[Peregrine]

My two cents:

Two reasons why i think this exists:

1. Corruption: Why dont most people have any respect for traffic rules? Why are they not scared of breaking rules even when hefty fines are prescribed by law? Well, it turns out that your friendly neighborhood cop will only be too happy to accept 50-100 rupees and let you go. most of us would be ok with paying this fine and getting away without any record/ challan/ hefty fine. If there is no fear, then an uncivilized society does not have any incentive to follow rules.

I have seen in Dubai the fear people have for breaking a rule. People there are afraid to break rules even if there is no cop in sight. All traffic violations in Dubai are fined. And fined heavily. No exceptions. Can we even dream of same in India?

Mind you, a civilized society will follow rules without the need of fear

2. (No) civic sense: Indians by and large have no civic sense. Do we care that everyone may not want to be a part of our religious celebration? do we care that our neighbor might not appreciate our garbage? Do we care that our smoking is troubling others? NO.

Similarly, we dont really care if we are cutting in front of someone's car, bullying the two wheelers, jumping a signal, honking in silent zones, parking in no parking area. We really don't care. How many of us can put a hand on our heart say that we have never broken a traffic rule? I think in that answer itself lies the real problem

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by Trapezio

I am shocked how car drivers regard two-wheelers as some pest on the road.

...

Unfortunately I must say I have seen some comments in this forum on two-wheeler riders that made me cringe on the chair.

At the risk of making you cringe, I have to say that a very large proportion of this city's two-wheeler drivers are pests on the road, and lethally dangerous ones at that.

There is no reason at all why any two-wheeler should expect any sort of right of way. Equally, there is no reason to block the two-wheeler in heavy traffic, when it is easy to leave gaps for them to proceed.

[joshguy]

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[CBlazer]

Originally Posted by greenh0rn

I think we are culturally wired to be extremely selfish and mean and this explains why people cut each other, even forcing the other person to brake hard.

When I was in school, I would always wonder why we had signs on the highways that said Roads reflect our culture. It's funny I never tried to understand what it really meant till a few years ago. This four worded sentence is so true and has such an important message for all - not just people who drive.

Forget observing lane discipline on roads, how many of us willingly get into a queue at a ticket counter or for that matter a buffet dinner at a wedding reception. What's shocking is the answer given by most "Oh! I didn't know there was a queue". So we follow rules only if we are forced to. Not that it has always been this bad. People have gradually lost respect for others' rights or they just believe(or are being taught) that this is the only way to get things done.

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

At the risk of making you cringe, I have to say that a very large proportion of this city's two-wheeler drivers are pests on the road, and lethally dangerous ones at that.

I've said this a million times earlier. I'm quite shocked at the risks two-wheeler riders (nowadays) take to get from point A to point B. Is it really worth all those crazy maneuvers to get to your destination a few minutes earlier? Why not leave early instead and save yourself as well as others a lot of pain?

[rageshgr]

Two-wheelers cut across your path, already inches away from you and then brake in front of you, forcing you to almost stop. The thing that enrage me is that, they don't know/realise how serious an impact with a car can be and they are endangering their own life. And the worst thing is whatever happens, they are gonna blame the car driver.

[prajwalkashyap]

Well, after having read all of the 5 pages, one thing struck me is the lack of self-control in violating laws. Well, violations occur because people can get away from the problem they created. What if there is a place where people can submit pictures (a website, perhaps) of people (or vehicles with clear visibility of number plate) violating road rules (at least, some of it)? A call centre can be put up where they analyse the pictures and impose a fine on the registered number and attach a ticket to the registered number of the vehicle. Vehicle owners can be notified of the fine and made to pay up, or tickets will pile up on the registered number with penalty clauses. The picture submitter can be rewarded by a percentage of the fine. This way, addresses can also be verified if the vehicle owners have shifted addresses and not notified the RTo. Additional fine on that too!

People can make a living out of this and even policemen can carry the simple digital camera's. They can be rewarded for the submitted pictures too. I am guessing that the fine collected will more than make up for all the digital camera's invested by the police for their policemen's use and people will realise that simply arguing with the policemen and bribing them may not work anymore. Of course, this is just a simple idea, but could be worked on.

Prajwal

[vinaydas]

my question.
when people cannot wait for their turns in various queue's such as bus lines,bank counters,cinema ticket counters etc.
you expect them to be patient on the road?
people say the solution is education..well educated people cut across lanes abruptly also.
my solution is a proper dose of common sense.

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by DKG

Someone just sent me a PM about an organisation called SOCH which is doing something just about what we are discussing. Truly commendable initiative. Check out their website soch.in

Something similar is being done in Pune. Check out their link: SPTM

Also, a couple of more links that would make interesting reading for the folks who are following this thread:
Defensive Driving: 70 Rules to Live By

Driving a Cultural Change in India: Better & Safer Road Safety and Traffic in Indiatravelling in india, driving in india, learning to drive in india, driving test, free online driver education awareness training videos covering topics such as blind s

Cheers,
Vikram

[cpyder]

We are very pure and cleanest people in the world - only inside our houses. We absolutely do not find anything wrong in collecting the muck of our houses and putting it in a pile just outside our houses, with little more of it in neighbour's yard. So you see the term 'civic sense' is alien to us.

Talk of road etiquette?? 90% of indian populace would hear this term for the first time if you asked them about that. Situation is so bad in a few places that in fact you wanted to follow the rules, you would certainly meet an accident. In Lucknow when I wanted to follow a round-about, my friend thought I am turning left instead of right. He burst laughing when I told him that this is how it is supposed to be. A few days later when I did the same thing, to my horror I saw a city bus coming head on in the wrong direction. And to top it all, the driver has the audacity to shout 'dikhayee nahi deta kya?' That and innumerable occasions you may recall about such incidents.

Another incident- i overheard a few girls walking on a road and a car honking behind them. One of the girls says 'Koi chadha thodi dega' - he is not going to hit us (if we do not give him way). !! Need I say more?

Similarly you would more often than not find people standing halfway through the road leaving you 'just enough' room to go by. I wonder how can these people gauge exact width of every car and measure that exact distance on road for you.

And hats of to these people who have implicit faith in your driving skills and ofcourse your cars and its safety systems. They always seem to know that the driver is not drunk, is properly trained and the battered car has its steering and brakes in perfectly sound condition.

If it has to be changed, I can think of three ways:-

Publicity - as hard as we did for family planning or an epidemic.
Strong Administrative Will - RTO and traffic police
Do your bit, I still follow the roundabout the way it is supposed to be done. I am sure by now my vehicle is recognised by each and every road side vendor there because it is the only one following the routine.

[Trapezio]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

There is no reason at all why any two-wheeler should expect any sort of right of way.

Am I understanding correctly? Are you saying that they do not have any right for way also? Am I surprised that you find them as pest! I wonder what they think of you as? No offense meant.

[Thad E Ginathom]

They have the same right of way, in any given circumstance, as any other vehicle, which should be respected. No extra right of way because they are two-wheelers.

Am I surprised that you find them as pest! I wonder what they think of you as?

The ones I'm talking about don't think of me, or any other road user, however many wheels, or even their own safety, at all!

[SilentEngine]

Originally Posted by DKG

I have noticed something very amusing. Sometimes on Sundays I may be at a signal which is pretty much deserted and my signal is red. I make it a point to stop at red. A few go by disregarding the red when they see no one in the oncoming traffic. A few stop seeing me stopped. They wait with me and amusingly lose their patience too and buzz off before the light turns green. You can tell a lot has to do with a herd mentality. If more people stop everyone stops. If few stop even those who normally would stop tend to join the herd of jumping the signal. Funny behavior.

This is quite common. Funny thing is these 'in-between' people are not in a hurry to get anywhere, even after jumping the signal they will still be driving slower than the expected speed in the right most lane and you can easily catch them at the next signal. I think it is definitely because of herd mentality. "If many people are jumping signals, they must be right, so I will also jump".

Other things that irritate me:
1. People walking on the road, instead of footpaths.
2. Buses stopping right after the signal. There are many such bus stops in Bangalore.
3. If there is already a stationary bus at a stop, the next bus overtakes it and then stops ahead of it, instead of queuing up behind. The bus that came earlier now has to do extra work to overtake and then move ahead. All the while other road users have to suffer.
4. Wrong parking on road sides where angled parking is allowed. Something like this-> ///// \ ///

[teknophobia]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

They have the same right of way, in any given circumstance, as any other vehicle, which should be respected. No extra right of way because they are two-wheelers.The ones I'm talking about don't think of me, or any other road user, however many wheels, or even their own safety, at all!

I agree wholeheartedly, and I believe every 4 wheeler driver does too. I have given several examples why in the thread with rants on 2 wheeler riders and even today morning 2 incidents happened that have only served to reinforce my belief.

@ Trapezio - I can only surmise that you have never had the dubious pleasure of driving a 4 wheeler on city roads. I see from your location that you're from Ahd as well, do I need to elaborate on the atrocious road manners of bike riders here? Most of them should have their licenses permanently suspended.

[rajeev k]

Day by day more and more people are irrespective if in the city on a highway drive with their lights in high beam and never bothers to dip it. If you put your lights on high beam and angles your car to face them they usually struggle to move forward as they get blinded. I strongly feel that we Indians have a phobia for switches; we feel that the dipper switches would konk off if used frequently. Remember many of us do not operate the TV switch, operates the wall socket switch instead.

Another habbit spreading like H1N1 is the use of hazard warning lamps; while parking instead of using the parking lamps, even in the slightest drizzle, for proceeding straight at road intersections et al.

This definitely is a very bad behaviour and we team bhpians should start educating these ignorant ones at the wheel and a heavy campaign is required to bring that smile back to roads and motoring.

[rajtheindian]

Let photos talk...