[sjcherian]

Another subject very close to my thoughts. I face a similar situation in Chennai.
There are many reasons for the way people drive. Fixing the root causes will take time. Till then we could do the following as intermediate solutions:
1. Drive carefully mindful of other motorists on the road and follow the rules.
2. Ensure the drivers working for you or hired by you (tourist taxi/autorickshaw/own vehicle) are careful and considerate drivers. Replace them if they do not follow the rules and ignore your requests/order for them to follow the rules. Rash driving should not be tolerated when you are paying money for your transport and expecting a safe commute.
3. Where possible indicate to erring motorists what they are doing wrong.
4. Be a defensive driver and watchful for the other billion crazies on the road.

[cream]

good suggestions guys...

the 1 about the video cameras was on my mind - but the implementation...sumarai's suggestion of subcontracting the database and monitoring work to a bpo - excellent.

please keep those suggestions coming - all the good ones - i'll put down and send off letters to all the news guys and auto mags..that would be a start at least.

we all agree on 1 thing - and any change has got to start from within...

whenever some outsider sits in my car, i am always telling him about other rash drivers and guys who throw stuff out of their car. this way, he might get a wiff of some good /right and wrong.


this goes for all my employees - the same for my family members and friends. it's a long, long issue and time ...but as they say, it's every drop that makes the ocean.

this is where the media comes into the picture...if they can regularly publish articles and news about good driving habits and discipline - they would have a much wider reach.

i think, the media should dedicate 1 article regularly to this. just think - if a photograph of person throwing a pepsi bottle out of his car window were to be published, hope fully with the car no and his face, what a shame it would be for him in his family / social circle. similarly a video of a rash driver on ndtv may do some good as well. kind of like a sting operation on the roads.

i also like to acknowledge other good drivers with a smile or a thumbs up sign when they do something good on the road. this encourages good drivers to keep doing so more often.

[Sid Schumacher]

You are absolutely right bro....First of all the number of Ricks is annoying and then there are these people who dont give a damn about the traffic rules.
It happened a month back, my dad and I were coming to a signal when the time was almost up. And it happened to get over a few vehicles in front of us. The drivers in front just jumped it coolly and we stopped(my dad was driving). There was this auto guy behind us who kept on honking continuously he too wanted to jump the signal naturally. And to our surprise after a few seconds he came upto us and asked us to move. My dad immediately replied...as long as you have got your horn, keep honking and as long as the signal is red I'll stay here. That guy "dumbfounded" went away.
There is this other problem with Ambulace drivers...even though they dont have anyone in the vehicle, to jump signals and to make other motorists to make way for them they switch on the siren and keep going...I'm sure this is the problem everywhere..but it aint right.

[amit]

Just adding my 2 cents here...
People are like clay. You can mould them the way you want. Why do people in western countries know about the lanes, signalling, stopping behind the stop line at a traffic lite, not cutting lanes in a traffic jam etc etc. It's because they have been trained properly. I will give my own example. Here in Toronto, Ontario we have 3 levels of licences G1,G2 & G. I just got my G licence. I failed my G2 test twice and luckily got thru the G test at the first attempt. After the test the officer gives you a sheet showing where you failed to observe traffic rules and tells you why he thinks you are not fit to drive. And the reasons mentioned in the sheet could be so many that it's mind-boggling. Some examples : driving too slow, driving too fast, driving too slow in fast lane, didn't check surroundings before backing up, didn't look over the shoulders before changing lanes to eliminate blind spots, didn't come to complete stop at stop sign, following too close to vehicle in front, leaves too much of space from the vehicle in front!, on expressways didn't check traffic situation every 5 seconds. I could go on and on and on listing every point on that sheet. People here have to really work hard to get their licence and therefore really respect their right to drive. The amazing part is Indians here drive in their own lanes, stop before stop line at traffic rite, give pedestrains the right of way, don't honk or increase their speed when they see people crossing. Of course other thing also help like if you get a speeding ticket or get de-merit points on your licence your insurance goes up cuz you get classified as a unsafe driver...maybe India needs something on these lines..? what say?

[navin]

dude, in india there are 2 issues we have to tackle first.
1. Self importance - I know too many who just think they have right of way and can break rules cause the rules dont apply to them. they know the rules they just dont think the rules apply to them. They are XXX's son, they are YYY, or the standard line "what your problem"
2. Corruption - any system will break down if it is not implemented properly adn completely. India on paper has some of the best laws and rules in the world but none are implemented.

If you guys can find a way to tackle this using (a) Education (not only academics but Education that includs empathy, self awareness, etc..) and (b) Governance then you got a solution.

[amit]

I know too many who just think they have right of way and can break rules cause the rules dont apply to them. they know the rules they just dont think the rules apply to them. They are XXX's son, they are YYY, or the standard line "what your problem"

I totally agree with you Naveen on that one. And i hate those ppl who say "whats your problem" i have had that so many times and from educated people driving honda city, toyota corolla etc. But i will also add that many people don't know the right of way concept simply cuz they were never told about it. Every round-about in India has chaos around it with cars, bikes, trucks, buses squeezing in and trying to get through at the same time. Most of the people don't know about right of way and simply try and take their right depending on the size of their vehicle. Once again it all comes down to training. If they were taught to drive in the correct way, they wouldn't have done what they are doing. Of course, law has to be tough so that the sons of MLA's etc don't get away.

Education (not only academics but Education that includs empathy, self awareness, etc..)

Another very good point. The indian education system is all about marks in exams. Simple things like Thank you or sorry are never taught. Again going back to my expereinces in driving here. Any time I stop and allow a car to go through, the driver raises his hand acknowledging my good deed , a way to saying "thank you for letting me get in". Compare that with Indian roads, where everyone has a scowl on his face and keeps giving dirty looks to every other driver as if everyone else but him is doing the wrong thing! Trust me if looks could kill, half of indian drivers would be dead from the looks of other drivers!

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by amit

Here in Toronto, Ontario we have 3 levels of licences G1,G2 & G. I just got my G licence. I failed my G2 test twice and luckily got thru the G test at the first attempt..... Of course other thing also help like if you get a speeding ticket or get de-merit points on your licence your insurance goes up cuz you get classified as a unsafe driver...maybe India needs something on these lines..? what say?

The chief problem is who will enforce and monitor this? Our existing cops?

Hmm, Rs.1000 for G, Rs.3000 for G2 and Rs.5000 for G3. Take your pick. Regarding points, pay Rs.500 and escape the points. This is my observation of how Indian government works. Everytime they make the system tougher to curb some fraud, the police or the enforcement people are thrilled, because it means more money down their pocket. Example, the bridges along NH17 are literally getting destroyed because of heavily overloaded trucks carrying manganese ore. This is a very serious problem, therefore they put up check posts along the route to check on manganese trucks. Now you must be thinking the problem must have been solved. No Sir, the cops and check post staff along that route are getting rich by taking bribes for allowing the overloaded manganese trucks. Therefore the only difference of this new rule was to make the staff rich, I am sure the percentage of that bribe found it's way back to the person who made the rule. This is how our country works.

When the politicians say they are making new rules and restrictions to crack down on fraudulent contractors or staff, it means only one thing. The bribe rate will go up, the status quo will continue, basically politicians make more money for allowing the same fraud.

You should watch the Movie The Distinguished Gentleman played by Eddie murphy. Murphy who is a con man who decides to become a congressman after overhearing how politicians wheel and deal. Gives a very good insight to how politicians make money on very deal while looking good to the public. Then multiply that 10 times and you'll get an idea about corruption in India.

[Surprise]

Excellent Samurai, write up shows your experience and observation. Yeah, it's not the question of finding a good system & it's implementation of that system in a proper manner.

Is the only option is to live with it?

[shuvc]

The situation is bad .. no doubt .. so I wont elaborate on them ..

2 small things I'd like to mention though ..

1. All is not lost .. some things do improve ...
Howrah station at Kolkata - Not very long ago getting into the general compartment of any long distance train would have needed exceptional muscle power to forge your way through the crowd at each door.
This has changed. People (from even the so called lower strata of society) queue up and wait patiently. There is still a bit of jostling around. But it's much much better.

2. @Conan has a very valid point. Experienced Orchard Road in Singapore on a christmas night. Footpaths were spilling over. There was no difference with any crowded Indian city. Traffic rules being flouted at will. It's just that given our population, it's christmas everyday !

[cream]

while the situation always seesm hopeless at first, i would like to think that nothing is impossible...

while the power of 1 works at a very slow rate, i think - like it has happened often - that all we need is 1 good man at the top ... a prime minister who can seriously be honest and tackle corruption - come what may.

today, while people generally do not doubt the veracity of our very own pm, we know that his hands are tied - so he has to please too many allies, or lose his seat. so he goes around like a mouse, skirting really important issues.

lets hope we can get a man, who is willing to sacrifice his office - but mean business - and solve real problems...afterall, all our ills boil down to corruption and inefficiency.

strangely, just after this thread was started, we had 26/07 disaster in mumbai - my thoughts on that are in the same vein. do check out this thread

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7238