[kutlee]

i think is a traffic basing thread. most of the problems are due to pure selfishness and nothing else. some percentage can be allocated to awareness. enforcement is quite difficult in democracy.

[pypkmsrikanth]

Co-incidentally I was thinking on similar lines. We actually have a whole new generation who have learnt driving without road manners. Now this generation is teaching the next generation how to drive. Add to it the ever present issue of "Infrastructure lagging behind Vehicle growth" what you have is chaos with multiplyer effect. Frankly speaking I would prefer not to drive in a few years time. These days driving is possibly the most sternous activity one could undertake.

[DKG]

Originally Posted by pypkmsrikanth

"Infrastructure lagging behind Vehicle growth"

Since at times there are limitations on how much the infrastructure can expand to handle growth in traffic in order to reduce congestion in certain business districts the local authorities can also enforce staggered office timings. So studying the traffic patterns they can stipulate some offices work in a time zone and another set in another time slot. Even a half hour stagger can ease traffic dramatically.

Even from a public transport point of view it may enable the current system to handle the load efficiently instead of needing to expand services whose end utilisation would be lopsided during the day rendering the expansion unviable for the corporation. Staggered office timing can help a great deal in easing traffic congestion

[Guite]

Let me add my own regular encounters, some of which have already been listed:

Lane discipline: Someone gives signal (most don't even signal) to turn right at a traffic stop. He/she is stopping in the third lane or farther! Why didn't they change their lane well in advance? Mostly they do it just to be closer to the front. Straddling lanes is another issue altogether.

Lane cutting: I encounter this often. Yesterday evening a car cut me off. I got real mad, honked madly, overtook him and cut him off mildly. At the next traffic light he landed beside me and coolly asked for direction! He happened to be a 50-ish man.

Yield: driving slowly on fast lane and not yielding to someone who wants to move faster than him/her. Used to irritate me a lot but now I (mostly) just overtake from the left. I still wish slower drivers would drive in appropriate lane where applicable or just yield. Its not a matter of pride, guys.

Driving on the wrong side: very common in Noida. This is beyond a matter of etiquette.

High beam in road with no divider or with low divider: Doesn't these people know what it feels like? Sometimes makes me wish I have a 100w lamp headlight just to teach these people a lesson.

Stopping haphazardly on public road or inside colony roads: Stopping momentarily for whatever reason, people should be more considerate to other moving traffic.

Parking haphazardly (mostly in the context of residential colonies): other people also need to park, right? So why park so senselessly that you either (a) inconvenience other's entry/exit, and/or (b) make it impossible to fit another car where it normally fits two cars.

Let me just continue my rant on a different note: Those slow moving tractors who invariably love the first lane really gets my goat. They are very common in Noida but can be found even in Delhi. At night they become a real menace because they have no lights at all at the back. At the front some have, most don't. At the other extreme I encountered one tractor the other night which had powerful lights both at front and back. For a long time I thought I was facing a one-eyed devil driving on the wrong side of the road.

[Nitin]

Basic driving etiquettes should have been inculcated in the general public way back in the 50s & 60s. If strict rules and good driving sense had been around since then, most people would have been better drivers now. Its something that goes from one generation to the other. If you drive in a rash manner, or have no regard what-so-ever for the traffic rules, 99.9% your children will learn this from you and continue to drive in the same manner. Add many million such drivers and you've got the current state of road sense in India.

IMO, the Govt should make the rules a lot stricter, and increase fines to an extent where people fear that they'd break the rules and pay the price. Basic driver education should be implemented as a compuslory requirement when issuing a license.Make the license renewal rules harder, so people are forced to change their outlook and start driving in a better fashion.

That being said,with the political situation being so crazy,not one Govt will be able to get such rules to be implemented, nor will anyone stand up and do something about this. Cops will continue to take bribes,and people will continue to break rules and care a damn about it.

[Thad E Ginathom]

But, people tell me that driving standards were much higher back then. I hear that rules were obeyed. A cyclist without a light feared police attention; when does one now see any light on a pedal cycle, ever?

[DKG]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

But, people tell me that driving standards were much higher back then. I hear that rules were obeyed. A cyclist without a light feared police attention

This reminds me of a tale dad always told me of a inspector named Scot in the Nizam's police department who moved around Hyderabad streets in an open Jeep. If any cyclist or cycle rickshaw ventured beyond their lane boundary or entered a no cycle zone he would simply drive up and veer the Jeep into the erring cyclists' wheel causing the Jeep bumper to smash the spokes. The guy was a terror and apparently cyclists and cycle rickshaws rode in a very disciplined manner

[greenh0rn]

Hey guys, do you think we, the mighty force of 50,000 Team-BHPians, can work with the government to introduce some necessary norms, so that we can drive stress-free and peacefully on our roads at least in a few years down the line? Would be nice public service and a lasting contribution of our community to the road transportation in India!

[kutlee]

Originally Posted by greenh0rn

Hey guys, do you think we, the mighty force of 50,000 Team-BHPians, can work with the government to introduce some necessary norms, so that we can drive stress-free and peacefully on our roads at least in a few years down the line? Would be nice public service and a lasting contribution of our community to the road transportation in India!

that's idea. but this needs a city wise task force. we can send photos of erring motorists and at least the police can send a fine/warrant etc.i think if each of us send one pic each, that will make a huge difference.

[greenh0rn]

No Kutlee, I am thinking of a well-thought, comprehensive plan of action at a far bigger scale. I was thinking that the government anyways need help, full as it is of with lousy, greedy birdbrains, so why not the biggest, most committed automobile community comes to govt. help?

Some things that I can think off-the-cuff:

1. Try and organize volunteers to educate erring drivings on proper road etiquette. Especially, educate bus drivers, auto drivers (people who are most likely to break laws)
2. Work with the local/central government and traffic police to help bring legislative change, maybe a better law to deal with errant drivers
3. Work out ways for better traffic rule enforcement. Police in most cases have their hands full (and not always with bribe money), they seriously need support.

I am sure we can support in a much better constructive way..

[Bigzero]

I agree with most of the points discussed here. I have been driving in Hyderabad for the last eight years or so, and I have seen the traffic situation progressively getting worse.

Some points from my side ( forgive me if i repeat some points made already )

- People dont realize that they dont save much time by being in a continuous overtaking/zigzag mode in city traffic. Perhaps 5 minutes? But they contribute to slowing down the traffic flow. If everyone showed some patience, traffic flow would have been much smoother and everyone would have reached their destination earlier.

- Like many posters mentioned, apart from cultural issues ( yes there are - just go to any ticket window and see how people try to jump queues - how often have you seen someone standing beside you put his arm through the window along with yours? ), awareness is the big problem. People just DONT KNOW that they are wrong. They just treat driving like they are walking. Anything goes.

- Apart from Driving schools , it may be a good idea to introduce traffic sense in our school curriculum. After all, one has to be part of it in some way ( as a pedestrian or as a driver ) in their lives, why not pick it up at school itself? Drill it into the kids' heads. We brainwash kids for a lot of wrong reasons, so let us at least do something that will help them.

- I completely agree with the lane discipline issue. I try to stick to the lane as much as possible, but as you keep driving, you realize that you are sometimes forced to disregard lanes. To start with, lane markings (at least in Hyderabad ) are not done scientifically. We have lanes that suddenly disappear, merge and/or become broad/narrow with no warning, and sometimes run right through a mini temple or mosque right in the middle of the road! Who will trust the lanes in these conditions? In many roads the left most lane can only be used by two wheelers as they continuously change their width. So everyone crowds the faster lanes.

- Many drivers just dont know how to take a right turn from a main road to a side road, period. I have a T junction right next to my apartment building which i can watch from my balcony. I have lost count of the number of mini traffic jams i have witnessed, created by people taking right turns in the wrong manner. They often cut lanes while turning, stopping everything around them.

- Red light jumping, yes, another scary item is yellow light speeding. Cars fly past yellow lights. One is actually supposed to slow down and stop ( if they have sufficient stopping distance ) once the light turns yellow at the signal.

- Hyderabad buses dont stop most of the time - people just get off running buses right in front of your bumper and you pray to god that they dont lose their balance and fall in front of you. If the buses do stop, they usually do right in the middle of the driving lane. no signals, no nothing. You just have to wait behind them , twiddling your thumbs.

[DKG]

As part of coporate social responsibility the automobile companies should earmark a certain quantum of funds on creating awareness amongst the populace on issues regarding environmental conservation and traffic management.

If the concerned ministries took this initiative I see no reason why the companies won't pitch in.

The other option is an NGO for these issues which then lobbies directly with the companies for support and carries out a well thought out awareness building campaign

[straightdrive]

Originally Posted by Bigzero

..............awareness is the big problem. People just DONT KNOW that they are wrong. They just treat driving like they are walking. Anything goes..........

Yes, I agree, was thinking the same thing recently. Introducing traffic sense classes in school as you suggested would be a great idea if the authorities get around to it.

[Bigzero]

Some full page ads on good driving habits will be a good start. If the government doesnt do it, at least some of the Auto Cos ( Like DKG mentioned above ) can take the lead in spending some of their ad spend into this. OK they can have a photo of their car in the corner too..

I see these Maruti training school cars these days. I dont know what Maruti's involvement is in these schools, but are they any different from your neighbourhood learning schools? I mean in terms of quality of training given?

I remember my driving test. I drove a grand total of 2 meters to get the license. Apparently my driving school had "taken care of it". Therein starts the problem. Not that I asked them to bypass the rules or so, but just by enrolling in a driving school, I had automatically supported the corruption in the system..

[rm_arjuna]

[quote=Bigzero;1452421]
- Apart from Driving schools , it may be a good idea to introduce traffic sense in our school curriculum. After all, one has to be part of it in some way ( as a pedestrian or as a driver ) in their lives, why not pick it up at school itself? Drill it into the kids' heads. We brainwash kids for a lot of wrong reasons, so let us at least do something that will help them.

Remember those Traffic Parks in most metro's , used by traffic police for training school kids on road safety / rules etc .I still remember those days being part of Road Safety Patrol / NCC doing traffic duties along with policemen . Now schools are least bothered about teaching such basic civic sense into kids apart from being part of their circulum.