Team-BHP > Road Safety


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Old 4th June 2008, 11:48   #76
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Originally Posted by esteem_lover View Post
I would call this another sermon with a real story to go with it. You could afford to spend 300 rs a day for your drive to office whereas we are talking of people who cannot afford to pay more than 500-600 a month for their kids' transportation. Every parent is willing to endure stress, but there are limits to monetary stress. Hope you are able to think out of your world.
You can go ahead and call it whatever you like. The point was the willingness to stretch and put the kids' comfort before my own. People who cannot afford 500-600 a month for their kids' transportation, certainly have other options. Give me one real life example and I will give you a list of options that are practical and certainly do-able. The only hurdle with those options would be the need for the parent(s) to compromise on their comfort.

And BTW, I did exactly the same thing - moved to a place close to school - way back in 1994,when my elder daughter was 5 and when I was earning around Rs.3000 a month. The price I paid then was to use a bicycle to get to work ~ 8kms one way. I did exactly the same thing now, but just use a different mode of transport. My kids are now 19 and 14, but their comfort and safety is important to me.

My point is not about affordabilty or monetary stress. It is about the parent(s) willingness to put the child's safety over and above everything else.

Cheers,

Rajan

Last edited by PatchyBoy : 4th June 2008 at 11:50.
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Old 4th June 2008, 11:56   #77
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As you very well know Team-BHPians are a really blessed lot.
Not each and every team-BHP ian is blessed.

Thats again a ground reality.
Getting real is tough, but then there ( now out of team-BHPians ) many people who just about manage to get sufficient fuel to fill in their 100cc bikes, and then how can one expect to take kid by car ? They are not irresponsible, but then they have to send kids like this ( i.e. 12-14 kids in one rickshaw ).
There are no other alternatives. They tend to struggle to meet the requirements for the most basic necessities, so getting all the things to perfection is not something they can afford.

Some of them might be aware of the safety hazard Samurai has pointed out, and it is very, very dangerous, but then even after understanding this, they just have to plunge into the safety risk. As long as ignorance factor is kept in, there are many who are ignorant about this and those who try to make them aware of the risk will be termed Fools by them.
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Old 4th June 2008, 12:01   #78
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Originally Posted by Ho0ligaN View Post
haha, these days its battered old rickety omnis running on LPG that does the job, I hardly see school autos these days. Apparently parents feel omni is safer than autos coz it has like a shell or something. but what they dont realize is that it can do higher speeds than auto and the drivers driving them are monumetally insane.
There was a recent incident in Bombay when an LPG (or was it CNG?) Omni school van caught fire and exploded killing several kids. I would rather stick with overcrowded ricks than LPG vehicles !!
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Old 4th June 2008, 12:04   #79
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There was a recent incident in Bombay when an LPG (or was it CNG?) Omni school van caught fire and exploded killing several kids. I would rather stick with overcrowded ricks than LPG vehicles !!
most ricks run on either LPG or CNG atleast here in Hyderabad.
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Old 4th June 2008, 12:04   #80
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Originally Posted by spadival View Post
There was a recent incident in Bombay when an LPG (or was it CNG?) Omni school van caught fire and exploded killing several kids. I would rather stick with overcrowded ricks than LPG vehicles !!
We have LPG/CNG ricks. CNG buses. CNG/LPG Omnis. Overcrowded local trains from which people hang out in numbers that would put the Autos being discussed here to shame. Overcrowded private buses driven by lunatics.

How many of these will we avoid? Bring back the cycle-rickshaw!!!
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Old 4th June 2008, 12:12   #81
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Its very easy for well to do people to claim moral high ground, Isn't it ?
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Old 4th June 2008, 12:16   #82
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When I was young, we were not very well off. I rode the schoolbus for a few years, then the BEST bus till I got a bicycle in the 8th standard.

The pretty well-off kids came in the rickshaw cattle cart or in their parents' cars.
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Old 4th June 2008, 12:22   #83
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Originally Posted by PatchyBoy View Post
My point is not about affordabilty or monetary stress. It is about the parent(s) willingness to put the child's safety over and above everything else.
Exactly. Safety does only come to those with a full stomach. What is the shame in that? Why is everyone going on about affordability and who is blessed and who is not.

It is not safe for a 2 year old to sleep on a sidewalk with his head 10 centimetres away from moving car tyres. Yet thousands of Indian children sleep this way.

So??

Should guys with homes all start feeling bad now when they advise that children should sleep on a bed in a room with walls and windows?

I think the point being made by the author of the thread is:

Would you send your child in a rickshaw cattle cart IF you could afford a better option?

I don't think the question of affordability is being discussed. Luxury is a relative thing.

Why take offense when someone says Team-BHPians are blessed? They are!!

Nevermind your cars, your bikes, your jobs, your cameras and computers that you write your posts on, there are people who cannot afford the chairs you are sitting on as you read my post.

While you rack your brain thinking of a suitable clever reply to my post, there are people who are worrying if their family will eat today. You are blessed!!

Last edited by Sam Kapasi : 4th June 2008 at 12:32.
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Old 4th June 2008, 12:24   #84
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Till about 4th standard, my father used to drop me to school in his scooter and I used to walk back home. Then I graduated to a cycle from 5th standard. I was the first and the only one in the whole damn school who rode a cycle to school and back. Since the school wouldnt allow cycles, I parked at a relatives house close to the school.

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Originally Posted by Steeroid View Post
How many of these will we avoid? Bring back the cycle-rickshaw!!!
LOL.. Actually thats a wonderfull idea. Reminds me of my Gurgaon days where there were plenty of cycle rickshaws and few auto rickshaws.
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Old 4th June 2008, 12:31   #85
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Originally Posted by Sam Kapasi View Post
Safety does only come to those with a full stomach. What is the shame in that?

It is not safe for a 2 year old to sleep on a sidewalk with his head 10 centimetres away from moving car tyres. Yet thousands of Indian children sleep this way.

So??

Should guys with homes all start feeling bad now when they advise that children should sleep on a bed in a room with walls and windows?

I think the point being made by the author of the thread is:

Would you send your child in a rickshaw cattle cart IF you could afford a better option?

I don't think the question of affordability is being discussed. Luxury is a relative thing. There are people who cannot afford the chairs you are sitting on as you read my post.
Sam,

Thanks for understanding

Cheers,

Rajan

Last edited by PatchyBoy : 4th June 2008 at 12:44.
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Old 4th June 2008, 12:33   #86
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Originally Posted by PatchyBoy View Post
Sam,

I wish you had taken time to read my entire post.
So do I. I was supporting you.
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Old 4th June 2008, 12:34   #87
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Quote:
Originally Posted by srishiva View Post
Its very easy for well to do people to claim moral high ground, Isn't it ?
Why is this discussion turning into a have vs have-not issue? Just because somebody has multiple cars, don't assume things. My parents never had a car, my dad just owned one Lambretta all his life. Yet, our family never indulged in risky 4 people in a scooter behavior. My dad used to do 3 trips if dropping was absolutely necessary. Otherwise, my parents used to take the scooter and my brother and I used to walk. Damn, until I got my cycle, I used to walk to everywhere.

PS: Lambretta had two separate seats, so it was not possible to put a child in the middle in sandwich position.

One doesn't have to be rich to practice safety in everyday life. Some of you make it sound as if safety is a privilege of the rich.
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Old 4th June 2008, 12:37   #88
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Originally Posted by PatchyBoy View Post
And BTW, I did exactly the same thing - moved to a place close to school - way back in 1994,when my elder daughter was 5 and when I was earning around Rs.3000 a month. The price I paid then was to use a bicycle to get to work ~ 8kms one way. I did exactly the same thing now, but just use a different mode of transport. My kids are now 19 and 14, but their comfort and safety is important to me.

My point is not about affordabilty or monetary stress. It is about the parent(s) willingness to put the child's safety over and above everything else.
Rajan, you might have been a good father with whatever means you had, do you realise there is night & day difference between 1994 and 2008 ? In 1994, you could board a bus in any city & get off after 25 minutes & you would have travelled at least 12 kms. Now for the same time, you would have just negotiated a couple of junctions. The 3000 at that time is worth 20000 today. The innocent days are over dear friend.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Steeroid View Post
We have LPG/CNG ricks. CNG buses. CNG/LPG Omnis. Overcrowded local trains from which people hang out in numbers that would put the Autos being discussed here to shame. Overcrowded private buses driven by lunatics.
And how many of us would travel in any of those ? We seem to be a creamy lot whose job is always to look down on people around us, pass judgments & make sweeping statements.

Agreed safety need not be expensive, but it is just that no one can say that those parents care less about their children.

Last edited by esteem_lover : 4th June 2008 at 12:42.
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Old 4th June 2008, 13:03   #89
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Originally Posted by Sam Kapasi View Post
So do I. I was supporting you.
Sorry Sam. I re-read your post then went ahead and changed my post, but I guess it was too late already.

Cheers,
Rajan
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Old 4th June 2008, 13:06   #90
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Steeroid
We have LPG/CNG ricks. CNG buses. CNG/LPG Omnis. Overcrowded local trains from which people hang out in numbers that would put the Autos being discussed here to shame. Overcrowded private buses driven by lunatics. How many of these will we avoid?
We can keep discussing for days and might not reach a conclusion about safe modes of transport for kids or whether there are options for priveleged or under-priveleged parents in ensuring safe transportation for their kids.

But I think we would agree on one thing being the root cause for all these problems - which is, our breeding like rabbits. The population explosion is at the root of most of our problems - public transport being inadequate, roads being congested, resources not being enough for everyone etc.
Till we address this issue, nothing much is going to change here.

One valid suggestion I see here is : Either move your home closer to the school where your kids are studying or if that is not possible, move your kids to a school near your home.

BTW, my BIL and family moved to Cochin last week and I am so glad he rented a home which is just 5-mins walk from my niece's school. No more autos or qualis-es for her. My sis can walk her to school and get her back home.

Last edited by supremeBaleno : 4th June 2008 at 13:13.
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