[swissknife]

It would be better if they are spring loaded and flatten when driven on from the correct direction. This kind of a steep speed breaker may take a toll on tyres even if driven from the correct direction.

[arvind71181]

Originally Posted by GrammarNazi

The right way would be to set up cameras along a road along with a task force to physically warn offenders. This contraption is inhuman & endangers public safety. It can't be that people weren't conscious of what it's capable of, to punish what is considered a minor traffic offence.

The punishment served for driving in the wrong direction or reversing should not be beyond what's proportionate to the possible damage intended/risked by the offence itself.

Any task needs to be done with some sense of responsibility. One doesn't bring out a butchers knife to cut vegetables. Or like one can't electrocute a petty thief with electric fences. This contraption threatens to easily cause grievous injury that can very probably turn fatal.

And the fact that they've still gone ahead to operate with such a hazardous contraption shows there's a viscous mind at work to execute this.

But this thing works as intended only when coming the wrong side right? If you are on the right side of the road, then there will not be any problem.

Wrong side driving might look to be a very trivial problem, but I almost hit one idiot biker coming down the wrong side when I was taking a left turn and had I hit him, who knows what might have happened? No helmet, so there is a very good chance of grevious injury. And who would be blamed? Me. And this is in city speeds. If this helps people reduce coming down the wrong side, its work is done

Unfortunately, we tend to understand only when we are affected personally by something. Since policing is not effective anyway, why not try this?

[hrman]

This is the need of the hour in Bengaluru. Have noticed for the past few months, too many cases where the rider comes from the wrong side, just to save time/ fuel from taking the legal U turn.
Brainless morons, lax policing and no visible penalty for wrong side driving are the major contributors.

[ptushar]

Originally Posted by sharktale

Pune has come up with an indigenous plan to stop motorists from using the wrong side of the road. Another example of our jugaadu dimaag!

First and foremost - I completely support this initiative. It's time that those people who think it is all right to drive on the wrong side, suffer.

But the problem I see with this design is that this is a jugaad of the original concept, which is the one that becomes totally flat when a vehicle passes over. In this case, not sure how long this will last? Especially when heavy vehicles like trucks and tractors go over this. I can see this contraption becoming shapeless in such scenarios probably exposing the spikes to the correct side driver too. This can become dangerous.

We need such solutions, but we also need to think of durability.

But all in all, glad that such actions are being taken. Unfortunately this is not by PMC, but by a private township complex. I'm sure that if PMC were to implement this, we will get a zillion 'intellectuals' who will protest and raise frivolous concerns.

[sajo]

These spikes are indeed spring loaded and do go down when a vehicle rides/drives over them. There are vehicles of this very spike strip floating around on facebook which show this. It works very well for people going on the correct side, even at close to crawling speeds.
Going by the internet chatter, this measure has been implemented around a school zone. Would we want to wait for an errant vehicle to injure, and heaven forbid, kill, an innocent child or his or her parents in our pursuit to not offend the offenders?
The school and the community where this has been implemented has been around for a few years now, so I am sure several less severe methods may have been tried before to curb this. But as we know, people will almost never improve unless forced to do so. This is especially true of Pune where fines and police presence is almost never a deterrent. Please check the video I had posted the link to in the first post, the offender when stopped actually started assaulting cops for stopping him.

[Sheel]

Seeing how developed our society is and how serious they are in following rules, this is a dire strait but a good move. I am shocked and at loss of words seeing responsible BHPians opposing it. You guys will also cry if there are heavy fines or physical punishment, how can one deter? In India money matters, so any monetary loss is a deterrent.

You cannot justify wrong side driving, period.

[Vid6639]

Much much needed. Everytime I travel to US and see these tyre spikes I keep thinking why don't we have them here. They are used mainly in public places where people try to evade parking or try to sneak on wrong side of road. I have seen a lot of them in California.

I think it's the perfect solution even for railway crossings in India where people have complete disregard. If America uses it then why not India?

Only issue I see is emergency vehicles can't use the wrong side road. This is the only drawback for this device else there is no negative.

The one shown in the pic is not as sharp as what I have seen. Also most of the ones in US sit flush with the road.

[Samir Taheer]

Originally Posted by Sheel

Seeing how developed our society is and how serious they are in following rules, this is a dire strait but a good move. I am shocked and at loss of words seeing responsible BHPians opposing it. You guys will also cry if there are heavy fines or physical punishment, how can one deter? In India money matters, so any monetary loss is a deterrent.

You cannot justify wrong side driving, period.

I am probably one of those people that would oppose it - Not because I am against people driving down the wrong side of the road but because this dangerous in its own right. The first thing that came to my mind is - what happens if i an ambulance needs to drive down the wrong side? Maybe to avoid traffic or as a short cut to a patient? The 5 mins saved could save someones life!

We most definitely need something to stop not just people driving down the wrong way but lots of other issues. I just don't believe in short cuts!

Originally Posted by Vid6639

Much much needed. Everytime I travel to US and see these tyre spikes I keep thinking why don't we have them here. They are used mainly in public places where people try to evade parking or try to sneak on wrong side of road. I have seen a lot of them in California.


Only issue I see is emergency vehicles can't use the wrong side road. This is the only drawback for this device else there is no negative.

This is the only reason i would oppose it as well. The ones in the USA and Europe go flat when a vehicle drives over them. This would allow for an emergency vehicle to travel down the wrong way if required. Obviously he would have to be aided by another vehicle to suppress the spikes.

[arvind71181]

Originally Posted by Samir Taheer

We most definitely need something to stop not just people driving down the wrong way but lots of other issues. I just don't believe in short cuts!

To me, this looks more like the last resort than a short cut.

Originally Posted by Samir Taheer

This is the only reason i would oppose it as well. The ones in the USA and Europe go flat when a vehicle drives over them. This would allow for an emergency vehicle to travel down the wrong way if required. Obviously he would have to be aided by another vehicle to suppress the spikes.

I thought this would also do the same thing, that is go flat when the vehicle goes over it from the right side. If that is not the case, then surely there is no point in having this?

[Thad E Ginathom]

Assuming that this thing is properly signed, marked and publicised, it seems to me to be a very proportionate action. And, by proportionate here, I mean likely to be effective. Who cares about a small fine? People don't. And necessary law, if it does does not exist should be enacted.

The only way to get drivers to obey is stuff that hurts. Let it hurt.

[paragsachania]

When you as a motorist have decided to drive the wrong way, that act itself is life-threatening to you and other motorists who are driving the right way.

So, having these spikes to prevent wrong side riders is all fair. After all, you cannot have cops deployed at every corner of your city to address this mess and neither does the system of capturing them via CCTVs and sending notices have worked efficiently.

[Col Mehta]

Good move. Yes, it has the potential to become a safety hazard but isn't morons driving on the wrong side a bigger hazard already? In my four decades of driving experience, I have seen some nasty road accidents, quite a few of them had people involved in driving on the wrong side of the road and causing head-on collision. In our country where people have so much disrespect towards law and order; safety, time and convenience of other road users, and aren't afraid of (puny) fines, radical steps like this are the need of the hour IMHO.

In fact, let's have CCTVs installed to cover these breakers from possible sabotage. Very likely to happen as a lot of people would face inconvenience of not being able to save those precious few seconds and drops of fuel.

[Sawyer]

There is a simpler way. A month long campaign in different parts of the city where every vehicle violating the rules is impounded on the spot, to be released on paying a fine equal to the cost of the vehicle, will stop this nonsense. There may need to be the presence of the army in the background to stop the public from turning violent.

With an annual rinse and repeat.

@Hudson: Yes, but that is martial law. And in time, the army will be corrupted by the power it gets. That would be a slippery slope. The job needs to be done by the civilian authority, with the army there only to make sure that the cops are not lynched by any local goonda or Corporator. Or MLA, or MP.

[Hudson]

Originally Posted by Sawyer

There may need to be the presence of the army in the background.

I believe handing over the entire traffic department to the army will bring sense into the blatant traffic violations seen everyday. My 2 cents.

[Sameer 26]

Originally Posted by Hudson

I believe handing over the entire traffic department to the army will bring sense into the blatant traffic violations seen everyday. My 2 cents.

Originally Posted by Sawyer

may need to be the presence of the army in the background to stop the public from turning violent.

With an annual rinse and repeat.

Think it's too much asking army to manage traffic? There is predefined task for armed forces and requesting them to manage daily traffic is not right.
We have separate department to manage traffic and we should think about empowering them with right power and manpower would be right approach.