Bengaluru: With traffic chaos showing no signs of easing, Bengalureans have urged the city’s new additional commissioner of police (traffic), M N Karthik Reddy, to prioritise deploying more personnel on the ground and improve enforcement against daily violations.The suggestions poured in after TOI Bengaluru’s post on X asked citizens what the new traffic police chief’s focus should be. The responses highlighted long-standing pain points, ranging from lack of discipline on the roads to systemic gaps in enforcement.Srinivas Alavalli, co-founder of Citizens for Bengaluru, called for not just additional deployment but also better working conditions for traffic cops. “@blrcitytraffic cops deserve better working conditions as they brave heat, rain, pollution like no one else in our city,” he replied. He also emphasised the need to prioritise public transport. “Each bus carries an equivalent of 50-plus cars but occupies the space of just 2.5 cars. Bus Priority Lanes on all high-density corridors is a great plan but remains mostly on paper. We hope the outer ring road bus lane comes back to life soon as Metro construction has mostly cleared up.”Several users pointed to reckless two-wheeler behaviour, including rampant wrong-side driving. “Can they please just fine people driving in the opposite direction? It’s way too many times and way too entitled of drivers and riders alike in Bangalore,” wrote user @hokyarahaibe.User @agk\_tweets called for a balance between contactless policing for violations like helmetless riding and on-the-spot interventions for dangerous behaviour. “Reckless driving needs on-the-spot discipline as they can hurt others. Road rage and goondaism on the roads need to be dealt with an iron hand,” the comment read. Others flagged hooliganism by some auto drivers and the rising cases of road rage.The conversation also drew attention to flawed signals, malfunctioning CCTV systems, unauthorised parking, and vehicles running without number plates.While a few expressed scepticism about whether change would happen, the majority of the comments reflected cautious optimism, hoping for visible improvements in the city’s traffic management in the coming months.——Major issues raised by netizens:■ Lack of sufficient traffic police deployment■ Wrong-side driving, especially by two-wheelers■ Road rage and hooliganism■ Malfunctioning traffic signals■ Unauthorised parking■ Vehicles without number plates■ Lack of bus priority lanes on high-density corridors
