[pixantz]

Originally Posted by ssambyal1980

Driving while talking on mobile phones is a common sight throughout the length and breadth of the country. In fact nowadays it has become a new style statement to talk on mobile while driving and with every passing day more and more motorists are joining the band wagon of fools.

Believe it or not, I spotted one such specimen yesterday and the sad part was, hold your breadth, it was a bhpian!

White Skoda's rapid {MH05 CH 8007} sporting 'Love Cars Live Cars' and one more grey sticker on the boot lid blissfully jabbering away to glory. He had some kind of sunblind stuck to the glass which he must have thought made his offence invisible to the world (this is getting quite common these days) but it was not helping much.

This was somewhere around 5pm on S.V. Road going from Goregaon towards Jogeshwari. Wonder if the mods could award him an infraction and confiscate his stickers ! That would be fun! I guess they'd need photos for that. Unfortunately I couldn't click in that situation. Pretty bad example of a fellow member I'd say.

[nitinbose]

No matter how many people get killed, people never learn. Its in the minds of the people to try not to follow or obey rules of any kind.

[Vikram8891]

Originally Posted by swissknife

I suppose people are confused to which head the helmet is supposed to protect. From the above, it seems that it is more to protect the cylinder head rather than the rider's head

When are people going to realise that helmets are to protect one's head and not to protect them from punishment by the law enforcement? Further more, an unstrapped helmet is as bad as not wearing one!

Agree with both your points. I think the traffic police should also be strict in this regard. Simply carrying a helmet on the arm or on the rear view mirror or anywhere apart from the head should be considered an infraction.

And lets for 1 minute forget the safety aspect (as it is these donkeys dont care), a helmet looks much cooler and smarter than going bare headed! I remember the first time when I started riding and saw myself in the reflection on an ATM window. I was like, damn! The helmet really suits me and the bike

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by pixantz

White Skoda's rapid {MH05 CH 8007} sporting 'Love Cars Live Cars' and one more grey sticker on the boot lid blissfully jabbering away to glory...
Wonder if the mods could award him an infraction and confiscate his stickers ! That would be fun! I guess they'd need photos for that. Unfortunately I couldn't click in that situation

The T-BHP stickers are available to any Tom, Dick and Harry who can make an online payment through the online store. So, the Skoda Rapid that you saw, might not have been driven by a forum member. It could also be possible that the car might've been driven by someone related to a forum member who owns the car.

Now that's clear, not everyone who becomes a member in the forum is an angel - there are no real life driving tests to be passed for that.

To put it bluntly - a sticker (of a forum, a company or a brand) is just a sticker, it does not entitle anyone to additional brownie points for driving, nor does it make anyone a perfect driver overnight. A mistake made on the road is a mistake (often potentially life-threatening), regardless of who made it.

[NPV]

An incident from last week on the inner ring road, Bangalore (domlur-koramangala direction):
Just after EGL, probably 100-200 metres before the U-turn point (for those who need to head towards Indiranagar), saw a couple on a motorcycle, trying to make an illegal U-turn by going across the median. Now, this could be downright dangerous as the person will end up on the rightmost fast lane for the opposite direction, but then who cares ?

Traffic cops had made their contribution of make-shift solutions to prevent people making U-turns - heaps of mud and a thick electrical cable tied to one of the trees/poles on the median! Even then, these folks were determined to make that turn, so the lady got down and walked gingerly to the other side while the gent was struggling to get the bike up on to the median. This was when I passed the place. I just thought it could be the time factor that most people associate as the reason for doing such things as they are in a perennial hurry. I continued up to the U-turn point, made the turn and headed in the opposite direction in about 2-3 minutes. On my way, I see the rider has just completed maneuvering his motorbike on the median and is getting the bike down onto the fast lane and completed his turn just after I went past the same point.

What exactly did they achieve ? Save Time/Fuel, Not at all! Risked their lives & those of others on the road ? Oh YES, big time

[Pferdestarke]

Caught this reckless rider on NH-16 few days ago. I tried to slow him down and warn him about the potential danger he's shoving himself into by riding with so much causal attitude. He didn't seem to care much for my warnings!

Finally when I started recording his adventures, he decided to give up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSdC0iPf-mw

[TorqueyTechie]

Originally Posted by NPV

Even then, these folks were determined to make that turn, so the lady got down and walked gingerly to the other side while the gent was struggling to get the bike up on to the median.

Possibly to avoid the traffic cops who stand little further up and check for documents/helmets. Had the people on the two wheeler worn helmets?

[Ruchir031]

Bad driver or bad person?

While on my way home via moti bagh, a guy in his late twenties, driving a Verna who was ahead of me. I noticed all of his coolant suddenly spilled down on the road but he might not have noticed.
I started tailing him, flashing lights honking so that I could inform he should stop asap.

I tried every possible way of getting his attention but the guy wouldn't budge. I speeded up to catch up with him and when I came across his vehicle, I rolled down my windows and was literally yelling at the speed of 80's to inform him what has happened to his vehicle (which he didn't hear coz he wouldn't bother slowing down or stopping and loud music) he then started abusing me which I clearly heard and then sped away.

I again tried catching up with him thinking what-if something seriously dangerous happens to him and also other vehicles/people coz of him.

By now I had broken most of the laws, over-speeding (he was doing 90's when there's a limit of 60) abrupt but monitored lane changes (to catch him as he was getting away) and when I did, tried my best to tell him again and to no surprise, I got abused, again! Typical Indian abuses.
By now I was pretty much done with him and let him go. (coz self-respect matters).

Couple miles later I see his car broken down in middle of the road with all smoke coming out from the engine and a huge pile of traffic caused by him. I didn't stop to offer any help, maybe I should have but I didn't.

P.S the guy looked well educated wearing a suit & tie. It was totally unexpected how he reacted without knowing I was just trying to help him. Don't know why some people have to be so rude and cruel.

[tharian]

Originally Posted by Ruchir031

Bad driver or bad person?



Couple miles later I see his car broken down in middle of the road with all smoke coming out from the engine and a huge pile of traffic caused by him. I didn't stop to offer any help, maybe I should have but I didn't.

.

You should have actually, just to tell him what you were trying to tell him and that his situation could have been avoided if he hadn't assumed.

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted by Ruchir031

I noticed all of his coolant suddenly spilled down on the road but he might not have noticed. I started tailing him, flashing lights honking so that I could inform he should stop asap.

You are a typical Bhpian .

Noticing a problem and immediately trying to help. That the person didn't deserve it is a different matter. But his karma seems to have caught up with him instantaneously!

I had a similar, although less severe experience in Bengaluru a couple of days ago. Have posted it here. (Rants on Bangalore's traffic situation)

[NPV]

Originally Posted by TorqueyTechie

Possibly to avoid the traffic cops who stand little further up and check for documents/helmets. Had the people on the two wheeler worn helmets?

Surprisingly, this was at a time when the cops hadn't arrived at their usual spot;and both of them had helmets!

And today, I found that cops changed their checking spot to little further down the road just after the speed breaker and now they can tackle the illegal U-turn makers as well since this is right opposite that place.

[swissknife]

Originally Posted by Ruchir031

Bad driver or bad person?

While on my way home via moti bagh, a guy in his late twenties, driving a Verna who was ahead of me. I noticed all of his coolant suddenly spilled down on the road but he might not have noticed.
I started tailing him, flashing lights honking so that I could inform he should stop asap.

I have been in situations such as this myself. Usually I do not honk, but then, this one time, I noticed some fluid (not sure if it was coolant or oil) leaving a trail. I flashed, honked and even rolled down my window and asked the driver to pull over. I suppose the person thought that I wanted to get past and felt mighty thrilled that I was prevented from getting past. I gave up since I had to turn off the road. I don't quite know what happened later.

That was when I felt that some kind of a LED display, both in front (to read in reverse) and at the rear, may help to pass on information to other drivers on the road. A voice activated message would be ideal!

[Shanksta]

Originally Posted by Ruchir031

Bad driver or bad person?

While on my way home via moti bagh, a guy in his late twenties, driving a Verna who was ahead of me. I noticed all of his coolant suddenly spilled down on the road but he might not have noticed.
I started tailing him, flashing lights honking so that I could inform he should stop asap.

....

Couple miles later I see his car broken down in middle of the road with all smoke coming out from the engine and a huge pile of traffic caused by him. I didn't stop to offer any help, maybe I should have but I didn't.

Your act of trying to help him is !!

But IMHO you should not have honked( I'm assuming a lot), flashed and tailed him. Because the standard human reaction is to get irritated, angry or scared, wondering why this person is being so impatient. Moreover when you're doing 80+ kmph his thought would've been that you just wanted to get past him.

Clearly the Verna driver got angered and scared which is why he tried speeding away. Once he realised you were keeping up with him alongside he started hurling abuses (which is wrong on his part).

Also due to the increasing number of road rage incidents he might have tried getting away assuming you had a bone to pick with him.

The best way to get their attention in these cases is to calmly drive alongside and honk once or twice to get thier attention. Once they look at you just point to the tyre and say puncture( if you're driving alone) or if you have a passenger you can get the actual message across. Once he starts pulling over follow suit and let him know of the actual problem. I've done this twice, once I was driving alone and did the puncture method to let the person know his muffler was hanging too low after he went a bit fast on a speed hump.

Also you should've stopped when you saw him later and told him this is what you were trying to convey and that he could've have avoided this had he just been a bit more patient to listen to you.

Hope you don't take this post in the wrong way!

On a side note don't try to use the puncture method if you are on a two wheeler, he might just think you're trying to carjack.

[imuluvshaz]

https://youtu.be/mTIA4TxWUss

[Nohonking]

Originally Posted by silversteed

The T-BHP stickers are available to any Tom, Dick and Harry who can make an online payment through the online store.

This is indeed my concern as well. I know at least 3 such people who have put these stickers on their cars to only to put us(BHPians) on shame. Who on the road knows, they aren't BHPians.

Originally Posted by nitinbose

No matter how many people get killed, people never learn. Its in the minds of the people to try not to follow or obey rules of any kind.

Rightly said Mr. Bose. IMO, A couple of things are supposedly the causes to it:

1. Not obeying the rules is what makes them feel as some Bollywood hero making an entry on the screen, while the ones following rules are considered or looked down upon as some foolish, not gutsy enough or even lacking excellent driving skills to survive as a champion or fit in an urban chaos.

2. Till such time, any untoward incident happens to one, he always lives in a false notion that it can never happen to him. It is only after the moment it happens that he realizes that it only takes a fraction of a second and hardly enough to realize that the things are out of control and there isn't any second chance or to go back in time and make a correction but to bear the consequences.

3. To a significant extent, I believe our advertising media is also responsible and Supreme Court should rather but a ban on such ads wherein:

(a) Dangerous stunts are shown, street racing, speeding under harsh conditions etc. (and a small practically unreadable disclaimer is put at the bottom to serve as something to wash away the hands with - "Stunts have been performed by professionals, please do not try."). Thus, an attempt is made to build an unpractical and an unrealistic image of the product in question. Now when the owner of such product with his hallucinated mind tries something unrealistic and unpractical, expect unpleasant to happen.

(b) Scenes of urban traffic jams are shown and then a two-wheeler is shown taking it left-right and zig-zag through the narrow gaps in between the stuck cars, or even taking it up over the pedestrians sidewalk. Is this the USP of a two wheeler over a four wheeler? These things inspire negatively the young generation which eventually becomes their habit and gets into their blood and then a culture or a trend in a city.

(c) Similarly, many ads of SUV always depict it off-roading, especially when there is a traffic jam, maneuvering its way through the woods and waters. Good, but the ill-effect is the bad people get inspired to take their SUVs to jump over the medians to the other(wrong) side while stuck in a jam. Similarly, on the bad stretches of roads with potholes, I have often noticed that SUV drivers drive faster(because their vehicles are capable of) than we sedate car owners and start blowing horns impatiently from the behind to show their aggressiveness. Why? Because, something similar was depicted in the advertisement of this SUV.

(d) In an advertisement, a vehicle is shown to be big, sturdy, with bold looks and kind like a road king with "care the damn" attitude towards smaller vehicles. The result, the owners of such vehicles drive with similar attitude in mind, thus not caring about others with whom they are sharing the roads.

IMO, there should be some guidelines to follow. Such ads are nowhere socially responsible and these manufacturers should go with some basic ethics and rules in mind. Making sales is good and important, but-but-but, I leave it for them to complete.


Thanks,
Simmi