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-   -   Bad Drivers - How do you spot 'em (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/road-safety/3580-bad-drivers-how-do-you-spot-em-57.html)

Jassi, I just know the place you are talking about. That crossing is a hell for people like us who get irritated by irresponsible souls on the road.

well :D i shifted out 2+ yrs back - but i remember the hell there caused by in-disciplined educated jokers. What I used to do was leave at 1030am for work and the crossing would be empty by then!

Edit - just remembered there was a school there too right next to the crossing and that added to the chaos!!

All,

We have million things to Lament about the driving skills of our people on the road.

But have we noticed that everywhere else too, there is a disregard for others.

1. While walking, no one cares who is ahead of them or behind them. They spit, push, puke and what not.

2. Ride near a bus and you can have a free shower of so many things from everyone's mouth. :deadhorse

3. Queues are always Horizontal in our country. Who cares about the so many people ahead or some good ones patiently waiting behind. :Frustrati

The art of selflessness has to be instilled from a fundamental point, probably from school days.

I think you are right. Once people learn to regard others it will show up everywhere including on the road. We as indians are still living in stone-ages with respect to our moral duties towards others. This art of selflessness is part of school education in moral education but passing it is still optional and also this learning should be supported at home by parents also. Now the question is as parents do we really try to teach our kids moral education. Dont we often lie to others in front of our kids? Being truthful is the first lesson in moral education.

Guys,

I had a really very bad experience today that I'd like to share with you all!

I was on my way back, very close to home after dropping my sister to school. There was a red light at the signal right at the Indiranagar Bus Depot and I had stopped for it. I had to turn right into the service road in front of the Depot. I realized that the on coming traffic had stopped for their red light and there were a hundred people behind me who wanted to go just because the traffic on the other side had stopped! But I stayed put and waited for the light to turn green.

The moment it turned green, i went forward at about 20 km/h and suddenly, one idiotic biker with a pillion jumped the red light on his side! I nearly hit the guy while turning into the service road.

Now here is where I went wrong: I almost hit the guy after he jumped the signal and when he went passed me, I shouted 'Oye' which, in retrospect, was the wrong thing to do!

The guy stopped, turned and came back, took off his helmet and came to my car door. He gave me the shouting of my lifetime in Kannada. Now I'm not very good at Kannada and I can speak just enough to communicate! Unfortunately, I couldn't give it back to him. I just let it go and went home.

Now I'm thinking I should have done something about it!

I mean, the guy jumped the signal and then he stopped his bike in the middle of the road and got off so that he could shout at me! I told him to park his bike on the side of the road so that we could sort this out but he threatened to 'file a case' and looked very dangerous. And I really didn't feel like getting stabbed so I let it go.

Now guys, apart from Kannada, what should I do so that I can avoid such an incident in the future? And what should I have done in such a situation? What would you'll have done in such a situation?

sorry to hear what happened to you mate. to deal with similar situations i carry my hockey stick in the back (near the speakers) and have the wheel spanner under my seat! i also carry a 4 D-cell Mag-lite!
stupid:

however, the answer to your question is - it depends. first and foremost you've to be calm. don't let your rage get the better of you. that's when you do stupid things that you'll regret later!

if you have someone travelling along with you (especially women) and if you feel their safety will be compromised - back off. if you're alone and outnumbered, back off. if you think you can handle the person, kick his behind right there! all the more better if you've a male friend with you to help with the kicking!

it was his mistake - how dare he threaten you! he knew he looked ugly and hence used it in his favor to intimidate you. this is where being calm can be helpful. if he said he's gonna file a case, you should have let him and stayed there and waited for the traffic cop to arrive. they'll teach him (hopefully) who's mistake it was.

what would i have done? well, i would have run him over when he tried to cut across! there people who miss the signal and there are people who deliberately jump the signal. the latter need to be taught a lesson! since our traffic cops don't give a damn (read corrupt money makers in white and khaki) about such law breakers, i think its time the citizens did something about it.

i've been in Bangalore for 12yrs now. seen the traffic situation go from bad to worse and then to the dogs! 75% of the people driving on Bangalore roads don't know driving. 90% of the people driving on Bangalore roads don't know the traffic rules!!! if find it hard to believe i'm still sane! :Shockked:

PS: please stop the habit of being the first one to shoot out when the light goes green. there are a lot of nincompoops out there who jump the signal when the opposite signal goes green - have seen this many times and have had pretty close shaves myself. its for your own safety. IMHO.

That was hilarious to read but yes I am also contemplating on carrying the wheel spanner in a place handy in the car after the security situation has worsened in bangalore and i have to travel at wee hours sometimes due to work

Not sure that would have been a very good move since the other fellow as mentioned by Suhaas looked like a ruffian. In fact if you had knocked him down then to your rescue, you had to take pics of the signal showing green on your side and red on his side and the spot where you knocked him down was well ahead of the signal etc etc etc to prove your point. Not worth the effort IMHO!!

Totally agree with the above!! :thumbs up

There is a kind of bad drivers that are not really harmful to others but they surely are harmful for their own cars. These are the people who cannot spot manholes. Manholes with open lids are very very inconspicuous from a car as they are flat on the ground. Nontheless, one has to remain aware about them. I have many a times seen drivers run into these open manholes and getting either their front wheel or rear wheel stuck up into the hole. What happens is that the wheel, once stuck, looses traction and keeps rotating in its place. Then the poor fellow, who gets stuck, has to ask three or four people around him to help push the car.

Hi Iron!

Nice post! It lightened my mood! Thanks mate! :thumbs up

About being the first one to shoot out. I waited for the lights to turn green. And I didn't shoot out after it turned green. I started slowly and only after 10 seconds did I actually get a move on! I'm like that! I am a spirited driver but I'm sedate most of the time! So I didn't really shoot out!

Yeah dude, you're right! There is no point trying to run him down/ knock him. Taking pictures of the traffic signals and providing evidence is a pain! Besides, It's always the bigger vehicle that gets the brunt of the public!

You see, if I had knocked him down, he would've been bruised lightly but I would've probably had to deal with the public that will take his side! They'll point fingers at me for hitting him irrespective of whether the lights were red/green/amber! It's always like that! :Frustrati

Exactly!! And by the time you explain that the signal was green for you and red for him etc, the signal would change.
You will be left stranded if alone with the hordes of other people supporting the 2 wheeler guy. Bad situation to be in!! Always good to avoid such stuff.

Even my wife wondered why I did not give some motorcyclist "a small knock" the other day.

Ahem... because, quite apart from the dents on our car, even a small knock to a bike rider can mean blood and flesh on the road (I do wish they would start realising that), which is disproportionate punishment, and also because, whatever the bike rider did, it makes the car driver the criminal in the case. Added to all that, the possibility of getting lynched.

She has now gone back to giving her more sensible advice to keep calm :)

i guess you guys are right, but sometimes the daemon in me gets unleashed! :D

i've a nice tale to narrate to you guys from this evening.

we were going to drop my mother-in-law to the Cantonment station this evening and we were held up at the St. John's road signal (the one after Santhosh Diagnostics). since our signal was about to go green, a lot of people started going on to the right side of the road. this despite the fact that when our signal goes green, so does the opposite side and vehicles start moving in our direction!

anyways, we move forward a few inches and the light goes red again. we had time, so didn't rush. when the signal again went green, the people on the wrong side started edging their way in front of us (there a few cars ahead of us) and created a block. slowly moving forward, three cars, one in front of us (Swift), us and one car behind us (Zen) are in the middle of the crossing. and again the autos and the bikes edge in from the sides. now the signal goes amber and then red.

the ones edging in speed away and so does the car in front. a cop suddenly materializes from outta nowhere and asked us to park the car on the side! i oblige. he writes down the car numbers (ours and the one behind us) saying we jumped the red light and when we tried to explain, he just won't listen! he wrote down our vehicle numbers and told us to move on, the notice will be sent to our address!!

i mean, this guy ignored all those who were actually breaking the rules and slammed us with a notice! and we were not even in the wrong! what kinda justice is this?

since i always carry my SLR with me, here's few pictures for you to see!

1-5: vehicles starting to come on to the wrong side.
6: vehicles right of the Swift in front of us are on the wrong side (we were just inside the double whites).
7-8: our friendly neigbourhood traffic cop "Hav. Naganna" (yeah, i got his name from his name badge) writing down our vehicles numbers.

here a another bunch of "drivers" on Bangalore roads. these pictures were taken coming back from Cantonment (read previous story) and just after descending the flyover near Indian Oil (heading towards Ayyappa temple). the traffic from Ayyappa temple is blocked (its one way), but that doesn't stop these people from breaking the rules!

agree: With both of you! That's exactly what I'm trying to get. No matter what happened, the car always gets the blame because it was involved in an accident in which a biker had to bear the brunt! Even if the bike guy had done something wrong, he will get away scot free because he's bruised because the car hit him. Bottom line!

I'm sorry to hear about the incident Iron.

I'm a regular on St. John's road and I know how pathetic the traffic is sometimes! Motorists don't care if there is a double-white-line or a double-yellow-line! They don't see any lines! All they see is a stretch of tarmac and they see traffic and their priority is to get ahead of the traffic on the tarmac! And if they run out of tarmac, they'll resort to the foot-path!

Another one of the many should also include those who turn on their turn indicators just when they are about to turn and not a few meters before. Least we forget those who drine slow in the fast lanes and don't let the ones going fast pass. Makes my blood boil and wanna do this:deadhorse