[sanjaykk]

Originally Posted by sabynag

There is one near Leela Palace - it was unsuccessful until the authorities started to provide incentives to people to make use of it.

It would be interesting to know what incentives were provided!

[joslicx]

Originally Posted by sabynag

Which one gives you more sense of safety - a junction with fully automatic signals but no police on duty or a junction with no signals but police on duty ? The very fact that almost every signalled junction is staffed with policemen carries the proof how ineffective the signals are in controlling Indian traffic. But these signals still exist since they look good and gives a false sense of development.

I see what you mean when talking of Bangalore but in Delhi/Noida the signals are mostly effective. Except for very few badi gadiwalas (read Scorpios) most people adhere to signals.

Also one thing I have noticed is traffic crossings in Bangalore are not perfectly straight at many places. This slows down the traffic as people have to swerve left/right a little at the intersections.

[ancientmariner]

Originally Posted by sabynag

Which one gives you more sense of safety - a junction with fully automatic signals but no police on duty or a junction with no signals but police on duty ?

Police or no police, there are always some dumb heads who derive pleasure from jumping signals. All the police man does in that case is shout 'aaayye' and some mouthfuls in kannada. In the past two days i have seen two trucks jumping signals and all the traffic police could do was to ask them to stopby the side, but they drove on. Wonder where those traffic cops in white pulsars are?

Originally Posted by joslicx

Also one thing I have noticed is traffic crossings in Bangalore are not perfectly straight at many places. This slows down the traffic as people have to swerve left/right a little at the intersections.

+1 to that. There is one particular junction in Jakkasandra which has a weird layout. Infact when all the signals are red, there is enough place to play a football game !!

[jeeva]

+1 to that. There is one particular junction in Jakkasandra which has a weird layout. Infact when all the signals are red, there is enough place to play a football game !![/quote]

Ah! the Jakksandra signal.
Its a pain to cross this place in the morning. Just to aviod the mess, I leave early to office. Traffic here has become worse after the Madiwala underground subway work started. You have people (mostly the 2 wheelers and the cabbies) getting onto the right side at the slightest traffic build up, thereby blocking the complete traffic. People park their cars on this very same road and Tractors add to this chaos. Not to mention about the mess created at the Koramangala side and vehicles wanting to go into the residential area inside.

[sbraj]

Originally Posted by sanjaykk

It would be interesting to know what incentives were provided!

The only advantage that I can think of is a short walking distance. If one uses the foot over bridge, walking distance is far less compared to not using one. This is because of the barricades constructed on the divider making it impossible to cross the road from Manipal Hospital till Diamond district.

But there are still industrious dare devils who climb up the barricade and cross.

[Torqy]

Today morning i saw the unusual sight of a sub-inspector sending back all those MORONS who were riding on the wrong side of the divider on the now-famous NGEF-OMR link. I slowed down and told him a "Thank You Sir!"

-- Torqy

[benbsb29]

For the second time when i needed it the most, the police emergency number 100 refused to work/connect. I even tried with the local code 080 prefixed, but of no use. What number do we call then?!

The reason i tried reaching the cops was because i was witness to an accident this morning, which had happened near CMR IT in Brookfields, and the ensuing melee resulted in a fistfight with a gang joining in. One of the protagonists even picked up a huge stone to smash the other guy's head. In the process my car's ORVM got pushed shut, and then i moved the car away from the scene to call the cops. I was unable to connect. :(

I wonder what came of the incident. I didnt get involved since there was physical violence involved.

[abhinav.s]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

For the second time when i needed it the most, the police emergency number 100 refused to work/connect. I even tried with the local code 080 prefixed, but of no use. What number do we call then?!

I guess 108 is the best option in emergency situation. I have called that number twice and the response was super quick. You can report any emergency to 108. They will take down your name/number and also follow up with you after a while to ensure help has reached.

[benbsb29]

Abhinav, i have used the 108 number to report a recent 2 wheeler accident in which a female rider was injured. She appeared unconscious. I called up 108, and the follow up was excellent. God bless them. Though the ambulance got there in about 15-20 mins, the scene had cleared up by then, based on what they told me.

[rohan_iitr]

Originally Posted by ancientmariner

All the police man does in that case is shout 'aaayye' and some mouthfuls in kannada.

+1 to that. There is one particular junction in Jakkasandra which has a weird layout. Infact when all the signals are red, there is enough place to play a football game !!

That is so true, the Jakkasandra junction is weird.

And that's not all, the traffic constable posted on this junction is the laziest bum I have seen in Bangalore.

On several occasions, I have seen Indicabs jumping the signal right under his nose, and he doesn't even shout 'aaayye' or some mouthfuls in Kannada. Forget about noting down the car's number or taking any action.

Rohan

[abhinav.s]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

Abhinav, i have used the 108 number to report a recent 2 wheeler accident in which a female rider was injured. She appeared unconscious. I called up 108, and the follow up was excellent. God bless them. Though the ambulance got there in about 15-20 mins, the scene had cleared up by then, based on what they told me.

The same way you can also report incidents of the sort you described and they would make the nearest available police forces aware to reach the spot. I read on the internet that 108 is similar to 911 of the US. Not sure of this though. But i have to agree that both the times I used 108 was to help the injured in an accident.

[sabynag]

Originally Posted by sanjaykk

It would be interesting to know what incentives were provided!

When the footbridge near Leela Palace failed to attract users, the first attemp made by authorities was to block the "short-cut" alternative by raising barricades on the divider. But while barricade was effective to deter the cattles, it had very little impact on Indians. The authorities soon realized that unless the barricade height was made comparable to the height of the footbridge itself, Indians would prefer to climb the barricade than the footbridge. But that was impractical. So, they devised an incentive plan - Indians are extremely sensitive to incentives, everyone knows it ! What they did is that they added sharp metallic edges on top of the barricade so that it would become difficult to climb the barricade without being hurt. Now, there is a clear incentive to use the footbridge - if you want to cross the road without getting a puncture in your A**, use the footbridge. Otherwise, please take the short-cut. Soon, more and more Indians switched to the footbridge as one puncture per crossing is too high a cost for the effort saved. This model is now deployed elsewhere too - I just noticed it near KR Puram flyover.

[Jeep]

Laughed reading this (loud enough for my colleague to notice).

This is very true. The subways constructed on Hosur Road at various places between Silk Board and Ecity are not being used at all. At a few points, the traffic signals as well have 'pedestrian crossing' signal - I wonder why then we created Subways!

I thought subways would serve the purpose since one initially goes downstairs instead of going upstairs (as in case of a foot overbridge).

Originally Posted by sabynag

When the footbridge near Leela Palace failed to attract users, the first attemp made by authorities was to block the "short-cut" alternative by raising barricades on the divider. But while barricade was effective to deter the cattles, it had very little impact on Indians. The authorities soon realized that unless the barricade height was made comparable to the height of the footbridge itself, Indians would prefer to climb the barricade than the footbridge. But that was impractical. So, they devised an incentive plan - Indians are extremely sensitive to incentives, everyone knows it ! What they did is that they added sharp metallic edges on top of the barricade so that it would become difficult to climb the barricade without being hurt. Now, there is a clear incentive to use the footbridge - if you want to cross the road without getting a puncture in your A**, use the footbridge. Otherwise, please take the short-cut. Soon, more and more Indians switched to the footbridge as one puncture per crossing is too high a cost for the effort saved. This model is now deployed elsewhere too - I just noticed it near KR Puram flyover.

[prince_pervez]

Is there a Bandh organised by Political parties across India ? We have a mail asking everyone in India at multiple locations to stay home or work from home if possible. Date: 05-Jul-2010. Any idea ?

[amitoj]

Originally Posted by prince_pervez

Is there a Bandh organised by Political parties across India ? We have a mail asking everyone in India at multiple locations to stay home or work from home if possible. Date: 05-Jul-2010. Any idea ?

Yes.
Our company has declared Monday a holiday. Will have to work on Saturday (10th) instead