[Dante]

I think the source of the problem is the way the people drive, may it be a town or a village. Getting a driving licence is way too easy.
People who don't have the driving sense get the drivers licence so easily and then they unleash their madness on the roads.

Driving tests should be very strict and should include various stages in it. Under the guidance of an officer without any corruption. (Which is highly immpossible)
But the initial stage is drivers licence, if that is contolled, India would be blessed.

Infact licence holders would be 25% less than compared to same number of people up to till date.

[Rahulkool]

I think we need to massively improve the DL test structure, and i guess even in schools there should be one subject on driving rules and all for atleast one year. These will only ensure long term solution to this problem. again this is a good initiative by the govt.

[Country Road]

Originally Posted by Dante

I think the source of the problem is the way the people drive, may it be a town or a village. Getting a driving licence is way too easy.
People who don't have the driving sense get the drivers licence so easily and then they unleash their madness on the roads.

Driving tests should be very strict and should include various stages in it. Under the guidance of an officer without any corruption. (Which is highly immpossible)
But the initial stage is drivers licence, if that is contolled, India would be blessed.

Infact licence holders would be 25% less than compared to same number of people up to till date.

Bang on. Proper test, understanding of rules and a strong deterrents will help solve this to an extent. Break a rule and your lisence is suspended. You are not allowed to drive. This is for the drivers. But what about the law protectors. They are so corrept that they would rather fill their own pocket. The COP's have to be pulled up too. How does one do that???

[Spitfire]

Originally Posted by Dante

Driving tests should be very strict and should include various stages in it. Under the guidance of an officer without any corruption. (Which is highly immpossible)

Its as simple as that. FB, Twitter is a joke.

Have in camera oral tests and in camera driving tests on a predetermined circuit.

Make the licensing a staged one. Pass each stage get a license.

Stage 1: Traffic Rules and Laws. Driving Etiquette and Culture.

Stage 2: Vehicle fundamentals - Type of Vehicle, Power, CC, etc.

Stage 3: Specific Driving Tests - LMV, HMV, Scooter, Motorcycle, etc. i.e. for each different vehicle a different set of driving/riding tests.

Stage 4: 6 months Learning License\Probation Period with points for any offense depending upon severity. Any Traffic Offense to be reported and Probation Period increased depending upon the Offense. Threshold crossed by the number of offense's start from Stage 1, 2, 3 or 4.

Can be implemented quite easily since we now have the tecnology to do so.

As for corruption thats a different battle. We need to educate ourselves first before pointing fingers. Like the Tea Ad - Yeh Khata Hai, Kyuki Hum Khilata Hai.

[DCEite]

Originally Posted by J.Ravi

In Australia [and other developed nations], I observed that most of the people are disciplined and law-abiding. They wear seat belts in case of cars, helmets in case of two wheelers/bicycles, follow the speed limits/traffic rules/signals [even at midnight], give priority for pedestrians, give right of way for vehicle coming from the right, do not honk their horns normally, etc. Here in Bangalore, if I insist on my co-passenger to wear seat belts, they take it as joke. I get varying responses starting from 'in city, it is not required..' to 'It is only a short distance..so why should we wear seat belts?'. We blindly ape westerners in many things. But, why do not we ape them in good things too? If we practise self discipline, we can avoid many accidents and save many more precious human lives.

It has to do with one word - Fear of law.
Think about the Indians living in Australia or any other foreign country. They are very disciplined, follow all the rules (not just traffic rules) and behave in a civilised manner. But why do the same Indians live by "rules are meant to be broken" ideology in India?
There is no fear of law in India. Laws are not enforced strictly. One can get away by paying a small amount as bribe. Police is weak. We are a democracy - everyone has freedom to do what he wants - even to break the laws at will, it seems.

Ultimately, everything is connected with discipline [whether self or enforced]. Once disciplined [again, self or enforced!], it will become a habit to follow the traffic rules and regulations.

[aerohit]

They are like that only. They like to computerize everything.

[beejay]

Its a welcome move. However as someone pointed out, the chances of it reaching the right people are very dim.
Guys, something is better than nothing.

[ElantraGT]

My 2 cents for road safety improvement:

• Educate the Govt bus drivers on road safety and impose penalties including job loss for accidents due to negligent driving
• Scrutinize the Auto/Taxi/Cab drivers and ensure strict law is enforced for any violation of road rules. The peanalties should involve seizure of their driving license.
• New rules of point system for drivers like what we have in the US. Any non adherence/ticketing will be resulting in increase in insurance premium for the next year.
• Jay walking should be punishable with a spot fine of Rs.50

I wont say that if these rules are implemented, it will make Indian roads safe next year. But in the years to come this will help us reduce the number of fatalities and bring in some common sense in to our driving habits.

I have written these points because of the anguish that I have been feeling for the past 20 years. I feel India could be a better/safer place to live provided there is some road sense that is induced on all the users. When I say users I mean pedestrians, cyclist, autowalas, policeman and all those who commute. I have seen young people getting killed in road accidents for no faults of theirs and have witnessed the sufferings that their families went through. It’s high time that we need to bring in change. The govt decision to spend time and money on facebook/twitter to send these messages will never reach the intended audience.

Please feel free to comment on my points.

[Thad E Ginathom]

It must indeed be approached on all fronts, and it must be done with a long term commitment, for the effects may not bare fruit for several decades (unless all the vehicles are impounded, all the licences are taken away, and everyone is forced to take proper learning and test, which is, of course, a total impossibility).

I really do believe in the "brainwashing" power of media and advertising to have some effect, even on hardened bad drivers: they will never think about what they do, any improvement has to come from the unconscious as it watches those movies, with guys who wear helmets getting the girls just for starters. Yes, it is brainwashing... but they do it to make us buy stuff already, so...

The there is Education. Even as a child in UK I used to wonder why our Highway Code and road sense was not taught formally in schools (apart from the occasional visiting policeman, maybe). After all, every child is a pedestrian, and many of the older ones ride bicycles, and most would go on to drive. It should be taught. Does India have a Highway code (see link) like the UK?

Then proper Driving Education of course, coupled with a proper Driving Test. This is the absolute key to future generations of drivers. Hats off to my Mylapore instructor, who got my Indian licence for me, but not without actually taking the twenty or so "obligatory" lessons, which he would not start for anyone until they had sat through his theory lecture.

I do believe that the example set by Professional Drivers is also key, and, far from the police turning a blind eye, they should be subject to even more stringent training and rules than ordinary drivers. This does not just mean victimising the drivers, it means regulating and punishing the employers and officers of state and government transport organisations for poor training, too many hours, schedules that do not allow for signals, and so on.

That's my prescription, and I think the medicine has to be taken for about thirty years (and some of it for ever, of course). What chance of it ever beginning?