[selfdrive]

I actually feel bad for people who are not used to this kind of hectic driving but are forced to drive. Just think of it, these elders would have probably learnt driving on roads perhaps 25 to 30 years ago.
In a Fiat or an Amby on roads which had little traffic.

Now apart from dwindling reflexes, they also have to deal with morons of all kinds. and to top it off, these people have no patience or respect for someone following the rules, forget expecting them to respect age. Snide comments on age or reflexes are seen too much these days. If this is the future of this country, I should stop wondering why so many people choose to move to other countries despite it being so much of a struggle.

Originally Posted by mannubhai

What in the world can those two morons argue about ? Who was more wrong probably !!! ?

No scale for stupidity or idiocy my friend. Its like asking which animal is more of a pig. Apologies to the pig, I dont mean any disrespect.

[shankar.balan]

Yesterday morning and again this morning I had stopped at a traffic signal which was red, with my indicator light on, because I wanted to turn there.
These signals do not allow free left turns.
Despite that, there were several vehicles who jumped the lights. First came three or four lorries all of whom went blithely past. One was pulling a cement mixer and one was a water tanker. Ok, these were probably piloted by some halfwitted un educated underpaid hireling who lacks the capacity to think.
What really got my goat were the following:
An alto driven by an obviously educated lady with a child in tow - possibly on the kindergarten run.
A VW Jetta driven b a rich looking exec type
A Fortuner driven by someone who could have passed off as a gangster. Dressed in white and all.
Three or four Swifts, I 20's and suchlike, all driven by executive types.

And there I was, like a prize idiot, waiting for the signal to turn green!
Is there any point in living in such a lawless society amongst such creatures?
You tell me!

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

And there I was, like a prize idiot, waiting for the signal to turn green!
Is there any point in living in such a lawless society amongst such creatures?
You tell me!

Its damn irritating. But another thing I found irritating w.r.t. this is that there is no uniform law regarding left turn. This leaves a lot of room for confusion and people knowingly or unknowingly end up either waiting at a free left turn or making a left turn when its not really free. For instance in Delhi almost all of left turns are free. In Bangalore this is more confusing as many turns are free but some are not. And rather than marking them properly, cops just stand on the turn ahead ready to make money. I had found this the hard way on Commercial Street junction.

Ideally they should choose either one of the options. Atleast till that happens they need to put proper sign boards indicating the same, specially to someone driving in unfamiliar territory.

[Googleman]

Originally Posted by deehunk

His fault was he had a world of time with him to turn right after my vehicle passed, but he abruptly overtook from left and turned right at a slow speed right in front of my car, my car was clearly visible to him.

Turning right at a slow speed in front of your car means you were slow too, holding up the traffic.

If your are a biker, you would know that a bike will always be faster than a bigger vehicle so if you are not coping up to their speed, Give them way.

[amitoj]

Originally Posted by Googleman

Turning right at a slow speed in front of your car means you were slow too, holding up the traffic.

If your are a biker, you would know that a bike will always be faster than a bigger vehicle so if you are not coping up to their speed, Give them way.

He probably meant that the biker sped up to overtake him, got in front of him, and then slowed down to take the right turn.

And even if a bike is faster, that does not mean that the biker automatically gets right of way to cross lanes and make turns while others brake to save the biker's life (which in this case did not happen and was wrong, as pointed by others)

[deehunk]

Amitoj, You are right Sir, biker overtook fast, but slowed down while turning right, becoz the road is a 4 lane road with divider, he had to cross the other half to head towards a narrow street, I was moving straight at about 20kmph, what irritated me was one he gave no signal of turning right just turned blindly, second in no way he could have crossed the main road and he had to wait as this road is very busy then why the hell he did all this he could have just stayed behind my vehicle and then turn to right easly.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

And there I was, like a prize idiot, waiting for the signal to turn green!
Is there any point in living in such a lawless society amongst such creatures?
You tell me!

Well my friend, you should be happy none of you actually forced you into a traffic offence! I encountered one such at Tidel signal waiting for a U-turn, a nut on a Activa wants to squeeze past and take a U-turn. I was in an Access just ahead of him.

I guess you drive a Safari or Scorp, which aren't vehicles that people mess with

Originally Posted by drmohitg

Its damn irritating. But another thing I found irritating w.r.t. this is that there is no uniform law regarding left turn

In Madras, unless its explicitly marked 'No Free Left', it is a Free Left. Haven't come across a confusing left like that in Madras or Bangalore (the 2 places I've lived) yet!

[motomaverick]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

And there I was, like a prize idiot, waiting for the signal to turn green!
Is there any point in living in such a lawless society amongst such creatures?
You tell me!

And adding salt to wound is all these folks and other regular offenders are never caught or even if caught they will go Scot free. If by mistake we jump a light or take a non-free left 9/10 times there will be a fine

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

that there is no uniform law regarding left turn. This leaves a lot of room for confusion and people knowingly or unknowingly end up either waiting at a free left turn or making a left turn when its not really free. For instance in Delhi almost all of left turns are free. In Bangalore this is more confusing as many turns are free but some are not. And rather than marking them properly, cops just stand on the turn ahead ready to make money. I had found this the hard way on Commercial Street junction.

Ideally they should choose either one of the options. Atleast till that happens they need to put proper sign boards indicating the same, specially to someone driving in unfamiliar territory.

Originally Posted by narayans80

In Madras, unless its explicitly marked 'No Free Left', it is a Free Left. Haven't come across a confusing left like that in Madras or Bangalore (the 2 places I've lived) yet!

^ That is what I presumed too until one day a traffic cop educated me that unless there is a board that says "Free Left Turn", all left turns are by the signal(meaning no free left turn).

[shankar.balan]

I drive a Yeti. Have moved to this, which is a significantly smaller vehicle from my earlier Scorp.
However, this is not about size or might.
It is about manners, common courtesy and respect for a traffic signal in a clearly demarcated NO FREE LEFT signal.
The way things are going and the kind of creatures driving cars and vehicles these days in India, there doesnt seem to be a positive outlook in the future at all!!

And Motomaverick - yes you are right. The day I decide to be a common peasant and break the law the way these creeps do with impunity, I will surely end up getting caught and go through un-necessary pain.
Hence, even though I may seem like a prize idiot to these crud-heads with whom I am forced to share the blighted road, I shall still follow the rules and preserve a modicum of good manners. Why should I let my personal standards fall? Ultimately I would be the loser if I succumb to this.

The situation in India in terms of manners and consideration, is enough to make one weep with frustration. Really, the way things are deteriorating here in terms of behaviour, it might seriously be worth considering emigration!

Originally Posted by narayans80

I guess you drive a Safari or Scorp, which aren't vehicles that people mess with

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

However, this is not about size or might.
It is about manners, common courtesy and respect for a traffic signal in a clearly demarcated NO FREE LEFT signal.
The way things are going and the kind of creatures driving cars and vehicles these days in India, there doesnt seem to be a positive outlook in the future at all!!

Completely agree with you.
Trouble is, off late everyone is in a rush - and the easiest way to save a couple of minutes is to cut the queue, ignore the signal etc. My logic is, if I am at a signal, waiting for my turn, I will not give into the excessive honking from behind. If someone is in a hurry, s/he can cut across and take the risk, but I will not budge.

And sometimes, it feels good to be a part of the minority

[abhinav.s]

Originally Posted by vb-san

And sometimes, it feels good to be a part of the minority

Add me to the minority as well. I don't jump lights even on my bike. Even if i am on 2 wheels and being honked at to give way to another 2 wheeler to break the signal, i dont budge. I would not even acknowledge them.

The irony of the situation is that though i wait for nearly 45 secs at a signal and reach the next one, the moron who jumped the earlier signal will be right there at the next one caught up behind heavy vehicles/cars with no way to wiggle thru. I am right next to him without breaking the law and I cannot fathom what time he has saved by jumping the light

[deehunk]

I had a funny incident this morning, had left my access card at home and without noticing had come upto Veerasandra, then decided to go back home and get the card as without a card in my office it will be very painful to do the job. I was approaching the flyover at Bommasandra and suddenly vehicles to my left stopped, for a second thought some accident has happened as it is very common on this stretch, then it was all bikers showering horizontally on the road to climb and cross the divider, there were about 15 I guess, managed to take a snap of the idiots although they were staring at me, the best among the lot have been marked in the photo, idiot 1 and idiot 2 were trying to climb up a small boulder which would lead them to the flat surface on divider from where they climb down to the other half of road courtesy a small down slope, these two idiots were not able to move on and kept trying till they succeeded after a good 2 minutes, meantime in photo you can see the pillion rider with idiot 3 staring at my vehicle registration number told him that I am taking a photo, this fellow fled the scene without trying the unwanted thing. This is a very common thing which happens daily although I am always on the other half, the Hebbagodi police station is located just 100 metres from this spot but they appear on the road only when some accident happens. Sorry for the blur image as the lens was not cleaned.

[A350XWB]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

And there I was, like a prize idiot, waiting for the signal to turn green! Is there any point in living in such a lawless society amongst such creatures?

shankar.balan, you are not alone here. I travel on ORR during morning hours (~07:00) to my office in Kundalahalli and there is a signal at the place where Sarjapur road branches off from ORR. The signal will be ON by the time I reach there and I stop if the signal is red. Most of the time, seeing me stopping, some cabbies also stop till the light turns green. But the so called educated lots care a damn and drive through at high speeds. Education cannot put culture into the heads of these people and that's a hard fact

[sagarpadaki]

I undergo this situation daily at the Double road signal while coming from the corporation side.People have absolutely no patience to in that signal and jump it.Especially when the signal from the langford road side turns green the people waiting on the corporation side encroach half of the road. As usual i resist moving ahead of the cutoff mark. But one in cident got my goat. The signal turns green for sometime for drivers to go towards the langford road side while those who want to take right turn into double road have to wait. There is indica taxi who kept honking and i did not move since my side of the signal was still red and he wanted to go towards langford road side but there not sufficient space for him as well as for me to move. So he literally pushed by bike away with his bumper and i was and afraid at the same time. How can one have no respect to others and treat others life with utter disdain?! My disrespect for those indica cabs grew and i vowed never to get into such situation. My life is more precious than moving some 2-3 feet to give way to the murderers on the road!