Team-BHP - Unusual / funny / heartwarming experiences on the road

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeeva (Post 3226501)

Appreciate you sharing it over here.
Sorry, but I think your action was even far weirder than the "wierdo" as you put. I rather feel bad for the biker. Agree that it was his all his mistake, but that doesn't entitle you to fleece anyone like this. If you were serious about teaching him rules or his faults, you should have taken him to the nearest police station or report the issue to the BTP. Inspite of him being apologetic for his act, you were happy enough to take the money from him, fully aware of the fact that there is no damage to your car whatsoever, and yet call him wierdo, bizzare, cash-rich nutcase?? How weird is this?

Perhaps, your luck and good time was that the biker was a sane person. Perhaps you were even more confident as it was a non-KA bike. What if the person were any of those typical hoodlums with a helmet on? Instead of the happy family dinner with your 2k booty, you might have wounded up in an orthopaedic ward.

Think over it. How indifferent were you from any of those infamous muggers on Bangalore roads?

Quite unbecoming of you and a D-Bhpian!

Wow, a 2 month old post stirred up again (I didn't carry any titles back then). Thanks for a different perspective. Yes, perhaps in hindsight I shouldn't have taken the penalty. I admit to considering it a form of road rage on my behalf, due to him knocking the mirrors rather hard and me being quite irritated about his callous/rash attitude at the spur of the moment. Perhaps I should have put it in the road rage admissions thread instead of this thread. Sorry about that. :) Hope this puts you at ease.

I was just admitting to my bizarre experience because I haven't seen people throwing money and rushing off in a hurry when confronted for mistakes on the road. I don't think we need to get personal about it here, nor do I think we need to get into deep analysis about who is to blame for what. I do sometimes criticize or argue with people who ride/drive rash or come dangerously close with just-misses to my car, irrespective of their number plate, vehicle or stature, because a mistake is a mistake (I need to start curbing this and instead keep my cool). This was a similar incident, just ended bizarrely (and abruptly) for me. Time to move on.

Quote:

Originally Posted by KarthikK (Post 3171606)

first time I came across such a cash-rich nutcase on a bike. I guess he just wanted to avoid the trouble due to no license, non-KA vehicle and all that. Bizarreness to the core!

So you get a decent guy on the road, and you call him a cash rich nutcase? Based on information you gave him, he thought he had damaged your car, and hence gave you the money. you may not have many such people in your circle, but trust me, decent people do exist, who trust others, and are willing to own up on their mistakes.
I am sorry to say this, but what you did was despicable and shameful.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tsk1979 (Post 3226592)

I completely agree with you tsk1979! However, we should also appreciate that Karthik accepts that now when he looks back he finds it mean and not his usual behaviour as a BHPian.

Since it was unfair; like other BHPians, I would suggest Karthik to go ahead spend these 2k now on orphan or needy kids. Buy them some dinner for 3k (add 1k interest/penalty) and earn some good Karma! please:

Like I said before, I do not call my action on that day as ethically correct. I do admit I went overboard with the 'teaching a lesson' thing, which probably wasn't warranted; Thanks for all your views. Will definitely keep my cool on the road and avoid getting into such situations in future. :)

I shared what I thought was bizarre - a guy stuffing money into my hands and fleeing the place when confronted about rash/negligent riding on an illegal vehicle. Cash-rich nutcase?? Yes. Nutcase because of the way he rode and hit my car negligently (I normally flare up when someone damages/attempts to damage my vehicles), cash-rich because he threw the money and fled when the signal went green.

I don't intend to defend what I did. I'm a normal human being after all. I clearly admitted in my previous post also that it was at the spur of the moment, and had I been thinking sensibly at that minute, I would have done better to let the whole thing pass. But maybe, just maybe, deep down I felt my incident taught that rash biker a lesson about having respect for others' property. If you feel my incident was a case of road rage instead of just an 'unusual experience', please move the post to the road rage confessions thread.

P.S - in hindsight, charity does sound like a better idea than a dinner :).

Quote:

Originally Posted by KarthikK (Post 3226672)

Karthik! To err is human and you have won all my respect for being so honest about the incident and having the guts to accept it on a public forum. Respect! :thumbs up

It does annoy me how a biker on a borrowed bike, without license and local registration rides rash so freely on Bangalore roads and flashes currency on being confronted. He did deserve a lesson to be taught.

Quote:

Originally Posted by KarthikK (Post 3226672)

Glad that you understand. On the road, you don't really know whom you are talking to or get involved in a situation. Be safe rather than sorry. At the end of the day, we have our loved ones at home, waiting for us. It's not worth it, my friend.

This is rare heart warming experience giving me goosebumps.

The law college road in Pune in the mornings is everyone's nightmare, more if you are pedestrian. It probably were students , who were trying to cross the road (mind on zebra-crossing stripes), but thanks to the impatient and undisciplined Punelites, it was more a never ending waiting game for them.

I saw them from a distance, when approached I stopped 5 mtrs away and indicated to go ahead. The thumbs up and thankful gestures from the duo followed. A small gesture from me, but the returns in terms of smiles did gave me something to grin and feel good for that day.

I always feel pity for the residents in and around this road, who need to be at mercy of commuters to get on the main road, especially where the road merging is closer to signals.

Place: Near total mall, outer ring road, Bangalore.

I was driving from marathalli towards total mall on the left most service road. Even though the signal was green for me, as I approached the total mall junction, the lady cop gestured me to stop and I did.

Just as I was wondering why she asked me to stop, I saw her screaming furiously and "shooing" away a two wheeler back to where he should have been behind the waiting line on my perpendicular side. The guy was scared and pushed his bike back without a word. After this she turned towards me and asked me to proceed.

I could not help but laugh at his plight and at her fury. I was honestly proud at her authoritative behaviour and gestured a small applause with a huge grin on my face which she noticed and smiled back as if saying "thank you". :D

Felt great that I was a reason for the smile on the cop's face and the icing on the cake was that my girlfriend too was awed by our exchanges. :P

Quote:

Originally Posted by sanstorm (Post 3227407)

I've tried doing this (stopping for letting pedestrians cross the road), but usually nobody on either side of my car stops, and the pedestrians end up getting stuck in the middle of the road, not able to go anywhere. And I'm stuck there with a hundred vehicles honking their horns off behind me. Sad.

Quote:

Originally Posted by vineetmanghani (Post 3238661)

Same case here in my city. However, I do notice that once you stop, instinctively others also slow down. Sometimes they will understand and let the person through. Specially effective during early morning traffic lights when there is no cop around. You stop first and people gradually do end up stopping with you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by KarthikK (Post 3226672)

Like I said before, I do not call my action on that day as ethically correct. I do admit I went overboard with the 'teaching a lesson' thing,

I shared what I thought was bizarre - a guy stuffing money into my hands and fleeing the place when confronted about rash/negligent riding on an illegal vehicle.

P.S - in hindsight, charity does sound like a better idea than a dinner :).

And I thought the 'you damaged my vehicle and now it's going to cost me a bomb' was only for commercial vehicles/autos with the cash pocketed.

OT but if someone gives me excess cash by mistake or more than they owe me I never accept it. I've declined cash from a lady who hit & damaged my bumper. I gave her the usual lecture and forgot about it.

I don't think calling him a cash rich fellow who doesn't earn his own money is unfair. What about honest people who own up to their mistakes? Did you ask him for his papers or did he give you all that additional info by himself? We're so used to being hostile to each other sometimes we mistake genuine gestures as stupidity.

I can understand how sometimes emotions can get the better of a person and you do end up regretting it later. I would also suggest you to earn some karma points by donating an equal or a bigger amount towards a good cause.

The biker was at fault and yes it happens to my car too but since the mirror turns either ways I don't bother beyond a stare and usually if caught next to me the biker generally apologizes.

To keep things cool I've started smiling at people instead of hostile words or looks. Works like a charm with the other fellow smiling back and saying sorry :D

My personal experience : Gurgaon NH 8 toll lanes can be very very long and you don't realize from a distance if you're in an actual line or behind vehicles which have to steer into an actual toll line. I tried to 'indicate' my way to the toll line and after various failed attempts, the next vehicle following up had an elderly lady on the wheel. I smiled at her and said please through gestures. She let me pass. I raised my hand out of the window to say thank you and she smiled again :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by coriollis (Post 2881690)

This happened to me in Mumbai couple of years back.
I To my amazement, the cop denied any bribe. He even denied to penalize me. He said that he liked my honesty to accept an offence and readiness to pay fine. He wanted to be sure that the yelling guy pays his dues before he sets me free. He also said that if you don't give law abiding citizens a chance, How will they be motivated? Just amazing.. clap:
He also said that this will improve the image of Police fraternity.

Cheers.
Abhijeet

I think I met the same cop last week. Same incident just that I was sandwiched between two BEST buses and could not take the left turn. It was peak rush hour. The policeman saw what happened and was considerate not to fine me but did scold the BEST driver for not giving way.

RoS

Quote:

Originally Posted by rohanjf (Post 3226560)

If the biker gave you 2000 Rs readily, he must be getting the money the easy way. Someone else must have worked hard to earn the 2000 Rs for the biker. It could be similar to the cases of luxury cars driven rashly by spoilt kids of well-to-do parents, where the kids do not understand the value of money.

OT: since the incident didn't cause you any monetary loss, how about donating the amount to charity? ;-)

Good idea. I once found a brand new Rs 1000 note on the street in Hyderabad, saved it up and deposited it in Tirupati hundi(couldn't find a reliable charity; wasn't sure what a beggar would have made of it if I had donated Rs 1000 !)

I had a very unique and heartwarming experience yesterday in Ahmedabad. Since I have come here for a couple of weeks, I decided against bringing my car. Traveling in autos in Ahmedabad is quite easy as they always charge by meter and never refuse to take one to his/her destination. Yesterday (even today), it was raining very heavily and I was looking for an Auto (three-wheeler). Due to the water-logging and traffic-jam, there were less autos on the street. After 5 minutes, an auto stopped and I asked him if he can drop me to Shivranjini. The auto driver told me that he has to drop lunch at some place and has another booking, still asked me to get in. He then took me through the water-logged section and while driving, he informed that due to the water-logging autos aren't coming towards this side and I wouldn't have found one where I was waiting. He took me to BRTS stand near Marriott Hotel and informed that I can easily find an auto here. Very courteously, he informed that he would have dropped me but then the person for whom he is carrying the lunch would miss his lunch hours. I said, it's ok and took out my wallet to pay. He refused to accept the payment and said "Kya Sir, itne se ke liye kya paise lena" (how can I accept payment for such a short distance). I insisted him to take the money, but he refused as he had not dropped me to my destination. He waved me bye with a smile and went without taking the money.

There are zillions of posts on this forum bashing auto-drivers and calling them names, thus I thought it's important that I share this experience. Some of them (irrespective of how rare) are really nice people. :)