[Red Liner]

Originally Posted by the.dogfather

I have personally been a victim of a similar incident in Bangalore at Balagere road near Shobha dream acres.

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This looks like a gang who have been out to run an encounter with someone else. Else I don't see any reason why this many should be running around all covered up with a machete at 11 am. Probably things didn't go to plan and they took it out on your car.

On the lighter side, Did the marriage go ahead

[the.dogfather]

Originally Posted by Red Liner

This looks like a gang who have been out to run an encounter with someone else. Else I don't see any reason why this many should be running around all covered up with a machete at 11 am. Probably things didn't go to plan and they took it out on your car.

On the lighter side, Did the marriage go ahead

Unfortunately it didn't happen that day. The police was very helpful and allowed my friend to go ahead for registration while I waited at the police station but the servers were down at the registrar's office when he got there.
We continued with the planned party later in the evening. We went for the registration a week later, in simple clothes with no fanfare, wondering if it the attack was a retaliation to that.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by the.dogfather

...wondering if it the attack was a retaliation to that.

Don't think too much about it. From everything you've described, it looks like you are blameless. There are a few rowdies on our roads. They are just waiting to explode and anyone at random can be targeted. Regretfully, the cops and the process harasses the victims and the potential witnesses more than these guys who are used to living that kind of life. So they usually get away.

It was just bad luck, or rather, good luck that you all came away unhurt. Now don't stress anymore, this is one of those random things that happens to us all once in a while in life. Like a natural disaster. Don't blame yourself, keep driving happily!

[KrisTvpm]

Originally Posted by the.dogfather

I have personally been a victim of a similar incident in Bangalore at Balagere road near Shobha dream acres.
<snip>I spent almost a month of sleepless nights seeing the video in my head and trying to reason it but have come to the conclusion that everything need not have a reason .

It's horribly outrageous, blood-boiling & inducing helplessness to read this anecdote

Don't want to sound dystopian & all, but it seems there's scarce protection to law-abiding civilians rights/lives by the so-called law-enforcers.

Some Qs that come to mind:
* Did you claim insurance, does insurance cover such acts of vandalism with dashcam proof as you had ?
* Did police come back with justice ? (know this is a rhetorical useless Q, that's not their job, but still !)
* Not necessarily a Q to OP, any lawyers/legal experts might be able to clarify -- Is using any form of self-defense (pepper spray/wheel spanner/others...) justified in such circumstances ?

[Himanshu809]

Other than the whole north vs south thing being another brainless way to divide the good people of our country. There has been many such incidents online where localites harass outsiders in Bangalore. Though I understand these miscreants might not be educated enough to understand that their city has value because of many factors including northies or other states migrating there and adding to the economy. Why can’t police do anything at all? In some cases I’ve seen them take action but in many other cases they seem to do nothing just like any other state’s police. Do these goons have local political backing or what? Abhorrent behaviour that borders on psychopath. I know there are idiots on Delhi/NCR roads too but I’ve never seen such hooliganism that too with such regular frequency here. Delhi-NCR is a multi community city too people from every state/caste/region live and work here as well. God knows where we are going despite so much “progress”. Disgusting humans.

[Sudhindra]

Originally Posted by Himanshu809

Other than the whole north vs south thing being another brainless way to divide the good people of our country. There has been many such incidents online where localites harass outsiders in Bangalore..

Oh Come On. I am driving my KA registered car daily from Noida to Delhi from past 15 days and bike from past 1 month. I have never seen such arrogance, rowdy behavior, eager to pounce on you, road rage etc. in Bangalore as much as I am witnessing here. That too mainly from educated folks. Literally, its painful to drive here and I am constantly worried and afraid to drive too inspite of having more than 15 years of driving experience.
I see here that most of them engage in insane lane cutting, excessive & over the top honking, loud mouths, lack of patience and trying to squeeze in tight traffic, wrong entry, careless driving. I feel afraid to even take a glance at them while they commit these atrocities.

In Bangalore, it was peaceful to drive about ten years ago, except for mild/ heavy traffic at a few known hotspots, but it was never this scary.

[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by Sudhindra

I have never seen such arrogance, rowdy behavior, eager to pounce on you, road rage etc. in Bangalore as much as I am witnessing here.

I haven't travelled much in Banglore and have never driven, but I can assure you that whatever you have said about NCR will be true for all types of Number plates

Mostly, it depends on the type of car you are in, and the bigger the vehicle you are in, the lower the chances of you getting affected.

Let's avoid this North-South discussion; plates matter, as I have seen in some states, but we cannot generalise as this is not specific to North or South alone. Even within one state, I have observed different behaviour of people towards different castes or areas.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by Himanshu809

...but I’ve never seen such hooliganism that too with such regular frequency here.

Come on guys, let's not turn this into a 'x city vs. y' thing. All cities have their share of road-rage incidents. And people who will help too. Let's not generalize based on personal experience.
Bad things happen, often to good people. As cities grow and infra doesn't keep up, and the gulf between the well-off and not-well-off grows, these incidents will rise.

All our big cities can do with better law enforcement and bringing the criminals behind such incidents to book faster. But otherwise, I'd say all cities have the same mix of elements.

[Himanshu809]

Originally Posted by Sudhindra

Oh Come On. I am driving my KA registered car daily from Noida to Delhi from past 15 days and bike from past 1 month. I have never seen such arrogance, rowdy behavior, eager to pounce on you, road rage etc. in Bangalore as much as I am witnessing here. That too mainly from educated folks. Literally, its painful to drive here and I am constantly worried and afraid to drive too inspite of having more than 15 years of driving experience.
I see here that most of them engage in insane lane cutting, excessive & over the top honking, loud mouths, lack of patience and trying to squeeze in tight traffic, wrong entry, careless driving. I feel afraid to even take a glance at them while they commit these atrocities.

I completely agree with you sir that Delhi-NCR traffic is overall more aggressive. But that’s the nature of the traffic as a whole. I’m not defending it, of course it’s wrong. And yes there’s no dearth of hooligan element here as well (especially Noida). I’ve encountered some myself and I agree it must be hard for you to get used to it here. Trust me like I said in the opening statement the whole north vs south conversation is stupid I am not engaging that. It’s an added mental pressure factor when you’re away from home and don’t know the local language if you get into a road rage incident. Also there’sa difference in driving aggressive traffic and someone attacking you with a machete. I never said it can’t/doesn’t happen in Delhi-NCR. Maybe there’s more dashcams in Bangalore compared to Delhi who knows we don’t have that data. But I see a lot of videos like this about Bangalore, not even counting the recent hooliganism about non local language billboards and despite that I’m not judging the city neither the people, honestly I don’t even live there so it doesn’t affect me personally. I know there are all kinds of people everywhere, good and bad both. I also asked whether they have political connections which let them get away because that’s what it usually takes to get indecent cops on your side in India (or money). That being said not all cops are indecent/inactive I’ve seen people get punished for road rage/stupidity both in Bangalore/Delhi-NCR. I hope the law enforcement takes it seriously everywhere. India severely lacks road discipline compared to smaller/poorer countries like Thailand etc.


I guess the only way to deal with it is to improve police accountability and make dashcam a standard inbuilt feature on all cars which will ease things up for both drivers and law enforcement.

[the.dogfather]

Originally Posted by KrisTvpm

It's horribly outrageous, blood-boiling & inducing helplessness to read this anecdote

Don't want to sound dystopian & all, but it seems there's scarce protection to law-abiding civilians rights/lives by the so-called law-enforcers.

Some Qs that come to mind:
* Did you claim insurance, does insurance cover such acts of vandalism with dashcam proof as you had ?
* Did police come back with justice ? (know this is a rhetorical useless Q, that's not their job, but still !)
* Not necessarily a Q to OP, any lawyers/legal experts might be able to clarify -- Is using any form of self-defense (pepper spray/wheel spanner/others...) justified in such circumstances ?

1. Yes , I claimed insurance based on the FIR report provided by the police. The car had two damages, one where the bumper had cracked when the man on the Activa kicked it, and second on the door sill, window and inner door lining. Initially the insurance surveyor told that only one damage can be claimed but I asked him to read the FIR where the kicking the bumper had been mentioned and also shared the picture of the crack with the footprint( someone had wiped it off in the workshop before he arrived), after which the claim was approved.

2. Police did not reach out after the second day when they said they are sending the evidence for court proceedings. They had told me that they have an idea who it is, but I didn't pursue the matter after that. I am worried with the fact that my residential address has been provided and if the police might share the details with the culprits for any settlement.

3. Many friends have suggested keeping a hockey stick, or even a gun, but in this situation nothing would have helped. The whole thing would have happened in less than a minute and I never expected it to escalate to these levels in no time. And I beleive in de-escalation of a situation, so I think not reacting was the best possible reaction I could have.

[Red Liner]

Originally Posted by the.dogfather

1.
3. Many friends have suggested keeping a hockey stick, or even a gun, but in this situation nothing would have helped. The whole thing would have happened in less than a minute and I never expected it to escalate to these levels in no time. And I beleive in de-escalation of a situation, so I think not reacting was the best possible reaction I could have.

Pepper spray is a much better solution. Open window, reach hand far out, spray and get out of there.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by am1m

All our big cities can do with better law enforcement and bringing the criminals behind such incidents to book faster. But otherwise, I'd say all cities have the same mix of elements.

The whole city of Bangalore and its outskirts are managed with a very small number of Policemen.
If we take a look at how huge and widespread the city of Bangalore and its outskirts has become it looks like a near impossible task, to enforce law and order thoroughly. Maybe they should step up the Hoysala vehicle patrol. At least it is a deterrent. Maybe a big company like Tata or Mahindra who want to promote their EV’s, could gift a 100 or so each to the city of Bangalore.

Till then, Dashcam -ki- Jai!

[VaibhaoT]

I stay on Sarjapur Road. We have stopped venturing out after 10 PM.
I must say, I am scared to drive late after recent repeated incidents in this part of Bangalore.

I do have dash cam. I am afraid that dash cam alone might not help every time.

Originally Posted by Red Liner

Pepper spray is a much better solution. Open window, reach hand far out, spray and get out of there.

Sounds like good idea as very last resort incase it turns physical. But generally they are in large groups, how would you tackle multiple people with spray? Spray might enrage them even more.

[Doge]

I feel that there are very few if any situations in life where you could feel responsible for getting attacked by a machete..
I do feel that the dash cam video should be shared on social media and with journalist etc so they get nabbed for sure. It's not about revenge but stopping the goon behaviour in our society. The police wouldn't want it to be shared ofcourse, for an out cry would put them in pressure.

[gb97ce6]

A lot of these guys are on hard drugs and weed as well plus a mix of alcohol too. So there is no rationale for why certain things happen in the first place. They happen just because they can do it and do not care about the consequences because they usually have been to jail many many times.
Cops are so over burdened that unless a severe injury or death happens they simply do not bother much to pursue. This is the reality. Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. But I do agree overall law and order situation is pathetic and getting worse by the day.