[rm_arjuna]

IMO the problem is compounded by 2 types of people.
1)Uneducated & people from lower economic background / Villages folks moving to cities
2) Educated impatient / people with money & muscle power ( read politician / govt. babu's & sundry )

[cargirl]

I don't think we can pinpoint a single reason for this. However, I agree that it is a cultural phenomenon. Even if we we get the best roads in the world overnight, nothing's gonna change unless WE change.

I think that we learn lots of these habits as we grow up. So if we saw our family members and drivers breaking traffic rules, we would grow up with the same attitude. And in India, "sab kuch chalta hai".

Some things we can do:

1. Reach out to the kids/ teens
2. Very strict RTO tests (As my UK-returned cousin very haughtily says, "You Indians would never pass the driving test in the UK." It's a mean thing to say, but I think it's true).
3. Good town and infrastructure planning- look at the amount of narrow lanes we have here. There are veggie vendors, hawkers etc jamming these tiny streets- so where are the cars supposed to go? This prompts bad driving.
4. Offenders are punished for violating traffic rules. What about a system to reward good traffic manners and good driving? Seems kinda weird, but why not give it a try? Any monetary incentive works!

[mantumadhu]

Totally agree with you. Please visit my website soch.in. We are an NGO setup recently trying to bring about a change in attitude on the roads. Sadly when one ones to do something resources are so limited that sometimes due to lack of it the effort dies down. Right now we are working from our own pocket but i'm confident as we go along we will get support.

Originally Posted by nickatnite

I'm sure even animals will observe road rules once they are made aware of them , unlike Indians. Life here is like a lottery , which includes driving.There are no guarantees.Sad to see that educated/aware Indians are as bad in violating traffic rules as the uneducated/unaware, so there is no role model to emulate. I feel the automobile community , from the industry/organizations to enthusiasts should work with schools to teach civic and traffic sense to youngsters at a very early age and with NGO's to spread the awareness among various localities and peoples. The Govt. can only so do so much. Proper enforcement is also essential, which is another big Achilles heel. If only one's wish was reality. Meanwhile, the chaos continues.

[Dante]

European countries or america have strict rules, heavy fines are slapped to them if they speed or break the signal light.
And don't even think about hitting someone on the road, you are thrown to jail for years without a bail, and that scares the hell out of any person and so they follow the rules and regulations very strictly.

I frequently travel to european countries and i see:-

People driving stop the car, even if they are speeding, if they see a pedestrian crossing the road.

People cross the road only when the pedestrian green light is on, and cross only by zebra crossing.

Its a "phele aap - phele aap" kind of situation their, as a person driving insists the pedestrian to cross the road first.

Even if the road is empty, no vehicle or a pedestrian around, the driver waits for the green signal and only then drives ahead, as opposed to ours while even if there is a cop, people break the signal rule.

All this rule following proceedure gives a smile to my face , i hope India some day may see this.

[AD007]

Let me tell you something about the road scenes of Kolkata:
1) The poor pedestrians have no place on the road - since where there are footpaths, they are mostly occupied by the hawkers and small illegal shops. Also, in most places there are no footpaths. So the pedestrians are forced to walk on the roads.
2) With weeks of repairing the roads, they are either dug up by some telephone company or for sewage or electric company.

[mantumadhu]

The RTA does not think twice about the consequences of unleashing such dangerous drivers. They themselves are a threat to road safety. Forget about these drivers with partial road knowledge and think about the hundreds of underaged drivers hitting the roads who are endangering their and our lives. And forget about corruption free India because it has seeped into the heart and soul of the people. No one cares anymore. If there is anything that can be done it is the public. We need to stop being a passive viewer and act. Let us be an examplke and speak up whenever we see rules being broken.

Originally Posted by hyd_traveller

Is RTA the main culprit or is it the corruption in RTA which is the main root cause - you decide.

Cops are not to be blamed to the extent they get blamed. They are the front end of the whole blame game so they get the stick.

If RTA issues license only to those who pass a proper driving test, the drivers on road would be more educated and only then the cops would be in a position to effectively implement the rules.

A friend of mine had to appear for a test to enable him to get a driving license. Well, once money was paid, license was assured. However, the test had to be conducted since it is computerised and cannot be skipped. In the test, he could not identify a sign which showed an arrow turning right with a red line crossing it diagonally. So the guy conducting the test told him to click the "No Right Turn" as the answer. Thanks God, my friend only needed the license for a photo identity and not for actually driving and that he does not live in India. Imagine him driving here and turning right at a turn where such a sign is posted and causing a massive jam - is he to blame or the corruption or RTA?

The only solution is for the Indian Government to wake up and implement through the State Governments a road map over the next 5/10/20 years to progressively make driving tests tougher and ensure a corruption free environment during the tests and ensuring only genuine licenses.

Well, it is up to YOU and ME to make that difference by raising this issue on different forums till it becomes a public and media frenzy and Government has no choice but to buckle in and make licensing tougher.

Okay, okay, before you take off on me or my thoughts ... dreaming of such an India is allowed ...

[naveenvenkatesh]

I feel there should be a concrete plan to improve the road conditions all over the country.The GOVT can come up with a broad agenda and an action plan to be implemented in a phased manner with time bound target and an independent oversight committee. Some of the items in that agenda could be as follows:

1. Make licensing very stringent. Reduce corruption. Improve the methods used for testing and implement them without fail on all occasions and on all people.This is a MUST.
2. Educate people about traffic rules, lane discipline etc. This should be done using all forms of the media. It would help if Traffic Education is added as a mandatory subject for Secondary school and colleges.Also, people should be made aware of the penalty for each type of traffic violation and what is the need for having rule in the first place. Accident reduction should be emphasized clearly right from childhood and value for human life should be imparted right from childhood.
3. Include softer punishment for traffic violation and stop treating traffic offenders like criminals. For eg, if a driver is found to be driving rashly, putting the other commuters on the road to risk, book him. The punishment should not only be a fine, which is only monatory, but must include some kind of behavior improvement program. This could be a class on proper driving classes conducted by any eminent authority. Also, the penalty must include mandatory service in a hospital or some other medical institution where road accident victims are treated so that the person can see with his own eyes the consequences of other reckless driving.
4. Embrace technology. Traffic Police infrasture must be improved and they should be equipped with the latest technology including sophisticated speed guns, vehicles in good condition etc. Also, intersections and major junctions should be fitted with video camaras so that it can capture the number plates of the traffic violators and send a challan/bill directly to that person. There should a points systems also which should be linked to the insurance of the vehicles. A person with many traffic violations to his name should attract a larger premium for insurance and vice versa. The punishment for repeat offenders must increase exponentially, with the final being revoking of driver's license.
5. Improve public transport on a war footing. Metros, Mono and Bus transport should be added to drastically improve public transport. Public transport must be made comfortable and as stress free as possible. Also, reduce chaos on roads. Separate vehicular traffic and human traffic. Provide foot paths, subways etc for pedestrians and big wide, clutter free roads for vehicular traffic. Build fly-overs, under-passes, grade separators, trumpet exchanges etc to eliminate intersections of 2 or more major roads. Also, people should be given an incentive for traveling in public transport and also a dis-incentive for using private transport by way of daily toll for using specific roads.
6. Special traffic education should be provided for Cab drivers, Truck drivers, Auto Drivers and all other kinds of drivers who has no formal education. Cab and truck companies should send their drivers to mandatory courses on proper driving. Auto drivers should be educated on proper driving techniques. There are many auto drivers unions in the country so finding out all the auto drivers cannot be a problem. GOVT road transport corporation drivers should also undergo these trainings.
7. Old vehicles, polluting vehicles should be taken of the road for good. Vehicles carrying very heavy cargo in a dangerous manner should also be taken off the roads.

I think if these things are done in a methodical way, we can improve the condition of roads in INDIA and make INDIANS better drivers on the roads.

[mantumadhu]

what your cousin says is absolutely right. Iwas in UK for few years and people who have read the rules book and are much better in driving than most of us here fail again and again for reasons like not using the rearview mirror while reversing. Here we close the side mirrors for fear of being knocked down by a rash driver or even not understanding its significance.
As u rightly pointed out we need to change.Please have a look at my website soch.in

Originally Posted by cargirl

I don't think we can pinpoint a single reason for this. However, I agree that it is a cultural phenomenon. Even if we we get the best roads in the world overnight, nothing's gonna change unless WE change.

I think that we learn lots of these habits as we grow up. So if we saw our family members and drivers breaking traffic rules, we would grow up with the same attitude. And in India, "sab kuch chalta hai".

Some things we can do:

1. Reach out to the kids/ teens
2. Very strict RTO tests (As my UK-returned cousin very haughtily says, "You Indians would never pass the driving test in the UK." It's a mean thing to say, but I think it's true).
3. Good town and infrastructure planning- look at the amount of narrow lanes we have here. There are veggie vendors, hawkers etc jamming these tiny streets- so where are the cars supposed to go? This prompts bad driving.
4. Offenders are punished for violating traffic rules. What about a system to reward good traffic manners and good driving? Seems kinda weird, but why not give it a try? Any monetary incentive works!

[KITE RUNNER]

Originally Posted by Dante

European countries or america have strict rules, heavy fines are slapped to them if they speed or break the signal light.
And don't even think about hitting someone on the road, you are thrown to jail for years without a bail, and that scares the hell out of any person and so they follow the rules and regulations very strictly.

I frequently travel to european countries and i see:-

People driving stop the car, even if they are speeding, if they see a pedestrian crossing the road.

People cross the road only when the pedestrian green light is on, and cross only by zebra crossing.

Its a "phele aap - phele aap" kind of situation their, as a person driving insists the pedestrian to cross the road first.

Even if the road is empty, no vehicle or a pedestrian around, the driver waits for the green signal and only then drives ahead, as opposed to ours while even if there is a cop, people break the signal rule.

All this rule following proceedure gives a smile to my face , i hope India some day may see this.

I am in Muscat now and can see the same manners and rules here. Makes me think of my home town Ernakulam, still optimistic of a change.
Many people are taking initiatives, a good sign.
Basically our people are good, only problem is we do get used to things.

[anonymous]

What amazes me that most of the people, who do rash driving here, if they go abroad, follow all the traffic rules religiously. In fact before going behind the wheel, they understand the rules and than drive. So no matter how hard one can try to teach them road adequittes, they are not going to follow them on the road unless we have a strict system in place to monitor and stringent law to punish, who break them.

[mantumadhu]

Please visit soch.in

[neoonwheels]

Originally Posted by Sawyer

No disrespect, but think about this:
1. Was the slapping an act of a civilized person?
2. Is the thinking of it as well deserved also civilized?
Aren't all of us in the same category then?

He deserved it because he was doing a zig zag and troubling and putting other's safety at risk. He has no right to put other's life at risk. If he is so passionate about stunts he should find himself an empty ground. Without such punishments these people hardly learn anything. I would have loved to see a cop booking him but unfortunately that guy had a go with the SUV first before signal.

[Modifiedsachin]

Hi,

Though I could not go through the entire thread, I went through the first 10 posts and thought I should share my experience about the CHALLAN the RTO uses.

One of my friend has a relative in RTO and while discussing he asked me for the CHALLAN which I got for jumping a yellow signal. (The signal was totally OFF as the Yellow light was not working & I had no clue if the signal is working at all, but while passing I noticed the red light & knew it was my mistake).

I took my car on side before the police waved his hand. Got down & asked for the receipt & paid the full 200.

When the same receipt was seen by my friend he proved the receipt was fake. The government stamp was not having the exact wordings it should have. (That was the only difference).

I asked why fake, & he said, as per new rule 50% of these recepits goes to government, with fakes no 50% loss. Only during audits they keep the original books.


So even if we pay the CHALLAN, we are actually ???

[burnt.]

Originally Posted by rm_arjuna

IMO the problem is compounded by 2 types of people.
1)Uneducated & people from lower economic background / Villages folks moving to cities
2) Educated impatient / people with money & muscle power ( read politician / govt. babu's & sundry )

It's just that 99% of the people driving out there fit into those categories. And I don't think govt. babu's are more guilty of this. All of us are equally guilty in my opinion. And I'm sure even a good percentage of Tbhp ians including have been at one time or the other guilty of improper driving.

To be very honest I dont think a stricted licence granting system or stricter laws is going to make much difference. It is our attitude that has to change. The culture of impatience and selfishness that 99% of drivers on our roads display has to change.

[diffsoft]

Originally Posted by Modifiedsachin

I asked why fake, & he said, as per new rule 50% of these recepits goes to government, with fakes no 50% loss. Only during audits they keep the original books.


So even if we pay the CHALLAN, we are actually ???

This is legalised robbery May I request you to send the fake receipt to the Traffic Commissioner and ask him to take action?