When will it all end?

[msdivy]

Originally Posted by GeekSrik

... however, these days especially when the bangalore rains are too much, I see so many two wheelers being cruelly splashed on with rain water by much bigger vehicles including buses and sedans or other cars. is it that in our anxiety and urgency we fail to understand that they are exposed to the elements that we are not, or are we doing this without the slightest regard to the lesser priviledged people (in terms of vehicle ownership!)?...

My experience:
During rains, its the 2 wheelers who rush madly (to avoid getting wet) without any concern for traffic around. So I am extra careful with 2 wheelers while driving in rains.

Originally Posted by kvish

...The worrysome part is that even in schools, these days nothing is being done about this. So the future doesnt look very bright either...

I wish they introduce a subject about traffic in 10th standard (at age 16). They must cover traffic rules for vehicles, pedestrians on city roads & highways.
As of now, there isn't any formal course where they can learn about traffic on roads. Now, they are expected to learn these while getting the driving license. But the way licenses are issues here, circumvents this. Hence it should be taught in schools.

[anonymous]

Sometime back I got a forward mail and it surely raises few valid points. This was The President of India DR. A. P. J Abdul Kalam's Speech in Hyderabad
Why is the media here so negative? Why are we in India so embarrassed to recognize our own strengths, our achievements? We are such a great nation.
YOU say that our government is inefficient.
YOU say that our laws are too old.
YOU say that the municipality does not pick up the garbage.
YOU say that the phones don't work, the railways are a joke, The airline is the worst in the world, and mails never reach their destination.
YOU say that our country has been fed to the dogs and is the absolute pits.
YOU say, say and say. What do YOU do about it?
Take a person on his way to Singapore . Give him a name - YOURS. Give him a face - YOURS.
YOU walk out of the airport and you are at your International best. In Singapore you don't throw cigarette butts on the roads or eat in the stores. YOU are as proud of their Underground links as they are. You pay $5 (approx. Rs. 60) to drive through Orchard Road (equivalent of Mahim Causeway or Pedder Road) between 5 PM and 8 PM .
YOU come back to the parking lot to punch your parking ticket if you have over stayed in a restaurant or a shopping mall irrespective of your status identity...In Singapore you don't say anything, DO YOU?
YOU wouldn't dare to eat in public during Ramadan, in Dubai .
YOU would not dare to go out without your head covered in Jeddah.
YOU would not dare to buy an employee of the telephone exchange in London at 10 pounds (Rs.650) a month to, 'see to it that my STD and ISD calls are billed to someone else.'
YOU would not dare to speed beyond 55 mph (88 km/h) in Washington and then tell the traffic cop, 'Jaanta hai main kaun hoon (Do you know who I am?). I am so and so's son. Take your two bucks and get lost.'
YOU wouldn't chuck an empty coconut shell anywhere other than the garbage pail on the beaches in Australia and New Zealand .?
Why don't YOU spit Paan on the streets of Tokyo ?
Why don't YOU use examination jockeys or buy fake certificates in Boston???
We are still talking of the same YOU.
YOU who can respect and conform to a foreign system in other countries but cannot in your own. You who will throw papers and cigarettes on the road the moment you touch Indian ground.
If you can be an involved and appreciative citizen in an alien country, why cannot you be the same here in India?
Once in an interview, the famous Ex-municipal commissioner of Bombay, Mr. Tinaikar, had a point to make. 'Rich people's dogs are walked on the streets to leave their affluent droppings all over the place,' he said. 'And then the same people turn around to criticize and blame the authorities for inefficiency and dirty pavements. What do they expect the officers to do? Go down with a broom every time their dog feels the pressure in his bowels?
In America every dog owner has to clean up after his pet has done the job. Same in Japan . Will the Indian citizen do that here?'
We go to the polls to choose a government and after that forfeit all responsibility. We sit back wanting to be pampered and expect the government to do everything for us whilst our contribution is totally negative. We expect the government to clean up but we are not going to stop chucking garbage all over the place nor are we going to stop to pick up a stray piece of paper and throw it in the bin.
We expect the railways to provide clean bathrooms but we are not going to learn the proper use of bathrooms. We want Indian Airlines and Air India to provide the best of food and toiletries but we are not going to stop pilfering at the least opportunity. This applies even to the staff who is known not to pass on the service to the public.
When it comes to burning social issues like those related to women, dowry, girl child! and others, we make loud drawing room protestations and continue to do the reverse at home. Our excuse? 'It's the whole system, which has to change, how will it matter if I alone forego my sons' rights to a dowry.' So who's going to change the system?? What does a system consist of ? Very conveniently for us it consists of our neighbors, other households, other cities, other communities and the government. But definitely not me and YOU.
When it comes to us actually making a positive contribution to the system we lock ourselves along with our families into a safe cocoon and look into the distance at countries far away and wait for a Mr.Clean to come along & work miracles for us with a majestic sweep of his hand or we leave the country and run away.
Like lazy cowards hounded by our fears we run to America to bask in their glory and praise their system.
When New York becomes insecure we run to England. When England experiences unemployment, we take the next flight out to the Gulf. When the Gulf is war struck, we demand to be rescued and brought home by the Indian government.
Everybody is out to abuse and rape the country. Nobody thinks of feeding the system. Our conscience is mortgaged to money.

[rubin2006]

The answer to your quetion is very simple Foreign is a two bedrom house where 4 people can stay but acutally one person lives ,and our country is
a two bedroom house where 6 in the family 10 neighbrours and 4 from the out side country live so how can you expect what you expect in foreign

Secondly how many are educated drivers who know actually what there driving style can DO Damage , and how many Pedestarians reliase that jumping the divider between the road is the last jump of there life

How many people here actually now how and where to walk there is not a problem of infrastructure alone ,i think we need to teach people how to walk and seriously need a licence for people on foot

I have seen people walking on roads instead of footpaths now what would one say that Jay walking is like a source of entertainement here no one would ever walk to crossing to cross the road but will make there own crossing where they stand
There are other countries which are economicaly weaker than us but still there is a sense of responsibilty

And to answer you question when this will end i dont see it ending for next 40 years atleast

[sajo]

The part I am worried about is, so many parents (including women) break the law when they have their kids with them on the bike/car. This sets a really bad example, and the kids assume that if their parents are doing it since ages, they might as well.

[mohit]

Originally Posted by sajo

The part I am worried about is, so many parents (including women) break the law when they have their kids with them on the bike/car. This sets a really bad example, and the kids assume that if their parents are doing it since ages, they might as well.

You know what Sajo, This is an excellent point to start with - Set the right example. When alone, I sometimes tend to overlook the walk signal at a crossing nearby if there's no traffic. But, since the time I have taught my son to look for the walk sign before we cross, he makes sure we wait.

[benbsb29]

Quite an interesting thread, where we will voice our views, and the country will continue as it is. Despite the infrastructure provided to us, nothing will change for sure, unless there is an authority to implement rules which need to be followed.

A few examples to prove my point:
1. Good roads : Take a look at some of the NHs which have been provided to us. Many among us follow these rules while what about the rest? How many times have we been forced to overtake from the left, just because some moron decides that right is right, and continues to drive like a slow coach on the right lane? How many times have we been forced to take corrective braking action just because some tractor guy decides going all the way to the next U turn to turn is waste of time and fuel, and so comes speeding down the right lane of the road.

2. Good transportation system : While providing buses, Temp travellers and cabs by IT/ITes companies was a welcome move towards reducing use of private transport, how do the drivers employed by third party transport companies drive? The cabbies break rules, honk madly, cut wildly, abuse, gang up and so on. Earlier we had to fear the auto gangs, now we have the cabbie gangs.

3. Pedestrian crossings : How many of them do we see? How many people use them? Try stopping at one, to let someone pass, and then be prepared to shell out cash on repairs as the person behind decides its better not to stop.
Pedestrians themselves decide to wait while the traffic light is red, and cross when the signal for vehicular traffic is green, thus causing major jams, and abuses hurled.

Here, i fear when i park my car someplace, as some smart guy would decide to inscribe his initials on the car. Whom do i blame?

While the example of Dubai was mentioned, its important to understand that rules are enforced strictly there, which explains why less people flout them. Maybe we require something of that sort?

When will this attitude of ours country change? Never. Its in our DNA,and we will continue so.

[supremeBaleno]

Haven't we discussed this so many times here, without coming to any useful conclusion ?

The answer is simple, we are all at some point or the other acting (or acted in the past till we changed) like complete idiots. Ofcourse, we either conveniently forget our mistakes or are not even aware of them, but very clearly see other's faults. Add lack of knowledge about road rules, etiquette, general illiteracy etc and the picture is complete.

Originally Posted by neoonwheels

I printed on a paper that
"Please do not honk while the red signal is on, I will not jump the red light just because you have got a nature's call or have some urgent work.. I respect ambulance, fire bridge and police vehicles privileges".

Nice initiative, whether it worked or not. I used to have something like this printed and pasted on the rear window of my hatch, some 10 years ago. It used to read "Honk only if you are an a**hole".

[anonymous]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

Quite an interesting thread, where we will voice our views, and the country will continue as it is. Despite the infrastructure provided to us, nothing will change for sure, unless there is an authority to implement rules which need to be followed.

A few examples to prove my point:
2. Good transportation system : While providing buses, Temp travellers and cabs by IT/ITes companies was a welcome move towards reducing use of private transport, how do the drivers employed by third party transport companies drive? The cabbies break rules, honk madly, cut wildly, abuse, gang up and so on. Earlier we had to fear the auto gangs, now we have the cabbie gangs.

Its valid point however sametime I feel that this is the responsibility of people sitting in the cab to force the driver to drive normally and try to follow traffic rules. I also use the company transport and I always have arguement with drivers due to this and now most of the drivers refused to come for my pickup, as they know my nature .

[theMAG]

Geeksrik,

What our country needs for its own good is a thorough rattling of political cages to sift thru the deadwood and the corrupt. Some 0.01% of the total that'll then be left behind has some hope of decent governance. We have all the laws in the world; but as they say, ownership is something common, maintenance determines the progressive.

[sharathjeppu]

I personally think that root of this problem lies in a couple of things.

1. Education - How many driving schools out there teach you traffic rules? Ideally, the government should make this a more controlled process where the driving schools like any other school should be properly certified and should also frequently be audited for adhering to standards. When I learnt to drive in a driving school, I hoped that the instructor would teach me all the rules. But no, he basically trained me to mechanically handle the car, nothing beyond that. So the way I learnt that a broken white line can be crossed but a solid yellow line cannot, was when I was fined for the first time by a traffic cop. I asked the cop if there's a book where I can refer to all the driving rules, he didn't know of any. So how did I learn. I learnt more about the driving etiquettes when I was abroad through observation. How many of us have that opportunity.

2. Enforcement - We do not have a strong enforcement mechanism to ensure that the rules are adhered to. So if a driver breaks a traffic light, he mostly gets away scot free and some times when caught ends up paying a fine. And then he gets on with life. If we had a way of making an economic link to this for example by increasing the insurance premium (both car as well as life) based on the number of violations, have a mechanism of automatically recording the violations (perhaps by installing sensors at important traffic junctions which will automatically record a vehicle which jumps a signal either using a camera or perhaps a more sophisticated RFID system perhaps), then we will perhaps have some kind of control because it pinches.

We all curse a lot of people outside the car for all the issues on the road right from the pedestrian who tries to cross it by risking his life because nobody stops at a signal to the cyclist who drives on the only road available to him as fast as he can but is still slower than us privileged ones with cars and hence a nuisance.

What do you all think?

[benbsb29]

Originally Posted by sharathjeppu

So the way I learnt that a broken white line can be crossed but a solid yellow line cannot, was when I was fined for the first time by a traffic cop.

Same happened with me. Was fined by a cop on MG Road in Bangalore for the same offence.

[dadu]

Everyone's pointing here and there but is refusing to look within.

It will all end when you have respect and value for other human beings, whether its your maid, your driver, a person walking on the road or riding a cycle.

Do you treat others around you as EQUAL, do you give them equal respect irrespective of his/her status in the society ???

Because if you look towards the western world, they DO.

Whether its a petrol attendent or a Garbage pickup employee or a beggar on road.

I have personally seen in Europe, a beggar entered a restaurant demanding food and the manager immediately took him to one of the tables, seated him, brought him food.

Lets try to respect our fellow humans as human beings first. The maturity for this is lacking in most of us.

[hydrashok]

Originally Posted by sajo

The part I am worried about is, so many parents (including women) break the law when they have their kids with them on the bike/car. This sets a really bad example, and the kids assume that if their parents are doing it since ages, they might as well.

This is the problem exactly. The attitude gets carried down through the generations and it will never stop unless some parent somewhere in the line shows the right way of doing things -- not by just instructing, but by example, by showing how things should be done/not done.

[spadival]

On a related topic, did anyone see the NDTV sting operation yesterday, in the BMW hit and run case? If 6-7 lives can be bought for money, you can drive the way you like.. including over people.

The common denominator is that WE Indians (including myself) do not value a fellow human being's life or well being, unless he/she is a relative or friend or a big shot.

[tsk1979]

This problem is not a traffic problem, its an attitude problem.
You wonder why cant people drive sensibly, why do they cut in front of you.
But it happens everywhere, roads are just one place where it happens.
For example once we were in a packed lift. There was hardly any space but still 2 idiots tried to force their way in and everybody was packed like sardines.
Same behavior on roads. I have seen so many cars, bikers, cyclists trying to squeeze in.
This stems from the lack of the concept of personal space in India. Abroad even on a busy street people respect your personal space. Here everybody tries to stick to you. Same behavior on roads. I don't know from where this comes in. Do they want to sodomize you?

Second point made was honking. Well once I was in a like at PVR. An idiot was continuously trying to push me. The comical aspect was that I am 90 kg+ 6 feet 2" but that guy was barely 5 feet and I am sure he did not weigh more than 50kgs. But still he persisted. I first tried to rest my leg such that if he pushed he would meet the sole of my shoe but still he persisted, inspite of the fact that his trousers were getting dirty.
Eventually I turned back smiled at him and told him, that even if he stands a feet behind me the line will move at the same speed. So why are you trying to kiss me(This was said in hindi, UP ishtyle, and sounded very comical. People started laughing and he sheepishly moved back.
Same behavior on roads. People try to stick to you.

I know many of you get irritated at morons who break queues at toll gates, right? But then every gone to big bazaar or something, you will find so many people trying to come in the queue and force their way in.

So stop blaming the roads and traffic. Its a general attitude problem. I try to keep my cool but sometimes I can't, so I react.
Like last night.
I was stopped at a busy red light in such a way that the bikers could not get between me and the divider, so they were stuck behind me.
As the timer(counting down to green) reached 10 sec, the guys behind me started honking, in short squeeks, when it reached 5 it became a synchronized cacophony of hyenas in heat, and when zero was about to come up it was mozart on LSD.
The light turned green, I did not engage first gear, but floored the pedal.
5 seconds of full throttle revving cleaned my silencer and drowned the noise, and fixed up the wanna be music directors. And then I moved forward, with not a single horny guy at my tail.