. Khalid Farooq Khawaja explains that fairly recently, traffic leaflets have
been distributed among schools, and traffic quizzes have been organized in
several schools. Moreover, on the initiative of the Traffic Police, some of
the most important traffic signs and rules will be published in the next
version of the Text Book for secondary school level as part of the
curriculum. The Traffic Police have also approached TV and radio
authorities to bring matters of road safety into the open. Currently, the
Traffic Police are trying to establish a ‘traffic garden’ in Lahore where school
children can receive some basic safety instruction.
Dr. Fawad Hameed Rai inquires into the attitude of the Traffic Police
towards cooperation with NGO's. Mr. Khalid Farooq Khawaja answers that
the Traffic Police will gladly accept any help offered by NGO's.
Returning to the subject of enforcement, Mr. Haji Muhammad Hayat

observes that enforcement would be more successful if the traffic police
preceded enforcement activities with a teaching phase. During this, the
traffic police in Lahore would explain and model to road users in Lahore
what type of traffic behaviour is desired. Mr. Khalid Farooq Khawaja can, in
principle, agree with this and refers to the traffic weeks organized by the
police in the past.
Mr. Khalid Farooq expresses his hopes that the study by Mr. Goldenbeld
will also give insight into the possibilities of re-organizing the Lahore Traffic
Police in order to make better use of available resources. A more mobile,
better educated force, with more staff of senior rank, would certainly
command more respect among the road users. Enforcement is a two-way
process: if road users have more respect towards the traffic police,
enforcement will be more effective.
Mr. Haji Muhammad Hayat suggests that the tenure of the DIG Traffic
Police should be 5 to 6 years. Without being that specific, Mr. Khalid
Farooq Khawaja agrees that there should be some continuity in the job. Mr.
Farooq recounts some of his experience with traffic policing on the
highways some years back, and the recent successes of the Motorway

Police. The Traffic Police in Lahore have to move towards higher
professionalism. The answer lies not so much in more manpower. Rather
training, reduced working hours, better service and working conditions are
needed to reach a higher level of professionalism.
A question is put forward to the representative of the World Bank, Mr. N.

Qureshi, as to the intentions of the WB with regard to the present project.
Mr. Qureshi briefly explains that the Word Bank is expecting a report from
the consultant with an agreed upon strategy for the short-term and medium-
term and with recommendations for the Province of the Punjab as a whole.
Mr. Qureshi is also looking forward to receiving a summary of the
proceedings of the workshop.
In the end of the afternoon, the discussion veers back to the topic of more
stringent licensing procedures. Mr. Haji Muhammad Hayat expresses the
strong interest of the Pakistan Motor Transport Federation in setting up a
driving school for commercial drivers. Under the right conditions (e.g.
amendment to legislation), the Pakistan Motor Transport Federation may
even be willing to invest money in such a venture. This opens up the
possibility for public/private partnership in this respect. Mr. Qureshi invites
Mr. Goldenbeld to explore this potentially fruitful avenue.
Mr Khalid Farooq Khawaja extends his thanks to the participants of the

workshops and closes the meeting.
8.9. Report of the 7th May Seminar
Seminar on Road Safety Component of the Lahore Urban Transport Project
In total 45 persons attended the seminar.

Sr. No./ Name/ Designation/Department (in sequence of entry)
1 Sardar M. Humayun Khan, Executive Board Member Association of
Road User of Pakistan (ARUP).
2 Khushal Khan, Traffic Engineer.
3 Peter ter Meulen, General Manager ITC - Holland.
4 Ghalib-A-Bandesha, SSP (HQ), Punjab Traffic Police.
5 Rana M. Iqbal Khan, SP Traffic, Faisalabad.
6 Mian A. Nawaz , Manager Adamjee Insurance Co.
7 Javaid Zaman Khan, Chairman Traffic Task Force.
8 M. Sarfraz, Deputy Secretary Excise & Taxation.
9 Shahzada Hamid, DSP/Legal Traffic Police Department.
10 Mohammad Akram Khan, Inspector Legal Traffic, H.Q. Punjab.
11 Mohammad Afzal, Highway Engineer, MMP.
12 Aamir Mahmood, Highway Engineer, MMP.
13 Tariq Rafiq, Director P&D, L.D.A.
14 Sardar M. Amin Khan, Director, Transport Consultant Pegasus
International (ARUP).
15 Dr. Abdul Rahim Khan, UN.
16 Col (R) Masud ul Haq, Business, Retired army officer.
17 Shakir Imam, Business.
18 Javaid Anwar, Business, Engineer.
19 Navaid Qureshi, Team Leader, World Bank.

20 Amer Durrani , Transport Specialist, World Bank.
21 Lt. Cdr. Shaukat Ali, SP Traffic, Multan.
22 Ch. Mohammad A. Zaheer, General Secretary Road Transport Workers
Federation.
23 M. Javaid, Manager Lahore Transport.
24 Brig. Anis Ahmed, Chairman, LUTP.
25 Haseeb Athar, P.C / TM, LUTP.
26 Ch. Muhammad Hayat, General Secretary Pakistan Motor Transport
Federation.
27 Mohammad Arshad, Chief Executive.
28 Jahandar Khan Banth, Under Secretary Law Department.
29 Dr. F Hameed Rai, Training Manager, HELP(NGO).
30 Dr. Ajmal Magsi, SSP. Motorways.
31 Dr. Ghulam Abbas Anjum, Secretary Transport.
32 Raja Hassan Abbas, C & W Dept.
33 Syed Mahmood Javed, Additional Secretary EPD.
34 Lt. Col.(R) Latif, MCL.
35 Lt. Col.(R) Shuja, MCL.
36 Abdul Ghaffar, CAW Dept.
37 Dr. M.Shahnawaz X-Ray, Dept Punjab Institute of Cardiology.
38 Dr. Mohammed Khurshid Alam.
39 Dr. Waqar Chaudhary, Chief Reporter APP Associated Press of
Pakistan.
40 Khalid Farooq, DIG, Police.
41 Irfan Ahmed Daha, Minister of Transport Government of Punjab.
42 Khalid Alvi, Deputy Director TEPA.
43 Munawar Butt, Staff Reporter Khabrrian Newspaper.
44 Rab Nawaz Khan, Social Worker.
45 Charles Goldenbeld, researcher SWOV Institute for Road Safety
Research.
All the participants received a a) 10-page length seminar-file containing the

agenda of the meeting, b) the 7th May draft plan for the Road Safety
component of the LUTP, c) the outline of the presentation by Mr.K. Khan, d)
a copy of the press interview with Mr. Peter ter Meulen about road safety
(reported 5th May in the International News, Lahore Edition), and e)
information about health and safety initiatives by the NGO HELP.
The agenda for the seminar was:

1. Opening by the Chairman, Mr. Altaf Qamar, DIG Traffic Police Lahore
2. Speeches by:
Mr. Ghalib A. Bandesha, SSP HQ Traffic Police Lahore;
Mr. Peter ter Meulen, General manager, ITC, Netherlands;
Mr. Khushal Khan, Traffic Engineer Lahore;
Mr. Sardar M. Humayun Khan, Representative ARUP (NGO);
Mr. Tom Granberg (Finnroad, Traffic Engineer).
3. First general comments on the received proposal
4. Discussion with regards to specific issues
Coffee/tea break

5. General conclusions by the Chairman
6. Statement by the Honourable Minister of Transport
7. Closing statement by the Chairman
End of the Seminar
Lunch at the Sunfort Hotel
Opening address at seminar on Road Safety on May 7th, 1999, by Mr.

Ghalib A. Bandesha, SSP Headquarters Traffic Police Lahore.
I am Ghalib Ali Bandesha, SSP/Traffic, HQRrs: Punjab and on behalf of the

DIG/Traffic, Punjab Traffic Police and the Dutch Institute SWOV welcome
the distinguished participants to the Seminar on Road Safety.
Today’s Seminar is sequel to the series of steps already taken like

interviews, discussions at workshop on Road Safety, held on April 17, 1999,
since the arrival of Dutch Consultant Mr. Charles Goldenbeld on 24th March
1999 in connection with studies pertaining to the Road Safety Component
of the Lahore Urban Transport Project (LUTP). I owe my special thanks to
the representatives of the World Bank in Pakistan, who allocated huge
amounts from the trust funds for the studies, and for their keen interest in
the quality and outcome of the studies.
I would avail this opportunity to thank the honourable guests who spared
time for the consultants and provided valuable inputs while discussing the
Road Safety issues.
As per available statistics, 2 persons on an average die or are seriously

injured daily in an accident in the city of Lahore only. The vulnerable road
users are pedestrians, cyclists, and users of non-motorized and motorised
vehicles. This state of affairs sends a strong signal to the people at the
helm of affairs to take cognisance, and improve the road safety situation
accordingly. The common perception is that discernible chaos is only due to
the poor enforcement of the traffic police. Strict enforcement campaigns do
have limited results and bring in temporary change in the behaviour of the
violators, but permanent attitudinal change can only be brought if the road’s
language is candid and clear, controlling the behaviour of the user, and the
publicity and media campaigns leave a lasting message in the memory of
the user. In-depth analysis divulges that road safety is a discipline which is
directly proportional to the road design, road furniture, education of the road
users, driving skills of the drivers, and finally the training, motivation,
knowledge, and better equipping of the enforcers of the laws on ground.
Road Safety warrants a multi-agencies approach and integrated efforts of

all the key players like Highways Department, Development Authorities,
Health Department, Education Department, Excise and Taxation Depart-
ment, Transport Department, and Traffic Police. We have to negotiate a
turn, a giant leap in the right direction, by redefining and re-emphasising the
role of each player in road safety, and co-ordinating their activities at a
forum with a view to develop a common outlook, and achieve the desired
goals.

Today’s seminar is being held with a view to evolve a consensus on the
issues pertaining to Road Safety.
We have also requested the honourable Minister of The Transport Depart-

ment of the Punjab to be the Chief Guest at the closing ceremony of the
Seminar. He has kindly consented to be with us.
Beside presentation of an Implementation Plan by Peter ter Meulen, two

speakers will read their papers on the issues pertaining to Road Safety, and
then an open discussion will follow.
Before we start the introduction round of participants, I request DIG/ Mr.

Muhammad Altaf Qamar to preside the meeting and conduct the business
of the Seminar. He is requested to present the summary of the proposals
pertaining to Road Safety to the participants at the conclusion of the
proceedings.
Presentation by Mr. Peter ter Meulen, General Manager of the Institute of

Traffic Care
I am pleased to see so many faces here today. It shows that there is a real
interest in the subject of road safety in Lahore. Concerning road safety
there is a battle to face and it is a real battle. Since I have been here, I have
read several papers and documents on the subject and I have visited
several scenes in the city. I know that important initiatives towards road
safety have already been undertaken in the last year. The traffic police
have proposed needed changes in the legislation. Also, there has been a
briefing paper about the road situation, prepared by TEPA and Traffic
Police, for the chief minister.
I arrived here with good optimism and with the expectation to discuss things
with those responsible for road safety. We succeeded in this; after the first
introductions, we had talks up to the highest levels.
There are a lot of problems here and also unique problems. The problems
have also to do with corruption, and the corruption is not only inside the
traffic police but is more widespread. I have been a police officer myself for
30 years and I know that for discipline on the streets, we need a traffic
police force that has integrity and authority, and that is open to the public.
The police need to be respected by the public and also to respect the
public.
However, if I see the current working conditions of the traffic police, I can
only describe them with the word ‘inhuman’. The police have to work 16
hours per day and 7 days per week. They have to do their work standing in
traffic, in the scorching heat and the polluted air. As regards enforcement
activity, the traffic police have poor training, poor instruments, and a poor
attitude. Also, there is a lack of law and clear infrastructure making good
enforcement possible.
If we raise our children, we have to set clear rules for them. It must be
totally clear for them what they can and cannot do. After giving this clarity,

we as parents sometimes have to correct behaviour with punishment. The
same goes for road users. It must be 100% clear to them what they can and
cannot do in traffic. For this, the infrastructure must present clear guidance,
and clearly the government is responsible for a good infrastructure. The
policeman cannot enforce the traffic rules if the roads are not clearly
designed, well constructed, and well maintained.
It cannot be tolerated that road users feel free to do whatever they want in
traffic. Draconic measures are needed to change the whole approach. I
know there are many high quality people in the field of road safety here in
Lahore, but there are too many islands. To improve the situation,
cooperation between important stakeholders is needed. To me it is a
surprise that the traffic police are not in any way involved in the
development of important road projects. They have to work on the new
roads after their completion, and are held responsible for traffic problems
on these roads. In the Netherlands, the police are involved in major
infrastructure projects in an advisory capacity. From their long experience
with traffic in the streets, the traffic police can foresee traffic problems and
advise on possible solutions.
The traffic police in Lahore can bring back some discipline on the streets,
but they cannot do this alone or without proper support. First, a lot of things
have to be done. There must be a change in infrastructure and there must
be change in legislation; the fines have to be upgraded.
In the long term, we also have to work towards a change in the traffic
mentality of the future generation. To do this we have to start with our
children and teach them traffic sense both at home and at primary schools.
Important is that we speak to children in their own language.
For traffic education, investment is necessary. But the responsibility for

traffic education lies not solely with the Government. It is a shared
responsibility of the stakeholders; the schools, publishers, and parents, and
they have to work together to achieve this.
One of our first proposals is to set up a steering platform that will make a
road safety policy for the next five years. In this platform, all stakeholders
are united, including the traffic police. It is very important that in this
platform, stakeholders accept each other on the same level as an equal. In
the design of new road projects, the steering committee should be involved.
Of course the major change needed is a change in the mentality of the road
users. When I look at the mentality of the Lahori drivers, I see the Wild
West in America. There is simply no respect for another driver, cyclist, or
pedestrian. I can understand this for a part. What else can we expect if
there is no knowledge, skills or attitude among drivers? Everybody can get
his driving license very easily. In general, driving exams are fake and
theory exams not taken; there are some exceptions. The authorities issuing
licenses should realize their important responsibility in this area. They
should take their responsibility and work towards improvement of this
situation. In the future, the Ministry of Transport may be the proper agency
to take over the responsibility in this area.

A large part of the problem lies with the commercial drivers. They are
involved in 70% of the road casualties. On the other hand, it is realized that
these drivers perform an important commercial function. It is clear that
these drivers have to pass an exam, and that they have to go to get some
form of driving education.
For the present project the Traffic Police Lahore took the initiative and the
World Bank made it possible. Based on the total work, the SWOV institute
will make recommendations and describe a plan in a report that will be
submitted to the Punjab Government.
An important part of the plan is of course the money, the budget. Where will
the money for road safety initiatives in the future come from? For this we
have proposed a paid parking system. The car drivers themselves have to
pay for road safety. Part of the parking and enforcement fees will be re-
channelled into road safety and into instruments and knowledge of the
traffic police. I think it is a wonderful thing when those who use the road
space and create the problems also pay for the safety.
In our plan, we start with a pilot-project with clearly visible short-term

results. If we select important traffic routes in Lahore and change the
infrastructure (the road signs, the lane markings, the stopping signs, the
speed limit signs etc.) we will be able to train police officers this year. Then
we have to cut the working hours of the selected and trained police officers
to normal standards, and upgrade their salaries to the level of the motorway
police. Then we can be assured of traffic police officers who are not corrupt,
proud of their task, aware of their function and their authority, friendly to the
public, but strict in their enforcement.
Yesterday I was invited by the Chief Minister of the Province of the Punjab
to discuss matters of road safety at his residence. The Chief Minister gave
his support to the plans we would like to present to you today. Today we will
get your input to the plan, and in the next two weeks we will further
elaborate the plan and present it to the World Bank who will present it to the
Government of the Punjab.
If we achieve consensus about this plan and if the main stakeholders here
are willing to cooperate, we are willing to put a lot of our effort and energy in
this project to make it successful, and to make it an example for the whole
of Pakistan.
Presentation by Mr. Sardar M. Humayun Khan, Member of the Executive

Board of the Association of Road Users of Pakistan.
Distinguished guests and fellow participants, Aslamalaikum.
I see wide, well-paved roads with a steady stream of orderly traffic moving
at an unimpeded speed in both directions. I see well-marked lanes
separating the fast moving traffic from the slower two wheeled motor
cycles. I see public transport moving at a safe speed on the left lane and
stopping at dedicated locations. I see drivers obeying the traffic lights at the
major junctions with no policeman in sight. I see meaningful road signs to

help guide me to my destination, and when I get there I easily find parking
space for my vehicle.
These images are a sincere desire to see my city rid of the harmful and
dangerous environment existing on its roads. We are all so well aware of
the problems and difficulties that confront us each time we use the road
system. The tension and frustration are not only limited to the poor quality
of the road surface, but also due to the disregard of traffic rules by road
users which makes it so unsafe for each and everyone of us. The heavy
fumes and the load noise that are serious pollutants on the city road ways,
are yet another cause for concern.
The problems are many and are daunting. I am most concerned and
disturbed (as I am sure you share these concerns) that the situation is
deteriorating instead of getting any better. This scenario is indeed
frightening. I, as an private individual, have two alternatives - either to
accept the present situation quietly and let my family and I continue taking
our chances in the deteriorating conditions, or to take on the challenge and
make every effort to try and bring about an improvement. I am no specialist
in the complicated art of the traffic management, but just a road user! It is
my profound desire, as a citizen, to see that the problems and difficulties
existing on our roads are removed. With this in mind, I joined the
Association of Road Users of Pakistan, which was established in October
1998. I am one of the founder members and a member of the Executive
Board. It may be pertinent to give a brief background of this NGO, which
was encouraged and sponsored by the World Bank.
As we all know, the poor maintenance of the road system is an acute

problem in our country. The road surface deteriorates quickly due to the
sub-standard construction and improper use of the network, which is directly
caused by the overloading of vehicles. You should not be surprised that a
large number of countries in the world have problems similar to ours. In
order to address the critical situation, the World Bank took the initiative over
40 year ago to provide assistance to the countries adversely affected. It
became apparent from the onset, that one of the main reasons for the
continuation of these problems was the lack of involvement of the users in
the various stages of road development projects. While road users are
required to contribute substantially towards the cost of maintaining roads,
they are excluded from its planning, decision making, management, and
implementation.
The World Bank already has in place National Highway Improvement

Programmes and has established a Highway Maintenance Fund in almost
40 countries around the globe. In Pakistan, it was only recently that the
National Highway Authority, with the assistance of the World Bank,
launched this programme to try and address the pressing issues of road
maintenance together with safety.
The object of the Highway Maintenance Fund is to generate sufficient

money to be exclusively used for the maintenance of existing roads. The
unique nature of this proposal is to control, manage, and disburse funds
through a transparent procedure where road user participation is

guaranteed. In fact, in almost all countries where this fund is operating, the
Chairman of the Road Maintenance Fund is from the private sector.
In this context, the Road Safety component of the Lahore Urban Transport
Project could benefit from the participation of the newly-formed NGO (and
of course, other responsible NGOs) which has on its agenda the improve-
ment of road conditions and safety throughout the country. I strongly
believe that the citizens and the authorities responsible for traffic manage-
ment will make a collective and concerted effort to correct the situation in
this lovely city. The Citizen and Police Liaison Committee established in
Karachi over 15 years ago, is working well. With innovative style and bold
initiatives this arrangement has achieved commendable results. I suggest
that a similar liaison committee could be introduced in Lahore, where the
road safety becomes a part of its agenda.
I repeat myself that the problems are well known and cover a wide
spectrum. Efforts have been made in the past to improve the situation, but
it is most unfortunate that conditions have deteriorated considerably rather
than improvement being brought about. In the past, local and foreign
experts and consultants have analysed the conditions on the ground and
have written a number of relevant reports on how to correct the problems,
but for whatever reasons, not much has been achieved so far. I would
certainly not wish to see this present opportunity go down the same track.
We, unfortunately, seem to have a record of coming up with sound
proposals, but we founder when we get to the implementation stage. This
has happened so many times in so many other projects. I do not wish to
sound pessimistic, but we should guard ourselves against such an
eventuality.
I am somewhat heartened to see so many determined faces here today and

in the workshops convened last month at the Municipal Corporation’s
Jinnah Hall and at the Four Seasons Restaurant. The participants were not
as many as one would wish for, but it was a start, and I can only hope that
with continued and determined efforts of all the participants here today, we
are able to motivate our colleagues and others to join us in this noble
cause.
The success of this programme can be assured only if road users and
stakeholders jointly participate with the government and the organizations
involved in traffic management. Prominent citizens, large and medium size
business concerns, responsible NGOs, transport associations, and in fact,
any road user willing to participate for the betterment of safety on our roads,
should be welcomed. Lady participants, who have so much influence at
home, especially with the younger generation, must be given special
consideration to become part of this crusade.
Education and enforcement of traffic rules are necessary, but it would be so

much easier if all road users shoulder their responsibilities in a benefiting
manner. It is in the interest of al concerned to ensure that a healthy
environment exists on the network of roads in the city (and subsequently all
over the country) not only by enforcing, but also by willingly regulating
ourselves to be responsible users of the road system. We seem to overlook

the most obvious condition for achieving success, and that is by correcting
and regulating ourselves. We enjoy correcting others (whatever the subject
may be) but we tend to ignore correcting ourselves first.
The negative attitude of the public towards responsible usage of road net-
work, in my personal opinion, is one of the main reasons for the sorry state
of affairs. The mutual disrespect of the private citizen and the public
towards each other, is a major factor contributing to the continuation of this
situation. Should we let this unfortunate and unnecessary state continue
without doing anything about it? I sincerely hope not. I hope that this time
we are seriously determined to start the long process of turning the tide.
I would not wish to go into the technical details and proposals laid down by
the present programme, as there are a number of professionals who will
outline them for you. These proposals cover numerous areas that need to
be addressed, but I would certainly wish to highlight one single topic, which
in my view is very important. It is probably the most difficult item to tackle,
but once achieved, it would be the most effective of all the tools available to
us - and that is to make every endeavour to bring about a positive change
in the present ATTITUDE of the road user.
It is easier said than done. How are we going to do this? This will require a
long and concerted effort (at least a generation or two). Besides the use of
educational institutions, we have a powerful media available to us which
unfortunately, is not being used. The TV is present in almost every home. A
professional media manager would be able to chalk out an effective
programme, but it is important that besides the direct approach of showing
commercials etc., a subtler approach would be more effective in the long
run. The message of road safety could be got across through plays,
dramas, and talk shows, to name a few. I can give the example of Brazil,
which has run a TV campaign (besides other proposals), for over 30 years,
covering family planning. In this campaign they have made use of
playwrights and dramatists to depict the hero or heroine as the person with
small families. They have shown in their plays and dramas the virtues of a
small family. The theme of these plays emphasizes that successful persons
come from such small families. This indirect approach took a very long time
to achieve its results, but it did eventually.
This was just a single suggestion. There are a large number of other
proposals and actions that need to be taken on simultaneously. Do we have
the will and the patience to start them now and continue with them with ever
increasing determination over the years? I certainly hope so, as much is at
stake. If we proceed jointly together and with complete determination, we
will command success.
Absence of Tom Granberg

The next person scheduled to speak about road safety in Pakistan was Tom
Granberg, traffic engineer from the consultancy firm Finnroad and working
in Pakistan for over two years. Mr. Goldenbeld explains that Mr. Tom
Granberg was very motivated to appear at the seminar but was
unfortunately not able to book a flight from Islamabad to the seminar.

Outline of the open table discussion following the presentations
Mr Qureshi, project leader from the World Bank, proposes to keep the
discussion focussed on the road safety plan presented in the seminar file.
Mr. Peter ter Meulen briefly elucidates point 1 of the plan, the establishment
of the steering committee. He states that the steering committee should
determine the road safety policy for the city for a period of about 5 years.
The first question raised by a participant is who will establish the steering
committee who is to lead the project. Mr. ter Meulen answers that, in his
view, the Lord Mayor is the man to head the steering committee in the initial
period. However, the chairman of the steering committee may be changed
after a certain period of time, say after six months. Essentially the main
stakeholders have an equal position in the steering committee, and it is up
to them who will be the chairman. It is important that there is transparency
in the decision-making process of the steering committee, and that the
inputs from the various stakeholders in the committee are used to bring
about a more efficient way of approach to road safety. The traffic police,
who have daily experience in traffic, must be allowed to play a strong
advisory role in the steering committee.
One participant expresses concern about the size of the steering

committee. If all stakeholders are to be involved the committee will be very
large.
Mr. ter Meulen answers that the committee should not be too big and should
have about 10 to maximum 15 members. The key government traffic
sectors should be represented by about 7 or 8 persons and there should be
likewise a cross-section from the private sector. In the committee there
should be one representative of the municipality, one of the traffic police,
one of the courts etc.
The DIG Traffic Police, Mr. Altaf Qamar, adds that the composition of the
steering committee is to be decided in the future.
Dr. Abdul Rahni Khan raises the question what would be the basis for the
policy to be followed by the steering committee. Mr. ter Meulen answers
that basically, the yardstick for the policy of the steering committee is the
reduction in the number of road casualties.
Mr. dr. Abdul Rahni Khan follows up with a question of how the
development of land use in Lahore and the subsequent growth in trip
generation are taken into account in the road safety plan. Mr. ter Meulen
answers that of course the steering committee will be using available
information about recent developments in the city in its decisions about
road safety measures.
The question is asked how the present road safety plan will relate to the
City Master Plan. Mr. Durrani, representative from the World Bank, answers
that the present road safety plan will melt fluently into any plan the city may
have. The road safety plan is intended to bring about a positive change in a

well-described demonstration area in the city, and it does not in any way
conflict with existing plans.
One of the participants remarks that it is important to look at both macro

and micro levels of the traffic problem.
Mr. dr. M. Khursid Alam Khan Arbab calls to attention that more effort
should be put into making existing footpaths accessible to pedestrians.
Then the discussion veers towards the parking policy in Lahore. Mr. Javed
Zaman, Chairman Traffic Task Force, points out that legally, newly built
offices are required to have sufficient parking space available to incorporate
their tenants. Mr. Khushal Khan points out there is, at the moment,
sufficient parking space in Lahore.
Mr. Khalid Farooq states there is a implementation problem with the

regulation of parking space. The maps for new building, including the areas
designed for parking, have been approved by LDA, but the actual building
or actual use of the parking space is not going according to plan.
Mr. Peter ter Meulen expresses that he has a very good feeling about the
discussion. Since time is short and valuable, he urges participants to focus
again on the plan at hand.
One of the participants comments on point 9 of the plan (centralization and

computerization of the vehicle registration system). He states that the
Excise and Taxation Department in Lahore already is in the process of
centralizing and computerizing vehicle registration for the whole province of
Punjab and is also providing owners of vehicles with water-marked number
plates.
Mr. Peter ter Meulen answers that the ambition is to have a centralized and
computerized vehicle registration for the whole of Pakistan. It is remarked
that constitutionally, vehicle registration falls under the domain of the
province rather than the nation.
Mr. Khalid Farooq states that the plan should be very clear about short term
and long-term requirements, and about financial requirements.
Furthermore, he hopes that the plan will also consider re-organization of the
traffic police.
Mr. Peter ter Meulen answers that the costs for the total plan will be
somewhere between 10 to 20 million US $. Mr. Amer Durrani puts this
amount in perspective by saying that the construction of one underpass will
amount to 350 million Rupees.
As regards re-organization of the traffic police Mr. Peter ter Meulen answers
that specific recommendations in this regard should be first discussed with
the current DIG Traffic Police, Mr. Altaf Qamar.
One of the recommendations with regard to the traffic police is to grant the
traffic police the authority to investigate accidents. Mr. Khalid Farooq

expresses his doubts concerning this point. If the traffic police have to
investigate every accident, they will lose a lot of time in court proceedings
and be away from the streets. Mr. Peter ter Meulen answers that it is not the
intention of the plan that every traffic officer would be investigating every
accident on his beat. The plan is rather that a specialist team of accident
investigators should be formed within the traffic police, who only investigate
fatal accidents. A well-trained, knowledgeable small group of investigators
could work very efficiently and improve the knowledge of police and
government about the existing road safety situation.
Mr. Ch. Muhammad Hayat, General Secretary, Pakistan Motor Transport

Federation, expresses his satisfaction with the current laws and procedures.
The police officer on the spot decides who is at fault. In the case that there
is a fatality, there is also insurance.
Part of the plan is upgrading of the fines. One participants expresses his
doubt concerning this measure on the grounds that often drivers are not
owners of the vehicles. Ideally, drivers at fault should be put behind bars for
3 to 4 hours. Mr. Peter ter Meulen answers that the owner of the vehicle can
be held responsible for the technical state of the vehicle, but not for the
behaviour of the driver. If the driver commits a traffic violation, he should
get an appropriate fine for his behaviour.
Break
Dr. Shahnawaz, cardiologist, resumes the discussion with expressing some

doubts about the safety potential of the legal measure making seat belt use
mandatory. From his experience, speeding is not a problem in the city. The
best road safety measures in his view are those that restore the normal flow
of traffic. The road safety proposals in the plan should reflect more the local
requirements.
Mr. Peter ter Meulen explains that there can be no doubt about the general
safety benefit of making seat belt use mandatory. In both Europe and
United States this road safety measure has been among the most
successful measures taken. Mr. ter Meulen agrees that the road safety plan
should be sharply attuned to local conditions. He explains that the several
elements of the plan should fit together like a puzzle. He stresses that in
follow-up discussions step-by-step measures should be worked out for both
provincial and local level. It is extremely important, in the view of Mr. ter
Meulen, that good discussions should result in decisions, and that decisions
should be followed up in practice.
Mr. Khushal Khan corrects the viewpoint that there is no speeding in the
Lahore. He observes that on several roads, e.g. Main Boulevard Gulberg,
violations of the speed limit are common.
Mr. Khalid Farooq emphasizes the importance of helmet wearing by

motorcyclists. In Lahore, ten to fifteen percent of the vehicles used are
motorcycles, and most motorcyclists do not wear helmets. Attention to this
problem should be given in the plan.

Mr. Amer Durrani states that motorcyclists actually comprise 25% of the
Lahore traffic. Given the Pakistan climate, the half helmet format would be
the most comfortable and attractive helmet format for Pakistani
motorcyclists. At the moment, however, there are no proper legal
certification standards for these helmets in Pakistan.
Mr. Khalid Farooq points out that there is no proper transport policy in
Pakistan. There is no consideration by policy makers about what type of
commercial and personal transport is suitable for a particular city. In the
absence of such policies, the traffic police ultimately have to face the
problems caused by the mix of different transport modes. In the future, we
should work towards a national and provincial transport policy establishing
which kinds of transport should be encouraged or discouraged.
For instance, part of a national transport policy should be the arrangement

of transport for college students and school children. In Lahore, well-known
as the ‘City of Colleges’, you will see 1000 private cars bringing students to
the colleges along major roads. At the national level, the Government
should make a plan for the transport of these students.
The Minister of Transport agrees with Mr. Khalid Farooq that buses should
be provided for the transport of students, but it is the colleges themselves,
rather than the government, who should provide these services.
One of the participants points out that official government vehicles should
be fitted with seat belts and that officials may start giving the right example.
Mr. dr. M. Khursid Alam Khan Arbab points out the necessity of excluding
slow-moving, animal-driven traffic, or keeping this traffic restricted to
separate lanes. Furthermore, he recommends there should be clear
specifications for road breakers better known in Lahore as ‘car breakers’.
Mr. Ch. Muhammad Hayat, general secretary of the Pakistan Motor

Transport Federation, recommends that a strict law should be imposed on
the operation of tractor trolleys. Tractor trolleys are illegally operated day
and night in Lahore, and especially in the night hours they are poorly visible
and constitute a veritable road hazard.
Mr. Khalid Farooq points out the importance of the advisory role of the
police. The traffic police had advised against the measures intended to
segregate slow and fast moving traffic on Circular Road. As foreseen by the
traffic police, the separate lane for slow-moving traffic was soon
encroached upon by shopkeepers, and the traffic police were in practice
unable to enforce use of right lane by slow-moving traffic. A practical
problem with enforcement of animal-driven vehicles is the absence of a
driving license. In practice, the police men started meting out direct
punishment to the driver by beating him with a stick.
A further important component of the road safety plan should be the

visibility of cyclists during night-time. Reflectors and lights on bicycles
should be part of the plan.

As the last speaker during the discussion, Mr. dr. M. Khursid Alam Khan
Arbab again draws attention to the need for banning slow-moving traffic out
of parts of the city. Furthermore he urges to restore the tradition of using
special horse bags to keep horse droppings from falling on the roads and
making them slippery and dangerous.
Closing address by the Minister of the Department of Transport of the

Province of Punjab.
I greet Mr. Muhammad Altaf Qamar, DIG/Traffic, Punjab and the other
distinguished participants coming from various departments and walks of
life. I have the privilege to address the august audience of the seminar on
road safety arranged by the Punjab Traffic Police and the Dutch institute
SWOV.
I had a meeting with the Dutch consultants a couple of days ago, and
discussed the issues pertaining to road safety. I was told that the
consultants have met all the key players regarding road safety, and that a
workshop has already been held on the subject. The views of all the
stakeholders have been taken care of, and an implementation plan has
been presented in the seminar for further discussion. This generated a lively
debate amongst the participants. The views expressed in this exercise will
help in ultimately improving the infrastructure, educating the public, and
better enforcement of laws, so that chaos and disorder is replaced by
discipline and order on roads.
I assure the participants and Management Committee of the seminar that

the political will, absolute resolve, and firm commitment of the Punjab
Government is with you in formulating the final strategy for making the
roads safe for the road users. The Chief Minister is very serious about the
Lahore Urban Transport Project and gives utmost importance to this project.
Finally I thank the DIG/Traffic, the Management Committee of the Seminar

for their invitation to be the Chief Guest, the Dutch Consultants for their
efforts, and the participants for their valuable suggestions.

A Road Safety Plan For The City of Lahor

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A Road Safety Plan For The City of Lahor

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A road safety plan for the city of Lahore

Dr. Charles Goldenbeld (SWOV) & Peter ter Meulen (ITC)

SWOV Institute for Road Safety Research

The scope of the current project covered the following activities:

SWOV Publication A-2000-3 3

The report presents final conclusions regarding the feasibility of the

4 SWOV Publication A-2000-3

Explanation of vehicle types 8

Basic traffic concepts 9

2. The road safety problem 16

3. The road safety strategy 29

4. The road safety plan 38

5. The implementation plan 47

SWOV Publication A-2000-3 5

7. Literature and documents 71

6 SWOV Publication A-2000-3

ADB Asian Development Bank

DIG Deputy Inspector General

LDA Lahore Development Authority

MCL Metropolitan Corporation Lahore

MVO Motor Vehicle Ordinance

MVR Motor Vehicle Rule

MW&C Ministry of Works and Communication

NGO Non Government Organization

NHA National Highways Authority

NTRC National Transport Research Council

PSV Public Service Vehicle

TEPA Traffic Engineering and Planning Agency

WAPDA Water and Power Development Authority

WASA Water and Sanitation Agency

SWOV Publication A-2000-3 7

Challan Ticket against traffic violation to be handled by court

Mini bus 29-seater

Rehra push/pull cart

Tonga horse-driven 6-seater

Wagon 14 seater (commuter van)

8 SWOV Publication A-2000-3

SWOV Publication A-2000-3 9

Road reconstruction or road rehabilitation

10 SWOV Publication A-2000-3

SWOV Publication A-2000-3 11

- Mr. Khalid Farooq Khawaja, DIG/Director Welfare, Punjab, Lahore.

12 SWOV Publication A-2000-3

1.1. Contents of the chapter

In section 1.2. we briefly sketch the main components of the LUTP. In

1.2. The Lahore Urban Transport Project

1. The Public Transport Improvement Component

2. The Transport Infrastructure Maintenance Component

3. The Traffic Management and Transport Infrastructure Expansion

The Government of the Punjab plans to implement a reform framework for

Lahore’s needs would indicate a proposed 5-7 year project of about US $

SWOV Publication A-2000-3 13

The scope of the current project covers the following activities:

The aforementioned activities have lead to three final products:

2. A multi-year traffic safety plan for Lahore Metropolitan Area with a

3. An implementation plan and Terms of Reference for preparation and

1.4. Overview of the report

In chapters 2 to 5 we directly focus on the crux of the matter and present an

14 SWOV Publication A-2000-3

SWOV Publication A-2000-3 15

2.1. Contents of the chapter

In this chapter we analyse the road safety problem of the Lahore