[MMV]

Few observations..

As is common in all cities people (read cars) do line up on one side of road for a major right turn, entry to a mall etc. Mostly the road will have 2/3 lanes thereby reducing space for people going straight as one lane is booked by the right turners.

Interestingly I have observed that always few smart fellows bypasses the queue and then crowds at the corner for right turn and they succeeds 99% of the times. All those who patiently waited for the turn may feel they were taken advantage of.

The fact is also that if few cars crowd the corner, the people in queue has no other option but to let that car move ahead in the larger interest, else it may end in a traffic block.

Unless we have traffic police manning all such corners and refusing right turn for the 'smart movers' dont think there is a solution to this habit.

[apachelongbow]

Originally Posted by Hayek

How can it change? It has to start with the affluent, realising that a dysfunctional society will lead to a smaller pie for all of us, and deciding to change starting with ourselves. Let each of us follow traffic rules, even if others don't. Let each of us pay our taxes correctly - which includes getting a registration transferred from DL to KA if we are moving for more than 6 months (or 1 month or whatever else the law says). Tell our neighbour who has the Porsche or Audi registered in JH that we consider what they are doing stealing. We can campaign to change the law - eg to get the speed limits on the Worli Bandra sea link raised or for one country - one tax rate, but must follow the law till it changes.

Unless we are willing to do it that, in every aspect of our life, India is not going to change. And such threads are pointless. Sorry for the rant

Subjects will imitate the rulers. If anything has to change, it has to come from the top. The government needs to think, question, and revise all archic rules, created by British to rule a colony. This includes stupid rules of paying road tax to every state and being harassed by all and sundry. Only when we have simple, straightforward and modern rules, we can then eliminate purposeful corruptors like the local police. Once systems are in place and people see that it is so easy to get work done by following the law, they will not feel the need to break it or bribe their way out.

[lazy]

Hi

In my opinion, only the following 2 things can make Indians follow traffic rules:
1. SEVERE MONETARY PENALTY
2. PUBLIC DISGRACE

Reasons:
1. Culturally, Indians are obsessed with hoarding wealth (due to centuries of loot by invaders etc). Not only we covet wealth, we also deify people who have wealth, irrespective of whether such wealth has been acquired through dishonest means. So, any step that makes Indians part with their money automatically becomes an effective disciplinary tool.
2. The other thing that Indians care deeply about is public opinion/image. Again, our society places significant importance to "societal approval and/or validation" of our actions. Damage to this image becomes a powerful tool to enforce discipline.

Both above need to feature in an effective action, only one will not suffice.
Education, awareness, moral lessons etc just doesn't work with Indians.

cheers
lazy

[princey]

My two cents.
Strict Enforcement of Rules.
Little else will work here.
Cheers.

[sanjaykk]

Sums up the situation right? While we talk about enforcement, the basic message itself is lost in the crowd.

[nishantbhatia84]

All over the world, there is one COMMON factor that makes people stick to traffic rules i.e FEAR!! Yes! FEAR is the golden word!
- Fear of high penalties
- Fear of driving license suspension / cancellation
- Fear of going to jail
These are a few factors that keeps most people off violating traffic rules - and it's working well!
Let's take a few examples:
Dubai -- DHS 250 fine for jumping a signal!
Muscat -- 50 Rials + 24hrs in jail for jumping a signal

Unless we have drastic penalties here, it's almost impossible to impletment traffic rules!!

[ringoism]

Agree that strict enforcement would be great (certainly helps me stay carefully in line when I'm driving abroad), but the resources required to do it are massive, and as mentioned earlier, corruption can get in the way.

I've seen that MEDIA can be a powerful tool in some contexts, and probably increasingly so as the e-culture expands. Take the issue of littering on highways: in the land of my childhood, it was a significant problem a few decades ago, yet is quite rare now. At some point a federally-funded public-service "awareness" production was aired repeatedly on TV over the course of perhaps a few years: It showed a traditionally-dressed Native American on horseback, negotiating through pristine, unmarred wilderness... until he came to a bluff overlooking a filth-strewn national highway, whereupon he gazed sadly, and a single tear streamed down his weathered cheek...

That was it.

And I suppose it did more to reduce littering than a lot of additional fines and enforcement might have; I never have met anyone of that land fined for littering, but EVERYBODY from my generation remembers that image and its message.

I do wonder whether the same couldn't be done here re: traffic safety, etc. There is SO much sadness out there as a result of preventable road accidents... and if people see that "It can happen to YOU" is a reality - that there's a cause/effect reality attached to their actions - that it really can affect them and people they love personally (even if they could care less about anyone else), perhaps it could have some positive effect. Potentially more powerful to inspire and awake conscience (if that's possible) than to force people into grudging submission.

Re: social activism, there were also large Student and Mother-based volunteer organizations devoted to the cause of reducing drunk driving, which proved largely effective both towards creating awareness and to putting pressure on public agencies (police and lawmakers both) to take the crime seriously. I remember hearing redneck-sorts (whom I once sold a car to) lament the passing of an era: "Oh yeah, those were the good ol' days - I can remember driving through town from one end to the other so drunk I could hardly see... Can't do that anymore..."

All this to say that a basic psychological shift is not completely impossible, at least it wasn't in that context.

I do not pretend, however, to be an expert in subcontinental psychology...



-Eric

[driverace]

Challenging the authority works?
It seemed to work here in Pune, and I am SURPRISED!

Guy tells cops to remove film from COP CAR & they oblige!!

Another confrontation video about tinted films on another COP CAR

Ace.

[itinerant]

First of all, I hope I am posting this in the right thread. This is the only one I found that comes close to what I am about to share. But I will request the mods to move it if there is a more appropriate thread for this.

So, a traffic police man visited me this morning at my residence with a challan. He claimed that I was found over-speeding by a camera on the 18th of September at some location in Delhi. I was taken aback because this was a news to me. I am aware of only two ways in which the Delhi traffic police collect challans. One, you are stopped and challenged on the spot. Two, you receive a challan on by post and given the date by which you have to deposit the challan.
Anyway, I invited this gentleman in and had a long conversation with him. He told me that this is a new way in which the traffic police has started to collect the challan for two reasons. One, this is more cost effective. And two, because this is more effective. I asked for his ID which he showed to me. It looked legit with all the details including the constable number etc. I talked to him and he came across as someone who knew what he was talking about. I asked him what happens if I refuse to pay the fine right now. He gave me the steps as to how it will then go to the court, I will receive two summons, and if I do not turn up despite that, a warrant. I decided to pay and he gave me a receipt from one of those machines that traffic police constables carry in Delhi these days. The receipt also appears to be pretty legit.

I am sharing this so I can be sure if this is really something that the Delhi traffic police has started to do, or actually a cheater has pulled a fast one on me?

Thanks.

[nitheeshsreeram]

Mods please advise me if this is the wrong thread. The post is regarding a strange experience I had when I was driving in Surat (my first time). So I am driving down canal road, the roads are excellent as is the case with most roads in Gujarat. Now there are a good number of traffic signals on this route and I stop at every red although people whizz past me. I think well maybe its cause of the less traffic. Then at one red I get incessant honking, in the rvm I see a police Jeep.So I give way. The police Jeeps pulls up to my side and gives me an earful and some angry gestures. All for following traffic rules.

Bhpians from Surat, is this normal, did I do something wrong.

[poised2drive]

Originally Posted by nitheeshsreeram

Mods please advise me if this is the wrong thread. The post is regarding a strange experience I had when I was driving in Surat (my first time).

This is not the right thread as far as I know .
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street...o-through.html

This seems right !

Originally Posted by nitheeshsreeram

So I am driving down canal road, the roads are excellent as is the case with most roads in Gujarat. Now there are a good number of traffic signals on this route and I stop at every red although people whizz past me. I think well maybe its cause of the less traffic. Then at one red I get incessant honking, in the rvm I see a police Jeep.So I give way. The police Jeeps pulls up to my side and gives me an earful and some angry gestures. All for following traffic rules.

Bhpians from Surat, is this normal, did I do something wrong.

Not that you don't know, but just saying - was the police siren on / the beacon running ?

Though I know how cops' behaviour can cross the limits of ignominy if we try to reason with them, you should have tried it if you're confident enough that you did no mistake.

[nitheeshsreeram]

Originally Posted by poised2drive

Not that you don't know, but just saying - was the police siren on / the beacon running ?

Though I know how cops' behaviour can cross the limits of ignominy if we try to reason with them, you should have tried it if you're confident enough that you did no mistake.

No there were no sirens blaring and in any case the left lane was free. I am new to Gujarat and dont have any knowledge of the language so did not say anything to the cops