[Glass]

Frustrating for both, but nothing either of you could have done better!

[Sudipto-S-Team]

It is quite possible to drive without splashing any water whatsoever on anyone, except an accidental hit in a pothole that you may not see. It's just a question of how sensitive you want to be about others.

[johnda]

Do unto other as you would want them to do unto you.. I'm drawing your attention to your concern for the next person, with a responsible action, believing that, that could be YOU! oops that's true but sounded so philosophical . it's not about splashing or being splashed at..
PS. i try as much as I can to cover all aspects when i drive.. the family in my car and the nut outside as well !!

[kaushik_s]

Hi glass, here is my take on it, I've a feeling that it's not the water that you've splashed on those two bikers has that angry outcry but it's what you said to them. It's pretty evident from your post that first they've asked you to slow down as you were splashing water on them(albeit unknowingly), and you'd have avoided all this by just saying a simple sorry or even an ok would've been enough. But the response of telling them to not to ride during rain would've definitely spark the fire and lead to road-rage as it happened. That's just my take on it and please don't take it as an offence to you.

[malq]

This post from FaceBook (Anisha Bangera)

"In the last 8 months in Bombay, I've dealt with eve teasing, strange men feeling me up at the station, and even knife-point robbery. In most of these cases I was afraid to confront and basically just remained a coward. The robbery really shook me up and it took me months to get over it. Until one hour ago, I was afraid of walking on the street and using public transport after dark. One hour ago something happened.

Today I was walking home from work. The lane is dimly lit but quite safe. The left side of the road was water-logged but since I was wearing rain boots, I walked through it. There were no cars on the other side of the street but one ******* driving a Honda City (MH 43 V 5194) with a modified silencer drove really close and splashed mucky water on me. He could have easily avoided the water and saved me from it or just driven by slowly. I was shocked and fuming but since he drove away without an apology, I couldn’t do anything. At least that’s what I thought. Instead of taking the left turn and going home, I chose to follow the car. I knew he was stuck in that traffic so I ran till I could spot him. Finally after running for almost 700 m in the rain, I found the car. I recognized the car because of the make and the modified silencer.

I knocked on the door. He opened the door to see me and when he figured it was the same girl he teased a few minutes ago, he tried to drive away. By that time, I caught his friend’s collar and refused to let him go. He continued driving away for a few metres while I was still holding his friend but the traffic cop stopped him. I dragged him and his friend out, punched them both in the face. They did not see that coming. Explained to the cops what he did and they told me to do whatever I wanted to do with them. The guy was rude and did not apologise for his misbehaviour. Someone in the crowd told him to apologise so very rudely he did. My exact words were plenty of curse words. I wanted him to feel how I was feeling so I removed my boot, filled it with mucky water, and threw it in his car. This was repeated five to six times his till his seat, gearbox, steering wheel, backseat, and phone was soaked in that disgusting water. A lady cop tried to calm me down and told those guys to go away.

I am somewhat proud of myself for doing this. In normal circumstances, we let go of it. But he splashed me with water, which some people might think is nothing. But this is a kind of teasing. He teased me today in this manner, tomorrow he will do this to some other girl walking on the street. I know he wasn’t expecting me to run all that way to catch him. He must have thought he could get away with it. But I hope this one act scars him for life. I hope this one act stops him from doing this or anything like this to another girl."

Will be helpful if people in and around Mumbai can notch it up?

[amitoj]

Wayyyyyy over the top reaction from the lady, dude.
She herself admits that the street was dimly lit. Isn't it within the realm of possibility that the driver did not actually notice her walking there?
Anyway, this section is for YOUR street experiences mainly, not for re-posting from facebook.

[deep_bang]

I am very respectful of all girls and ladies and I believe that if anyone does indulge in eve teasing they deserve harsh punishment.

However, I have myself at times splashed water on others - unintentionally of course. When you are driving and suddenly see a person walking, its not easy to slow down and avoid the splash always.

Without knowing the circumstances its hard to comment who is right or wrong. And we have only one side of the story isn't it?

Either way, the take away for me is that people who walk on the roads during the rains do feel extremely bad at being splashed by water, and so lets be a little more thoughtful when driving in the rains.

[PPS]

Originally Posted by malq

Will be helpful if people in and around Mumbai can notch it up?

She herself has stated that she has no intention to file a police complaint. This is an ideal story for Mumbai Mirror or Mid-day kind of newspapers to go hunting for the culprits.

[a4anurag]

Looking at the thread title, I thought it is some kind of hit-n-run case with the lady in the episode is looking for the car + owner to file a case / take further action.

I respect the point of eve-teasing and action from law on such offenders but this matter that is pasted here looks made-up.

Anurag.

[Kumar R]

Originally Posted by amitoj

Wayyyyyy over the top reaction from the lady, dude.
She herself admits that the street was dimly lit. Isn't it within the realm of possibility that the driver did not actually notice her walking there?
Anyway, this section is for YOUR street experiences mainly, not for re-posting from facebook.

Agree. I try my best to slow down but god knows there have been many many times when my tyre hit a flooded manhole depression or worse and some water must have hit pedestrians. Even when I walk along a road in rain it is inevitable that I get hit by water due to passing cars (and worse buses), ... its like road rage due to a guy changing lanes dangerously or a jaywalker, no point getting worked up about this.

That said, there are drivers who show little consideration and seem oblivious to the fact that going at 40+ and not moving a bit away from the water's edge can make a real difference to pedestrians not all of whom have an alternative

[phamilyman]

Even if it is completely true, I'm not sure of the point of this thread.

These dudes could've been simply clueless / thoughtless / focused on the phone while driving (as many folks are), or maybe they were actually nasty guys who played it as a prank.

Whether fully deserved or not (none of us know for sure), they have been taught a lesson to remember, and will be an example for others.

Originally Posted by malq

Will be helpful if people in and around Mumbai can notch it up?

Help me understand what "help" you have in mind? by leveraging the reach of the internet, and specifically team-bhp - you want to make their life more miserable, hound them? What do you wish to achieve?

I am confused here and I don't see the end point you seek "help" for. Sorry.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Even if it is completely true, I'm not sure of the point of this thread.

Help me understand what "help" you have in mind?

I am confused here and I don't see the end point you seek "help" for. Sorry.

Spot-on. The way the lady has written and reacted to this is way too much. Overboard I must say with a fair bit of exaggeration.

Social media is the way to get some justice but this case seems surprising to me.

Anurag.

[malq]

Globally, as well as in the MVA in India, splashing other road users is an offence, simple as that, and the complete responsibility rests with the operator of the subject motor vehicle. That's the law, those are the rules, and "feelings" or "opinions" have nothing to do with ground realities. You are driving or operating a motor vehicle, YOU exercise full caution to other road users, especially non-motorised.

The driver of the subject vehicle is going to learn that, I am informed, and hopefully so will the responsible motoring community here too.

[Born 2 Be Wild]

Originally Posted by malq

Globally, as well as in the MVA in India, splashing other road users is an offence, simple as that, and the complete responsibility rests with the operator of the subject motor vehicle. That's the law, those are the rules, and "feelings" or "opinions" have nothing to do with ground realities. You are driving or operating a motor vehicle, YOU exercise full caution to other road users, especially non-motorised.

The driver of the subject vehicle is going to learn that, I am informed, and hopefully so will the responsible motoring community here too.

Would you be kind enough to post the appropriate section of the MVA which corroborates your statement or a valid link to the same information.

[malq]

Dear Born 2 Be Wild - in India, from the MVA, if you splash somebody with water, you can be prosecuted under Sections 177, 184, 187, 201, 190, 112 & 189. That's just to start with. After that come provisions of the CrPC/IPC.

(btw, B2BW was a movie about the sensible bond between animals and humans, which called for a huge amount of discipline to avoid issues of incompetence, selfishness, impatience or aggressiveness.)

In UK - Under section 3 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, it is an offence to perform a clear act of incompetence, selfishness, impatience or aggressiveness which causes inconvenience to other road users. The Crown Prosecution Service specifically include: "driving through a puddle causing pedestrians to be splashed" in its description of this act.