Traffic controls are laid on roads to avoid accidents and have proper control over the movement of the vehicles in the busiest areas of the town areas. Traffic survey on roads may consist of pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, vehicles, streetcars and other conveyances, either singly or together, while using the public way for purposes of travel. People should follow the traffic rules in order to avoid any chaos in the road.

Road rules

Road rules must followed by all the users of the road. Road rules are general practices of the road users that required to be followed. These rules usually apply to all road users, though they are of special importance to motorists and cyclists. These rules govern interactions between vehicles and with pedestrians. After a proper traffic survey in various countries it is noted that not all countries are signatory to the convention and, even among signatories, local variations in practice may be found. There are also unwritten local rules of the road, which are generally understood by local drivers.

Guiding the traffic

Traffic is now-a-days controlled mostly by the signals (red, green, orange lights) kept in specific areas of the city. These signals help in an organized traffic in the city but in some part of the city where keeping a signal is inconvenient traffic inspectors are placed in order to see to the proper control over the moving vehicles. According to traffic survey it was found that vehicles often come into conflict with other vehicles and pedestrians because their intended courses of travel intersect, and thus interfere with each other's routes. The general principle that establishes who has the right to go first is called "right of way", or "priority". It establishes who has the right to use the conflicting part of the road and who has to wait until the other does so.

Problems faced

There are many problem faced by the road users including the pedestrians and drivers. These problems are due to the uncontrolled traffic. Traffic survey reveals that uncontrolled traffic occurs in the absence of lane markings and traffic control signals. On roads without marked lanes, drivers tend to keep to the appropriate side if the road is wide enough. Drivers frequently overtake others. Obstructions are common. Intersections have no signals or signage, and a particular road at a busy intersection may be dominant – that is, its traffic flows – until a break in traffic, at which time the dominance shifts to the other road where vehicles are queued. At the intersection of two perpendicular roads, a traffic jam may result if four vehicles face each other side-on.

Pedestrian crossings

Pedestrian crossing is another part of the traffic survey. Pedestrians must often cross from one side of a road to the other, and in doing so may come into the way of vehicles traveling on the road. In many places pedestrians are entirely left to look after themselves, that is, they must observe the road and cross when they can see that no traffic will threaten them. Busier cities usually provide pedestrian crossings, which are strips of the road where pedestrians are expected to cross.

Factors governing traffic

The factors governing traffic are

• Speed limit

• Lanes

• Overtaking

• Level crossing

• One-way roadways

• Expressways and freeways

• One way streets

Traffic thus helps the transport to take place in a safe way. Traffic survey thus suggests that the roadways are the biggest means of transport in a country and they must be well controlled with a proper traffic control.