[GTO]

Always happy to see stringent punishments as that is the only way to solve such diseases in India. The best example is Mumbai = no one has the guts to drive after drinking alcohol ever since the cops started putting drunks behind bars.

This wrong side driving is especially dangerous on the highway (a truck coming toward you in your lane ) or for smaller vehicles. In a head-on collision between a bike and a car, or a car and a truck, it will always be the former that suffers more damage.

Bring strict enforcement on, I say!

[V.Narayan]

Kudos to the police forces for this initiative. This is the only language we understand. I applaud the cops and request the honourable Judges to act, instead of getting lost in technicalities, and actually put them behind bars. Lock up 10 put their mug shots in the papers and then let's see.

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by GTO

The best example is Mumbai = no one has the guts to drive after drinking alcohol ever since the cops started putting drunks behind bars.

I agree drunk driving has reduced drastically but on a related note, I am surprised to regularly see guys at 4:30/5 am at marine drive NCPA end who are pretty much drunk and taking the wheel. This when the Wilson college end has cops nakabandi - I can’t imagine these cops don’t know of such drivers. It’s a menace and one that cops seem to be doing little about.

Coming to wrong side driving, its particularly a menace in smaller cities like Pune (having lived there many years ago), particularly with 2 wheelers who seem to think they can go anywhere as is convenient. One of the classic examples is driving to a divider cut. A 2 wheeler often simply drives to the closest divider cut even if it means driving wrong side to get there. As opposed to going further ahead and accessing the next divider cut and returning back. Same with one ways and no entries.

I have also noticed that riders who are locals to a small area tend to drive anyhow in that area, with no entries etc being treated as optional. I see this in parel Sewri specifically for e.g. where there are lots of ‘local’ owned 2 wheelers that just drive in the direction they need to.

Even in Mumbai, I find 2 wheeler riders and cars too sometimes just bindaas jump signals completely out of turn. I hope we see stricter enforcement around signal jumping etc as well.

Finally, I feel we are one of the few countries sadly where traffic discipline has to be ENFORCED through punishment. Basic civic sense simply does not seem to come naturally to us.

[moralfibre]

They actually meant business! Kudos to the commissioner for actually executing on what he started off with: 19 wrong side drivers already charged with criminal cases.

News link.

[R2D2]

As a Puneite I was so happy to see this and truly hope this drive continues. Confining it to PCMC and Talegaon is not sufficient. It should be implemented in Pune city too where a majority of the rule breaking happens.

[KrisTvpm]

Like many fellow-BHPians pointed out, this is a laudable move. Request authorities to implement this in Bengaluru city as well.

However, arresting the violators & subjecting them to 6months (or whatever shorter term) jail may not be feasible; if done so ALL the jails in city + suburbs will overflow with the violators and we may need to find alternate solutions / boarding-houses!

Rather, compulsory community service would be a welcome move. Make the violators do cleanup of the city garbage - that way the useless civic works body BBMP's inefficiency can be overcome and manpower can be put to better use ! What say

[am1m]

Oh amazing! After drunken driving, I think this is the most serious driving offense on our roads today. In Bangalore it has become so common and brazen, that if you even try and say anything about it, the offender will threaten you! It's a seriously risky thing, wrong-side riders will often dart out from behind a big vehicle parked on your side of the road and right into your path. Often, it's a whole family on a bike with kids that do this.

[Geo_Ipe]

If a driver driving down the correct side of the road knocks down a two wheeler guy coming the wrong side, what are the exact legal implications? Would the driver be held responsible for the accident, or does he go scot-free?

[aaychat]

I have a completely different opinion about this and am skeptical of it for historical reasons but hope to be proved wrong. I don't mean to discredit any initiative but not if it is an eyewash.

I see these kind of news articles as nothing more than time to time PR by the police. If they were really serious and this wasn't a PR initiative, they would have surely found more than 19 culprits. Heck, you would find more than 19 culprits half less than half an hour in any street here in Hinjewadi, the traffic nightmare capital of the world.

Most people here do it but only 19 people will bear the brunt of it. Just fine people the 1000 rupees every single day (instead of sporadic drives) and see how people stop doing it from the 4th day when they have the certainty of being stopped like in a lot of other countries. When it comes to your own wallet, you learn quickly. It's not even as much about being short staffed. The constables who are there turn a blind eye. Surely adding more cops won't stop that.

If they meant this as a deterrant, then that won't work. People will forget about it in no time and it will have no real impact on people going the wrong way.

it's like lanes. I used to curse people for not following lanes. Then I realised that if there are lane markings on say 1 out of every 10 kms, you cannot expect people to follow it. If there are lane markings everywhere like in other countries, people will get used to it. Some will still act like dolts but most will follow. Case in point is the Mumbai-Pune E-way. it's 100+ kms of properly marked lanes. The same Indians mostly follow lane discipline (for their own safety) becuase they are consistent.

I am also of the opinion that Jail is an overkill and unfair. Here's why. The reality is that we live in a country where education is poor, specially when it comes to road rules and manners. Secondly, the govt. has historically issued licenses like mentos and happydent to anyone and everyone regardless of their understaning of the rules. Thankfully that is changing at least in the biggest cities (though most of the drivers probably got their licenses from their hometowns). Thirdly, implementation is haphazard. They catch people on a whim. While we can call these offenders names and curse them, the reality is that their education is poor and it is not entirely their fault. I know that technically speaking, not knowing a law is not a defence of a crime but in reality, they may not be that aware of the hazards of doing what they do. As for it being an offence, they have have grown up seeing it not be an offence so it may not really be an offence in their eyes as much as the unsaid norm of the land.

Purely technically, you would be in the right to randomly catch people and jail them for six months and that may get you PR but it won't solve the underlying problem. Instead, if you simply fine people consistently and at evey juncture where there is a cop, people will start following the rules and the money generated can fund better driver/rider education through programmes managed by the Road and Highways Ministry and implemented through the local RTO's.

I know that this happens in the US at least. If you lose points on your DL, you can redeem them by visiting your local RTO and taking part in a safe driving course. That will impart a lot more education about the road than a jail cell.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by aaychat

I am also of the opinion that Jail is an overkill and unfair. Here's why. The reality is that we live in a country where education is poor, specially when it comes to road rules and manners.

For this particular traffic offense, I don't think this applies. I mean how much education do you need to see that you're going the wrong way in a vehicle?

And in Bangalore, you'll see a lot of obviously well-off people, parents dropping their kids to school, office goers, etc. doing this, so it's safe to say they're 'educated' and that they are breaking the law not because of a lack of awareness but because there is no real deterrent. Hopefully this will become an effective one.

[jayakumarkp]

Being in Pune (Hadapsar area) for the last 3 years, my observations are as below.
Situation with people driving without any regards for traffic laws( Basic like signal breaking and wrong side driving) is extremely bad. Its a nightmare at many places to drive.
I believe that this happens most where there is no police personnel. It looks like there is shortage of police in Pune. Honestly speaking, i find policing here abysmal. No checks for Helmets ever. ( Only people who wears hellmet in pune is either the safety conscious ones or whose companies have enforced the same in their respective campuses.)
Hyderabad, Bangalore police depts are way ahead of Pune.
The drive from PCMC police commissioner is probably an overkill, but more to enforce fear in the minds of people.

[ashokabs]

This is a sad reflection on the care that traffic police and their bosses take to implement laws already in place. Making new laws is bull as even the old ones are not implemented. I thought this problem was only endemic in North India. Looks like all around India this is the trend. In UP it is horrendous. For example one of the senior police persons in UP said that in Noida they have given up trying to stop people driving on the wrong side of the road!! This was very rare in Delhi a year ago but driving on the wrong side is increasing exponentially. In Delhi as in other North Indian towns (with the exception of Chandigarh) people drive through the red light in between light changes and this increases the danger of accidents immensely. They watch for traffic on the road and whiz across even during the red light. This is increasing like an allergic rash. The moment to take action and to bring about a public campaign against it is when it starts and not when lacs of people have succumbed to the practise. Douglas McGregor, guru on social psychology had what he called the 'red hot poker' theory. He said that if you want to correct it apply the punishment at the time of transgression and not weeks or months later! Looks like in India we don't learn from psychology or logic.

[Cooltronics]

Originally Posted by deadguy25

They should do it here at Bangalore too. Very sternly. Probably only imprisonment or put the offenders on social service at the very place where they broke the rule.

I agree to what you say but BTP is also to be blamed here for having notorious one-ways implemented without doing any scientific study and probably just opening up google maps.
As an e.g. someone who need to go on the other side of the road at Hoodi junction to travel further has to take 4 KM one-way route to reach the opposite side and it takes anywhere between 15 mins to 45 mins. This causes every one taking the shortest U turn in one-way street.

While breaking the rule is definitely punishable but rule makers should also be thoughtful about the apathy.

[LeoMachine]

Originally Posted by SJM1214

Driving on the wrong side of the road in Pune may attract 6-month jail term.

News Source : https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...w/65790939.cms

Good move and would be even better if authorities pursue the drive for longer periods. Forget about wrong side driving, I've gone through times especially in Hinjawadi when one can't even use footpath for walking. Two wheeler riders occupy the footpath to zoom past standstill traffic caring less about pedestrians.
Recently in Ahmadabad, the authorities have come out all gun blazing for illegal parking and believe me people are scared now to park in no parking zones. This is due to sustained drive from authority resulting in heavy penalties and strict action taken against errant people. I just hope people learn better civic sense and self regulate themselves.

[deadguy25]

Originally Posted by Cooltronics

I agree to what you say but BTP is also to be blamed here for having notorious one-ways implemented without doing any scientific study and probably just opening up google maps.
As an e.g. someone who need to go on the other side of the road at Hoodi junction to travel further has to take 4 KM one-way route to reach the opposite side and it takes anywhere between 15 mins to 45 mins. This causes every one taking the shortest U turn in one-way street.

While breaking the rule is definitely punishable but rule makers should also be thoughtful about the apathy.

Yup, what you've stated is true. Overnight they block-off a road or put-in medians, I totally agree. I have to go around three streets, cross a signal to get home due to BTP's willful medians .