Left Speechless

Left Speechless On February 20, 1980, the Hindustan Times reported an incident that occurred in New Delhi. A three-wheeler scooter rickshaw driver had left his vehicle in a no-parking spot. A traffic inspector warned him on the loudspeaker to remove his vehicle immediately. He heard the warning but, seeing no traffic police in the vicinity, paid no heed; he had no knowledge of the closed-circuit television system, which had only recently been installed. The warning was coming through to him loud and clear, but he ignored it. All this time, the traffic inspector could see what the driver was doing. When he saw that his warning was being ignored, he sent a policeman to apprehend the errant driver. But the driver refused to admit his offence. He denied having parked in a prohibited spot. “I only stopped for a minute to drop a passenger,” he protested. “I am just moving on.” There is a new system of traffic control in many cities of the world, a closed-circuit television system much the same as can be seen in most department stores of Europe and America. Television cameras are placed at vantage points on roads. The film is relayed to a control room where, far from people’s vision, a traffic inspector surveys the whole scene on a video screen. According to his observations, he directs the movement of traffic through a loudspeaker system. The traffic inspector, sitting in the control room where he cannot be seen, thus sees what is going on on the roads, and also admonishes anyone whom he sees breaking any rule. The drivers who are being addressed over the loudspeaker can hear a voice, but cannot see anyone. The policeman took him before the inspector in the control room. The driver told the inspector the same story that he had told the policeman. When the inspector saw that the driver was not ready to admit his offence, he played back the whole video recording showing the driver’s movements. The driver saw himself approaching in his scooter; he saw himself parking in a no-parking spot; he saw himself alighting from the scooter and walking around in a carefree fashion; he saw himself chatting with some friends; he saw the policeman approaching; then he saw himself starting the scooter, pretending that he had only parked