[BoxBox]

I seriously think there can be a huge monetary opportunity for the traffic police departments of each of the respective cities just to crack down on the wrong-side driving menace. Who knows they could become one of the leading PSUs of India!

Also, wouldn't the privatization of this job be lucrative for corporates as well? I mean purposeful wrongdoing aside there is a huge opportunity for profits just by intelligently cracking down on the wrong-side driving alone I believe!

The most salient feature of this privatization/monetization could be a positive change in the driving sense.

[locusjag]

Originally Posted by mvadg

Have you tried climbing those pedestrian bridges? They are a mile high. Why don't they make the privileged do some hard work? I'm sure a car can handle climbing a few feet, and the cost of building these

This is going OT I think. But still let's talk through this; the human mind works in funny ways - or so I've thought often when I've thought of why we just don't climb the damned pedestrian overbridges. But I've seen underpasses in North Chennai which get used heavily by all and sundry while overbridges are shunned on our IT highway (the OMR).

What if people have to climb first (on overbridges), they aren't doing it? They are perhaps okay with it if they can climb down first (as on underpasses) - even though the net result is the same with both the cases.

[mvadg]

Originally Posted by locusjag

This is going OT I think...

What if people have to climb first (on overbridges), they aren't doing it? They are perhaps okay with it if they can climb down first (as on underpasses) - even though the net result is the same with both the cases.

Not at all OT I think, because we are talking about human nature and behavior in this thread.

I have climbed a couple of these overbridges here in Bengaluru. I'm sure that absolutely none of the bureaucrats who sanctioned them, or even the people who designed them have ever climbed a single one of these. (Worse, there's one on Hosur Rd that connects the Narayana Hrudayalaya side to the opposite side of the road, it seems to be taller than average, and how heart patients are supposed to climb up those steps, I have no idea.) The steps are steep and the design of the steel steps is not confidence inspiring - after all these are not made to any 5 star standards. The accent to the bridge is about 3 to 4 storeys high. Now, how many times would an ordinary human like to climb up and down these? How about the already weak and famished?

Underpasses are not very deep, a storey and a half at most. But many are extremely dirty.

The key is to make vehicles go up and down instead of humans. The west is slowly catching on to this. I guess we'll wait till our babus get to copy their designs.

[Gypsian]

Driving on the wrong side is one menace and slow vehicles moving on right lane or the right most lane on highways and even in the cities is even more a jeopardy. Do not know when these truck drivers and heavy buses made this rule - Keep to your Right. This has made overtaking more or less suicidal. On most of the highway runs our 90% overtakes are from the left side, which has become inevitable.

[DicKy]

Originally Posted by mvadg

Have you tried climbing those pedestrian bridges? They are a mile high. Why don't they make the privileged do some hard work? I'm sure a car can handle climbing a few feet, and the cost of building these flyovers could definitely be borne by the entitled.

I guess he was talking about the bridges across railway tracks. Where did the privileged cars come into the picture?

[KGS]

Wrong side driving is so main stream now. Like Driving on correct side and following feels like so "middle class" now (Remember Sarabhai vs Sarabhai).

I will give you two instances which almost led to short circuit of my brain -

1. I was co-passenger in my friend's car and he was driving merrily on a 4 lane highway. All of a sudden a 25 kg heavy Salman-esque guy with hair style like Radhe bhaiya of Tere naam riding his Activa with helmet supporting the elbow and knees protruding out from the side crossed us at high speed in opposite direction riding on the wrong side near the divider. I was terrified to the core but my friend chilled like a cold drink said calm down he is riding on his left side of this lane then what is the problem. We should allow them some space to pass. I am still not sure if my friend was serious or tried to be sarcastic.


2. I was coming back from Hinjewadi Phase-2 towards Wakad. Near the Mindtree office there was some traffic on the road. Daring driver of PMPML immediately moved to wrong side and started driving near the divider with conductor meticulously helping other road users by reminding to stay away and avoid being killed. Soon The Daring driver merged back to the original lane with help from Traffic police at the Hinjewadi chowk (I think the correct name of that intersection is Shivaji chowk). Everyone was so chilled. I even tweeted the picture of PMPML bus driving on the wrong side and tagged ministers and authorities. As usual no response.


Learning from these 2 enriching experiences , I have learnt to pay extra attention to these wrong side super stars whenever I am driving.

[attinder]

Originally Posted by Gypsian

Do not know when these truck drivers and heavy buses made this rule - Keep to your Right. This has made overtaking more or less suicidal. On most of the highway runs our 90% overtakes are from the left side, which has become inevitable.

I am fine with that. I am more comfortable to overtake a slow Truck or Bus from left than overtaking from right and hoping there is no slow moving traffic infront of that Truck/Bus.

I think the real issue is extremely slow traffic like tractors , three wheelers and animal carts on left lane.

[Piyush_DT]

Originally Posted by mvadg

Have you tried climbing those pedestrian bridges? They are a mile high. Why don't they make the privileged do some hard work? I'm sure a car can handle climbing a few feet, and the cost of building these flyovers could definitely be borne by the entitled. Our stuck-in-the-colonial-age administration can only copy foreign solutions. In a country like India where the majority are pedestrians, do you see our democratically elected representatives do anything for the majority, do their bureaucrats even think?

Fines are meant to cause pain, negative reinforcement applied diligently will change behavior. But decision-makers want chaos on the roads, try changing their minds first.

Indians use them in UK and USA but not in India. We don't dare to cross four lanes/railway tracks and will walk a mile to use the subway or bridges when in foreign country. Hence, the same solution does not work in India because over the years we were never enforced to do and now it's impossible.

We need solutions for Indians and I can't think of any but fines.

[alokk0912]

Originally Posted by cdrajeevkumar

I rolled down my window and tried to ask “why do this?”. In return I got the middle finger and he simply zoomed off, his ORVM just missed nicking my car!

Please don't do that in Pune at least. Best to avoid. I had a fender bender by a lady riding a scooty on the wrong side and she was way too aggressive inspite of the fact that it was her fault. All the hangers on which gathered around were supporting her. Saving grace was the video from my dash cam which I showed to her and asked her if we should get police involved. That worked, thankfully. So not only people drive on the wrong side, they behave as if they are doing the right thing. Cure, I don't know. Where I live in pune, at least I drive with an assumption that vehicle can come from any side, right or wrong!

[Gypsian]

Originally Posted by attinder

I am fine with that. I am more comfortable to overtake a slow Truck or Bus from left than overtaking from right and hoping there is no slow moving traffic infront of that Truck/Bus.

How will you have the visibility towards left when your behind a vehicle on the right lane. Basically in India its " Keep to your left " which is why we have right hand drive cars. It is never safe to overtake and barge into blind spot.

[mvadg]

Originally Posted by Piyush_DT

Indians use them in UK and USA but not in India...

Indians abroad are a different species . They also know how to stop their cars at pedestrian crossings religiously.

Our administration has ensured that it is impossible to cross the Hosur road national highway by placing huge barriers. But they also created speed-breakers on the same national highway! Which leads me to believe that we have not evolved to handle complicated contraptions like motor vehicles.

I agree with you about fines, as long as they are implemented with the objective of correcting bad behaviour. Currently our administration uses it to harass a select demographic and collect funds. They've also made it abundantly clear to everyone that the objective is NOT to enforce sane traffic rules.

[deathwalkr]

Originally Posted by shridhan

When was the last time did YOU drive on wrong side of the road? You meaning those who are complaining of it.

I can honestly say that I have never done it. Knowingly or Unknowingly. Even if the designated spot to turn is a km away, then so be it.

I have seen people reverse on highways or take a u turn then and there if they miss their exit.

[vijay_jambu]

Originally Posted by mygodbole

An
On a more serious note, has any one ever had the gumption to challenge these morons? I did -- once. Was threatened with physical violence, and the coward in me prevailed; I apologised profusely and beat a hasty retreat. Never again, I promised myself.

You are not alone my friend, I’ve also had more than one instance, vividly remember an auto driver who was driving in the wrong side in the same lane as I was driving, I stopped my vehicle right in front of his to make him drive around me. He had the audacity to threaten me to vandalize my car, to make it worse many passerby requested me to let him go since the minor altercation was blocking them .
You can easily guess the outcome

[Crank]

Originally Posted by mvadg

The key is to make vehicles go up and down instead of humans.

This is indeed the solution. The only issue is the time taken and cost to build an over bridge versus, commissioning a pedestrian cross over. The second one is an obvious choice for the authorities and the politicians can make a tick mark in their list of "public duty" they have done quickly with less cost.

The other point you made on India being a pedestrian country is very true. But unfortunately we are the most pedestrian unfriendly country as well. Thanks to our infrastructure which is biased. Unfortunately not considering pedestrians in the road infrastructure leads to inconvenience to everybody and not just the pedestrians.

On the wrong side driving, just to save a few drops of oil, we can see several motorists risking other human lives. There is also an infra play into this, where in, it makes vehicles go a mile or so and take an U-turn in a busy road. Let me be clear. I am talking about human tendency and not the morality of this. It is absolutely wrong to drive on the opposite side to which I have fallen a victim couple of times. IMHO, the infrastructure that we have in our cities is pathetic and is one of the main culprits in leading to a lot of compliance issues and risks on the road.

[antz.bin]

Originally Posted by mvadg

The key is to make vehicles go up and down instead of humans. The west is slowly catching on to this. I guess we'll wait till our babus get to copy their designs.

Never thought about it this way until just now.

When digging underground, the clearance just needs to be a 7-10 feet max (The tallest person in India is 8ft 1). Even some of that depth can be reduced by just making the vehicles climb up the incline. This is done very well at Garware chowk at Deccan in the heart of Pune. Hardly 8-10 steps down. Open air in between letting in natural light. Everybody ends up using it.

On the flip side, the reason for mile high overpasses that never get used is because they have to leave clearance for the tallest of vehicles carrying oversized loads which may or may not pass under it. Prime example of this is just <2 km away from Garware chowk at Nal stop near the metro station. I don't even know where the stairs start / end.