Road Rage? Go to JAIL! Mumbai Police sets an example

[optimist]

Originally Posted by GTO

Remember the Mumbai Police's highly effective crackdown on drunk driving (Drink and drive? Go straight to JAIL!)? This has to be the sternest action taken against drinking & driving in the country . And the results speak for themselves.

The Mumbai Police does it again, setting an example for the other Indian cities & States to follow.

A businessman and his son were arrested for road rage near Mahalakshmi Station yesterday. They have been remanded in Police custody for 2 days.

Source & Link to Full Article

Every day I see 100's of violations brazen/deliberate without caring two hoots to a bystanding cop who also is dreaming about everything but traffic.

It is these consequences that result from a combination of lawless indian road user, toothless/corrupt/uncaring indian police and the timeless judicial relief systems. They do not provide any deterrence of any sort against violations and abuse.

It would be just sheer luck of the victim if he gets any speedy relief. I do hope that the cops wake up from their eternal slumber and make a shining example.

[Macfreak7]

I hope this is enforced to the T as traffic is getting horrendous day by day.

On a related note I'd like to relate a crazy incident from this morning. A maruti esteem with driver and two passengers decides to drive on the wrong side of the road because traffic heading south was packed. I'm in the first lane heading north with cars to my left, so I had no option but to slow down to avoid a head on collision. As he squeezes back into the traffic onto the correct side of the road his passenger starts yelling abuses cause *I* didn't get out of the way. The driver then tries to open my door, which of course was locked. I yell at him reminding him that he's on the wrong side of the road and drive on to avoid further stupidity.
My question is this, had I decided to stop and got into an argument (or possibly worse considering the aggression on their part), how would this pan out with cops? I was alone and would have no witness to back up my story, assuming no passerby would stand as witness either. Does his act count as road rage? Or if I decided to defend myself and retort would that be an act of road rage?
Quite a jarring incident.

[wilful]

Yes it is high time the authorities start taking stern action. I wish they would make fines a lot stiffer for things like lane indiscipline (crawling on the right lane and occasionally straddling the centre and things like that), two wheeler anarchy and so on.
But yes - good to know that the Mumbai Police have set an example.clap

[darsa]

Hello Klub Class,

The term road rage is usually associated with physical assault. The scenario you have described does not involve any physical assault and therefore is not road rage. The scenario you have described can be legally described as "aggressive driving"

In legal terms : if there is an intent to cause harm while driving an automobile then it will be a clear case of road rage.

Hope this helps

Thank you.

[kaush666]

Kudos to the Mumbai Police. Other cities must also follow suit. Patience is a virtue that many motorists lack these days. These fights seem to be the cause of a lot of traffic jams and this would put an end to at least a few of those fights if not all. But there should be some sort of warning or ticket issued to the guy who is also a part of the problem. Like in the above example of the businessman stated by GTO, there should a fine or warning issued to the Honda City's owner for repeated honking. He/She must understand that the vehicle in front does NOT have room to move and leave way to him. Of course if the road ahead is free and he still is blocking him, then that is a different situation.

EDIT: As stated by Klub Class, the cops must issue a definition as to what qualifies as road rage. Otherwise it will be tough to book cases and people will find yet another hole in the law and try to escape.

[vikram_d]

Nice action by the police, but I don't see the need to have honked at the car in front until and unless they were enjoying a picnic in the middle of the road and please don't get me wrong I am not defending the guys in the Swift. Just my two cents.

[amitwlele]

Hope this is a regular affair and strict action is taken.

Coincidentally was reading the below news article on NDTV today. Road rage taken to the next level with gun shots being fired.

Man fired at for refusing to give way

[Strangerintown]

Originally Posted by vikram_d

Nice action by the police, but I don't see the need to have honked at the car in front until and unless they were enjoying a picnic in the middle of the road and please don't get me wrong I am not defending the guys in the Swift. Just my two cents.

From what I understodd from the newspaper reports, the Swift was in the wrong lane, blocking the straight going traffic at a signal because he wanted to turn right and did not have a signal. The Honda City wanted to go straight and so possibly got agitated.

[arup.misra]

A very good initiative indeed but there aren't going to be policemen around every nook and corner to stop such incidents. But if each and every motorists learn some simple ways to prevent rage then such retro perspective situations would never occur. Speaking from my own experience, I had a bad history of road rage but always managed to check it before situation gets out of hand.

Sharing a few tips for the benefit of all

a) Pullover and let your temper settle down
b) Drink lots of water
c) Breathe deeply
d) Pullover and speak to someone for whom you really care

These have worked for me. Living in India, I don't think one can really not-get road rage at any point of driving in one's life but controlling it before it gets worse will certainly help. My two cents.

[gauravdgr8]

One point to always remember here is that the Swift was in front and had the eye witnesses not been there, the agarwal family could easily have put the blame on the city owner, saying that it was the city owner who hit from behind.

Who would ever imagine and accept the story that the Swift actually went ahead and reverse banged the city.

My views. Suggestions welcome.

[antz.bin]

My father is the one who constantly keeps cribbing about bad traffic sense, autorickshaws, ill placed community dustbins, traffic et all. Whenever he starts getting angry(he is a bit short tempered), I just remind him of the Navjot Singh Siddhu incident and he cools off.

I myself follow a couple of rules to keep the rage in check.
1. Watching mirrors for potentially faster cars (Especially the German ones with those LED DRLs and angel eyes ) which won't want to stick around behind me.
2. Always listening to CDs, FM has too many advertisements which have potential to piss off anyone. We must never forget that it is the small things that add up to big incidents.
3. Give way whenever possible. The guy behind might be in a genuine hurry (eg. reaching his father's wedding ).
4. Joke about the idiots on the road.
5. Generally keep playing the hypermiling game whenever I drive in city. I mean, if I am preoccupied with keeping the FE high, there are no violent accelerations / braking / direction changes which might piss somebody else off. Also, since I am not trying to reach anywhere too fast, the stress level is less.
6. Always follow a defensive driving regime inside the city. If there is need for speed, take the bike.
7. Using the bike not the car when there is a hurry. Since I have fun on the bike even in traffic, and generally don't get caught up in traffic at all, the bike ride is infinitely more relaxing. Also, since my bike itself is reasonably fast, its more than a handful whenever I need my dose of adrenaline in or out of city limits.

[ashphil]

Congratulations to the Mumbai Police for setting such a good example. With the traffic increasing in leaps and bounds road rage is bound to be on the rise. Its time that the Traffic Police in all the states wake up and do someting constructive to put some road sense into the users of what we call roads.
Stringent punishment such as what the Mumbai Police have dished out is certainly an excellent answer to our traffic woes. I am sure no one wants to spend a couple of days in Police custody!
Regards
Ashok

[F50]

Similar incidents happen all over the city, everyday! Only this one is brought to light and in a right way. I just hope people think twice before doing such things even 10% is not a bad start.

This also reminds me of an incident happened to me few months ago. I was threatened to cut to pieces for taking a right turn on green right turn signal. This biker with 3 people on the board abused me for blocking him on his red signal. I decided to keep quiet as I was with family.

I think its better to keep quiet as you never know who that person could be. Whats the reason for this? People think they are something even though they not even worth a dime!

[vinu_h]

Originally Posted by F50

Similar incidents happen all over the city, everyday! Only this one is brought to light and in a right way. I just hope people think twice before doing such things even 10% is not a bad start.

I can see the necessity of that.

An incident on the same lines as that occured today in Bangalore. An innocent labourer was run over by an inebriated driver and the culprit(s) did their best to run away after. The deceased was probably the sole bread winner and the culprit may have ruined more than one life.

Sending that lady to jail is a necessity but sadly that is not going to make things any easier for the family of the deceased. I wish people realised the dangers of driving while intoxicated.

[dot]

Originally Posted by amitwlele

Coincidentally was reading the below news article on NDTV today. Road rage taken to the next level with gun shots being fired.

Man fired at for refusing to give way

It was horrifying to read about this incident in the morning papers. Are we going back to jungle laws?

While I have little sympathy for slow movers occupying the fast lane and blocking up traffic, but shooting them? How insane is that?


Wow, the next raging accessory market could be bullet-proofing personal vehicles.