WE must all compliment the Karachi police for allowing four-way traffic on Karachi`s roads. All concepts of left and right have ceased to exist, and you can drive in any direction you like on any road whether it is a small lane or thoroughfares.

Traffic signals are a big joke, and you can drive at full speed ignoring the red light while the traffic from the other side does the same. Doesn`t matter whether it is day or night. All one-way streets have become two-way. For instance, the road from Art Council to Zainab Market is one way. But you can see traffic coming the wrong way. Similarly just drive on Zebunnisa Street and Abdullah Haroon Road and you will find the law of the jungle on Karachi`s streets.

The other day, while driving on University Road from Sabzi Mandi to Hassan Square, I took a left turn to go to Liaquatabad with the flyover to my right.

Lo and behold! Traffic was coming at full speed at me from Liaquatabad. Again while returning from Liaquatabad and going to University Road I found the same phenomenon. As I approached University Road with the flyover to my right I found the traffic going the wrong way toward Liaquatabad.

Motorcyclists began it. Now car drivers, delivery vans and contract buses do the same. But to see a truce picture of Karachi`s traffic bedlam, just drive along Preedy Street from Zebunnisa crossroads to Rainbow Centre, and you will find we have hit a new low in civic sense and morality. I am not comparing Karachi with, say, Singapore or Istanbul. I think even within Pakistan, there is no city which has the kind of traffic anarchy Karachi has. And look at accidents. A pedestrian wants to cross a road and obviously he must look right to see oncoming traffic. But while he thinks the road is clear and he can cross, suddenly a motorcycle or car comes from the left and hits him. Even while driving the wrong side, motorcyclists drive at speed. All these accidents may not be fatal, but so many people have suffered severe injuries.

I have heard about the uprightness of Sindh police chief A.D. Khwaja. Traffic too falls within his domain. Will he oblige Karachiites and do something about it? Abdul Jamil Khan Karachi