Rants on Bangalore's traffic situation

[sabynag]

Did the RTO office share how many of those 5 complaints/month were converted into a "real" action against the unruly driver ? The story is hidden there. You may lodge a complaint and they may issue a notice - that's it, nothing may be happening beyond that point.

Does anyone really expect that an auto driver will pay Rs.100 fine everytime he overcharges or refuses a passenger assuming that a harrased passenger always lodges a complaint ? If a large number of auto drivers receive notices from RTO, what would be the expected outcome - they all will pay up, they will refuse to pay and RTO will arrest them, they will not pay and RTO will do nothing or all auto drivers will turn highly disciplined ? What do you think what would happen ?

[gopal.prabhu1]

From a biker's point of view:

I am really not sure why so many of you curse bikers. As a full-time biker, this is what I have noticed:

If I follow a car in the same lane and stick to the middle of the lane, I get honked at continuously by the car behind even though I am perfectly right in what I'm doing.

If I drive on the sides of the lane (as most bikers are prone to do in Bangalore given the mess created by the cars), we get abused saying bikers cannot ride properly.

[abhinav.s]

Originally Posted by sabynag

Did the RTO office share how many of those 5 complaints/month were converted into a "real" action against the unruly driver ? The story is hidden there. You may lodge a complaint and they may issue a notice - that's it, nothing may be happening beyond that point.

Does anyone really expect that an auto driver will pay Rs.100 fine everytime he overcharges or refuses a passenger assuming that a harrased passenger always lodges a complaint ? If a large number of auto drivers receive notices from RTO, what would be the expected outcome - they all will pay up, they will refuse to pay and RTO will arrest them, they will not pay and RTO will do nothing or all auto drivers will turn highly disciplined ? What do you think what would happen ?

First of all thanks to aqualeo for sharing the info along with the contact numbers.

And to the question raised by sabynag, the first thing that came to my mind reading your question was that the auto drivers will go on a strike claiming that they only make few hundreds a day and if asked to pay fine they will not be able to make a living. There will be some chaos and unrest and the govt. will have to step in to curb the violence and bring about peace.

So even if 5 complaints per minute is lodged, like already mentioned by aqualeo, the govt. officials are laid back and hardly have a service oriented approach to the public. They would not be able to maintain the log of calls/emails. Again the common man is the sufferer.

@newpunter - i too follow the same policy. Shun the auto drivers if the distance is more than 10 kms. Meru/Cel Cabs offer better service albeit at a higher price. But what you get in return for the higher price is comfort, polite drivers, peace of mind w.r.t the fares.

[MrinalSinha]

Originally Posted by gopal.prabhu1

From a biker's point of view:

I am really not sure why so many of you curse bikers. As a full-time biker, this is what I have noticed:

If I follow a car in the same lane and stick to the middle of the lane, I get honked at continuously by the car behind even though I am perfectly right in what I'm doing.

If I drive on the sides of the lane (as most bikers are prone to do in Bangalore given the mess created by the cars), we get abused saying bikers cannot ride properly.

You get honked because now there is space for 4 bikes and some bikers, who are not nearby, start aiming for that spot. Now, in the process they nudge, drive in a zig-zag fashion, overtake others dangerously and always the car is in risk of getting scratched.

Every day I have morons who scratch my rear view mirrors, trying to squeeze in the space made by some biker. They even have the audacity to ask me not to occupy extra road space by keeping the rear view mirrors folded

[Newpunter]

Originally Posted by MrinalSinha

Every day I have morons who scratch my rear view mirrors, trying to squeeze in the space made by some biker. They even have the audacity to ask me not to occupy extra road space by keeping the rear view mirrors folded

That is because you are in Hyderabad . When i used to drive in Hyderabad, there were numerous instances when i used to see the green light and start moving, only to find that people from the other sides were also moving. Compared to this, Bangalore's traffic is better but things have gone down a lot in the 3 years i've been here.

One of my pet complaint is that when i drive, i try to maintain a good gap with the vehicle in front so that i have some time to brake without hitting that guy if there is some problem. But the problem is that some moron gets himself into that gap between myself and the car ahead and now i have to slow down even more and then the cycle is repeated again with another moron putting his vehicle in between .

[MrinalSinha]

Originally Posted by Newpunter

That is because you are in Hyderabad . When i used to drive in Hyderabad, there were numerous instances when i used to see the green light and start moving, only to find that people from the other sides were also moving. Compared to this, Bangalore's traffic is better but things have gone down a lot in the 3 years i've been here.

One of my pet complaint is that when i drive, i try to maintain a good gap with the vehicle in front so that i have some time to brake without hitting that guy if there is some problem. But the problem is that some moron gets himself into that gap between myself and the car ahead and now i have to slow down even more and then the cycle is repeated again with another moron putting his vehicle in between .

Your pet complain is my daily experience! Happens all the time. People force me to drive/ Stop closer to the car ahead of me, much closer than my comfort. If I dont get that close, someone gets in their and make me more uncomfortable.

[abhinav.s]

Originally Posted by gopal.prabhu1

From a biker's point of view:

I am really not sure why so many of you curse bikers. As a full-time biker, this is what I have noticed:

If I follow a car in the same lane and stick to the middle of the lane, I get honked at continuously by the car behind even though I am perfectly right in what I'm doing.

If I drive on the sides of the lane (as most bikers are prone to do in Bangalore given the mess created by the cars), we get abused saying bikers cannot ride properly.

I too stick to the left lane where traffic permits. I normally ride at the speed of the traffic flow and hence get rarely honked at by cars even if i have to use the right lane for avoiding obstacles.
Its all in the way you ride. If you are defensive and not disturb the traffic flow then you would not get honked at or abused. I am saying this because i also drive to work occasionally and understand how frustrating it is for car drivers if 2 wheelers dart in between and too close to comfort.

Having said that, i am relatively calm when riding compared to driving in the chaotic traffic. Specially on the Old Airport road leading to Kundanahalli signal. The amount of abuses hurled at other drivers/riders not following the rules albeit under my breath is immense when driving!!

[MrinalSinha]

Originally Posted by abhinav.s

I too stick to the left lane where traffic permits. I normally ride at the speed of the traffic flow and hence get rarely honked at by cars even if i have to use the right lane for avoiding obstacles.
Its all in the way you ride. If you are defensive and not disturb the traffic flow then you would not get honked at or abused. I am saying this because i also drive to work occasionally and understand how frustrating it is for car drivers if 2 wheelers dart in between and too close to comfort.

Having said that, i am relatively calm when riding compared to driving in the chaotic traffic. Specially on the Old Airport road leading to Kundanahalli signal. The amount of abuses hurled at other drivers/riders not following the rules albeit under my breath is immense when driving!!

+100 to what you have said!

[pulsar56]

Originally Posted by MrinalSinha

They even have the audacity to ask me not to occupy extra road space by keeping the rear view mirrors folded

LOL. This happens almost everyday here.
The two-wheeler rider will close the LRVM and occupy the gap, the car driver will honk once and request him to open it back, and the two-wheeler rider will open it back for the car driver.
Everyone proceeds casually after that as if the whole drama never took place!

[abhinav.s]

Originally Posted by pulsar56

LOL. This happens almost everyday here.
The two-wheeler rider will close the LRVM and occupy the gap, the car driver will honk once and request him to open it back, and the two-wheeler rider will open it back for the car driver.
Everyone proceeds casually after that as if the whole drama never took place!

Personally have not seen this happen on B'lore roads yet. Here morons don't bother to close the mirror. They hit the mirror and give you "the look" if you honk at them!! Pathetic to say the least. But i don't mind losing a mirror costing 600 bucks rather than having the 2 wheeler bang into my blind spot and cause a bigger heartache to me.

[kishoryk]

Originally Posted by gopal.prabhu1

If I follow a car in the same lane and stick to the middle of the lane, I get honked at continuously by the car behind even though I am perfectly right in what I'm doing.

In fact that's my experience too. It's like - I don't care where you go but I don't like to see another two wheeler between my car and the car in front of me. The psyche of some car guys seems that, there should not be an inch of free space in front of their cars, I guess.

But again - there are few two wheelers, who royally hog the roads not letting others go. They do not (or can not) go faster either, blocking others. You should see the competition now between other two wheelers and car guys, trying to overtake this snail.. I say - Boss, if you can not take risk of overtaking the other vehicle that you are trying to, just move to your left and let others go but you can't keep driving in a staggered manner for eternity. I see many such guys on the ORR - really irritating.

You can't just blame one category of road users, it's all those who create chaos on the road. How many times, I escaped being pushed off the road by a car guy, who suddenly steers left either changing lane or wanting to negotiate a turn, without indicators? (Well some do but they decide to turn on the indicators a good 1/10th of a second before they turn. They they argue, if I could not notice the indicator!) And you see countless Idiots who drive on long beams (some times all the lights they could switch-on on their cars) all the time blanking out the two wheelers especially?

So it's all of us to be blamed, not just one type.

Originally Posted by abhinav.s

I too stick to the left lane where traffic permits. I normally ride at the speed of the traffic flow and hence get rarely honked at

This is exactly the principle I keep reminding myself - be it on bike or car. Not only will you have peace of mind but do not irritate others too.

Originally Posted by abhinav.s

I am saying this because i also drive to work occasionally and understand how frustrating it is for car drivers if 2 wheelers dart in between and too close to comfort.

+1 to this too. Since I keep switching between bike and car, I realized the problems from both sides and try as much as I can to not to repeat those mistakes (that inconvenience the other road users). For example, while I am driving the car, I leave some gap on the sides and in front so that, bikers can find the free space to move on !

Originally Posted by pulsar56

Everyone proceeds casually after that as if the whole drama never took place!

That's cool! I did not know, road users in Hyderabad cooperate with each other so much. My observation is that, traffic in Hyd is much better compared to BLR. Here people like buses, trucks, autos - all those Iron/Steel body guys do not care/bother even if they are going to hit or scratch the other vehicles and they drive so dangerously at times. At least I have not observed this at Hyd. There traffic looks chaotic and people do not think twice before jumping the signal or driving in opposite directions but traffic at least moves - unlike in BLR!

Cheers,
KK

[Nitin]

Haha..I'd like to come face to face with a moron who has to audacity to hit/fold my car's ORVM, and then give me the 'look'. Talk about cheekiness!
One such character did graze the door handle on one occassion, and my dad was quick to get out and give the person a piece of mind. Although the guy tried to talk back, my dad was able to put him back in his place.( I would have opted for the physical route,but sense prevailed).

[pulsar56]

Originally Posted by kishoryk

That's cool! I did not know, road users in Hyderabad cooperate with each other so much. My observation is that, traffic in Hyd is much better compared to BLR. Here people like buses, trucks, autos - all those Iron/Steel body guys do not care/bother even if they are going to hit or scratch the other vehicles and they drive so dangerously at times. At least I have not observed this at Hyd. There traffic looks chaotic and people do not think twice before jumping the signal or driving in opposite directions but traffic at least moves - unlike in BLR!


KK

That's because we all know that at some point of time on the road, we are wrong! No body is perfect.
Forgive & forget is the best thing to do! And trust me, I have not seen a road rage incident in my 5 years of living in this city!

As long as everybody is in sync, there are no major traffic jams. Except when the cops switch off the signals and try to regulate the traffic themselves!

P.S: We have traffic cameras at almost all junctions and these days, most of the drivers have started to STOP at red lights (not areas...LOL) even at 2:00 AM!


EDIT: This thread is one major factor which makes me stay away from B'lore forever!

[rk_sans]

Here is an incident which happened yesterday. I was coming from Mekhri Circle towards Hebbal. Just before the first bridge (Sanjay nagar) a guy on a motor cycle is on the right hand side of the road, talking on the phone (the usual way of some bikers fixing the mobile inside the helmet), i followed him till the end of the bridge then down the window and asked him to drive on the left side of the road and went past him. Then i saw him putting the left indicator and moved on to the left side. I was happy to see this guy understood he was in wrong side but not happy that he was still talking on the mobile struck inside his helmet.

[sachinj12]

Originally Posted by rk_sans

Here is an incident which happened yesterday. I was coming from Mekhri Circle towards Hebbal. Just before the first bridge (Sanjay nagar) a guy on a motor cycle is on the right hand side of the road, talking on the phone (the usual way of some bikers fixing the mobile inside the helmet), i followed him till the end of the bridge then down the window and asked him to drive on the left side of the road and went past him. Then i saw him putting the left indicator and moved on to the left side. I was happy to see this guy understood he was in wrong side but not happy that he was still talking on the mobile struck inside his helmet.

He at least had the sense to pull over.

Noticed the other 'Hero' breeds? Who ride on bile with a cell phone in their left hand, busy texting away to glory? I always wondered how they would manage the clutch while they were texting until I saw it myself. The guy rode straight into the gutter