[msdivy]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Education? Book learning alone does not make education.

Originally Posted by A350XWB

In many signals and blocks, I've seen people not yielding and blocking the paths of everyone including themselves. In the process, they make everyone late, but he/she's not ready to give up the ego.

Education is usually in a field like medical, law, engineering, etc. In school the usually students learn language, science & history. No where they learn traffic, driving etiquette, etc.

Just like a lawyer might do a bad job on surgeon's table, a person, whoever good he might in his/her field of expertise, will do a bad job on road, if that person isn't educated on traffic & road sense.

Driving is a special skill like swimming. Not everybody is required to swim. So, driving isn't a universal education subject. Those who want to acquire the driving skill has to take up coaching class, where they would get education in both theory & practical aspects of driving, road sense & best practices.

Unfortunately, the coaching part is broken in India. So what we get is people displaying their poor skills on road.

People are 'somehow' expected to acquire these skills by 'experience'. Most will, but for rest since the foundation is not strong, no amount of experience will make them better.

The traffic situation is not helped by factors like,
1) Continuous influx of new drivers (newbies), who bring their innocence & ignorance to road.
2) Callous attitude of old drivers, who can help but don't want to.
3) Poor infrastructure (for instance, if 3 lanes suddenly, merge into 2 lanes, expect bottlenecks).

.

[evilshantanu]

Originally Posted by msdivy

Education is usually in a field like medical, law, engineering, etc. In school the usually students learn language, science & history. No where they learn traffic, driving etiquette, etc.

Just like a lawyer might do a bad job on surgeon's table, a person, whoever good he might in his/her field of expertise, will do a bad job on road, if that person isn't educated on traffic & road sense.

Driving is a special skill like swimming. Not everybody is required to swim. So, driving isn't a universal education subject. Those who want to acquire the driving skill has to take up coaching class, where they would get education in both theory & practical aspects of driving, road sense & best practices.

Unfortunately, the coaching part is broken in India. So what we get is people displaying their poor skills on road.

People are 'somehow' expected to acquire these skills by 'experience'. Most will, but for rest since the foundation is not strong, no amount of experience will make them better.

The traffic situation is not helped by factors like,
1) Continuous influx of new drivers (newbies), who bring their innocence & ignorance to road.
2) Callous attitude of old drivers, who can help but don't want to.
3) Poor infrastructure (for instance, if 3 lanes suddenly, merge into 2 lanes, expect bottlenecks).

.

Rightly summed up msdivy! I personally think that a gun and a car are similar, with both of these things you need to be careful, with both of these things you can kill a person. The process to get a gun license in our country is extremely tough, so not everybody has a gun, but sadly everybody can own a car and use it the way they want to.

[RajaTaurus]

^^Can't agree more on this. I have lived in middle east for the best part of my life and have watched the way our Indian drivers maneuvering those long haul multi axle trailers with such a fluency through the city traffic, who sure do not have any degree to hold.
How? It takes 8 months to 1 year to get a tractor-trailer license in the middle east and the driving tests are so tough, that the drivers have to necessarily undergo rigorous training for sufficient period of time. And the officials fail the drivers at least twice even though the driver is reasonably good, so when he hits the road with the license, he is a proficient driver.
Can we imagine this happening in India? I don't think so. Here licenses are bought dime a dozen and many don't even go to the RTO office. Unless this pathetic situation changes and driving licenses are taken as serious as surgeon's licences, things would not change.

[noopster]

Mod Note: Please stay on-topic. Off-topic posts will be deleted going forward.

[Bigzero]

Since the whole process of getting a driving license have been completely flawed and corrupt for years, most drivers on the road would have had no proper education on road sense, road rules and safe driving.

Most of them took the easy route of joining a driving school where in something like 10 days he is declared "ok" primarily based on his ability to keep the vehicle in a straight line, and shift into gears at proper speeds... ( a bit extreme but you get the point ). The agent gets him through the driving test which is an eye-wash at best. Money passes hands and the license comes through.

I have personally seen many youngsters commenting "I have the license but I dont have the "confidence" to drive. ".

This keeps on happening, so how can one expect the situation to improve. I dont think the govt can do anything retroactively to correct some of this ( like putting license holders through a retest (both practical and written ) ) - this is way too massive.

Things they can do for long term:

1) have proper budget allocations for road safety awareness and create enough visibility in the print and visual media on good driving habits and sustain it for a long period of time.

2) over a period of time ensure that all roads, signs, junctions, lanemarkings etc are designed scientifically. A big reason for bad driving is the lack of scientifically designed roads. for example, u-turn on a fairly busy and fast four-lane road with separate turn lanes, consistent lane width ( there are so many roads where lanes suddenly vanish, or center lines suddenly jump sideways a few feet ) , etc etc.

3) increase policing and increase fines - the additional revenue they generate will pay for the extra workforce easily. Of course there is this small matter of how to weed out corruption here - most drivers will happily pay the cop 100 Rs and drive away, avoiding a stiffer fine. There is simply no fear for the law in most places.

4) segregate various types of traffic as much as practically possible . The biggest issue is that fast moving vehicles and slow moving vehicles together in bigger roads lead to all kinds of lane cutting and accidents.

5) Drill the concept of "Right of Way" into the heads of road users - both pedestrians and drivers. Most people dont have any clue.

6) Introduce the concept of stop signs and campaign for awareness. Most people have problems stopping their vehicle especially while coming from a side road.

7) Use information technology to penalize habitual offenders and cancel licenses. I am hoping something like this happens once the UID project stabilizes

8) last but not the least rehash the whole process of getting a license. Absolutely no agents, multi-stage and detailed examination process, etc.

Some top-of-the-mind points... perhaps I got a bit off topic. Saw a couple of posts above, and just ranted, sorry

[gtonsing]

I just heard in the morning radio that traffic police have cancelled licenses of thousands of two-wheeler riders who were using the footpath. The traffic Commissioner also came on air and confirmed it. He had a different take though" Its okay to cancel licenses of bikers using the footpath. But pedestrians also should stop using the road. I agree.
I think I have mentioned it before but I believe the solution to our traffic problem in Bangalore is lane discipline, period!

[Dieseldunk]

Originally Posted by deehunk

This is getting slightly off-topic, when somebody can criss-cross arrogantly without caring for atleast themselves should we just sit and watch the nuisance on road

Hi deehunk



I really would like to support you for the anguish expressed on ther biker.


As for the method of teaching the biker a lesson


just remember a scratch on the car/even a dent can be replaced but never a human life/limb. Since your action could have caused a fatal result for the bikers family. please restrain road rage always.

[sumathindra]

Originally Posted by gtonsing

I just heard in the morning radio that traffic police have cancelled licenses of thousands of two-wheeler riders who were using the footpath. The traffic Commissioner also came on air and confirmed it. He had a different take though" Its okay to cancel licenses of bikers using the footpath. But pedestrians also should stop using the road. I agree.
I think I have mentioned it before but I believe the solution to our traffic problem in Bangalore is lane discipline, period!

One way of beating this menace is to have fences on footpaths. This can act as a safe passage for pedestrians and will discourage people climbing their rides on footpaths. However the system must ensure that the fences exist and not be tampered with. As far as pedestrians using the roads, well this just cannot be controlled in our country? Only strict law and order and fine systems can bring some discipline however I doubt if we can improve on that bit!

[altoman]

Today early morning at about 5.30 I was returning after dropping my dad at the railway station. Near Pimpri there were two trucks in the right lane and after checking my RVM I changed to left lane to overtake (the highway has a divider). All this at about 70-75 kmph. While I am still overtaking, a biker (with pillion and both without helmets) comes at about 100 kmph and overtakes me from left, shows me finger and zooms ahead. People just don't seem to have any patience. They are always in hurry no matter what time of the day it is.

[cornkracker]

Guys after going through this whole read and reading most of your posts I want to write about 2 things.
1. When I saw this thread I thought I'm going to have to write a big post ranting about the constant state of irritation I'm made to drive in,by other road users, but you guys have already done that for me. Every single annoyance is previously mentioned its quite amazing its pretty much the exact same everywhere !this is a nation wide phenomena so we all can at least take solace in the fact that we sympathise with each other.

2. I feel trying to be the calmest and as thick skinned as possible is the best purely for your own sake. I lose my temper while driving almost immediately even though it takes a lot to get me rattled up usually. Up till some time back I was under the impression and correctly so that I can consider myself a good driver if I follow the rules and drive predictably on the road period. But in reality, knowing what we know about our fellow road users, this is just not a practical thing to think. As earlier mentioned, I now too feel that a good driver HERE is one who also scans for the idiots constantly and keeps a margin. This is all for my own sake!
I'm in the middle lane doing 60,indica in the right doing 63 probably,now I'm listening to music and should be least bothered about what cars a km behind me are doing but when I see a retard in his tourist xylo coming down the right lane itself at 150 showing no indication of braking heading straight for the indica, I know very well that this guy is going to swerve into my lane and cut me off regardless of what I do or how I feel about and that's exactly what happened. Knowing this I slowed down a bit a yet he cut probably inches from my car all I could do is hope he gets what he deserves and be happy that I'm not a retard. Now this is partially the indicas fault for being so slow in the fast lane and mostly the retarded guys fault yet I would have suffered was I not looking out for this. This has happened to me a handful of times. And I've also come across every sort of fool and brainless bafoon one can imagine.Guys pretending to wait and slow down at the entry turn on to a road and then cutting me off just when I'm about to pass by,people holding up free left turns to go straight,bikes being sucked into vortexes around and mostly in front of my car at signals lol (that was a good one) only to start off then at 5kmph. We can keep asking why and keeping raising our blood pressure , making hand gestures ,yelling obscenities and going the whole 9 yards to let these fools know what they are ,but to no avail, the guy driving the car like a monkey is mostly also a monkey when he is trying to argue with you and getting all bent out of shape after doing something foolish and being told so. There is simply no point. None. Look out for yourself, and try to be as alert as you can and aware of whats happening around you.

[NPV]

Last Friday I drove from Kormanagala to Indiranagar around 8pm in maddening traffic and here are some of the highlights (there were many more!):
1.This motorist is riding with his helmet raised up so he can enjoy a smoke! And he continued like this even after he finished


2.Extremely slow moving traffic on the inner ring road and I maintain safe distance from the car ahead but I end up with pilots in front of me who overtook from both sides to squeeze into the gap!


3.On 100 feet road the cop signals traffic to stop and after I stop I see all these guys overtake me from the left, ready to make the right turn ahead of me (note that they just took postitions ready for the turn which was taken only after 5 minutes when the cop signalled).


Saving grace - some good calm music in the car to ignore such guys plus I feel really lucky missing all this on a daily basis.

[Motor Head]

Today afternoon I was on my way from Nugambakam to Guindy, near Hyatt as the traffic moves to left lane a young guy in a white Honda civic cut across from my right over taking me an crossing over to the left lane, I was furious and honked to get his attention that he was driving in a rash manner, the guy just ignores and then just slows up in front of me trying to squeeze me in to right lane. Realising the guy is probably high or some thing is wrong I held back. The guy then just took off and almost taking the hand of an auto rickshaw driver as the rickshaw a driver tried to signal a lane change....I have seen my share of crazy drivers in every city but this guy from chennai takes the first prize....watch out for this guy on chennai roads.

[rajeev k]

Saw this school kids on a bike zig-zaging through traffic. seen near Coimbatore some weeks back. This qualifies for bad parents thread too.

[KiloAlpha]

I learned to drive in 1988. Since the mid-1990's, I have found the driving quality steadily deteriorating. Why?

India became steadily more prosperous since 1992. Which means more and more people were able to afford to buy and use vehicles. Earlier, car ownership was the preserve of the upper classes and scooters/bikes were used by the middle classes. In the 1990's, vehicle ownership capability trickled down the economic strata.
At the same time, the driver licensing program has gone from reasonably strict to a farce. This transition started in the 1990's, at the same time that more and more people were able to afford cars/bikes. I remember my aunt in the mid-1980's failing a 30-minute long driving test! Today, one buys a driving license just as one buys a kilo of potatoes.
Combine the two, and you get mayhem. Which is exactly what happens day in and day out on the roads.

Compare that to what happened in the Western world. When cars were first introduced, only the super-rich would buy them. The first driving licenses were "bought" officially in a post office. One filled out a form, paid some money and got a license. After World War II, as prosperity and vehicle ownership increased, the process of obtaining a driving license became tougher and tougher. The exact opposite of what has happened in India.

Which is why traffic in Europe, North America, Japan, etc is that much more disciplined when compared to India.

[rajeev k]

See this bad driver and too dangerous too.
I overtook praying to all gods when he slowed down.