[Desmosedici]

Originally Posted by Vishbull_6157

This is the most hilarious thing I have heard in all these motoring years. However , this may surprise many , there is an offense in MV act 1988 , 177 which says improper use of headlight is an offense and can attract a penalty fine of Rs 100 But again, improper usage is not defined and can be subjective. Please find the link for penalties under MVA

http://transport.bih.nic.in/Penalties.htm

In my experience, once you are caught and if they really want to fine you, they will find one way or the another to do that. If not anything, then they will fine for rash driving, lane cutting and such charges cannot be easily challenged. So although unwillingly, we have to pay the money.

Thats the main culprit, the Law. These laws are so vague or ambiguous that the cops can use it the way they want it too.

e.g. Improper usage of headlights should be using bright lights, HIDs, higher wattage bulbs etc but here its a different story.

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by amit

The point is: Is it really ILLEGAL to have your headlights on during day / evening time unless it's raining heavily? Also, how are you going to define heavy rains? First this country makes subjective laws and then harasses law abiding citizens like us!

Amit
The fact is you were a soft target for the cops. Had you been a litte stiff in your arguments, the cops would have thought twice befiore fining you. You should have asked under which sections was the violations and told them that you would verify it on the internet and if found misleading would take them to their seniors. No way it is illegal to drive around with headlamps on. What the cops did was surely illegal.

Desmosdeci - Find attached the MV act for reference.

[Jignesh]

Originally Posted by amit

The point is: Is it really ILLEGAL to have your headlights on during day / evening time unless it's raining heavily? Imagine trying to explain to the cops that the car automatically switches on it's headlights depending on the light outside! Even measly Linea's and XUV's have these features now.

Hello Amit,

Forget about legality of keeping the Headlights on or not during daytime. The team of cops was just short of their daily / monthly fine collection target & you were the the victim of their greed. Nothing else.
Otherwise there are many actually illegal things that motorists / bikers do, but cops never bother to catch & fine them. The laws in this country are never black & white. They are purely subjective & left for the office on the ground to decide what is actually right or wrong.

When it comes to automatic lights & LED lights in headlight cluster, couple of months back I read that in some country LED lights in headlight cluster are believed to have brought down the number of accidents.

Thanks,

[amit]

What I would like to know is what the chalan states as the offense - I don't believe there is any rule for this "offense".

As Ninjatalli asked what does it say on the challan?

This happened in last year monsoons, from what I remember, the challah said Section 177 of the MV Act.

Do you have the receipt?

I thought of mailing it to the media and senior cops but I doubt these things are given the seriousness they deserve even by the media.

there is an offense in MV act 1988 , 177 which says improper use of headlight is an offense and can attract a penalty fine of Rs 100 But again, improper usage is not defined and can be subjective. Please find the link for penalties under MVA

Yes the challan did say 177.

and can you let me know where exactly you were stopped. If i go to Pune next, i shall also try keeping my headlights on irrespective of the time. Lets see what happens.

This happened right after the Chakan/Talegaon toll plaza on the way towards Mumbai. Many times, there are a number of cops waiting after the toll plaza.

Another incident happened in April this year when after a curve on the expressway going towards pune suddenly I saw a 2 cops almost standing on the road with speed guns. I think I was doing about 90kmph on the expressway which is a 80kmph road. Though I could have driven off I stopped like a foolish law abiding citizen. One of the cop came and said I was overspeeding. I told him I was just 10kmph over the limit but there are other cars zooming past which are not stopping even though they are being flagged down. I was given some gyan then on how when you cast a net in the sea, you net some fish while other's get away!

I told him it was not right to fine me for doing just 10kmph over the limit while there were cars going at 150kmph past us that very moment. Very calmly, the cop said, "fine, pay Rs.100 and go." I was not even asked for my licence eventually.

[pallis]

Originally Posted by Jignesh

Somewhere down the line we as a society in general have lost the virtues of discipline & concern for others.

But in general this is the problem of over-supply of people & lack of resources. An average citizen is equally frustrated in his / her own public life (e.g. travel in local bus / trains) that he leaves no chance to let go of his anger on somebody & anybody.

Agree with the above observation. Bikes, taxis, pedestrians... and car drivers too, blatantly violate traffic rules. Last week, LBS Marg towards Sion has seen massive traffic jams, almost a km from the Dharavi T-junction. Most of us waited and crawled, taking nearly 40mins to cover the kilometre but a bunch of folks - cars and bikes - just took the opposite lane (often creating a chaos for oncoming vehicles). Worse, they tried to insert themselves in the proper lane just before the signal, further slowing everyone else down.

Yes, everyone wants to reach home early but I don't understand what gives some people the impression that they need to get ahead of everyone else! Another inexplicable behaviour at (red) signals is that of inching forward and blocking vehicles which have the right of way, so as to gain 10-20 seconds of time? I wonder what life's greatness they seek to achieve with all the minutes they gain every day.

While lack of adequate resource supply is a reason, I feel that this indiscipline is caused due to no fear of consequences. The cops wait (hide) at the other side of the signal, hoping to fleece some money from you rather than to prevent riders / drivers breaking the rules. Even then a small bribe can get you off, without any impact on your ability to drive in future (license). The situation, I fear, is not going to change with 'education'. Immediate / visible punishments (punitive fines, license cancelations, etc.) are a must to send a strong message that indiscipline on roads will not be tolerated.

/Rant

[Jignesh]

Hello All,

Western express highway is once again jamed packed today morning & traffic is moving dead slow. Traffic has piled up right from Domestic airport till Sai Dham temple in Kandivali.

Today's traffic is unique in a sense that vehicles are literally crawling & there is not even a single stretch where one can drive at speeds above 20 KMPH.

Thanks,

[carzone]

Originally Posted by Jignesh

Hello All,

Western express highway is once again jamed packed today morning & traffic is moving dead slow. Traffic has piled up right from Domestic airport till Sai Dham temple in Kandivali.

Today's traffic is unique in a sense that vehicles are literally crawling & there is not even a single stretch where one can drive at speeds above 20 KMPH.

Thanks,

The reason for the pileup?
I have driven in this rush hour a couple of times, and believe me, I would rather choose sitting in a crowded bus rather than DRIVE at 10kmph.

Isn't it hightime that we have smart signals in Mumbai at these junctions that detect the traffic density and modify the signal timings accordingly. With the invent of Google traffic, it would be a bit more easy if one does not want to rely on sensors and other hardware.

[Jignesh]

Originally Posted by carzone

The reason for the pileup?

Hello Carzone,

No idea about yesterday's traffic pile up.

But the bad news is today the traffic scene on Western Express is similar to yesterday, i.e. dead slow between JVLR Flyover & Sai Dham Temple, Kandivali. The reason for today's pile-up is a broken down truck on middle of JVLR fly-over. Pity to see that in financial capital of country a single truck can cause traffic dead lock for 10 kms on one of the most important highway in the city.

Further Milind nagar pot holes still haunts & traffic continues to be dead slow between SEEPZ to Milind Nagar signal. People (cars) take more than 30 minutes to cross this stretch of road of 1.2 kms

Thanks,

[EagleEye]

Originally Posted by Jignesh

Further Milind nagar pot holes still haunts & traffic continues to be dead slow between SEEPZ to Milind Nagar signal. People (cars) take more than 30 minutes to cross this stretch of road of 1.2 kms

I don't know whether it has been mentioned in this thread, but it's worth mentioning again:
The potholes on the Western Express Highway Bandra flyover (towards north side) are really the bone wrenching type. Cars slow down to crawling speeds here and as a result it takes a very long time to cross that stretch with vehicles crowding around the entry to the flyover and not being able to get on.

Wish BMC takes care of this soon.

[BertieWoosert]

Folks, from your experience how accurate or rather real-time is google maps for Mumbai traffic? For example - today it was showing a jam from Hub mall to JVLR in the morning around 10.40 am, but actually there was no traffic, and the distance was covered in less than 5 minutes. Its not too useful if it shows information delayed by more than few minutes for regular use (other than to maybe alert about extreme traffic conditions).

[Dieseltuned]

Originally Posted by BertieWoosert

Folks, from your experience how accurate or rather real-time is google maps for Mumbai traffic? For example - today it was showing a jam from Hub mall to JVLR in the morning around 10.40 am, but actually there was no traffic, and the distance was covered in less than 5 minutes. Its not too useful if it shows information delayed by more than few minutes for regular use (other than to maybe alert about extreme traffic conditions).

try using the traffline website (link available through the mumbai traffic police website home page). this link is pretty accurate. I am a regular user of JVLR and rely on traffline for regular updates.

Regards
Dieseltuned

[EagleEye]

Originally Posted by BertieWoosert

Folks, from your experience how accurate or rather real-time is google maps for Mumbai traffic? For example - today it was showing a jam from Hub mall to JVLR in the morning around 10.40 am, but actually there was no traffic, and the distance was covered in less than 5 minutes. Its not too useful if it shows information delayed by more than few minutes for regular use (other than to maybe alert about extreme traffic conditions).

In my experience the GMaps Traffic is highly accurate. Never had any problems with it. To get the best out of it, one must understand how it functions. There are two sources that the feature draws its data from:
1) Historical Data: Average traffic at a particular point at a particular time of day and day of week recorded over several months using satellite imagery.
2) Real-time Data: This is using crowd-sourcing - your phone, along with anyone else's that uses GMaps in that area transmits the average speed you're traveling at to the Google servers.

Using these two, they can arrive at a pretty accurate picture. For example I was at Marine drive one Saturday at 2.30 am and GMaps showed one small stretch (maybe 500-600 mts) of heavy traffic and light traffic before and after that. I thought it would be an error, but when I reached there it turned out that there was police checking going on and the traffic was practically crawling, just in that small stretch.


However, if there are not many phones using GMaps in the area you're driving in, the app uses historical data to fill in. And in the particular example you mentioned, it makes sense because usually in the mornings the distance between Hub mall and JVLR is jam packed with vehicles which got reflected in the app.

[ghodlur]

A word of caution to motorists using the JVLR - coming to Powai from EE highway. Immediately after the IIT main gate signal, there is a open/damaged drain (middle lane). Please be extra careful, saw an Alto going over this damaged portion and bobbing like anything. The chap came to an instant halt right in the middle of the road and got down to inspect the damage. The car was saved by a whisker from getting rear ended when he halted.

[Desmosedici]

TOI page 8. Biker dies at Malad East due to a big pothole. What more can we say about the authorities. Selfish people.

Bikers, please be careful while riding. Add huge potholes to watchout for apart from traffic light breakers, pedestrians running, cows dogs cats and what not on the road

[PPS]

^^ BMC is more concerned about SRK's surrogate baby, they are least bothered about filling up potholes !