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Old 8th December 2005, 12:28   #16
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I think in India (and especially in Delhi / Noida) the problem is that we have excess of everything - pedestrians, rickshaw pullers, cars, congestion etc.

Every second either some rickshaw puller is pulling is in front of you, a pedestrian is crossing the road or someone is trying to overtake you from either side.

The problem is that the administration doesn't take pro-active action before the situation is unmanageable. They wake up only when the problem is very intense and some biggie (like Supreme Court) orders them to rectify the situation.
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Old 9th December 2005, 16:03   #17
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This Is India

Dear BHPians,

While the driving problems are real and now, we need to appreciate that Indian problems are unique, any other democracy would have crumbled... some of them are in serious trouble:

1. Population is a bane in a developmental stage...... poverty, education and basic aminities. How do you expect this poor person in a scramble to rush for his daily living to understand the rules of engagement in a sealeld high-speed expressway or inside the city? When he has to cross he takes the shortest route to destination, if u happen to hit him, its YOUR bad day.

2. No national plan to teach the public about road safety ( the Naitonal Programme in the US to teach people about risks of High Fat intake reduced mortality and morbidity significantly ......... just to highlight what national programmes can do).

I remember one article sometime back which says, give priority and respect to non-motorized traffic including pedestrians. I think there's a lot of sanity in that...

All things said and done......... roads are improving and so is vehicle density. While expressways will improve CITY TRAFFIC is going to get worse with more cars, bigger cars, boom in the economy, raipd urbanization and the gap widening between demand for more roads and use of cars increasing in cities.

That's my 2 penny worth ........

-- Ramky.
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Old 9th December 2005, 17:41   #18
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we can change things...

Hi, this topic of road safety and driving behaviour has been trcikling in my mind for quite sometime. I am sure all of us can attribute umpteen number of reason for the pathetic condition what exists today all over india... poor roads, illiterate people, lack of self discipline etc.. we can wish to have a nation wide advertising of road safety, better regulators and other things which lets say fall under our "circle of concern" (we cannot do anything about it), and things like our road manners and behaviour say fall under "circle of influence" (things which are under our control), i feel we should focus on our circle of influence to see what we can do to improve the existing conditions.

firstly i try to follow most of the traffic rules (apart from mainting 40km speed limit). i always wear seat belts and try to be considerate to others, i have personally seen in many instances, when i make a mistake a simple gesture of acknowledging our mistake makes the other person feel better. this is better than picking up an arguement and losing our temper, time and prodcutivity.

secondly, i have also seen in many cases, lots of people violate traffic rule and get away with it. this acts as a negative reinforcement to a person obeying the signal and hence slowly he/she also joins the bandwagon.we get to a point where we justify our indiscipline by simply saying to ourself "what difference does it make to the society whether i follow the traffic rule or not"...

i got an answer for this after reading a book by name "tipping point". it talks of about how a social epidemic goes out of control when it crosses a certain threshold.it talks how crime rate in new york city was brought down by making very subtle changes in the society.

to apply the same analogy of social epidemic, if more and more people like us start obeying the rules and if we together can cross a certain threshold, then everything may fall into place within a short period of time.

so guys, lets start.

i hope you got the message.

regards
krishna.


nb:these are my thoughts that came across and it may not be cohesive.
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Old 9th December 2005, 19:59   #19
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[neoranjit] But all said and done.. I think Chennai traffic is a lot better than Bangalore. It takes ages to move in Bangalore. Also think Chennai roads are better than Bangalore .. Lets see what the others think !
Not been to chennai lately, but Bangalore traffic is awful. No lane discipline ( I must say NO POTHOLES DISCIPLINE). Even the Cops not sure what to do. At some places you need to drive round the Circle to take a right turn while at other places you can just cut across the Cirle right under the nose of the Cop. In some places the momment the signal turns GREEN you have traffic moving around as well as across the cirle. Strange & very very confusing.
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Old 9th December 2005, 22:02   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by shibujp
RTech methinks the horn is a vital safety device in India especially with pedestrians:-).
Not in Bangalore at least. Everybody honks here. All the time.
Once a Sumo behind me was honking. On a Sunday afternoon at airport road. Sumo was more than two cars length behind me. There was nobody else apart from us. After few minutes and with that continues horn..I stopped the car in front of him..asked him why he's honking....

He just gave me a stupid smile
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Old 10th December 2005, 18:56   #21
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In India, the people expect a Honk from you! Especially the pedestarians, the vehicle infront of you, stray dogs, before overtaking etc. You need to honk to seek their kind attention! What say guys?
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Old 10th December 2005, 20:10   #22
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Today was entering the parking lot of Garuda mall, and found the ticket machine out of order. So, here I am right next to the faulty ticket vending machine and right ahead is the barrier arm (which raises when the ticket is issued). The guy behind is furiously honking me. I wanted get down and ask him whether he was suggesting I drive through the barrier. But the car was stopped too closely to the ticket vending machine, therefore couldn't get out.

He must have been brain dead, I mean he must have seen the attendant opening the machine and trying to fix it.
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Old 10th December 2005, 20:18   #23
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Honking is a must but, do it only if it's really needed. The other day i was in the Vtec and this guy in a Maruti Van behind, kept honking for no reason. I'm sure he probably didn't even realise he was honking, some people have this subconscious habit (similar to biting one's nails).

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Last edited by Shan2nu : 10th December 2005 at 20:20.
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Old 10th December 2005, 20:25   #24
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While in Rome......

Quote:
Quote:
Originally Posted by amitoj
Hey Scorchy
Welcome to the forum.
While i appreciate your noble intentions, i should warn you that doing this can cause serious harm to the person crossing the road. I say this from experience. I once stopped to let a cyclist cross the road, only for him to get hit by a speeding motorcycle on my left side. Neither of them could see each other coz i was blocking their view :-(


Absolutely Right and I agree with you 100%. You may be doing a good deed to the lady but could cause a lot of harm to many more. While in Rome do as the Romans do. Just follow the others. I Know ,that is sound foolish to tell some not to follow the law, but you are a lot safer this way than by by doing what is right.

sd.

Soccer.
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Old 10th December 2005, 20:25   #25
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Honking in india is not rude behaviour. It is just the mode for saying,
"Hi"
"Excuse me"
"I exsist"
"Move out of the way please"
"You Moron"
"I'm Sorry"
"Thank you"
"I like your car"
"The girl's hot"
"Hey I know you"
"I own a bigger car"
and ....so on....
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Old 10th December 2005, 20:30   #26
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Honk Honk, for anybody & everybody

Quote:
Quote:
Originally Posted by finneyp
In India, the people expect a Honk from you! Especially the pedestarians, the vehicle infront of you, stray dogs, before overtaking etc. You need to honk to seek their kind attention! What say guys?
You are right there. But I think dimming & dipping your Head lights constantly works better than honking at night .
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