The government’s “No Car Horn Zone” launched ten years ago in Yangon City has failed, according to traffic police.
Yangon is Myanmar’s commercial hub has growing reputation for noise pollution where drivers over-rely on their car horns to push their way through heavy traffic.
Six main townships in the city were firstly designated as no-horn zones starting from May 2003. The zone was later extended to all townships administrated by Yangon City Development Committee in October the same year, according to the Yangon Region Traffic Police Department (YGTP).
“We can evaluate now that the project was a failure. But we will restart it to be successful. The main objectives were for the public to travel peacefully and without any panic. Some vehicles have very noisy horns installed, which can frighten the public. That’s why we established the project,” said Lin Htut, a police colonel for YGTP on December 2.
YGTP admitted that inadequate traffic policing and lack of high-tech equipment are the main reasons behind the failure of the project.
“Before the project, there was even a tragic event where a woman with heart disease fell to death on street suddenly due to a very loud car horn. Everybody should obey to traffic rules with or without traffic police there to assist,” Lin Htut added.
An urban expert in Yangon said the no-horn restriction in all townships should be reconsidered and specific restricted areas should be clearly publicised. However, some members of the pubic did not agree on the use of car-horn restrictions.
“Cars have horns installed to honk. If they’re not to honk, all horns have to be uninstalled. Traffic accidents may occur as a result if not to use horn,” said Kyaw Naing, a motorist in Yangon.
Source: ELEVEN Myanmar
