[KVNair]

Never wanted to post on this thread, but fate has it that I have something to share as well.

Recently, I was driving slowly in a narrow by-lane and was following a slow moving tractor ahead. The traffic was high and because of the slow tractor in front, few cars and a score of bikes were following behind me. As usual and typical of the biking patterns of Bangalore, riders were trying to overtake from both sides and through the smallest of gaps at crawling speeds. I kept going at crawling speeds, waiting for the tractor to give way, when the tractor for some unknown reason decided to brake hard. I had kept my distance, so could brake and stop in time. Seconds later, the tractor gets moving after I honk, and I too start moving when out of nowhere a lady with a girl child riding pillion comes from the left and cuts in front of me and brakes hard to avoid hitting the tractor. I could not stop and swerved a little to the right to avoid the lady’s bike. And, when I was thinking that everything is normal, this lady removes her helmet and shouts that I have gone over her right foot. She hits my windshield once with the helmet, and shouts again. I might have gone over her feet because she would have kept both feet dangling while doing the bike stunt just seconds before. I wanted to tell her that it was unintentional, so I got out to explain and asked her why she was hitting my windshield; it was unintentional.

Not sure what crossed this lady’s mind, but she just said, “What do you think of me? I can hit the windshield again”. In a second, she hit twice on my windshield shattering its left side. I was dumbstruck, and then she started calling me a loafer and what not and even threatened to hit me with the helmet. I could have reacted, but seeing the child sitting calmly on her scooter, I held my reaction and my anger. Moreover, she was a lady and a mother, so I did not want to pick up a heated argument with her. I told her that let us call the cops and asked her to park on the side. The traffic was screaming, so I went about parking my car to the side. Meanwhile, this lady accelerates and makes a quick getaway into a cramped by lane as if it is nobody’s business. The blunder that I did was I failed to note the scooter number. Anyways, I lost some money in replacing the windshield for no fault of mine.

The only lesson learned - expect the unexpected in Bangalore traffic and never try to talk to anyone after an incident even if you are calm. Fellow motorists in Bangalore have lost sense completely. Don’t fall for their gender, educational qualifications, or any thing that makes them look civilized. Almost all driving around here are utter morons in disguise ready to go to any extent to damage and inflict injury on others.

Mod Note: Moving this out into an independent thread. Thanks for sharing!

[saurabh2711]

Originally Posted by KVNair

a girl child riding pillion .....the child sitting calmly on her scooter,.... I held my reaction and my anger. Moreover, she was a lady and a mother, .

Good on your part to stay composed. .
Specially if it was a lady. You never know, what actually ran through her mind, of which the result was this behavior. Your any other move could have provoked her more & god knows what actions she could have taken. You know the laws these days..

Honestly, I feel sorry for the child who was watching how her mother was behaving in public. She would also be monitoring the way mom drove on the road & this is what she would learn & probably follow in future.. sic. After all Parents (read mother is the first teacher of a child).

More or less, I assume its a psychiatric behavior. Yell at someone else when you yourself are in & cause of an embarrassing situation.

Overtaking from left is dangerous & should be avoided, one thing for everyone to understand. Everyone knows it but nobody follows it.

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by KVNair

The only lesson learned - expect the unexpected in Bangalore traffic and never try to talk to anyone after an incident even if you are calm. Fellow motorists in Bangalore have lost sense completely. Don’t fall for their gender, educational qualifications, or any thing that makes them look civilized. Almost all driving around here are utter morons in disguise ready to go to any extent to damage and inflict injury on others.

You did well KV Nair. Full marks. While all women are not like that or that aggressive an increasing number are and with the kind of false complaints she could file you will be assumed guilty. We do not know what frustrations of coping with a patriarchal world she is facing. We have twice our share in North India who wont think twice of hitting a cop and then filing false charges.

[noopster]

Originally Posted by KVNair

Seconds later, the tractor gets moving after I honk, and I too start moving when out of nowhere a lady with a girl child riding pillion comes from the left and cuts in front of me and brakes hard to avoid hitting the tractor. I could not stop and swerved a little to the right to avoid the lady’s bike. And, when I was thinking that everything is normal, this lady removes her helmet and shouts that I have gone over her right foot.

A similar thing has happened with me as well. I come to a stop in heavy traffic and a biker squeezes in between me and the vehicle on my left. When I start moving he bangs on my windows claiming I have run over his foot. Apparently the guy has wedged his foot under my car body between the front and rear left wheel, and is shocked when it gets run over when I start moving!

She hits my windshield once with the helmet, and shouts again...

Not sure what crossed this lady’s mind, but she just said, “What do you think of me? I can hit the windshield again”. In a second, she hit twice on my windshield shattering its left side.

That's terrible. I can understand tapping on your windshield to catch your attention but shattering it is just crazy.

The only lesson learned - expect the unexpected in Bangalore traffic and never try to talk to anyone after an incident even if you are calm. Fellow motorists in Bangalore have lost sense completely. Don’t fall for their gender, educational qualifications, or any thing that makes them look civilized. Almost all driving around here are utter morons in disguise ready to go to any extent to damage and inflict injury on others.

Which is why I am surprised that you let this go so easily. That woman needs to be prosecuted for her criminal actions. Too often we sit mum because we sense the mob is against us. Sadly you don't even have a starting point in terms of a registration number for the scooter. Maybe you can go file a complaint with the local traffic police anyway.

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by KVNair

The blunder that I did was I failed to note the scooter number. Anyways, I lost some money in replacing the windshield for no fault of mine.

A dashcam would have helped in this situation, you could have captured the number and her action as well.

[sidhu_hs]

I am with you on this one, but I am going to share a tweet that I have hesitated to share for the longest time on here that captures my feelings on this issue:



Source

Now extrapolate that to pedestrians!

[varunsangal]

"The world's gone and worked itself into one big rage. No one has the patience to be nice anymore."

Given the sheer number of people on the road and the state of infrastructure, there are bound to be bottlenecks, jams, minor scrapes etc etc.

Where we can better ourselves and prove that humanity is not just a word is to be tolerant towards such incidents and be resilient to the temptation to lash back in kind, much like KVNair did.

[Sebring]

I think these ladies know that guys prefer to look the other way. Last week I was at the signal in Bangalore and one lady on an Activa has kept a large sack at her feet with wooden slats, placed horizontally, and jutting out a good 2 feet on both sides .

Now she is in a hurry and squeezing between vehicles from the left side - hitting each and every car in the process! What a dumbo! I heard a loud thump and knew she hit my Nexon, and immediately got out to block her path. She stated screaming that very instant that I was harassing her!!! Didn't even take a second of argument, showing what a seasoned player she really was!

Shaken by this sudden charge, I asked her to calm down and requested her to wait a second while I assess the damage, if any. Thankfully the 3M PPfilm had taken the rap well and I had no damage at all. Then I turn back and she had already scooted a mile away. Being a lady has its merits in sticky situations I feel. And they know it too well now!

Originally Posted by KVNair

And, when I was thinking that everything is normal, this lady removes her helmet and shouts that I have gone over her right foot. She hits my windshield once with the helmet, and shouts again.

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by KVNair

Never wanted to post on this thread, but fate has it that I have something to share as well.

Sad experience but hey, welcome to the club!

We've faced something similar in Gurgaon:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street...ml#post2371530

Really good on you for how you handled it; these things can escalate disproportionately very soon. And in the "your-word-against-hers" battle, it will only get ugly. Especially with our esteemed police force which looks forward to such incidents for a quick buck.

All said and done, calm down and look for every possible curve ball that can get thrown at you!

Originally Posted by noopster

Which is why I am surprised that you let this go so easily. That woman needs to be prosecuted for her criminal actions. Too often we sit mum because we sense the mob is against us. Sadly you don't even have a starting point in terms of a registration number for the scooter. Maybe you can go file a complaint with the local traffic police anyway.

In a way, I agree with you on this. While the chances of it happening are remote in this instance, it is likely that the other person can go to the cops and claim unrelated damages and what not later, much after the incident. If you proactively share your side of the story with the cops, it might just help you.

Of course, it can spectacularly back-fire as well.

[sandeepmohan]

I have lived in Cochin, Chennai, Bangalore, Pune and Bombay. Of all these cities, I have never experienced abuse and arrogance as much as Bangalore. It got so bad that even I had to change my tone when things go out of hand. This is a recent development and over the last decade. The change in the attitude of people is shocking. Bangalore was never like this. People were reasonable. Today, the law is being taken for granted. People have the courage to hit and abuse the cops too.

What happened to you is unfortunate. You had to cough up 10k or so for a new wind shield for no fault of yours. Noting down the number would have helped. Not that you stand to gain much by going to the police but just in case the lady decides to put you into further trouble by saying you broke her ankle.

[am1m]

Well done for keeping your cool. It was the best thing you could have done really. I think I will take the suggestion of installing a dash cam, it seems like that would really help in such a situation.

The traffic in Bangalore has really gotten out of hand. Not just the cabbies and auto guys, the 'educated', 'white-collar' folk also behave like absolute morons these days. I met a chap some time ago- in his 20s, college educated, working for a brand-name IT company who was boasting that he rode his Bullet on the footpath frequently and that if any of the pedestrians questioned him, he would ask them to keep quiet and go as he 'was riding without touching them'!

I've found that parents seem to think that just because they have kids, they can get away with anything and everyone else has to step back to let them get on with their busy lives, so I'm not surprised that a woman with a kid in tow behaved like this. It's all over the place.

I was born and raised here, I really can't see myself living as an elderly person here. Going to get the heck out of this place as soon as I can.

[chandrda]

Originally Posted by KVNair

The only lesson learned - expect the unexpected in Bangalore traffic and never try to talk to anyone after an incident even if you are calm. Fellow motorists in Bangalore have lost sense completely. Don’t fall for their gender, educational qualifications, or any thing that makes them look civilized. Almost all driving around here are utter morons in disguise ready to go to any extent to damage and inflict injury on others.[/b]

Good that you dint react as situation can easily get out of hand, added to that will be unnecessary harassment of public and police.

Bangalore has completely lost its civic sense when it comes to traffic rules. This behavior is not only seen on road, but I have encountered it in Malls, restaurants, public places and even in work places. Create a scene and shout so loud that the other party gets stunned and remain numb, add to that the gender equation sometimes, north/south/east/west equation, bigger/smaller car.

Not wanting to take any chances, I have installed dash-cam on both my cars. This has saved many a times from these tricky situation. The moment I show them that I have a camera and everything is getting uploaded into internet, the behavior completely changes and some even become apologetic from being aggressive.

Regards

[shifu]

Originally Posted by KVNair

I could have reacted, but seeing the child sitting calmly on her scooter, I held my reaction and my anger. Moreover, she was a lady and a mother, so I did not want to pick up a heated argument with her.

Very unfortunate incident, and sad that your car was damaged.

It is amazing that you didn't react to it. You must be (or will be, if not yet) a good husband, and a good father!

I would agree with others, get a dashcam. I have one in my car and most of my friends roll their eyes when I tell them the need to have one. But its like insurance. You never know when you might need it!

[svsantosh]

If you had a dashcam you could have partly tried to catch the offender. Sorry to hear about your experience. Sad that the child would think this is normal behavior.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szmn...ature=youtu.be

Got a deep gash thanks to the sidestep of this activa.

[ani_meher]

^^^ A simple overtaking rule, that NO OVERTAKING till you can see the vehicle in your rear view mirror, can save lot of lives and such mishaps. But in our country where mirror on bikes are only for the rich and the fancy, and not for aam bikers, this will never come to be. Activa/Access idiots always cut in this fashion, assuming all world is stationary and only they and their GF is on the move.