[dZired]

A Road Sign IQ Survey done by Honda 2-Wheelers has revealed that around 78% riders in India can't recognize even 50% of the road signs. Since India is the world's largest two-wheeler market, these road sign literacy figures are truly alarming.

The said survey was conducted during the National Road Safety Week earlier this month. It saw participation from almost 1,500 riders across 10 major Indian cities.

Here are some of the key findings from the survey:

• Mumbai emerged as the most aware and road sign literate city. 79% riders from Mumbai were able to identify half of the road signs. The next two cities on this list were Pune (63%) and Bengaluru (41%).

• Nearly 80% two-wheeler motorists in India don't know the difference between cautionary and mandatory road signs.

• Women came out to be relatively more road sign literate than men. 26% women were able to identify half of the road signs, as compared to 21% of the interviewed men.

• Riders in the age group of 20-24 years were found to be the most aware of road signs, with 31% of them identifying over half the signs. In the age group of 25-44 years, only 18% of the interviewed motorists were able to identify 50 percent of the road signs. Interestingly, the corresponding figure for riders over 45 years old was 30%.

• 63% of the interviewed riders agreed that they wear helmets for their own safety. Meanwhile, 16% riders said that law enforcement forces them to wear helmets, while another 16% of the riders mentioned family pressure to be the reason behind them wearing helmets.

• However, 55% of the riders do not wear helmets while riding pillion.

• 51% of the interviewed two-wheeler riders claimed that they haven’t jumped a red light in 2016, while 30% of the respondents admitted to jumping traffic signals 1-2 times a week.

Link to Team-BHP News Article

[Sankar]

Originally Posted by dZired

A Road Sign IQ Survey done by Honda 2-Wheelers has revealed that around 78% riders in India can't recognize even 50% of the road signs.

What do you expect in a country where driving license is handed out like aadhar cards?

[sajo]

Originally Posted by Sankar

What do you expect in a country where driving license is handed out like aadhar cards?

Who said having a valid driving license is a valid requirement for riding a two wheeler (or any vehicle for that matter) ?

[trtraj]

No wonder on stats. This is what happens when bribe play big role in RTO's approval. We need better laws and regulations for driving schools and for license approvals. This would cut down lot of accidents.

[Dry Ice]

Where are the 22% ones? Never seen them around!

I bet we will get similar figures even for cars. Basically, majority of 'Indians' are unaware of traffic rules or choose to ignore them while driving/riding on 'Indian' soil. No stick, no compliance.

[aargee]

I'm shocked at this report!! How come its 78%? Something is wrong or someone rigged the report. It can never be so low!! It must be 98% atleast!!

Quoting an incident...
A decade ago I was at a driving school in Redhills to collect my maternal Uncle's renewed driving license. While I was waiting for them to fetch the license from cupboard the following incident goes on...

Owner to all the folks who're attending the driving license test that morning...(conversation in Thamizh, translated for you)

Owner - All of you, go through the pamphlet & understand it well; IF at all the inspector asks then you'll have to answer
A man in mid 40's asks - What is this?
Owner - These are all road signs; you'll need to know all these if you want to ride on the road
Man - Is it mandated to know all thse? Isn't it sufficient that we know how to ride?

We all laughed that day. Truth is, that's the kind of people who're our fellow riders on road.

[drmohitg]

There is no surprise in those figures. And I am sure it is still a very lenient projection of the reality with many responders choosing to play the nice safe law abiding rider in a survey. And the figures will be similar for 4 wheel drivers too and probably more worse for public and goods carriers. We don't take the driving part/practical exam part of the DL seriously, theory doesn't even stand a chance.

[SmartCat]

In defense of the two wheeler riders, 50% of the road signs are not very easy to understand (unless it comes with sub-titles like this image file) -

[vivee90]

The sample size of 1500 doesn't seem representative at all for the two wheeler populations of millions. So, we cannot debate on this number. But, my guess is that the reality isn't any better.

We are debating having entrance exams for Engineering and Medical but we take the most dangerous activity (by statistics, of-course) for granted. It is like regulating the sale of chain saw while having free market for Ak-47. Atleast, we forum members should insist our family and close circle to try the exam that is part of the license procedure. I am not sure if many license holders are even aware that there is an written/online exam as part of our License procedure.

I admire Toyota and Honda for such steps in creating awareness.

[Lobogris]

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

Where are the 22% ones? Never seen them around!

These 22% might be simply aware of the meaning of the signs. It doesn't mean they actually obey them.

[Skyline_GT]

Cannot completely blame the riders as well.
Yes, getting a driving license in our country is as easy as getting a new SIM card. At the same time we shouldn't forget that our roads are seldom equipped with proper road signs.
No matter how much one may wrote learn all the road signs while getting the driving license one is bound to forget them over time as these signs are hardly seen in practical life and road discipline rarely followed.

[hybridpetrol]

Originally Posted by dZired

A Road Sign IQ Survey done by Honda 2-Wheelers has revealed that around 78% riders in India can't recognize even 50% of the road signs. Since India is the world's largest two-wheeler market, these road sign literacy figures are truly alarming.

Ok, now we get another chance to rant on our public's ignorance on road signs, and how poor and corrupted is our licensing procedure. While it is necessary that our public need to know the signs and the licensing should be strict, corruption free, I have another view point:

When is the last time in India we saw the correct road signs on display, especially within the city / towns where these 2-wheelers are regularly plying?
a) "P" means parking. So "P" and a cross on it must be no parking. I have seen several boards with "P" crossed, and written "No Parking" under that.
b) How many highways with no hindrance for several kilometers, displaying the speed limit as "20" for no reason?
c) Can we trust the Speed breaker symbols? Are we sure to encounter one when there is a sign board? Another more important one - are we sure to find a sign board before a speed breaker?
d) One-way boards are frequently confused with No-Entry boards. Our traffic police go one step further by blocking the left half of the road through barricades. Our brilliants consider the barricade as a disturbance, and squeeze into the available right side of the road anyway.
e) Cautionary / Mandatory / Information signs are often confused.

Nobody will keep reading the signs without any need. What we learn sticks only if we keep seeing the signs.
Moreover, in my opinion, two-wheelers drive within a limited area, and they usually know the roads they drive very well. They in fact know the roads better than what the signs tell.
It is the four-wheelers that travel in highways & toll roads, and that is where you can encounter all kinds of correct signs. That is where you would get the actual road literacy figures for our country.