[ads1485]

Hi All,

I live in Mumbai and I absolutely hate the state of traffic in the city.

I know the infrastructure of the city is partly to blame for our traffic woes, but I believe that the main reason for a lot of problems, is the INCONSIDERATE, APATHETIC, SHORT SIGHTED & LAZY nature of people who drive, ride, cycle and even walk on the roads.

Cars & lorries parked on busy roads, scooterists/bikers going the wrong way, spitters, litterbugs, jaywalkers...you name it and we have it, on the roads of our great nation.

Me and a couple of friends decided to do something about it.

We took inspiration from the popular Russian Youth Movement - "Stop a Douchebag" and went around the city asking traffic rule violators, why they do what they do.

In a lot of instances, when we found people blatantly and flagrantly violating rules and being an all round menace, we asked them to stop what they were doing.

The conclusions we drew were simple -

1. People violate traffic rules, because they are too inconsiderate and lazy to do the right thing.

2. The vast majority of traffic problems in the city, are due to the people themselves.

We carried a camera along and filmed the whole thing.

I'm posting the first video that we have made, for you all to see the mythical creatures, known as "Ugly Indians."

In time, we hope that with enough support, we are able to make an official movement and start taking more direct action, along the lines of the people who run "Stop a Douchebag" (They stick large ugly stickers on windshields of vehicles who refuse to follow the rules and generally act like hooligans).

Anyway, without further ado, I present to you our video, so that you may judge the state of affairs for yourself -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nl_-zQsRMhY

[Su-47]

What's amazing is that most of these people don't even think that they are doing anything wrong. Basic road rules/manners should be a part of primary education.

[ajayclicks]

Originally Posted by Su-47

What's amazing is that most of these people don't even think that they are doing anything wrong. Basic road rules/manners should be a part of primary education.

No they don't think that they are doing anything wrong. I had mentioned this in some other thread specific to Bangalore- every morning, I come across 2 wheelers where a parent is riding on the wrong side, and/or breaking a signal, usually without helmet, to drop his/her kid to school. Any bets on how the child will ride/drive when she or she grows up?

I agree on point #2. Many years ago, a family friend, whose kids emigrated abroad, came visiting. Was mentioning how all these things were taught in his granddaughter's school (she was in nursery then), and how she used to howl at her dad, when he broke a redlight or whatever- "Dad- you broke a redlight- they taught us at school that it was not ok to do that"!

[Mortis]

Excellent initiative ! I just hope I dont get caught by you guys one day :P ! As such the replies and results were expected from the usual Mumbai public.

[dark.knight]

Originally Posted by ads1485

1. People violate traffic rules, because they are too inconsiderate and lazy to do the right thing.

2. The vast majority of traffic problems in the city, are due to the people themselves.

We carried a camera along and filmed the whole thing.

It took you over a dozen face to face interviews to conclude points 1. and 2.? I could've told you those facts instantly.

While I appreciate that you did something that others normally don't, by going outside and questioning the people, the hard fact is that Mumbai has close to 2 crores of population, out of which maybe there are about 50-60+ lakh motorists in various forms i.e outstation (Pune and surrounding cities, those from Gujarat, Goa etc), two wheelers, cabbies, bus drivers etc. You can at best interview a couple of hundred, ok a thousand motorists after a lot of hard work, of them 50% will vehemently deny their mistake or get aggressive with you.. the other 50% will either cower and run or apologise and say "aage se nahi hoga aise" (wont happen again) and maybe 1% of those may mean it when they say it.

The problem with India is as obvious as the sun blasting light on us during daytime.. the number of people. You're talking of spitting, but just over a decade back one'd see sights of men with their legs stretched apart in front of walls and thick foliage relieving themselves with spirited abandon, those sights luckily are few and far between these days. The country has to evolve and it'll take time.. today spitting is common and fashionable specially amongst cabbies who go to great lengths of opening doors/windows when parked in traffic to do the deed, one day hopefully they all might realise that it's wrong as well. As far as traffic goes, I've observed one thing.. man by nature is a mimicking organism, one goes fast and others follow just as fast, one crosses the light illegally and others follow suit, one breaks the one-way rule and others would deem it their right to do so as well.

Between the 3 major cities of the country (Del, Ban, Mum) we have well over 2 crore vehicles plying. Its a sad situation because when chaos strikes people only add to it, they find ways to exploit it instead of repairing it. Innocent motorists too become a victim of such violators, for example once I had to cross the green signal even though I knew that a bus is clearly blocking the path ahead and a couple of us did get stuck behind it since the bus ate up the time, another time I took a one-way violator head-on by blocking his two-wheeler (since I had no space to move) and even going to the extent of getting out and walking his direction as he used some aggressive language.. I would've sorted him out but then the traffic police came and shouted at me instead to move the car before hauling the violator away and other motorists behind me urged me to move ahead as well. Bottom-line is Indian roads are chaos, a free for all rampage and something which will make absolutely no sense to those studying them.

Maybe every so often people like yourself will come out and try to take this force of nature full on.. but its fury knows no bounds. I for one am happy being a mute spectator, whenever I inevitably have to enter the mouth of hell.

[deep_bang]

Great initiative. You know what.. we all complain. But you went ahead and did something - i appreciate that a lot. Thanks.

[DuHasstMich]

Great work, having a camera also helps in ensuring there are no aggressive responses. In our country such moral policing can go a long way by assisting the police, who are in acute shortage!
The biggest surprise is that it's not just the uneducated who follow such practices, you will find such morons in abundance even near IT parks, driving even luxury cars!

[aamateen46]

Concluding that Indian roads are chaos does not help us progress. Factors like over-population or mimicking nature should not be a show-stopper to change people for the better.
Only way I see something work effectively is to "strictly implement" punishment for violators. Be it steep fines, confiscating vehicles, cancelling licenses, jail time, etc.

On seeing such levels of "danda" frequently from law enforcement officials, hopefully our mimicking nature will help in sorting out our attitude much faster than imagined.

[Tanveer_2558]

Amazing! Keep it up please! We need more people like you guys, We cannot expect the cops to do everything, We should also take matter in our own hands like this, Great work guys!

On the other hand, Listening to such lame excuses were expected, You can find probably thousands of people breaking such law everyday, Specially the two wheelers and people who park their car on the road causing traffic pile up!

[asit.kulkarni93]

I have been following stop a douchebag since they started. I always wondered if I could do something similar in Pune. But the usual confrontation taught me that people barely know any rules and think they are right. Infact I confronted a doctors driver yesterday at Deenanth Mangeshkar Hospital when he was honking inside the hospital premises. According to him he did nothing wrong and does it everyday. I just left with a puzzled look.

But you sir have started it and I really appreciate that. I hope the traffic police helps you too. Keep up the good work

Asit

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by ads1485

Me and a couple of friends decided to do something about it.

Personally, I am glad you did. This is the kind of citizen activism we wish to see in every city across the country. Do make sure you get the registration plates of every violator on video. And deployment of multiple cameras would be a good idea too. Does the Mumbai Traffic Police top brass know that you folks are doing this, and have you sought their support yet?

Just one word of caution, though. I don't know about Mumbai, but Delhi has a long history of road rage leading to fatalities, and activism like this without the support of the authorities may be harmful to activists' health.

My best wishes for you to be able to sustain this in the long run. I hope some CSR funds are also directed towards your efforts too.

[ads1485]

Originally Posted by Su-47

Basic road rules/manners should be a part of primary education.

Originally Posted by ajayclicks

"Dad- you broke a redlight- they taught us at school that it was not ok to do that"!

ads1485 - That is a great idea. I can see how kids can develop a healthy social attitude, if these basic good behaviours are inculcated in them, from an early age.

Originally Posted by dark.knight

It took you over a dozen face to face interviews to conclude points 1. and 2.? I could've told you those facts instantly.

ads1485 - Aw, snap! If only I had known that before I set out to conduct those silly interviews

Originally Posted by deep_bang

Great initiative. You know what.. we all complain. But you went ahead and did something - i appreciate that a lot. Thanks.

ads1485 - Thanks man. Rocking username BTW.

Originally Posted by DuHasstMich

Great work, having a camera also helps in ensuring there are no aggressive responses.

ads1485 - Thanks! Yes, the camera does ensure that interactions are somewhat more civil. And yes, these guys exist everywhere, in all walks of life. Money truly can't buy a person class, or intelligence.

Originally Posted by aamateen46

On seeing such levels of "danda" frequently from law enforcement officials, hopefully our mimicking nature will help in sorting out our attitude much faster than imagined.

ads1485 - Totally on point aamateen46. A good example is the crackdown on drunk driving, in Mumbai. People are actually scared of getting caught now and take steps to ensure they drive sober. That wasn't the case a few years ago, when the punishment for DUI's was non-existent/minimal.

Originally Posted by Tanveer_2558

Amazing! Keep it up please! We need more people like you guys, We cannot expect the cops to do everything, We should also take matter in our own hands like this, Great work guys!

ads1485 - Thanks, Tanveer. You guys appreciating it, really makes it all feel worthwhile. I would however, refrain from terming it "taking matters into our own hands," since it makes me sound a bit like a krantikaari

Originally Posted by asit.kulkarni93

But you sir have started it and I really appreciate that. I hope the traffic police helps you too. Keep up the good work

ads1485 - And you, Sir, have my respect for taking on that dude honking relentlessly in a hospital. You had the courage to walk up to him and question him - that little step alone, will make him think twice before he does it the next time. You did your bit.

We intend to enlist the help of the authorities, once the word spreads a bit more, so that we can show them that we have public support. Lets hope things work out as planned. Fingers crossed.

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

Personally, I am glad you did. This is the kind of citizen activism we wish to see in every city across the country. Do make sure you get the registration plates of every violator on video. And deployment of multiple cameras would be a good idea too. Does the Mumbai Traffic Police top brass know that you folks are doing this, and have you sought their support yet?

ads1485 - Thank you for the good wishes, SS-Traveller. Much appreciated.

As for the registration plates, yes, we do make it a point to get most of them. Deploying multiple cameras is also on the cards - Once we have a bit more money and a couple of more dedicated people.

Yes, even we have had a few unsavoury encounters so far. But because we decided in the beginning, that we will not get violent or use abusive language, we managed to de-escalate most of them.

The Police Top Brass does not know about this yet. My plan is for the videos to pick up in popularity and then approach them, in order to convince them that we have public support. CSR's are also not forthcoming at the moment, since we have only just started. All that will change soon, hopefully.

We did meet quite a few cops, both Khaki & Traffic and they were very supportive of the initiative. I was frankly quite (pleasantly) surprised, because I was not sure how they would react to it.

If any of the members here would like to help us out, I'd be happy to join hands, even if that means just sharing the video on their social networks. That was one of the reasons I posted here, since the topic is so relevant in this community.

Thanks again for all the support guys, it truly means a lot.

Making these videos is pretty stressful and it's not something that I personally enjoy doing, but when I was faced with choosing between endless frustration and direct action, I just chose the latter.

[King_pin09]

Wonderful thread, however based on my daily commute in Mumbai, I tend to disagree on your point no 1.

Road users are definitely inconsiderate, not only to others but also to themselves. It is not due to laziness, they tend to violate traffic rules. As far as I know, the genuine reasons for violating the rules are,

1. Knowledge – Zero, no idea of what the rules are and what they say (the only apparent knowledge they have all about is "Rules say Keep left", sadly they do not follow this one at least)
2. Attitude - I am smarter than the entire universe, I can get through from any direction. No need to follow others.
3. Attitude – Do not try to teach me. I know everything.
4. Overconfidence - I am impeccable; I do it perfectly, so no need to obey rules. (Especially applicable for drunk drivers and violators of seat belts and helmet mandates).
5. Attitude – I have brought an expensive car, how does one expect such vehicle to be driven at sane speeds.
6. Attitude – Why should I listen to you/others/law? Do you know who I am? Who is my father? My connections in political domain?
7. Attitude – Law? Who follows laws in this country?

In addition to all these factors, an Individual's conduct on the road is strongly influenced by the proceeds of his day thus far viz., Work environment, wife, family tensions, childrens school and so on.

[ads1485]

Originally Posted by King_pin09

Wonderful thread, however based on my daily commute in Mumbai, I tend to disagree on your point no 1.

You're right King_pin09, I actually got a bit lazy myself and tried to sum it all up in one word

That said, violating traffic rules also seems to be a passive-aggressive way of establishing their manhood

[Akshay1234]

Great initiative! Seriously. I've been following Stop a Douchebag for a while and I was hoping someone would do this in India.

Though I would suggest you always be in a group of 4-5 at least, with some big built guys. Because you never know who will start getting aggressive, especially some small time politician types who's ego will be bruised when you confront them.

I would also suggest you speak to the traffic police comissioner and get his support. Also maybe some young politicians like Aaditya Thackeray who may be willing to help you out.