[apachelongbow]

Originally Posted by srikanthns

I have a colleague whise habits are similar. He is coming in my Office bus in my route. He will get down from the bus, rush to the Office building from the bus stop (200 meters away), catch the lift and close the door before anybody else gets in and goes alone to the third floor! I do not know what he gets from it!

What a moron!!! I wonder what he gets from making people wait for an elevator, maybe boosts his ego. You can try talk to him about his illogical deeds, if he doesnt listen a email complaint to the HR and his manager should get him a good appraisal. Maybe he will change after that.

[chakri400]

Originally Posted by durgaprasan

There arre so many, I can write a book. As BHPians, shouldnt we do something about it? Can we start a road safety campaign, maybe on facebook or something, similar to anticorruption campaign?

Durga Prasan

This is a good idea. We should use the forum for such constructive social activities.

[jhonmathews]

Absolutely spot on. Very well written and funny as hell.

Also, when a two wheeler needs to overtake a car/truck on the highway even though the bike is capable enough to overtake the car, it somehow hurts the car driver's ego and he won't give way despite your honks. Absolute rubbish.

[Hari]

Excellent write-up and superb illustrations, Sarang. Its definitely a good way of reminding us how dangerous our roads are and how easy it is to get ourselves killed or end up killing someone else. We are all too eager in pointing out other people's mistakes, but we must also learn to accept that many of us still qualify (or at least have in the past) to be in one or more of those seven categories.

Categorizing does help in spotting these offenders but where is the solution? Better policing can only improve things to a certain extent. But what can really make a difference is if each and every one of us decides that we need to put safety first and be considerate to others on the road. We need to tell ourselves that its NOT okay to be a good, patient and courteous driver 90% of the time, but to be that 100% of the time. One needs to promise himself that he will stop for that pedestrian on the zebra crossing every single time, even if he is in a hurry. One has to learn to remember every time he goes above 60 or 70 kph that his car is not designed to protect him at high speeds and he is potentially endangering the lives of people in his car and that of other people on the road.

How many of us actually yield to traffic coming from the right at round-abouts. The only rule I have seen being followed at round-abouts is the biggest vehicle first- rule.
When we drive do we actually feel responsible for the lives of our co-passengers. If one really thought about it, rash driving and over speeding would cease to be problems.

A person's safety is primarily his own responsibility. Bad roads, unmarked speed bumps, cattle on the road etc are a reality in our country and blaming civic authorities will not bring back lost lives.
Maintain one's vehicle well, drive at a normal safe pace, be considerate to others on the road and most importantly leave egos at home.

I have two more categories of my own to add.

1. The clueless traffic warden/policeman. This person has absolutely no skill in controlling traffic, is easily frustrated and uses expletives liberally as a defense mechanism to cover his own inefficiency.

2. Line swamis - People(idiots rather) having crossed half way at non designated places and standing on the center line of roads with no dividers, thinking that they are protected by some invisible force. I always stop my vehicle if its safe to do so and wave these types across.

[durgaprasan]

Originally Posted by Hari

Excellent write-up and superb illustrations, Sarang. Its definitely a good way of reminding us how dangerous our roads are and how easy it is to get ourselves killed or end up killing someone else. We are all too eager in pointing out other people's mistakes, but we must also learn to accept that many of us still qualify (or at least have in the past) to be in one or more of those seven categories.

Hari,
Are you from Kerala? I guessed from your post on policeman. Among the five states I have worked in Kerala's policemen are the worst in terms of knowledge on traffic rules.
Durga Prasan

[Seran Manian]

Thanks. Nice Article, that reflects the thoughts of many of us. As some one pointed out, the only answer is to be patient, otherwise you loose your entire day mourning about that that ugly incident.

[sparsh]

Nice article friends. It boils down to the point that common sense is not common. Additionally with the rampant red tapism there are plenty of morons on the roads who dont know road sense, traffic sense and above the basic rules. We also have the govt which is ineffective in handling the traffic mess. The cops fine based on their whims and fancy even if someone has all the paper work with them. All we need is strict enforcement of the law. I guess we need to borrow a leaf or two from places like Singapore, UAE etc who dont care how big you are if you violate the law. The take it easy attitude is going to haunt us for a long long time.

[dezrskb]

After driving on Indian roads since last 12 years without an accident (no, I am not boasting about my driving skills, luck too played very important part), I feel once in a while I am over-confident and sometimes ego does dominate the driving style (after all, why should a humble Maruti 800 overtake my 2.0 L Skoda Laura?). But I do browse websites on defensive driving (I have not heard of any driving school teaching defensive driving techniques here) once in a while and I am sane again. Also I find keeping miniature photos of my kids on dashboard very useful to curb my aggressive driving habits. Also there are many gory dreadful videos on you tube on traffic accidents which when fresh in your memory will stop you from driving recklessly, will remind you to wear seat belts ALWAYS while driving. But the problem is memory is short and fades away quickly and you become complacent once it happens... till you see next accident or you are involved in one.

[isiv]

Interesting read and nice pictures too! I've been following this thread for a few days and spent quite some time thinking about it. I believe the problem with us Indians is not just limited to bad behavior on the road. And the problem is really deep rooted and somehow appears indelibly linked to the fact that we belong to that rare breed with those rare genes that makes us Indians. At the expense of digressing from the main topic I'd like to point out a few more absolutely shameful, disgusting, appalling acts of my race. Why on this thread? Because I think the root cause for all of this undignified behavior is one and only one – being Indian. Now, I must admit I'm neither so wise nor so travelled as to know/ or have seen the world, but I've observed enough to make these comments. Other than India, my observations are relevant mostly to US since that's where I've spent the most time abroad:
1. The voice of the flight attendant clearly tells me to 'remain seated until the airplane comes to a full, final and complete stop' - but the educated, laptop and blackberry flaunting, three piece suit wearing me, I somehow jump up from my seat and open the overhead storage to pull out my bag and bolt to the exit - within microseconds of touchdown when the airplane is still at almost full landing speed. Wait until the damn thing really stops?? And risk getting stuck behind someone who decided to walk a few seconds earlier than me? Nah, I’m way smarter - such safety is for sissies. But wait, then why do people in other countries actually patiently follow that? What’s more, I, who thinks I become a sissy by following rules, follow them meticulously in foreign land! That’s because on foreign land, somehow I do not become a sissy by staying put in my seat.
2. Developed countries have very strong consumer protection laws, especially the US; apparently meant to prevent unscrupulous businesses from fleecing unsuspecting customers. But me? I'm the smartest. The great Indian skill - finding loopholes in any and every system - enables me to the following. (These are live examples) I'm on vacation to Yellowstone and I need a cam to capture the moments - nice thought. But I'm too smart to spend the 700 bucks it costs to buy a good cam. So what do I do? I borrow one? No sir! I roll into the nearest Circuit City or Best Buy and pick up the cam I like. Once I finish my vacation, I download all the pictures and return the cam with a "I'm unhappy with the product and I want a refund" Outstanding, huh??
Or I'm travelling in a couple days, but I need to ensure my luggage is within the weight limit. But why waste 20 bucks on a weighing machine just for that? I'm smart aren't I? So I just buy the thing from the nearest Wal-Mart or Target, finish all the weighing and return it with the same excuse and get a refund! Wow!! How come the Americans are never so creative? (From what I heard, this practice reached such annoying levels that a store - some Indian infested area like NJ I guess - actually put up a sign in Hindi that read "Please do not return items unless you have a genuine reason"!!) Boy, am I smart and have I built a great reputation of it. When some rare moron does question me on my actions, I'm bewildered, totally shocked and exasperated that there actually exist such people on the planet that really believe loopholes should not be exploited!! I thought such thinkers went the Dodo way centuries ago. So I tell them they'll be extinct very soon unless they change their ways (to match mine) and give them some free advice from my endless wisdom.
4. When driving in US, follow lane discipline, I wait for signals to turn green even if I'm the only vehicle at the intersection and there's no other vehicle anywhere in sight. I slow down and sometimes even come to a complete stop to let a pedestrian across the road. Vice versa, I'm crossing the road in the US and a driver stops to let me pass. I cross and wave him a thank you. Back home I honk, I flash headlights, shout at and shoo away any pedestrian that even so much as thinks of getting into my way. If a guy stops to let me cross (Very rare, I know, but not impossible), I nonchalantly wonder if the he’s just had a breakdown. Or perhaps the guy is a total chicken - he should only drive inside his garden. Thanking the guy for letting me pass? What part of which planet in what galaxy is that custom followed?
5. I'm getting back home at last. While I'm still on foreign land, I'm polite, respect queues and exchange pleasantries with total strangers, offer to help people with their luggage and what not. But as I get closer to my homeland, a change begins to take hold of me. By the time I'm somewhere near Singapore, I've given up all signs of manners or pleasant behavior. By the time I'm ready to touch down on Indian soil, the transformation is complete - yay! No more waiting for complete stops, no more queues, and no more need to be careful not to bump my bags into others, no more manners and no more polite behavior!! Freedom at last... I drive out of the airport honking furiously at pedestrians, cut across lanes, dart through a red signal because no one’s watching - and display all the seven (and more) traits of the highly idiotic Indian driver.

I'd go on forever if I continued, so I'll stop here. Trust I've made my point. Idiocy is here to stay, so good luck handling it!!

[NST440]

Originally Posted by isiv

I'd go on forever if I continued, so I'll stop here. Trust I've made my point. Idiocy is here to stay, so good luck handling it!!

Cent percent spot on you are. Everyday the more i read this thread the better , more humbly & diligently i try to drive.

I fail to understand why cant our Govt. make some kind of ad campaigns wherein all these idiotic behaviour is discouraged & people are made wiser and aware of such things. I hardly remember any ads focused on this barring one or two related to drunken driving billboards put up in my city.

During my childhood days i remember a social message animated video of a bollywood loving auto rickshaw driving recklessly through the streets breaking all the laws, i tried to find but didn't come across one on you tube,but i remember seeing the topgear episode on india & really felt sad on how bad the condition of our country is

Here is the link to the same:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZ8SxeL2CmA

[Baddychat]

This is an excellent thread that you have started sforsarang. The illustrations are also very nice.
Unfortunately I live and commute in a part of NCR where in most place the concept of traffic lights is inverted. People just love to rush through just as the light turns red and usually take ages to move when it turns green.
There is a particular signal is Noida which turns red for about 105 seconds. What you would generally observe is that some people stop, wait for 80-90 seconds and then suddenly decide to jump the red light. I have no idea why they try to do this.
The *me first" idiots mentioned in your opening post is rampant here. The worst happens in the underground mall parkings. One smart gentleman (if I should call him one) decides that he should overtake me from the left when I am going down the slope. Also the tendency where people behind you get angry and flash their lights when you are driving at 10-20 km/hr inside a parking.
Another phenomenon extremely common here is a car which is driving right across two lanes at 30 km/hr when you have an empty stretch of road right in front of you. Why ? You realize why when you get past the car and find that the person is speaking on his mobile phone or worse texting or even chatting on whatsapp. God why did bluetooth headsets come into existence ? Probably a useless innovation on the part of the people who came up with it. I think all phones come with a wired headset too. Why do people not use it ?

[ra'ul M]

*Who is up for a surprise* idiots
As much as I hate all the points that you have mentioned, this particular kind takes the cake.

The drivers who dont bother to see if their brake lights are working or not. Mostly cabbies, they drive around as fast as they normally would with no warning whatsoever leaving you to gauge their braking.
And who can forget the surprises coming out of a car or a bus window!
You are driving at 80 about to overtake a car and all of a sudden comes a coke can or an orange peel towards you.

I really find a lot of similarity between the indian driving conditions and the game road rage. Believe it or not but this analogy has helped a couple of my less familiar friends from overseas drive in India.

[370Z]

Originally Posted by ra'ul M

*Who is up for a surprise* idiots
As much as I hate all the points that you have mentioned, this particular kind takes the cake.

The drivers who dont bother to see if their brake lights are working or not. Mostly cabbies, they drive around as fast as they normally would with no warning whatsoever leaving you to gauge their braking.

This. I've noticed a lot of cabs (Indicas mainly) with non-functional stop lights. It's very irritating to drive behind these cars, especially on highways. I guess they deliberately do it, may be some twisted sense of humor

[rajivr1612]

Originally Posted by ImprezaFan

4. Constant honkers (accelerators on horns?!), even at a red signal (I roll down my window and show them the 'overtake' hand signal to such lot) and High Beamers!

Guys how about fitting a couple of powerful horns at the backside of our cars to give such constant honkers a taste of their own medicine and that too in their face.

[chakri400]

Originally Posted by Jignesh

Merrily Honking idiot: Mind it - there are millions & millions of these idiots out there on our roads. These idiots are always honking at practically everything & nothing. Some how they feel that honking is their birth right & probably in a minute they will honk atleast 10 times.

Somehow, these kind are relatively less in Bangalore IMHO. Not everytime but a few more times and occasions than other cities in India I have been to, I feel bloreans are more restrained. Or I might have just become more immune to honking