Road dividers mediate between life and death

hyderabad: they come in all shapes, sizes and colours and even designs. the medians, or road dividers in the city, don't just segregate traffic, they also cause accidents. with no design standards for the road dividers, it is not uncommon to find dividers that are square or rectangular. some even disappear into the road itself, thanks to repeated recarpeting of some stretches of roads.while most road dividers are nearly invisible during nights, the primary cause for accidents lies in the road users, officials say. it is the reckless driving by people which causes accidents involving road dividers,'' a senior police official said. in the absence any set standards in laying road dividers that can be followed, municipal corporation of hyderabad officials just go by the flow of traffic and recommendations by traffic police. though most of the roads do not require a median, these are being forced on the city because of increasing violations of road rules. one should never cross the yellow lines on the roads. accidents take place whenever a person crosses the yellow line,'' a senior officer in the mch traffic wing said. on their part, mch officials and traffic police regularly paint the roads and erect reflectors at the beginning of a median. but, most reflectors are used as poster boards by the people. once a poster is pasted, the reflectors lose their sheen and become less visible, resulting in accidents. however, officials express helplessness when it comes to taking action against those who abuse the reflectors. we find it difficult to check all or replace them,'' a senior officer said. the road dividers are basically aimed at segregating the traffic, checking the speed, ensuring smooth flow of traffic and preventing indiscriminate crossing of the road. the high rise beautified masonry medians on the main thorough fares like begumpet road are aimed at preventing glare from the headlamps of vehicles affecting the vision of drivers coming from the opposite direction, the official said.