[venkyhere]

Out of all of bangalore traffic's worst behavior, which is the one you absolutely abhor ? the one which suddenly lights up a fuse in the subdued embers of frustration, and makes you want to land a few heavy punches right on the villain's face ?


For me, its the guy who runs wrong side on a kilometer long queue, causes a gridlock, exchanges a few expletives and hand gestures with the guy who is coming correctly on 'his' side of the road (after enduring and surpassing whatever was the cause that led to no incoming vehicles for such a long time) ; and then wants to get 'back-in' and expects me to run my car into the ditch on my left, having the temerity to eyeball me as if Im the guy who is stopping smooth flow of traffic by not doing my part to alleviate the gridlock

[am1m]

Originally Posted by venkyhere

For me, its the guy who runs wrong side on a kilometer long queue, causes a gridlock,...

For me this is second, the first being bikers on the footpath, even honking at pedestrians to get out of the way! Then comes this, vehicles going the wrong way to get ahead of traffic. The sad part about both these violations is that the offending party does get ahead of the rest of the pack that is following the rules. Then where is the incentive to follow the rules?

Like they did for drunken driving and now they are doing for 'wheelies', the cops need to seize the vehicles involved in these two offenses as well. Then instances will come down.

Originally Posted by Maibaa

My recent trip to Shillong was an eye opener on traffic discipline when we had to wait for 15-20 mins to enter the town due to heavy traffic. The pictures below are a testimony to the patience and discipline these locals where everyone chooses to stick to their side even when the opposite lane is deserted.

Am beginning to think there's something wrong with us in Bangalore. Was in Goa a couple of weeks ago, had to drive from the South to the North two times in one week and back. Extensive road work is going on around Panjim, some sort of elevated road. So there were places where traffic was crawling. After a while I realized that even though there was slow traffic and all, I was nowhere near as tense or irritated as I am when driving in Bangalore. Realized that it was because no one was honking behind me, and no one was cutting lanes!

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by am1m

Am beginning to think there's something wrong with us in Bangalore. Was in Goa a couple of weeks ago, had to drive from the South to the North two times in one week and back. Extensive road work is going on around Panjim, some sort of elevated road. So there were places where traffic was crawling. After a while I realized that even though there was slow traffic and all, I was nowhere near as tense or irritated as I am when driving in Bangalore. Realized that it was because no one was honking behind me, and no one was cutting lanes!

The problem is "we get away with it" People living in Shillong or Goa or any other place with hilly terrain or narrow roads with no escape know that if they do not follow lanes in traffic, they get into a unending gridlock. they also know that they following lanes will get them faster even considering the wait times. Goa has stricter policing to add to it.

Not just Bangalore, any other plain lands people don't have any such thing. I'm yet to see a city in India with good driving and traffic. Bangalore being a cosmopolitan city has specimens from every corner of the country at one place. this is exactly the reason why when these idiots visit the hilly areas in the weekend, the hills see jams!

The other day I was stuck in a grid lock courtesy a moron auto driver who came in the wrong way and behind him some 10 road snakes (a.k.a motorcycles). A policeman came and started asking me and another guy beside me to backup and both of us got so angry that both of us shouted at the policeman to ask that auto to go back! After 4 or 5 times of asking us, he said "ok suffer" and left. Not even one word against the erring guy

Then all the people from all the vehicles came to us and "adjust madkoli sir" and got our 2 wheeler back. with 10 Vs 2, that other guy beside me went back and I was forced to move back as well. All that happened was that my adrenaline was high and my mood wasn't good for some time after that.

People like that auto driver will never learn, we will never get to see good discipline
It's not to do with anything about auto and taxi drivers, everyone from a bicycle to a BMW does the same thing as they know that they can get away with anything.
I've stopped saying anything about the infrastructure now...it may not be the best, but with whatever is available, we can drive without the mess we are seeing now. enough rant for today!

[am1m]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

Not even one word against the erring guy

Yeah, this is something I fail to understand too, why don't the cops just crack down without mercy on vehicles that break traffic rules?! I understand that from an individual cop's point of view, after a full day dealing with this sort of madness, it makes sense to get vehicles to 'adjust' and just move things along. I have some sympathy too. But for the overall good of traffic here, the top cop brass should just give these guys the power to crack down, impose heavy fines and seize vehicles. A couple of years of 'zero tolerance' should do the trick.

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

I've stopped saying anything about the infrastructure now...it may not be the best, but with whatever is available, we can drive without the mess we are seeing now.

Absolutely! Our roads are wide enough. Get rid of the parking on both sides, prevent people stopping at random and enforce lane discipline, and traffic will actually be pretty smooth. But no, it seems to be easier(!) to cut down every last tree, widen the roads and build 'elevated roads'!

[KL01toKA03]

Originally Posted by am1m

A couple of years of 'zero tolerance' should do the trick.

It will not take two years. Once the cops start becoming strict on traffic discipline, people will immediately behave better. Strangely, in Bangalore, the police are strict regarding some rules, and blind towards other rules. For example, whenever I reach the Nagwara signal (which is always a busy place due to its proximity to a tech park), I see that the cops are strict in fining or arguing with people who do not wear a helmet or seatbelt. At the same time, they ignore people who drive on the wrong side of the road.

[ambivalent_98]

Originally Posted by sachinpk

50 bikes seized in anti-wheelie drive
This was long over due, and good job done by the BTP. This menace was their big time on Hosur Road also (between Bommanahalli and Electronics City).

This nuisance is everywhere. You can almost guess seeing the folk who are about to do a wheelie. They usually have a funny haircut and/or a beard and something out of the ordinary. Their fav wheels are usually Honda scooters like Dio. These folks never wear a helmet as their hairdo will never allow them to wear one.

On a serious note there have been incidents when citizens have tried to warn these kids / men off and they have gotten violent on those poor law abiding citizens. I hope BTP extends their campaign all over Bangalore.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by KL01toKA03

Strangely, in Bangalore, the police are strict regarding some rules, and blind towards other rules.

Easier and quicker to collect money from a 2-wheeler rider or a private car and for a minor offense that can be easily proved than from a cab/auto driver/water tanker, BMTC driver who will argue, or won't care, or who has political/union backing and ownership (cab companies and water tanker mafia).

Again, I don't blame the individual cops on the roads, they have it hard. The government/top cops should give them more power (yes, this will lead to more corruption). But they need to be better equipped to start taking on the mess here. The stricter drives and action around drunken driving have worked. No doubt the 'wheelie' drives will work too. Time cast the net wider. Personally, I think they should stop checking for helmets, if someone is stupid enough to ride without one, let him suffer the consequences (I know, I know, there is a whole thread dedicated to why that can't be allowed, I'm just ranting). Direct that energy to other, more serious (relatively) offenses.

[ambivalent_98]

Originally Posted by am1m

Am beginning to think there's something wrong with us in Bangalore.

+1 to that. Everyone seems to be in a hurry to go somewhere. UNless the road is really narrow and there is zero scope for adjustment and a truck is driving from the opposite side no two wheelers will stop. The autodriver might stop for a moment but will push his luck.
I have been driving here in Bangalore for the past 7-8 years and this is going bad everyday. So there are brave souls especially on KTM bikes who zigzag through traffic. They are irritating outright. If the road is empty and the vehicle is slow , please overtake from the right. But overtaking from the left like an idiot leads to trouble. I think nowadays its the trendiest thing to do especially on a road without a divider. Everyone gets away with it and it is emboldening the people making these mistakes.

[deadguy25]

Originally Posted by am1m

Hmmm, well ok, but just to clarify because this thread has gone in the direction of 'blame the IT industry/'outsiders'/whoever' before, I at least never meant to imply that.

Lane discipline and driving discipline is lacking. That's across the spectrum of road users, irrespective of 2/4/3-wheelers, private vehicles/cabs, rich/poor, BMWs/Autos, educated/non-educated, new immigrants to the city/people here for x generations, IT guys/non-IT guys, etc, etc.

Strict enforcement of road rules is sorely lacking. And that's why the mess.

Yes, well said. Every junction is crowded. Everybody is in a hurry. I totally agree to what you said.
My bad, my post should have been more clear.

[Secretariat]

Originally Posted by KL01toKA03

For example, whenever I reach the Nagwara signal (which is always a busy place due to its proximity to a tech park), I see that the cops are strict in fining or arguing with people who do not wear a helmet or seatbelt. At the same time, they ignore people who drive on the wrong side of the road.

I actually went to the cops who are always standing there and asked them why they don't catch the regular stream of vehicles coming on the wrong side and creating a big bottleneck (in fact they stop traffic to help these wrongsiders pass !). The answer I got was that these people are coming from a residental layout which has no other access to the main road and if they have to go in the opposite direction and then take a U turn it will be an extra distance of 2 kms which is "not fair" !! Wow. Left me speechless.

[KL01toKA03]

Originally Posted by Secretariat

I actually went to the cops who are always standing there and asked themThe answer I got was that these people are coming from a residental layout which has no other access to the main road and if they have to go in the opposite direction and then take a U turn it will be an extra distance of 2 kms which is "not fair" !! Wow. Left me speechless.

I'm not surprised. I've even seen cops go the wrong way on that stretch. I guess it is time to shoot a video and ask what the Twitter handle of BTP thinks about this.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by Secretariat

The answer I got was that these people are coming from a residental layout which has no other access to the main road and if they have to go in the opposite direction and then take a U turn it will be an extra distance of 2 kms which is "not fair" !! Wow. Left me speechless.

Wow, how can these cops who are the law enforcers say it's "not fair" Exactly why we have street and local "justice" taking precedence over traffic rules!

Every day one can see a steady stream of 2 & 3 wheelers (and the odd 4 wheeler too!) happily moving on the New Thippasandra main road in the wrong direction from BEML signal (junction with suranjan das road) all the way down to the other end where it meets 80 feet road - a totally lawless ~1.5km stretch

We have a new DCP traffic Mr. Harishekaran who is making a lot of effort to bring more traffic rule enforcement in various parts of Bangalore and I just hope this road will get his attention soon.
One can see cops near the TTK blood bank but they only target goods vehicles and 2 wheelers without helmet and car drivers who aren't belted up. While they're doing this, they turn a blind eye to all the wrong side riders (even if they aren't wearing helmets), can it get any worse ? On some days they do a wrong side check/drive near Ganesha temple but these are few and far between and this road has too many junctions for wrong side traffic to enter and exit.

*I'm not active on social media (FB & Twitter). Would be great if someone can highlight this to BTP or the ACP.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by NPV

Every day one can see a steady stream of 2 & 3 wheelers (and the odd 4 wheeler too!) happily moving on the New Thippasandra main road in the wrong direction from BEML signal (junction with suranjan das road) all the way down to the other end where it meets 80 feet road - a totally lawless ~1.5km stretch

Looks like we frequent the same part of town! I actually learned to drive on that Tippasandra Main Road, back when it was a legal two-way road! The driving school instructor would make me take the car from 80 feet road till Suranjan Das road (which was absolutely deserted in the late 90s-early 2000s) and then I would practice reversing there.

You're absolutely correct, since it became a one-way, the 'wrong way goers' there have become bolder and bolder. At first it was a few bikes, now even big vehicles go down the wrong way there and don't care, even yell back at the people going the correct way. This is despite, as you have pointed out, the occasional police checks for that.

[ambivalent_98]

Originally Posted by am1m

Looks like we frequent the same part of town! I actually learned to drive on that Tippasandra Main Road, back when it was a legal two-way road! The driving school instructor would make me take the car from 80 feet road till Suranjan Das road (which was absolutely deserted in the late 90s-early 2000s) and then I would practice reversing there.

You're absolutely correct, since it became a one-way, the 'wrong way goers' there have become bolder and bolder. At first it was a few bikes, now even big vehicles go down the wrong way there and don't care, even yell back at the people going the correct way. This is despite, as you have pointed out, the occasional police checks for that.

Tippasandra Ganesha Temple to Airtel Store is the chaotic patch where vehicles seem to come from all directions. Its ironical considering it is a one way. On top of that there are two humongous humps on the road which is the BBMP way of covering a canal and also making a speedbreaker which is just massive.
In my last few years of frequenting this part of town I have seen cops there only maybe once or twice for a few hours.

[sachinpk]

Originally Posted by NPV

We have a new DCP traffic Mr. Harishekaran who is making a lot of effort to bring more traffic rule enforcement in various parts of Bangalore and I just hope this road will get his attention soon.

Mr. Harishekaran is Addl.CP Traffic. DCPs are below him, and if I get it right we have three DCPs. DCP Traffic East, DCP Traffic West and DCP Traffic North.

DCP Traffic East most likely would have the toughest job amongst his peers, as he has the ACP Central Traffic Sub. Div, ACP East Traffic Sub Div and ACP South East Traffic Sub Div (these areas are CBD, Indira Nagar, Whitefields, Koramangala, HSR, BTM all the way to Electronics City).