Startling Facts! The reason behind Indian accidents

[shibujp]

Blaming things on overspeeding is just a sorry excuse for our law enforcement agencies to shirk on their responsibilities in handing out licenses.

The first thing they should do is make licensing very strict rather than allow people to skip various parts of the licensing test depending on the amount of money paid to them by the agents or driving schools. Some examples are as follows:
- no test at all
- only the "H' test
- handing out licenses even if the person has knocked down a few poles in a Maruti 800!!

All are equal but some are more equal. The more expensive the car and the fancier the number plate the more reluctant the police are to flag down such cars for an offense. Ministers literally have the entire road in their cars. What they bloody well achieve in their haste is yet to be seen by way of good governance.

Blaming the entire problem on overspeeding is an easy way out. Yes overspeeding is dangerous but in our case i think the root cause is lack of road sense which is magnified at high speeds.

Courtesy on the road goes a long way in avoiding the frustration. Right of way has to be respected at all costs. and respect the time of other drivers to. where do our esteemed RTOs take this into consideration. The driving rules and the written tests are still archaic. it's the era of indicators and we are still tested in the art of shoving you hands out of the side windows to signal a turn and all that. the first and last time i used that fine art was in my driving test. I wrote a learner test in California and had to study using a drivers manual provided by the Department of Motor Vehicles. You could relate to almost all the things in that book to real life situations.

I don't think our stupid government statistics address the real situation in any way and no step that really improves the state of affairs is gonna come from this.

Drive on,
Shibu.

[naikpranav]

Thats how it should be done, I remember, when I went for my license 5 years back, I was on my own, cuz my dad taught me how to drive, on applying for the license, when I went to meet the guy for the test, the cop who was supposed to take my test said, "pay me 200 or ill fail you" thats it... I said I wanted to give the test, but he was relentless... and besides that they made me run everywhere just because I was trying to follow the procedure for the License, very sorry state of affairs (Mahalaxmi RTO)
Its still in the same condition when I went to cancel the Bank Hypothecation recently..

[scorp 1]

What about the encroachment and sleeping on the pavements? So many lives could have been saved, and can be saved, if police and administration are strict enough. How much of road space do we actually have left for motorists? Government takes a year to come with such a conclusion that basics are all ignored. Because we donot even refer to such nuisances, and never make a way to fix the basics, we keep on spending on reports year after year, and yet make no headway.

[anilkalvani]

Originally Posted by scorp 1

What about the encroachment and sleeping on the pavements? So many lives could have been saved, and can be saved, if police and administration are strict enough. How much of road space do we actually have left for motorists? Government takes a year to come with such a conclusion that basics are all ignored. Because we donot even refer to such nuisances, and never make a way to fix the basics, we keep on spending on reports year after year, and yet make no headway.

plus i'd like to add that its also our RTO authorities, imay be repetitive here but imagine driving on S. V. Road at 30-40kmph & suddenly you see a rickshaw coming from the opp. direction suddenly in full speed without any indication taking a right turn making you come to a sudden screeching halt. Whom do you blame? Me or the rickshaw driver? its the authorities we have to blame. when there are no stringent laws, no lane discipline, no signalling, no driving ethics, there are bound to be accidents. We may rant about this all our lives as we know things are never gonna improve man.

[amit]

Yesterday night at about 8pm I was driving out of my residence society gate. There was a Indica double parked near the gate causing a minor traffic jam. I squeezed onto the road turning left. The SX4's A pillar created a blind spot and I coudn't spot a biker and we narrowly escaped hitting each other. The biker had no helmet. I managed to turn and drove on but I knew this hadn't ended and it was going to escalate. Since there was no way I was going to be able to explain the concept of blind spots and since to a large extent it was my mistake, I decided not to argue if the biker decided to act smart.

At the traffic light ahead the guys comes up next to my driver's side and knocks on the window. I roll it down, raise my hand and tell him I am sorry.

The guy says "agar mein thokta tha to teri gaadi ka damage hota. Mera kuch nahin hota. Yeh to normal hai mere liye." Translated it means "If I had hit you, your car would have been damaged more then my bike."

I wanted to tell him that I was thankful for his concern towards my car but shouldn't he worry about what would have happened to him had he hit me considering that he was on a two wheeler with no helmet? I wouldn't have a scratch on me but what about him?

But, I knew the guy had an air of dangerous self righteousness about him and his comments had already proven his intelligence so I decided to end it with a sorry again.

With morons like these, is it any wonder why there are so many accidents on our roads!

[vinit.merchant]

I live in Pune and was once waiting on the Nagar Road (Highway) to pick up some one, my car parked properly to the extreme left of the road between two light poles.

It was around 6 in the evening. Having been just waiting there to pick up, was looking on the road (this is what I usually do while I wait in my car for someone).

There was a scooter driven by a man in his 30's and his wife on the back seat, seated in the traditional way, as she wore a saree and was inpossible for her to sit like a man does, that also on a scooter.
The scooter should be at the speed of 40-45 kmph. He dint spot a big pot hole on the middle of the road (and this is a Highway we are talking about). Bang goes his scooter in it, and his wife couldn't control and was off the scooter on to the road, slided for a meter or so on the road.
Luckily there wasn't any heavy vehicle following or else, god knows what the conclusion would have been.
I rushed out with the bottle of water which I always keep in my car to help the lady. Some others had already approached the spot. Gave her some water, she herself poured some water on her bruised leg. Thankfully, there wasn't anything major and the husband might have taken her to a doctor.
Still when I recall it, i can feel the pain she would have gone through.


Not that the statistics provided could be wrong, but i strongly feel that most of the accidents are due to bad roads (infrastructure).
How many times have we seen drivers suddenly spot a bad patch right on the middle of the road, and to save the vehicle, taken a sudden left or right? I have seen plenty such occassions.
It has become a habit of mine now that whenever I see a bad patch, I slow the car and go through the pot hole/bad patch, instead of diverting the car, unless there is something the car cannnot go through it.

Have seen people undertake trucks when they dont know what lies on the right of the truck, the truck takes a sudden left and there goes the car.

I would say bad traffic sense combined with the poor infrastructure leads to major accidents.

[maxj2005]

Originally Posted by amit

Yesterday night at about 8pm I was driving out of my residence society gate. There was a Indica double parked near the gate causing a minor traffic jam. I squeezed onto the road turning left. The SX4's A pillar created a blind spot and I coudn't spot a biker and we narrowly escaped hitting each other. The biker had no helmet. I managed to turn and drove on but I knew this hadn't ended and it was going to escalate. Since there was no way I was going to be able to explain the concept of blind spots and since to a large extent it was my mistake, I decided not to argue if the biker decided to act smart.

At the traffic light ahead the guys comes up next to my driver's side and knocks on the window. I roll it down, raise my hand and tell him I am sorry.

The guy says "agar mein thokta tha to teri gaadi ka damage hota. Mera kuch nahin hota. Yeh to normal hai mere liye." Translated it means "If I had hit you, your car would have been damaged more then my bike."

I wanted to tell him that I was thankful for his concern towards my car but shouldn't he worry about what would have happened to him had he hit me considering that he was on a two wheeler with no helmet? I wouldn't have a scratch on me but what about him?

But, I knew the guy had an air of dangerous self righteousness about him and his comments had already proven his intelligence so I decided to end it with a sorry again.

With morons like these, is it any wonder why there are so many accidents on our roads!

You know what Driving Licence in India are still at large a pieace of cake for people to get.In US its more difficult to get a bike licence than a car's.

Since bikes are more dangerous to drive and balance they make sure that you know how to handle a bike in case of a stone/rough patch/slick hydraplaning due to rain etc.

I wish our rules (if we have any) are implmented more religiously.

[amit]

There have been almost 150 accidents and a couple of deaths on the Eastern Express Highway, Mumbai because our brilliant government used mastic asphalt on the roads which results in skidding when the surface is wet. Somehow, the mastic asphalt controversy died and the issue has been turned into that of overspeeding by our efficient babus! Looks like the government works efficiently only when it has to shirk responsiblity. Imagine what would happen if the governent in a western country did something like this.

The cops have now installed speed guns and are suspending driving licences of drivers on the spot if they exceed the speed limit of 40kmph. Yes, it's 40kmph on whats called a expressway. Meanwhile, MMRDA, the authority that built the road is now going to chip the surface to make it rough so that vehicles don't skid! Good use of tax payers hard earned money.

[tez]

the mumbai bangalore bypass that passes through pune has many examples of lack of traffic sense. There are trucks, bikes etc going in the wrong direction. They are just lazy to travel the right way and take a u turn. Add to this chaos, chunk of indica cab drivers.

[lamborghini]

Originally Posted by maxj2005

You know what Driving Licence in India are still at large a pieace of cake for people to get.In US its more difficult to get a bike licence than a car's.

Since bikes are more dangerous to drive and balance they make sure that you know how to handle a bike in case of a stone/rough patch/slick hydraplaning due to rain etc.

I wish our rules (if we have any) are implmented more religiously.

I agree.
I am applying for a license here in the U.S.A and out here, we need to give a written test to get a learners license.
In bombay, when I got my Bike and Car license (I don't know how to drive a bike yet) a few months ago, it was a breeze!
I was asked by the officer to get into my car and drive 1 foot ahead and 1 foot in reverse and then another officer who was quizzing me asked me one simple question. What is the difference between a bike's gear system and a car's gear system.
the answer? Answe was that a car has a reverse gear and a bike doesn't.
And ironically, it was 2 days after the same RTO was exposed in the papers.

If you ask me, I think that it is the fault of both the Government and us. It is unfair to blame them for our mistakes. Sure, if they weren't as corrupt, we would have better roads and better management of traffic, but they can't stop us from drinking and driving, or driving rashly now can they?
Since we are comparing to the U.S., let me give an example to say what I mean. We all know that the driving test here and laws are strictly enforced, but at the same time, there still are people who drive at 110mph in a 65mph zone even after all the training and teaching!
Unless we take part of the responsibility as well, it will just turn into a blame game and nothing else. It is our responsibility, as well as the government, to follow proper road manners and educate others.

[ph03n!x]

Common sense, and a feeling or awareness that we should not cause discomfort / irritate / get on the nerves of the other fellow on the road - that is what is missing by and large in our drivers.

Getting into a vehicle, shifting gears and throttling it is no big deal - even a Gorilla can be taught to do that!!!