The Decoder

Traffic Sense: Civic Responsibility Matters More Than Education
An Article by Maloop Singh
The connection between education and traffic sense is often misunderstood. While education can help shape a person’s awareness, it does not automatically guarantee responsible behaviour on the road. Everyday observations and research show that traffic sense is shaped by far more than what someone has learned in a classroom. Factors such as civic identity, cultural habits, social awareness, and respect for public rules play a much deeper role in influencing how people behave in traffic.
Education does not always translate into better road habits. Many studies have found that people with advanced degrees still break traffic rules, proving that academic knowledge alone does not make someone a disciplined road user. At the same time, a lack of formal education does not necessarily mean poor traffic behaviour. In many communities, individuals with little schooling still show strong civic values by following signals, respecting lanes, and driving patiently because they genuinely care about their community’s safety and well-being. Classroom lessons about traffic rules can help build awareness, but if these lessons are not reinforced by real-life practice, consistent enforcement, and a supportive culture, they often fail to create lasting behavioural change.
This is why civic sense plays a far more important role than education when it comes to road behaviour. A person with no civic sense can be much more dangerous on the road than someone with no formal education. Civic responsibility determines how much respect a person has for others’ safety and for the shared public spaces that everyone depends on. Common examples of poor civic behaviour such as jumping red lights, driving on the wrong side of the road, overtaking carelessly, honking unnecessarily, or blocking pedestrian crossings show how a lack of civic awareness can create chaos, increase accidents, and put countless lives at risk. These habits are widespread, and they appear regardless of educational background, proving that the real issue lies in attitude rather than academic level.
Several deeper factors shape traffic sense more reliably than education. A person’s civic identity—meaning how strongly they feel responsible toward society has a major impact on how they drive. Law enforcement plays a crucial role too, because when rules are enforced consistently, people are more likely to follow them. Social influence also shapes behaviour: in communities where road discipline is valued, even individuals with modest education tend to follow rules with care and respect.
All of this leads to a clear conclusion: education alone cannot create responsible road users. What truly matters is a combination of civic awareness, cultural reinforcement, and consistent enforcement of traffic laws. A person with strong civic values regardless of their academic background can be a far better and safer driver than someone who is highly educated but careless on the road. To improve traffic behaviour in society, we must encourage a culture where civic sense is valued as much as academic knowledge.

Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo chaired the 17th J&K UTLBC meeting in Jammu, reviewing banks’ performance and stressing enhanced priority sector lending, youth-focused schemes, and improved credit outreach. He urged banks to boost support for agriculture, self-employment initiatives, SHGs, and social security enrolments to strengthen financial inclusion across the UT.

Sainik Colony residents constitute new body
Jammu, Sept 9:
A meeting of Sainik Colony Civilian Residents’ Rights Association was held at Ram Mandir complex in Sector D the other day. A good number of people participated among whom were some past office-bearers of the Sainik Colony Cooperative Housing Society. Prominent among them were Thakur Jai Singh, ex chairman of the society, Choudhary Sukhdev Singh, ex joint chairman, Prakash Singh Jamwal, ex director and Rajeshwar Singh Jasrotia, IFS, retired Chief Conservator of Forests.
At the meeting, former Superintending Engineer Keshav Singh Jamwal was unanimously elected the Convenor of the Association and Vijay Jamwal as Chief Organiser. President Dharmarth Trust Professor P S Pathania, former Executive Engineer Nazir Choudhary, Senior Vice President of Chamber of Commerce Sham Lal Langar and Kulbir Singh Sambyal, president of Ram Mandir, were chosen as Advisors. It needs to be mentioned here that Convenor Keshav Singh Jamwal is one of the earliest settlers who made Sainik Colony his abode in 1983. His late father was the founding chairman of the SCHBS who worked for its establishment at inception.
The association has been formed to fight for equal rights to all civilians which the present Management Committee headed by Colonel Shiv Ram Choudhary (retired) has been violating with impunity. This committee had failed miserably to conduct a General Body Meeting (GBM) on July 5 as it could assemble barely 150 members whereas the requisite quorum was over 450. At this meeting, the Management Committee wanted to bring some new bylaws but these could not be passed.
Among the new bylaws which the Management Committee wanted to bring was disempowering civilians forcing them to henceforth sell their plots only to people of armed forces or ex servicemen. The SCHBS was founded in 1970 but through an amendment in 1983, civilians were allowed to buy plots. This resulted into a situation whereby over the last 42 years, 90 per cent of residents in the colony today are civilians today. These civilians include legal heirs of the original allottees also who cannot fight elections.
In an arbitrary and illegal manner, the Management Committee has stopped sale/purchase of plots by civilians. This has created a peculiar situation whereby the value of properties have fallen steeply, resulting into huge financial losses. Besides, all sale or purchase of any properties in the Sainik Colony have been halted by the Management Committee for the past several months.

Cloudburst, Landslide In Jammu And Kashmir’s Kathua Leaves Seven Dead