Attacked by an Autorickshaw driver in Bangalore

[SDP]

Guys,
This thread has gone completely
Can I request all concerned to cool down, tone down the language and stick to the 'solutions' part of the original problem posted

Thanks
SDP

EDIT -> Just saw that the Mods have cleaned up the thread and restored sanity. Thanks

[mav2000]

I hope you take this up on a serious note and send the auto registration number to the ACP/DCP of the area and also make a noise about it thru the news papers. Such people should not be allowed to go scot free as it makes them think that they can do it again.

I have been seeing a lot of places selling Venom spray and never really thought of ever buying it. But after reading this thread, I think I need to get a can or two of that and keep it in the car at all times.

Karnataka is a failed state and is looking more like a part of Western Africa than a country that tom toms a 8-9% GDP growth.

[motorhead666]

It seems that cars with just one guy inside are soft targets, why not use a motorcycle when you are alone, so that you can keep a low profile on road, use a helmet, and good hard knuckle riding gloves so that you are in armor if things get nasty.

[amitk26]

keeping peeper spray ( brands Venom / Cobra etc) is good option specially for women. They are available over the counter in supermarkets like food world.
But if you are short tempered and think you can take care of yourself otherwise better to avoid this. Please be extreamly judicious when to use it.

A girl on Suranjan Das road ( leading to Bagmane Tech park) went bonkers few months back and sprayed it on quite a few people in road rage at the morning peak hours and was arrested.

[praful]

Its not outsider or non-kannada speakers that are to blamed here. The law keepers of the land the sole people responsible for this lawlessness.

A slightly different scenario, but something that amazed a few months back. The cabbies are actually scared of the police in Delhi, I was in a cab waiting to take a U-turn I din't know that it was not a free U-turn so I asked why is the driver not taking a turn. He replied, 'Police waala maarega' (Traffic Cop is going to beat me). Compare that with the situation here, the lesser said about the cabbies the better its.

This could have been an one off situation that I experienced, but the Police needs to be more stringent, these Auto/Cabbie guys have no fear of the law keepers and half the trouble stems from there!

[heavy_foot]

Not surprised this happened in Bangalore. From my personal experience i can say that the biggest goons/cheats you will come across in Bangalore are the Autorickshaw drivers. Many of them have posters of actors holding blood stained weapons on their Autorickshaws, talk about role models. I have seen enough victims and also been at the receiving end my self on the very 2nd day of my 8 yrs stay in Bangalore. An auto driver threatened me with a brick when i refused to pay more than what the meter displayed. A friend was admitted with serious head injuries when he was hit by a mob of Autorickhaw guys just out side his college. They quickly left the scene after thrashing the guy. Another friend had an argument on the road and the Autorickhaw guy was followed him around for quite some time before giving up. My cook who rides a bicycle once reported to work with a torn and bleeding ear and stolen mobile phone because apparently a auto rickshaw brushed him and later the driver beat the poor fellow and searched his pockets and took away his cell phone. What was worse was he asked for help from a cop who was standing and watching, the told the cook to forget about the mobile phone as the rickshaw guy has already left the scene and it would be impossible to catch him.

[amitk26]

Originally Posted by motorhead666

It seems that cars with just one guy inside are soft targets, why not use a motorcycle when you are alone, so that you can keep a low profile on road, use a helmet, and good hard knuckle riding gloves so that you are in armor if things get nasty.

Well Sir two of the street fights which I described in vivid details were when I was on my CBZ my only fault seems to be that I had a backpack which was a sureshot sign of softy back then ( the first incidence dates back to 1999),

For those who think this is a recent phenomenon it is simply not true back then what is prime property around Murugeshpalya on HAL road today was far off area and quite dangerous , I described the two incidences which happened in well crowded areas during the day and one was at the nerve center of law and order in august presence of an policeman.

This thread touched raw nerve and agitated me so much because I have faced these things first hand.

When I travel in my Safari now anyone hardly dares , Just once I had to lower the window and shout on auto guy who just nudged at the back that I will put reverse gear and smash him.

[Chetan_Rao]

Any safety equipment/weapon should be carried only if the user is capable of using it with proper judgement, and completely understands the pros/cons of using it. Swinging a bat/rod or spraying pepper spray off to glory is the easy part, it's the repercussions that are nasty.

[aqualeo2040]

Well, back to the topic:
Is it just me who feels that there's more to the story?

I mean, I accept the fact that most autowallahs here in Bangy are proper rowdies etc and that they resort to intimidation. However, I am really finding it difficult why the guy would step out of his auto with a rod and run amok.
Was the auto driver drunk? Is he mentally unstable?

Well, on the other aspect, i guess, the xenophobia is all across india. So, it always helps to know at least a few words in the local lingo. Dont you guys think so?

Imagine that the autowallah doesnt understand Hindi and I said something to him in Hindi like "Dekho, jagah kahan hain" in a aggresive tone. He would definitely find it offensive. Its not what is said rather more the tone of whats being said.
I often have to deal with such autowallahs. I just smile and ask them to move ahead in Kannada. That does it for me. Most of them actually smile back and let me go!
I know for a fact too that by the end of the workday, we all are too tired and smiling at a stranger is the last thing we can think of!
I am not the most nonviolent person on earth. I had had my shares of action. Somewhere down the line I realized that those bruised knuckles and shoulder pains were just not worth it. A momentary joy of 'giving it back' equals to a slew of painkillers and sore body for a few days and a little bragging rights.

Anyways, I think Midday, Bangalore Mirror and TV9 will be happy to lap these stories up. It will be a good idea to contact Mr Bidari as well. Since we already have the Auto Regn no, I dont think that it will be too much trouble.
I guess I read in TOI yesterday that on thursdays we can go to the local PS to enquire on the progress of our cases. I agree that our jobs and meetings are important. However, it will also be a nice idea to keep our environment clean. Today it was that helpless guy, tomorrow it could be you or me.

[Chetan_Rao]

A question for the legal eagles on this forum:

Is it possible to report the offender's vehicle to its registering RTO? Are the RTO guys empowered to take any action against such offenders?

[jalex77]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

A question for the legal eagles on this forum:

Is it possible to report the offender's vehicle to its registering RTO? Are the RTO guys empowered to take any action against such offenders?

If its an Auto or Taxi in question, The R.T.O can take steps to cancel the guy's badge and taxi licence.

[noopster]

Horrible experience!

I would not advise wielding a weapon in a volatile confrontation in a public place. Your first responsibility to the safety of yourself and your passengers. Drive away to a secure location instead of retaliating or exposing yourself to more danger.

Having been through a similar scary experience myself, let me tell you that there is little or no point in trying to argue with angry mobs that gang up on you. The best you can do is maintain your calm and get the HELL out of there.

That particular rick driver must have been really tightly wound up to start attacking a car for no reason. I have been warned that autos in certain Indian cities are mostly owned by cops or minor politicians and that patronage is what keeps them cocky. But this is ridiculous.

You should definitely approach the cops again and file a complaint agains the errant driver. Hopefully he gets punished or at the very least your friend gets some compenesation for the damage and trauma suffered.

[amitk26]

Originally Posted by aqualeo2040

Well, back to the topic:
Is it just me who feels that there's more to the story?

I mean, I accept the fact that most autowallahs here in Bangy are proper rowdies etc and that they resort to intimidation. However, I am really finding it difficult why the guy would step out of his auto with a rod and run amok.
Was the auto driver drunk? Is he mentally unstable?

Well, on the other aspect, i guess, the xenophobia is all across india. So, it always helps to know at least a few words in the local lingo. Dont you guys think so?

First of all not all auto drivers are rowdys and indulge in steet fight but yes quite a few are. May be possible he was drunk or mentally unstable or both.
There need not be a provocation always to start a fight under these circumstance. I gave an example of Raipur incidence where a gatekeeper was beaten to death both victim and offenders spoke same language.
So automatically assuming lack of linguistic skills on part of victims is root cause is fallacious.

Secondly many of the Auto drivers here speak Dakkani Urdu which is quite similar to Hindi , Thirdly the guy in the front was neither the patron of Auto nor interacting with Auto driver in any language whatsoever.

So I find the suggestions to speak in local language totally useless defense of rowdy. Afterall people in Taxi / Auto industry are supposed to ferry people speaking multiple languages from one point to another.

Do you suggest that if a Kannadiga whole-seller goes to Ludihyana for buying wollens he should learn Punjabi so that he can travel safely in Autos ? If not why the same suggestion to person who do not know Kannada ?

FYI I know enough Kannada and I call it RISK ( Reduced Instruction set Kannada ) but in all the incidences I had there was no verbal communication before assault. The volly of abuses came suddenly in pure hindi abusive words. I reciprocated with aggressive gestures and guy was forced to back off. Please reread the steps I narrated and also the incidence of original poster.

While I do agree that Auto drivers cheat people who do not know local language in any rode rage case to non-occupants in my experience there is no linguistic element involved.

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by amitk26

First of all not all auto drivers are rowdys and indulge in steet fight but yes quite a few are. May be possible he was drunk or mentally unstable or both.
There need not be a provocation always to start a fight under these circumstance. I gave an example of Raipur incidence where a gatekeeper was beaten to death both victim and offenders spoke same language.
So automatically assuming lack of linguistic skills on part of victims is root cause is fallacious.

Secondly many of the Auto drivers here speak Dakkani Urdu which is quite similar to Hindi , Thirdly the guy in the front was neither the patron of Auto nor interacting with Auto driver in any language whatsoever.

So I find the suggestions to speak in local language totally useless defense of rowdy. Afterall people in Taxi / Auto industry are supposed to ferry people speaking multiple languages from one point to another.

Do you suggest that if a Kannadiga whole-seller goes to Ludihyana for buying wollens he should learn Punjabi so that he can travel safely in Autos ? If not why the same suggestion to person who do not know Kannada ?

FYI I know enough Kannada and I call it RISK ( Reduced Instruction set Kannada ) but in all the incidences I had there was no verbal communication before assault. The volly of abuses came suddenly in pure hindi abusive words. I reciprocated with aggressive gestures and guy was forced to back off. Please reread the steps I narrated and also the incidence of original poster.

While I do agree that Auto drivers cheat people who do not know local language in any rode rage case to non-occupants in my experience there is no linguistic element involved.

You're taking it the wrong way. Knowing the local language is definitely not a pre-requisite, but one cannot deny its advantages.

Sometimes, an innocuous comment like 'there's no space to move' spoken in a non-local language with an angry tone can lead to a nasty fight, simply because the other guy might not understand what was said, and takes the angry tone to assume that abusive language was used.

These are all unfortunate incidents that shouldn't happen in a civilized setup, but if you read the bad experiences of people on various threads here, most people could've avoided a lot of trouble if they either spoke the local language themselves, or had a local with them.

It might not be the solution to all problems, but it surely helps a lot. Spoken from personal experience. I'm in a peculiar situation (a Kannadiga currently driving an MP-registered car in Bangalore), and I've lost count of the number of times people cool down or at least avoid a confrontation as soon as I speak in Kannada, and they realize I'm a local.

[markmytravel]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

You're taking it the wrong way. Knowing the local language is definitely not a pre-requisite, but one cannot deny its advantages.

Sometimes, an innocuous comment like 'there's no space to move' spoken in a non-local language with an angry tone can lead to a nasty fight, simply because the other guy might not understand what was said, and takes the angry tone to assume that abusive language was used.

These are all unfortunate incidents that shouldn't happen in a civilized setup, but if you read the bad experiences of people on various threads here, most people could've avoided a lot of trouble if they either spoke the local language themselves, or had a local with them.

It might not be the solution to all problems, but it surely helps a lot. Spoken from personal experience. I'm in a peculiar situation (a Kannadiga currently driving an MP-registered car in Bangalore), and I've lost count of the number of times people cool down or at least avoid a confrontation as soon as I speak in Kannada, and they realize I'm a local.

I don't think knowing or not knowing the local language has anything to do with such situations. A freak remains a freak in any language, in any state, in any country. We are not talking about people who are normal, these are people who are frustrated and want to fight for whatever reasons. Honestly, you cannot learn the local language of every place you visit or stay at. It's a lot easier when in school then when you are 20+ and no one has the time for this in current scenario. The best I think is to do follow the below in the order mentioned and yes react fast:

1. Try to keep your calm and avoid/ignore gesturing or commenting back to such freaks.
2. If the person is really eager to get into a fight, try to get to a safer place asap is possible.
3. Keep something for defence in you vehicle and make sure it's approachable.
4. To hell with eveything, give it back where it hurts most. You may get hurt in the process but atleast there is a chance.
5. Be the first to report to authorities.

P.S. Remember you are not talking about normal people here and deserve every bit of the pain you can give them so don't get weak or emotional.