[brd]

I work and stay equally in both Namma Bengaluru (AKA Bangalore)and Namma Chennai (AKA Madras), and I would like to write on what I can term as "Road Culture" as I have observed in both these big beautiful cities. There could be many more, but I have take three (+)ves and three (-)ves from each city

Let's start off with (+)ves.

BANGALORE: - (i) Most people observe signals. Very few jump the Red light. (ii) Citizens are forced by Cops to follow the rule of 'no sun control film' in cars,(iii) Again Cops ensure that Citizens follow helmet rule.

CHENNAI: - (i) Citizens don't keep hooting behind you and are sensible to understand why you are moving slow or unable to move. (ii) Ambulances are given the way by ordinary Chennaites.(iii) Cops generally don't trouble you for having a registration plate from outside Tamil Nadu (glad to guess they believe in 'One India')

Now the (-)ves.

BANGALORE: - (i) Two wheelers using the footpath as though it their private property; (ii) Cops waiting to target non-Karnataka vehicles (iii) Underage / Unlicensed youngesters encouraged to drive or ride in public roads and Cops not taking any action

CHENNAI: - (i) All right is no wrong -- notorious for two wheelers, three wheelers and sometime even Cops Vehicles to move in high speed on the Right Hand side of the road (guys Chennai is in India and not US) (ii) Most Citizens have absolute no regard for helmet rule (Chennai Cops you need not be so good to those who disregard law) ; (iii) Pedestrian crossings are absolute nightmares due to its improper planning and poor policing (Chennai Traffic Cops need to gear up)

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[fhdowntheline]

Pune: The only positive I can say about Pune is the relatively low number of cases of drunk driving or rash car driving (bade-baap-ke-bete), to its actual vehicle population. The negatives include most of the worst vices of other cities. No helmets, no seat belts, wrong side driving, violating traffic lights, driving 2wheelers on pavements, you name it, it is there.

[tedha_ant]

Originally Posted by SilverMachine

For the past year or two, another idiotic trend that I've seen here in Pune is pedestrians walking right next to the divider on the main road - kids, middle-aged, elderly people...seemingly oblivious to the fact that they're in the path of and at the mercy of the vehicle going along that road.

If the pedestrian gets hurt, which he/she most likely will; the 2/4 wheeler rider/driver will surely be blamed for no fault of his. Along with population, we'll soon be number 1 in the world as far as levels of stupidity go...

Ummm, that's Pune for you!

I grew up and learned how to ride in the city of Pune so I know the pain. But you can't do anything apart from driving/riding cautiously because they don't care for the consequences.

[srgntpepper]

Has anyone encountered the practice of trucks giving you the right turn indicator as a means of letting you know he wants you to overtake?

It's confusing because you don't know if the guy is switching lanes or letting you overtake.

[ABHI_1512]

Originally Posted by Heart_Revs

1. In UP, there is no concept of low beam!!! Even in well lit roads, people drive on high beams all the time. I could not spot even a single driver using low beam.

First of all, great to see someone from Silchar. As a frequent visitor to the place, lovely to know that you come from Silchar.

Now coming to your point, aside from the high beam, another annoying thing that I noticed is the lack of rear lights on vehicles in UP. Apart form the larger vehicles like trucks and buses, even the rear lights of the bikes are missing some of the times ! It is always a nightmare driving through the interior roads in the night. Totally unsafe and avoidable practise IMHO.

Originally Posted by digitalnirvana

Mind boggling that someone would hold up their kid, that too at this place. They could very easily be thrown right out of the car.

Yes, absolutely right you are and that big crater has been partially filled up but that stretch still remains little dangerous because of the narrowing down of the road as well for the pillars.

Mind boggling was the fact that there are two kids in the picture and the little one was being held by a lady in the front seat and the car was driven by a lady as well. The little kid was in fact a toddler and I was petrified to see what I saw. One little bad pothole and I shudder to think of the consequences.

I hope good sense prevails and roads are safer for our behaviour. It’s no point travelling in an Airbag and ABS enabled car when the basic sense to be on the road is missing.

[dicor]

I guess noone has spoken about always on glaring Honda Activa 5G LED headlights. They are just too much distraction for approaching traffic.

I am surprised how this can be even installed by manufaturer!!!

[RijuC]

Originally Posted by 2000rpm

While not really unsafe, I find it really annoying when people (especially in the "L" category), drive in the first lane on expressways at speeds of 50-60.

This is because they are pushed/ forced to drive to the rightmost lane. The people having L pasted on their front and rear windshields on multi-lane roads are not so skilled, not so confident. Often they get confused when they start in 50-60 km second or third lane (here I am considering 80 kmph speed limit) and see cars speeding up and doing criss-cross from both sides. They tend to go to the rightmost fastest lane, so that everyone can overtake them from left side, and he is safe at least from one side!! And also tend to follow the way bigger slow moving trucks take the rightmost lane.
And naughty people do lots of trouble to these newbie drivers in multi-lane highways.
And you have rowdy rogue drivers of UP, Rajasthan and Haryana state transport buses, passenger stuffed omni / eeco vans who are always in a hurry and go criss-cross in highways.
I am one of these newbies, and almost everyday I am forced to do this mistake. I always try to signal and take the slower lanes, but again I steer right just to save myself.

[RijuC]

Originally Posted by dicor

I guess noone has spoken about always on glaring Honda Activa 5G LED headlights. They are just too much distraction for approaching traffic.

I am surprised how this can be even installed by manufaturer!!!

Yesterday I had a near-miss while entering first U-turn underpass to cyberhub GGN from NH-8. It was from bright day light to pitch dark and an Activa rider had white LED was behind me. Lights from her Activa almost blinded me, and there is sharp turn inside that U-turn underpass. Somehow I could manage the situation.

[landcruiser123]

Most of these practices are age-old - I've seen kids standing through sunroofs in the 2000s

With mass market gaining access to powerful motorcycles, sunroofs, and more powerful headlamps among the public, these bad habits are being experienced more often by the other road users.

[AttyBhai]

As a people - we are not very considerate of others. Not on the road. Not in any arena of our lives.
People just do not have patience.
A reversing car is blocked by a blockhead who wants to squeeze in.
A car making a U turn is cut off by a bunch of hooligans because they do not want to stop.
A car has stopped because of an obstruction - the dingbats behind do not want to wait and will get on the wrong lane to squeeze past - And if it is a narrow road - not only will they end up blocking the opposite lane but they'll glare at you as if you made them break the rule.
And sadly this behaviour is true of all motorists. Cars, Buses, Two-Wheelers.
Road sense and good behaviour is sadly something that we are missing.

[coolsinz]

Recent trend, atleast in Hyderabad, is people masking the last digit of their number plates to avoid getting challaned. These are mostly people who break rules often, like triple riding, riding without helmet, wrong side driving, overloading of passengers/goods in autorickshaws/trolleys/tippers etc. I guess the main reason for this is unplanned urbanisation, with out sufficient planning of the stress on the existing infrastructure. be it roads or traffic police etc. Life in a metro.

[adi.mariner]

Originally Posted by fhdowntheline

Pune: No helmets, no seat belts, wrong side driving, violating traffic lights, driving 2wheelers on pavements, you name it, it is there.

Traffic light violations scare me the most. Specially if you are the first vehicle at the signal and some idiot from the other road tries to cross when your signal is Green.
Also the two wheelers in the by-lanes crossing the main roads in the Peth areas are equally scary. I am always baffled as to which is the main road and who has the right of way. You have to be extra careful all the time and wish had 360° vision.

[Arwin07]

The bad practice of installing Bull bars in cars.

People install bull bars because of macho looks and to avoid scratches. But they don't realise that it is unsafe for the pedestrians (who get hit by the car), interferes with crumple zone and potentially airbag deployment.

To make things worse, people install bull bar with 'Vel' (Tamil word for a type of spear) in Tamilnadu. Imagine a sharp spear attached on top of bull bar. I pity the pedestrian hit by that car.

Tamilnadu banned installation of bull bars in 2017. But I regularly see cars with bull bars, a terribly unsafe practice.

[deetjohn]

Everyone wants bright DRLs in their new cars. And for a large majority, it's not for safety, but for bling. How else would you explain people not switching their lights on till it's 6:45 or even later?? And the fact that most new cars have illuminated instrument cluster and bright DRLs make the drivers oblivious to this fact!

India with its very inadequate street lighting needs people switching their headlights on early than having a bright DRL during the bright and hot day time.

And that brings me to the next point. When they do switch the headlights on eventually, it will be the high beam. The idea is like this, I will make the oncoming traffic blind no matter what - either with darkness or the high beam. Most idiots don't realize that the front indicators, if one is using that is, too get drowned out by the high beam in most cars!

[naveen.raju]

Originally Posted by deetjohn

And that brings me to the next point. When they do switch the headlights on eventually, it will be the high beam. The idea is like this, I will make the oncoming traffic blind no matter what - either with darkness or the high beam. Most idiots don't realize that the front indicators, if one is using that is, too get drowned out by the high beam in most cars!

Exactly. Even if they have DRL's, cant the manufacturers make it more subtle. I know that defeats the purpose but anyhow DRL's are the new gen chrome in India- Just for bling.

Also, authorities should ban the LEDs used in two wheelers. Like Deetjohn pointed out, 99% of the bikes have their high beam switch glued on.

I also find the LED tail lights of some cars (Baleno, Swift, Jazz to name a few) very bright and can be distracting especially during rains. If I see one at night, I tend to keep a distance whenever possible .