[GTO]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

We left it to the government to issue driving licences

But what if, the driving tests conducted by the RTO are made stringent? A written test, one for the eyesight and then a comprehensive spin on the road (including 3 point turns, parallel parking, bumper to bumper traffic etc.). Whether a newbie learns driving himself, or takes the services of a driving school, unless he knows how to really drive...he won't be passing the exam, will he?

If the driving test is itself made more stringent, overnight & automatically, the quality of training will shoot up (for obvious reason).

Originally Posted by Daewood

That looks an awfully big number, but we should remember that we Indians make up roughly 1 out of every 6 humans in this planet.

We should also remember that penetration of car ownership in India is amongst the lowest in the world. Example:

USA : 765 cars / 1000 people
Germany : 546 / 1000
Brazil : 308 / 1000
Malaysia : 273 / 1000
Singapore : 158 / 1000
Irag : 50 / 1000
Sri Lanka : 25 / 1000
India : 12 / 1000

Source. Now, the number of Indian road accidental deaths suddenly looks larger, no? Either ways, even if all these government initiatives lead to a 10% decrease in accidental deaths in the 1st year, that's still a whopping 12,000 lives saved!

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by GTO

But what if, the driving tests conducted by the RTO are made stringent? A written test, one for the eyesight and then a comprehensive spin on the road (including 3 point turns, parallel parking, bumper to bumper traffic etc.). Whether a newbie learns driving himself, or takes the services of a driving school, unless he knows how to really drive...he won't be passing the exam, will he?

If the driving test is itself made more stringent, overnight & automatically, the quality of training will shoot up (for obvious reason).

I am with you there, but I wish we could just wish away the deep-rooted corruption in the system. The periodic all-is-well MoT-style certificate being run by private enterprise, that is being envisaged would only help to extend those corrupt practices further.

The government does not have a single driver training school in the country run by itself, to the best of my knowledge. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Who'll train the trainers? Who will police the police?

[drsk]

I see that the main advantage this certification brings is to used car buyers. They will have more confidence when they buy any used cars.

Will this translate to lesser number of accidents on the roads? I am very skeptical about this.

My personal opinion is that the major accidents that occur in India are due to negligent driving (What matters is that I reach my destination, to hell with others - attitude) and treating that as their right. And vehicles parked right without parking/hazard lights.

The next reason (indirect) is the bad state of roads.

So, adding to the list of pessimists , my opinion is that this certification will end up just like another money making trump for the powers (RTO, cops, service centres, certifying authorities) behind this.

1 small question. The side rear-view mirror in my friend's car is as good as new 'coz he never uses it. I regularly use my side rear-view mirrors and it is bit loose (but still functional). Who will be impacted by the certification?

[DocG]

I like the idea, but lime many government policies that have emerged, it's an idea. Would love to see them implement this system and follow it up with checks to balance any defaulters.

Sadly like the PUC certification they say you need it and have to produce the same when asked at a gas station. The sad part is I've never done a PUC on my car for this purpose in the last 3 years. I did it twice for my personal satisfaction to see the result.

Bottom line is unless they enforce the rules appropriately, a country like India will never change, simply because for every 1 do gooder there are a 100 who want to bypass the law.

**Reminds of something an RTO official told me once. He said that if my license gets confiscated by the cops and sent to court to simply give him a call and get another booklet made. Of course this was before the launch of smart cards, but then again what's to say that people who do this aren't going to make counterfeit booklets?

[siddheshb]

I was on a visit to Mahabaleshwar recently, and remembered they used to check the PUC before letting you in. Even though I was in a brand new, 2 day old Endy, I decided to get a PUC done. Stopped at this petrol pump in Wai, offering "RTO-approved PUC", and was promptly ushered into the office. The girl at the desk took my registration number, charged me 100 bucks, and promptly issued me the PUC. She didnt even glance at my car. When I asked her about the test itself, all she offered was a cute smile.

So much for cleaner roads! :(

[kaustuv123]

In order to implement any good and effective system, we require disciplined persons for the job. The government officials in charge are the most indiscipline lot. So I don't think it is of any use to expect something good from them. A very common example which I have seen is with the taxi meters. More than 70% of the taxi plying in Kolkata has tampered meters. This issue has been reported time and again. However, no action has been taken due to the simple fact that the taxi owners are affiliated to certain unions bearing linkage to political parties. This political influence plays a very important role in disrupting many good initiatives.

Regards,
Kaustuv

[sgiitk]

Commercial vehicles require an annual fitness - just some baksheesh to the RTO guys. The state has to accept that it is rotten to the core, and hand over the the Private Sector. You cannot eliminate corruption but must try and reduce it. When in the UK I heard about garages which will 'fix' the MoT for a consideration.

[drsk]

I have seen few statements in this thread that the government officials are corrupt and hence some of the work should be handed over to the private sector.

I beg to differ here. Who are the government officials? They are just people. The same kind of people will be part of the private sector. So, handing over the work/responsibility to private sector will just shift the corruption from one place/sector to another. We as a society are always looking at shortcuts to achieve anything.

How many times have we seen people driving their two-wheelers (and in some cases cars too) on the wrong side of the divider just to avoid taking a U-turn? (I think I can safely assume that this is seen everywhere in India)

To avoid/reduce corruption it is the mindset of the people that needs to change.

[hvkumar]

India has enough rules to outnumber any other country in the world, but compliance, governance are poor, and corruption is the mainstay, be it in the matter of getting permits from govt, getting insurance surveyors to pass claims or in getting PUC certificates. Unless we have better governance, all these new rules are only to increase costs and business opportunities for those who are luck to be in the list of certifiers.