[itwasntme]

Todays drizzle in North Bangalore combined with the dirty roads made for dicey driving conditions on the way home. Especially Bellary Road was treacherously slippery with the damned construction truck mud all over the carriageway.

Realized when my Cruze ABS suddenly activated during what I thought was very normal braking!

Hope no accidents happend during the rush hour.

[arun_josie]

Metro Geotechnical Investigation going on in Bannerghatta Road. Wonder how the traffic will be managed if and when the Metro construction starts.

[binand]

Originally Posted by IronH4WK

today i happened to take the BEML road all the way to HAL and then from HAL to Marathahalli! it was nothing short of a off road track!

I took the parallel road on Saturday (Namjoshi Road/Kaggadasapura Main Road). Calling it a "road" is sacrilege. Suranjan Das Road is heaven in comparison.

[Soumyajit9]

TRAFFIC ALERT:

Friends travelling towards Marathahalli, avoid taking the ramp that leads upto the flyover, from Sarjapur side. Instead, please take the underpass and take left somewhere after the underpass.

There is a huge trailer which was taking an illegal right turn and has broken down right on the bridge. The number plates have been removed for whatsoever reason.

Traffic from Kundanahalli side has to take a left turn towards Sarjapur and take a U-Turn in front of Home Town and take the ramp upto Marathalli to continue towards Old Airport Road.

Hope I am clear in my explanation.

[deadguy25]

Most of us have problems with most cab drivers for the way they drive. These cab drivers transport IT people. These people also drive\ride. Why can't the ones who use the cabs regularly tell their drivers sternly not to drive on the wrong side of the road or bully people on the road?

We have a " for feedback call <some number> on some cabs; instead if the cab users provide good feedback, it would be a great help to the society. I agree, most of them jump into a cab and sleep. They would not even bother how the rash their driver may be, as long as they get to go home .

Wish something could be done about this.

[MotoNanu]

Originally Posted by deadguy25

Most of us have problems with most cab drivers for the way they drive. These cab drivers transport IT people. These people also drive\ride. Why can't the ones who use the cabs regularly tell their drivers sternly not to drive on the wrong side of the road or bully people on the road?

We have a " for feedback call <some number> on some cabs; instead if the cab users provide good feedback, it would be a great help to the society. I agree, most of them jump into a cab and sleep. They would not even bother how the rash their driver may be, as long as they get to go home .

Wish something could be done about this.

That's exactly what I feel.
Rash driving by the driver is not only frustrating for the others on road but more importantly dangerous to the people sitting inside. The passengers must protest and complaint for erratic driving.
Though what I feel is, with the amount of traffic and subsequent delay/ irritation, people are happy if they reach the destination soon, does not matter how!
This needs to change, and this is in our hands.

[Shubz]

Originally Posted by deadguy25

Most of us have problems with most cab drivers for the way they drive. These cab drivers transport IT people. These people also drive\ride. Why can't the ones who use the cabs regularly tell their drivers sternly not to drive on the wrong side of the road or bully people on the road?

We have a " for feedback call <some number> on some cabs; instead if the cab users provide good feedback, it would be a great help to the society. I agree, most of them jump into a cab and sleep. They would not even bother how the rash their driver may be, as long as they get to go home .

Wish something could be done about this.

I have never used the cab so (thank god for small mercies) But I have tried asking my team mates who use the cab facility as to how can they manage that kind of driving. they say - we try telling the driver, and in defiance, he drives more rashly. Report the behavior to the transport supervisor - supervisor says - Ok He will be booked/warned. Then the driver changes for a week or so - and the same guy comes back again and the cycle continues.

The cab drivers are probably trained to drive like "Nobody but me" and if you look at them for their fault - they look back as if you abused them and they either throw back choice expletives or look back as if they will kill you that instant.

Sadly - this has become the behavior of the so called educated drivers as well.

Earlier this week, I was driving on the inner ring road towards Sony World junction - there was this educated bloke in a Wagor R in the middle lane - neither here nor there - and from his RVM's I could see he was fiddling with the phone - so just to be safe - I blip my horn to make him aware that someone is passing and pass him. And he thought I was intimidating him for a race - and he started honking behind me and trying every possible nook to get past me - I was in the right most lane. At sony world junction - the light was red - he comes beside me and is obviously abusing me from behind a rolled up window - and I had my music on - so started singing looking at him with the usual facial expressions one would have while singing. And the look on his face - Priceless!!

[sansvk]

Originally Posted by deadguy25

Wish something could be done about this.

I have been using the office transport for 2 months now, not a cabs but red BMTC volvo's. The drivers usually change but one route is shared by 2-3 drivers a month. 2 of the 3 drivers are ok, gentlemen type, no honking, no fast lane changes etc, but theres one guy (mid 40s) he is a total maniac, with no respect for other road users, switches lanes like a biker does, pushes other vehicles off the road and continous honking.
Spoke to this guy one day and asked about his driving style, he says firstly he has to reach the depot on time and secondly the faster he driver lesser the time spent in traffic...I was like good logic...

[DigitalOne]

Originally Posted by deadguy25

Most of us have problems with most cab drivers for the way they drive. These cab drivers transport IT people. These people also drive\ride. Why can't the ones who use the cabs regularly tell their drivers sternly not to drive on the wrong side of the road or bully people on the road?

We have a " for feedback call <some number> on some cabs; instead if the cab users provide good feedback, it would be a great help to the society. I agree, most of them jump into a cab and sleep. They would not even bother how the rash their driver may be, as long as they get to go home .

Wish something could be done about this.

Exactly; And many of the Force motors-tempo travellers drivers drive so rashly and further break all traffic rules. And these are used to transport IT employees who are supposed to be educated. I wonder why the employees don't point it out to the drivers ( at least when they blatantly break rules ). The tempo traveller drivers are a terror.

[NPV]

Two experiences of this today on my way home this afternoon - one on Jeevan Bima Nagar Road and another on Thippasandra Main Road.
Why do people veer to the right extreme of a road when they approach a junction where they intend to turn towards right ?
I experienced this twice today at junctions where I was turning left and the other vehicles were turning right. In fact, in the second instance the guy was turning into the wrong side on a 1-Way road! And absolutely no feeling of guilt, in fact they stared at me like I was the one making a mistake.
(I think this is also a case for the Bad Drivers thread)

[AltoLXI]

Originally Posted by NPV

Two experiences of this today on my way home this afternoon - one on Jeevan Bima Nagar Road and another on Thippasandra Main Road.
Why do people veer to the right extreme of a road when they approach a junction where they intend to turn towards right ?
I experienced this twice today at junctions where I was turning left and the other vehicles were turning right. In fact, in the second instance the guy was turning into the wrong side on a 1-Way road! And absolutely no feeling of guilt, in fact they stared at me like I was the one making a mistake.
(I think this is also a case for the Bad Drivers thread)

I have pondered over this many times and came to the conclusion that "The shortest distance between two points is a straight line". I also remembered from Ya Perelman's book "Physics for Entertainment" about the crow's flight. I reproduce,

"The ability to find the shortest way in cases like the one we discussed
may come in handy when solving some brain-teasers. Take the following
case. A crow is perched on a branch, and there are some grains of millet
scattered on the ground below. The crow swoops down, pecks at the millet
and then flies up to perch on the fence. The question is: Where should
the crow peck in order to take the shortest possible route?

This is an absolutely similar problem to the one just discussed. So we
can easily supply the right answer: the crow should follow the path
of the ray of light. In other words, it should fly so that angle 1 is equal
to angle 2 which, as we already know, is the shortest way possible."

So when people move to the other lane, I console myself by remembering the crow.

As for the second one it is amazing to note that those who are approaching in the opposite direction usually will have all the lights flashing on their vehicles - hazard indicators, turn indicators, headlights and what not - which I suspect will not be used when they are on correct lane.

[sbala]

There is a huge traffic jam from Sarjapur road signal to Bellundur. Was due to breakdown of a BMTC bus near Salarpuria Soft Zone. After a long time, had to go through a traffic jam in ORR.

[WindRide]

I wonder what can be done about the Beniganahalli Bridge - Tin Factory - KRPuram Rly Station crawl that seems to get worse with each passing day. Commuting on this route is a 1st gear affair starting from around 7.00 am to 11.00 am. Its crazy that the entire Beniganahalli flyover is jammed starting just after the Kasturi Nagar junction when driving towards KRPuram station.

[shankar.balan]

Poor LittleBigFoot had its first "prang" this morning.

Loafing about the city post a nice hearty Woodlands breakfast, my Folks, wife and I found ourselves around 1030am in the neighbourhood of SadashivaNagar.

Moving along the road we came to a cross-roads - I may have been doing about 25-30kmph and slowed down almost to a dead halt as we approached the cross-roads.

Just then a halfwit on a Kinetic Honda decided to fling himself at the Yeti from the side road while attempting to cross at some speed, right in front of my nose.

Bang! I smacked the brakes really hard and stopped dead but had banged the bike before coming to a dead halt. The Bike fell down onto its left side with the rider's leg underneath it. I stopped and got out and the rider got up with a lot of apparent difficulty. A thin, slightly built chap who did not look very tough or anything.

I coaxed him to the side and the cross-roads cop helped pull his vehicle to the side. I asked my folks and wife to remain in the car, pocketed my key and walked over to the fallen man who was sitting on the kerbside. The brown shirt cop who was there was an ineffectual fellow who was clearly undecided whether to take my side or the rider's side - he knew very well this was not my fault. Ultimately and typically, being a local bloke, he succumbed to the pressure of the other local blokes and did not take my side. However, to do him credit, he kept his mouth shut.

There was no blood no nothing except that the rider was shell shocked and kept complaining about his left leg and thigh - which was to be expected since he had taken a spill.

Of course, the immediate reaction by the local lumpen auto drivers and various creatures was to surround us and start shouting. I calmly raised my hands and asked them to calm down. Gave the rider a bottle of water from the car and a pain killer (crocin) from my wife's handbag.

By then the rider had got excited and started using bad language, as had some of the locals. Again I raised my hands and said I was not going anywhere and had indeed stopped to see if I could help the rider and requested them all to stop shouting and not to use bad language. Being the type of creatures they are, all of them obviously wanted to extract the maximum from the situation and kept shouting.

Even the rider by then was resorting to some really ham handed drama - literally hamming it up there on the public street, clutching his leg and pretending to fall, acting disoriented and all the rest of it. I was watching quite calmly knowing full well that this was a total put up job and drama intended for the on-lookers.

I then took the rider's card after calming him down, gave him my card and in the meantime had to keep enduring the idiots who had surrounded us. There were some filthy looking local "driver' types also hanging about the fringes.

Turned out that the rider was a medical rep on his way somewhere. He then kept cribbing about how poor he was and that his home had been burgled a month back and that he lost lakhs of rupees worth of gold and all sorts of rubbish.

I told him all that was nothing to do with me but that I was willing to help him get on his feet after the accident. Feeling sorry for him, I gave him some money (Rs 500) nd told him to relax and then go home. He had calmed down considerably at the time but then started blubbing and crying with self pity - so I sat him down again and told him to chill.

The matter was just getting settled but as luck would have it, just then, another nasty looking auto driver landed on the scene and started saying that the rider must have been hurt "inside" and muscle and nerve damage is possible and a whole lot of rot. Clearly trying to take advantage.

This fool rider then got up and tried to jump on his bike and promptly fell over and again started hamming it up by clutching his leg and thigh and groaning and generally creating a drama as if he was mortally wounded or something.

I then called one of my pals who is a Senior Advocate asking him for advice. He asked me to sit tight till the cops arrived. Immediately after that I rang Mr Hemanth, the GM of the Skoda showroom - Vinayak Skoda which was just 2 streets away. He said he was on leave but that someone from the showroom would be with me in a few minutes.

Sure enough, five minutes later, one of the really organized guys from the showroom, Anand, came along to my rescue.

By then a couple more cops had also turned up - both local Sadashiva Nagar Police and one of them, the SI. One had been informed by the local traffic cop and the other (the SI) was called by Anand from Vinayak Skoda stating that I was their customer etc.

The cops calmly assessed the situation, heard my story and loudly and summarily admonished the locals for shouting so much and for using bad language. The appreciated clearly that I had stopped after the prang and waited in all decency and indeed administered water and painkiller etc.

This was a total freak accident which they realised quickly enough. They also saw that I was about to be taken advantage of by the lumpen ones so when the cops took charge, the lumpen element faded away like ice in the sun!

They took the Kinetic rider in an auto to a local nursing home, (Remember, I had given him some Rs 500/?). Well, the doctors there gave him an injection and a prescription for some tablets and painkillers.

The cop brought him back, still clutching his leg and acting as if he was in pain etc. The SI then suggested that to "settle" the matter, I pay the rider something for his bike (which was totally un-damaged by the way), something more to the rider himself and some medicines plus the auto charges to get the fellow home.

So I ended up handing over Rs 1500/- all in all plus the original Rs 500/-.

While it was a freak accident and was NOT my fault, being the owner of the bigger vehicle, I had to pay up to avoid further headaches. Settled out of court as they say.

The rider who had hitherto been acting as if his leg was broken and that he was in deep pain etc, suddenly had a sea change come over him. He lit a cigarette and crossed one leg over the "apparently injured leg" while sitting in the auto. This promptly earned him the ire of the SI who blasted him for a fraud and a common criminal etc etc.

The SI said that there was no basis for any kind of case, he extracted an assurance from that rider that he would shut up and go home and told me bluntly and politely that it would be better to settle up and push off. Fair advice, considering things. The SI himself was a thorough gentleman - no nonsense, completely calm and open minded, no un-necessary pre-conceived notions and he knew full well that some one like me would be easy meat for the lumpen fellows around, so to do him credit, he helped settle the matter very decently.

I may have lost a bit of money but I had a good laugh and felt that there was a certain amount of justice meted out to the potential bad creatures around today. I must have, by way of today's experience, been paying of some old forgotten debt incurred in the past. No worries - just Karma.

I am thankful for the kind help extended to me through Mr. Emmanuel Anand of Vinayak Skoda today. I really appreciate his prompt arrival on the scene and his help in solving the issue.

It was a completely "freak" accident and things could have turned un-necessarily ugly but for his help.

I then assessed the damage to my Yeti. Front bumper quite scratched. The silvery bit in the centre of the front bumper was also deeply scratched. The number plate is badly twisted but there is no structural damage or damage to lights or anything of that sort. I will still lose more by getting these put right, but I m glad to be out of the potentially disastrous and ugly situation that could have developed as typically they do, between these lumpen "have-nots" vs people like us, the so-called "haves".

Once things got settled I visited the Vinayak Showroom, enjoyed some relief by way of a cup of coffee, met the Owner/MD/CEO also and thanked him personally for the help of his company staff.

I really appreciate that on account of the good relationship that we have, that the Vinayak folks came and helped me. I wont forget that in a hurry.

[benbsb29]

Shankar, that is indeed a rather unfortunate incident, but one that is becoming the norm in the case of any road incident in Bangalore. I can quite vividly remember the unfortunate incident I had to go through for a fault that was not totally mine, documented here : http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street...gs-pounce.html

The modus operandi is ah-so-familiar, not to forget the supporting casts involved.