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-   -   Pandemic of wrong side driving - What is the cure? (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/road-safety/254056-pandemic-wrong-side-driving-what-cure-5.html)

Auto drivers are part time gundas I think. Here in Pune one autowallah was blocking the left lane so even though I had the green I could not turn left. Once the signal turned green and he moved on, I asked him to stay in correct lane. This pissed him off so much that he said to me - " arey chal mala nako shikvu, tuze tukde karun kuthe takun deil na sapadnaar nai konala"" - dont teach me, I will cut you up in pieces and throw away the pieces so that no one will find anything.

I was so shocked and shaken by this brazen goonda attitude that too in a busy chowk like Jehangir hospital. So its best to keep your mouth shut and move on.

And then for those of us in Bangalore, there is Garuda Mall Road where you are truly required to drive on the right side :Frustrati.

We cannot compare the walking facilities in India with what is available in the UK (or EU for that matter). We get things like this here :disappointed

Fines can help momentarily but if we want long term change, the right way to go is to incentivise good behaviour. Make it easy for people to take that subway, so they don’t have to dart across the road.

LOL, I've always wondered about this. The biggest issue with such undocumented (?) exceptions - and there are many such really weird things on our roads, is that vehicle users must be familiar with them beforehand. If someone has not been to that part of the city for a while, you will definitely get into a fix. And the police in Bengaluru will arbitrarily block u-turns, make roads one way, and so on. Of course, there will be a cop waiting for us "rule-breakers" to make some pocket money.

I believe this statement is applicable across india and not restricted to Pune. The intensity of callousness varies between states and it’s my personal belief that registrations bearing DL, HR and UP are quite notorious on the road!

Hyderabad must be the capital of wrong side driving/riding. It's so frequently encountered that I have given up on it! Even on a road next to CM camp office under the begumpet flyover I regularly find bikers coming from the wrong side on a one way road! It's crazy! And cops just turn a blind eye.
Another menace is so many bike riders either remove the rear number plate or deface it or cover it to avoid getting challans while they go scot free triple riding or without helmets!

Beat them black and blue ! ;)

In the US we drive on the left side of the road -
In the UK we drive on the right side of the road -
In Bangalore - Road is Road! We Drive anywhere! rl:

On a serious note - Start fining people! I'm talking about big fines! 5K-10K fines.

Have you guys noticed one thing - the number of bikes riding without helmets has reduced a lot! thanks to our BTP using digital photos to fine them.

Nothing.*

It is part of our culture and driving norms. Most people think--they are not breaking any societal or safety rule by driving wrong side. Be it to take a U-turn 5m away, or suffering for their own carelessness of missing a cut, while engrossed on their phone. (These day ~50-60% of drivers are actually on their phones while driving, maybe more). What do we expect?


*be alert when:
1. Taking a free-left at speed (specially when the road beyond the corner is not visible.
2. Merging onto any road at 90 degrees (mall exit, colony exit, T-point).
3. When traversing a road, and you are not aware of the "cuts", stay under 40-50 km/h, cause you cannot anticipate wrong side-right drivers.
4. If you see a wrong side vehicle smaller than you-head on. Slow down, let him decide the course of future. Be calm.
5. If you see a wrong side vehicle larger than you-head on. Swerve to your right, and decide the course of future. Be more alert.
6. Understand this is part of life in India.

Did the axiom "Where there's a will, there's a way"( should've been wrong way) orginate from here? rl:

When "someone" has the "power" to ban currency notes overnight and then the same "someone" a few years later has the power to create pin drop silence across the entire nation by telling them to stay indoors for months, I'm sure if this "someone" wants to clean up our traffice it will get done.

But as of now this "someone" doesn't want better traffic. So that's all there is to it.

I always had a mindset that Mumbai and Bengaluru were better than Chennai ( out of metros) in lane dicipline etc , .This is because I was in Mumbai for 12 years and Bengaluru for one year and observed cops were stricts in rules . When moved to Chennai in 2011 , I was surprised to see the 2 wheelers occupying the 1st lane ( which never observed in Mumbai and Bengaluru where 2 wheeler used to be in left end only). Once I was fined for wrong way riding ( though for only few meters) in Bengaluru.
Now in Pondy ,wrong side driving is a norm . I had posted a video 2 days back in "Accidents in India" regarding bus running over a 10 year old student in front of his father due to these kind to driving . ( At the time of posting I did not know where it happened and latter found out it happened in my city only.) There is a portion of road in ECR here inside the city where petrol pump is located exactly in the middle 2 divider openings. Almost all the time one may find somebody will be driving wrong side to go to the pump ( from 2 wheelers to trucks) while the U
turn is only few meters away. Here there is no problem of infrastructure etc ,.
It is all in our mentality and mindset only. Always trying to find shortcuts even for problems with easier solutions. It is similar to Mumbai local train passengers. Push and pull during peak hours is acceptable ( as there is no other way) but same behaviour will be seen during nonrush hours also. In India when we come out of our home , one should have 360⁰ view always as anything can happen anytime and expect the unexpected always.

And that sir is where the problem lies. Its all to do with the attitude of let "Someone" else do it rather than "ourselves" doing it.

4 out of 5 vehicles driving on the wrong side is a two wheeler. If people are not concerned about their own safety , security and future of their dependents, then there could be no cure.

- In Bangalore, I've seen everything on the wrong side. Be it water tankers, cars (sedans/SUVs), auto-rickshaws, tempo travellers.
- Even if it's a single road with no divider, people want to drive on the wrong side.
- They aren't scared to do it on roads that are cleared for higher speed or where higher speed from vehicles is expected. (e.g. take hosur road from Bomanahalli to E-City toll.)
- They do it on roads where there are service roads marked for opposite direction movement.
- They do it while talking on phone, not wearing helmets (in case of two wheelers), riding triple on their honda dio's
- They do it on highways, considering it's their birth right.
- Delivery personnel (Zepto, swiggy, zomato) are the biggest culprits - these young millennials who are starting this 10 min delivery fad simply do not know what mayhem they have unleashed on the roads. Never mind that a 10 min delivery is not even a want, leave alone a need.

I understand bikers are impatient lot. Why would some one do this driving a fortuner (to save 2-3 mins/2-3kms, 100ml of diesel worth less than 5 bucks, in the middle of night, coming full speed on the opposite direction on a main road signal? had a scare there)

All this with little regard to their, or their passengers, or the on-coming vehicle's safety. I've faced water tankers coming in full force in opposite direction while riding a bike, I've faced bikes, cars, tankers in opposite direction while driving a car.

In India, the citizens themselves value their life so low, that I can't really blame govt/administration for not caring at all.

Don't think on the spot fines are going to cut it. This just leads to more and more corruption. Fines should be automated (camera captures offending driver and sends a fine his way), and for delivery folks, part of it must be shared with the organization (e.g. swiggy, zomato, zepto etc.).

I believe the simplest solution to curb this would be to hit where it hurts. Why do people do wrong side driving? To save precious few minutes, right?

Well, catch the offenders, take away their keys, park their vehicle on a spot/or tow it away and ask them to wait 2+ hours before keys are handed back, and no fines. This will teach a lesson to 90% of the folks. Easy to implement, and will be as effective as well.

There was a video in the accidents thread, which was posted from cyberabad police channel - where an innova hits the biker coming from opposite direction - I'm more and more sympathatic with the innova driver who will go through an ordeal just because he faced a moron on the road.

Having said all this, don't think this behaviour is changing anytime sooner - I think it's all on us as responsible drivers to be extra vigilant on the road, lest a human life parishes because of their idiocy/foolhardiness.