LUCKNOW, July 19 -- The recent death of a journalist, who was knocked down by a UPSRTC bus on Lucknow's busy Lohia Path, has brought into focus the rising menace of lane indiscipline on roads, highways and expressways in Uttar Pradesh. Initial accounts suggest that either of the two vehicles involved was not adhering to lane rules, leading to the tragic crash, an incident that is no longer isolated but part of a growing pattern across the state. From urban arteries to high-speed corridors like the Yamuna Expressway, Agra-Lucknow Expressway and the Purvanchal Expressway, frequent lane violations - sudden switches, wrong-lane driving, overtaking from the left or slow vehicles using overtaking lanes -are endangering lives daily. "Driving slowly in the fast lane, cutting across lanes without indicators or overtaking from the left have become rampant, turning roads, especially highways and expressways, into danger zones," said Akhand Pratap, an IAS officer and chief executive officer (CEO) of the UP Rural Road Development Authority. Fatal crashes on expressways, cars ramming into illegally parked trucks and buses in the fast lanes are quite common, showing both lack of awareness and enforcement of rules. The transport department's data reveals that wrong-side driving/lane indiscipline remains to be the second biggest cause for road accident deaths in UP, over-speeding being the first. According to the data, as high as 12% of all the total 23,652 road accident deaths in UP in 2023 were attributed to lane indiscipline or driving on the wrong side. The share was the same, that is 12%, in 2022. Also, 34% of the total deaths in 2023, happened on national highways, 24% on state highways and 1.8% on expressways. Nationally, 22,556 road accidents and 9,094 deaths were attributed to driving on the wrong side/lane indiscipline in 2022. However, the national average of share of lane indiscipline in fatalities was lower at 5.4% than 12% in UP. In December 2024, Union road transport and highways minister, Nitin Gadkari, said the biggest reason for road accidents was lane indiscipline and his own car was fined twice in Mumbai for not following traffic rules. "High speed is not such a big problem as people all over the world drive fast. However, lane indiscipline is a bigger problem in India," the minister noted while speaking during the Question Hour in the Lok Sabha. Piyush Tiwari, founder of SaveLIFE Foundation, said: "Lane indiscipline is one of the most common but least addressed causes of road crashes in India. This is particularly true on high-speed corridors where lack of lane-specific speed enforcement, poor driver training and weak implementation of rules routinely result in deaths." Experts point to a combination of lax monitoring, poor driver training - especially among commercial drivers - and the absence of awareness campaigns as key reasons for the worsening scenario. Despite the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) installing lane-specific cameras on some stretches, low real-time monitoring and poor penalty recovery have undermined their effectiveness. "Lane discipline is the backbone of road safety, and we lack both the infrastructure and the will to enforce it strictly," said a senior transport official. Night-time enforcement remains patchy, and issues such as poor lighting and signage aggravate risks. Heavy vehicles often drive in convoys, blocking overtaking lanes for long stretches, leaving little room for faster traffic and increasing chances of tailgating and collisions. "Commuters should also be alert. One wrong move by an indisciplined driver can cost dozens of lives. We need serious awareness among bus and truck drivers," he said. While authorities talk of AI-based surveillance, dedicated patrolling squads and expressway behavioural ratings for fleet operators, the grim reality remains: Uttar Pradesh's high-speed corridors, despite their engineering excellence, are becoming deadly stretches due to systemic failure in enforcing lane discipline. "Strict enforcement and bigger fines can easily enforce lane discipline and this may heavily reduce accidents and deaths on highways and expressways," Akhand Pratap Singh said. As Tiwari puts it, "Unless urgent steps are taken to enforce lane usage norms through a combination of engineering, enforcement and education, such tragedies will continue with alarming frequency."...