Quote:
Originally Posted by rki2007
Bus driving filthy souls are same in every part of this unfortunate Country. Sorry for using such a language on the forum, but these bus drivers deserve it!! |
It's not just the bus drivers. Truck and auto drivers are another lot. Although there are good drivers among them, such cases are always a rarity rather than a norm.
Another instance of road rage when I had to engage in a fist fight with a truck cleaner, literally! Again, I'm not proud of blurting it out here , but hey, I guess that's why we call it a confession.
This happened in my hometown, Perumbavoor, about 2 months back. Me and my folks were returning from Ernakulam in our Swift after a weekend outing. It was about 7PM. There is a 'court road' at Perumbavoor where a sharp climbing turn with some large potholes in the middle forces one to take a course through the extreme left side of the road. I did the same, and when I did, a huge 10 wheeled Bharat Benz truck decides to overtake me at that moment. The driver clearly miscalculated the maneuver because as the turn straightened, the rear portion of the truck came closer and closer to my car. There's a big wall at the left side of the road, so I couldn't move my car anymore to the left. I honked , flashed my lights and slammed the brakes but alas, the truck's huge rear tyre caught hold of our wheel well and stripped the right part of our front bumper off the car. Clearly infuriated, I got out, went to the driver's side and asked him why he overtook me on a curve. He was very apologetic and told that a vehicle coming from the opposite side forced him to close onto the left. Now enter the hero, the cleaner guy, who jumps out and shouts it's my fault as I was trying to overtake him through the left side. Heated words are exchanged and then he starts to insult me saying that when huge vehicles like his take the road, others should move out or else things like this would happen (of course adding in some filthy language to the mix)! To this, I gave a strong piece of my mind. He was taken aback and shoved me in the chest. The guy was crossing sane limits one by one and I just couldn't help not to retaliate. Gave a piece of my hand and the situation worsens. A cop appears and takes us both to the nearby station and asks us to settle it there. Expecting a neutral stand from the police was a big misconception as we soon find out that the cleaner secretly stashes Vitamin M into the cop's pocket. As the incident happened in our locality, we could make some calls to the necessary persons and soon the police was in our favor. We pressed for charges. Fortunately for us, the truck happened to have a late night commercial run to Hyderabad. If a case was filed, they would end up losing their trip and money. After much negotiations, they paid us Rs 5000/-.
From what I have garnered from such experiences, the basic mentality of these drivers are the same. It's like a psychological algorithm that is put into effect when the situation demands, the steps being :
1. Denial : 'Nope ! It's not my fault. It's all your fault!'
2. Aggression : 'How dare you accuse me of your wrong doing? I'll show you what I can do!'
3. Physical intimidation : 'Take this you....'
4. Garner local support : ' You see! Everyone's on my side!'
If one is lucky to have survived through all these and still stand their ground,
5. Zero balance negotiation : 'See! I don't have a single penny with me. What can I give?'
6. The human touch : ' My wife/daughter/son/sister/neighbor is in hospital! Please understand'
7. The settlement : A rare occurrence, but in the end, both parties are on the losing side.
I have been able to go through all these stages in this single incident, and I pray I don't have to ever again. We were lucky to have taught this guy a lesson, but that was only because it was in our backyard. Had it been somewhere else, the entire story might have been different.
Quote:
Originally Posted by glenmz
True this.
@GKR9900, the hooliganism of the bus drivers extend from the Mannuthy jn till about Avinashi. Once all the lanes of the highway are open, I hope to drive in peace atleast from Coimbatore.
Once around Avinashi (This was when it was still a 2 -lane) a private bus was overtaking a SETC bus which in turn was overtaking a truck! I dont have any words to desctibe them in a public forum. I have to jump the car off the highway to save myself! |
Have seen the horror so many times. Jumping off a cliff is much safer than sharing the roads with these maniacs!!
Had a trip to Palani about 4 months back. Deviated from Vadakkanchery and took the Pollachi- Udumalpet-Palani road. A stark contrast from the rage fuelled mallus, I must say! It was a pleasure driving through those roads. Well laid tarmac, really courteous bus drivers doing sane speeds, slow moving traffic moving out of the way with just a flash of the headlight. And some vast stretches of land on either side of the road. Was a very enjoyable experience!!