Team-BHP - Kerala tops in near-fatal road accidents

Quote:

Originally Posted by mvadg (Post 4698161)

Could it be that the other states are not as sincere in reporting fatal accidents?

Police avoid registering cases for various reasons, most of the reasons being beneficial to the administration. A lower count means that the administration and the concerned police department will be rewarded. It also means that the police take money from the culprits by letting them off the hook, another unofficial incentive not to report.

Not reporting fatal accidents is almost impossible these days with social media.
Serious accidents also is no more possible to hide.
In addition there is a possibility to lodge complaint online with police now. Insurance claim of serious nature will also require FIR.

Gone are the days of low reporting. It could be true for cell phone theft (or similar) but surely not so for fatal or grievous accidents.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CarJunki (Post 4699597)

While the information about the accident may be difficult to hide, reporting them is not the same as public knowledge of the accident. Corruption has only become easier with technology. Lack of audits and generally sloppy software and processes along with insider manipulation makes a mockery of record keeping. Plus I don't want to underestimate the ingenuity of the smartest people that run this country.

One drive through the roads in Kerala and these statistics will not surprise you.

Narrow, undivided roads, very high traffic density, population density, no open roads - sure shot recipe for disaster when combined with people who do not respect the aforementioned conditions.

Drive around in Kochi and you will find two wheelers hurtling straight at you at the slightest hint of a traffic jam. It is like as though it is their birth right. Not just 2wheelers - rickshaws, buses, cars - all of them on the wrong lane if the traffic in their lane is not moving. There is so much of arrogance everywhere. For a state which prides itself on its literacy level, I would expect the people to behave like literates. I drive very often to Kochi and I find it becoming increasingly annoying each time.

The arterial highway to Central and South Kerala passes through the notorious Kuthiran ghats. Traffic piles up for hours on this stretch simply because people, especially buses, dont have the patience. This is a bottle neck made worse by the way people drive. At the slightest hint of a slow down people go on the wrong lane eventually leading to a battle field where nobody is going anywhere for the next few hours. The tunnel they made is a joke.

It is a lawless state as far as buses are concerned. Every bus, private or government are driven by thugs. Infact, I believe owners encourage the drivers to drive as recklessly as possible. I have always wondered how the passengers sit so calmly when the buses are being driven by maniacs. After all, not all vehicles on the roads are smaller than the one you are sitting in! It is a known fact that the buses are driven this way and yet no action is taken against them. Less people die because most of the other traffic scampers away at the mere sight of a bus. It is very difficult to maintain your cool when you see the way the buses are driven. The number of private buses operating between towns are very high in Kerala as compared to other states. KSRTC buses are on a league of their own and there has been enough discussions about them in this thread.

Speed cameras don't work like they are intended to. By now everyone knows where the fixed cameras are placed. I know where each camera is placed on the Walayar - Edapally stretch. So locals and veterans speed up in between the cameras and slow down abruptly as they approach them. Unsuspecting non-locals tailgating them are in for a surprise brake test! Out of state vehicles rarely respect these fixed cameras because they know they are not going to get challans.

There are so many traffic signals on so called National Highways. Can you imagine waiting at a traffic signal for 1 and half minutes, every 2 minutes on a National Highway? Drive from Walayar to Wadakkanchery or from Thrissur to Edapally and you will know what I am talking about. Baffles me.

I love to drive. If I have to travel to any place within India, I would choose to drive. But when I have to drive to Trivandrum or to Kannur or Calicut, from here in Coimbatore, I find myself looking at excuses not to make that journey. Simply because it is just not worth it!

It is not that other states are heavenly. There are worse places in India. It is just that entire Kerala is like a giant town with cities in between so there are hardly any open roads. There is traffic and people throughout and you have to deal with it throughout the journey. Unlike in other states where you have to deal with morons only when the highway passes through towns. You have time to 'stretch your leg' and relax before dealing with the next set of morons. But in Kerala, it is a continuous battle! Tires you out pretty quickly.
And then you come back and rant like this on TBhp.

Let me quote an incident from today.

My daily drive is from Thoppumpady to Tripunithura. On approach to Kundannoor from Thoppumpady side, I usually stick to the leftmost lane while merging with the oncoming traffic from Aroor side. Around 50 metres after the turn, theres a spot where private buses stop to drop and pick up passengers.

So today I merge on to the oncoming traffic behind one such private bus which stops at this spot, and I wait one car-length behind, for them to start moving again. Mind you, there’s an incessant stream of vehicles of all kinds approaching from behind on the right lane, and the right thing to do is wait, and let the private bus finish it’s routine. I wait for 10 seconds when this cop bangs on my passenger side window and makes gestures asking me to jut into the right lane so as not to hold up traffic, while also clearly mocking my poor driving skills.

Point is, even cops do not seem to understand the basics of lane discipline, much less hoping for them to enforce it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SCORPION (Post 4701402)

Although thats the serious stark truth and a succinct analysis of the conditions of traffic and road in Kerala you've mentioned, it brought wry a smile to my face. I think you have nailed it, with your observations. Those are the very thoughts that go through my head every time I drive / ride on Kerala roads. Now I am going to rant as well.

Those Kuthiran tunnels and the approach roads, which incidently is the main arterial road, a national highway, between Kerala and TN has been dug but for some unknown reasons have not been formally commissioned yet. This combined with slow trucks with technology 3 decades old and overloaded, scant disregard of traffic rules by the private buses and some over-smart car drivers, leads to gridlocks which last hours. I have had the good fortune of being stuck in them couple of times and man it sure is frustrating!. A single truck breakdown is enough to spoil the whole day for thousands of travelers, in that stretch.

I have always wondered why there needs to be so many traffic signals on a National highway, every 2-5 kms. I do the Thrissur - Edapally stretch atleast 10 times a month and a journey which should ideally take less than an hour (60 odd kms), takes sometimes a frustrating 2 hours. Is it the lack of foresight when planning before constructing a highway, or is it the local public who demand and influence the local politicans who then install a traffic stop at every small town along the way. The best bit is even with a traffic signal and pedestrian crossing at the lights, one will find a stream of people waiting to jump across the oncoming traffic for 100 metres when approaching and leaving the traffic junction.

And then there are the slow moving vehicles - the autorickshaws, the slow bikes, the small goods movers, who sometimes hog the fast lane, thus ending up annoying other faster road users. :Frustrati

Our politicians do not want the people to go past the roti, Kapda and makaan, and think of the next rung of Maslows higher things like improving their environment, leisure activities, having good libraries, parks, electing better people to power, demanding better roads and facilities, better licensing and such like. They want the public to remain busy with their day to day struggles, not getting the time or have the inclination to think of anything else. This ensures, that they can continue to do the shoddy governing without any protest from the public. The public also help this process, without any questioning. One good example in Kerala, is the Palarivattom flyover in ernakulam - this one was opened with great fanfare and chest thumping, but then soon it was declared dangerous and not fit for use. Its been shut down for the last few months now, leading to huge traffic problems in that stretch. Apart from the usual social media trolls and comedy, not even one proper protest. Shameful indeed.

There my monday morning rant is over. Now I can get on with grin, bear and continue suffering the rest of the week on Kerala roads.

Cheerio!:)