[mannubhai]

A car has a break down. Owner/driver cant repair it. Then it needs to be towed away clearing traffic. How can the driver " threaten" the cops that they have to pay damages and then the cops obliging him.

See the way they pile up motorbikes from no parking areas to the tempos ? Does anyone pay for the damages to bikes.

What difference does it make just cos its a 40 lac bmw ? Rs 300 fine is a joke.

[poloman]

Going by the story all the four wheels of the car were locked by some mysterious vacuum lock(?). So believing this report, it will be a herculean task to tow/move this car with out significant damage.As an owner will you allow some one to tow your car in this state? The only guys to be blamed should be the BMW technicians.

[shankar.balan]

Ideally there should be a fork lift hoist on wheels available to the traffic police, which should be able to move the vehicle onto a flat bed tow truck, secure it and then take it away. The sad fact is that even had infrastructure of this type been available, it would not have been possible for those machines to reach the break down spot, as all the roads around the broken down BMW would have been choked to death for miles around and there would not have been space for those vehicles to move.
The only way out would have been an 'airborne' operation it seems!
Really lucky that the vaccuum lock was dissipated with the other BMW key though frankly it beats me how that could have been done because these cars computers are meant to answer the summons of only their 'programmed' keys! Unless of course some Indian 'jugaad' magic was invoked for this!

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by mannubhai

A car has a break down. Owner/driver cant repair it. Then it needs to be towed away clearing traffic. How can the driver " threaten" the cops that they have to pay damages and then the cops obliging him.

The problem here is - the car cannot be towed away. If it could be moved, a group of people can just push the car to a side. The wheels were jammed. They have to drag the car to a safe non-traffic zone. Will you as an owner allow anyone to violently drag the car with jammed wheels, risking serious complications?? I know I won't.

Why couldn't the traffic police divert the traffic into the remaining 2 lanes instead, until the BMW breakdown service arrived? 500ContyCruiser was mentioning that the traffic police had barricaded the other 2 lanes in that stretch. What were they doing about that?? Breakdowns cannot be punishable offenses. The traffic police must learn to manage traffic better when such things happen. What are they being paid for?

See the way they pile up motorbikes from no parking areas to the tempos ? Does anyone pay for the damages to bikes.

What difference does it make just cos its a 40 lac bmw ? Rs 300 fine is a joke.

Parking in a no-parking zone is a violation/offense negligently committed by the vehicle owner. How can we classify a car breakdown in the same category? I agree though, that the way Tiger workers manhandle motorbikes is also bad.

The motorbike's spare parts will cost 300-400 Rs when they lift them in wrong ways. Dragging a BMW with jammed wheels could damage the drivetrain or even gearbox, costing 10-15 lacs of money for no fault of the driver, simply because he happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Its like saying the owner should think this way - "Oh look, 500 cars are waiting behind me because of my breakdown, so let me allow BTP to drag the jammed car. I can get it repaired later, after all it could turn out to be only 15-20 lacs of repair costs max". No offense meant.

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Ideally there should be a fork lift hoist on wheels available to the traffic police, which should be able to move the vehicle onto a flat bed tow truck, secure it and then take it away. The sad fact is that even had infrastructure of this type been available, it would not have been possible for those machines to reach the break down spot, as all the roads around the broken down BMW would have been choked to death for miles around and there would not have been space for those vehicles to move.

Yeah, +1 on this one. They ought to manage such breakdowns by being able to mount the car onto a flat bed and move it out. The problem like you pointed out, is the volatile traffic situation in that area which would have ensured a jam in all surrounding roads.

On a lighter note, I am wondering how the broken down BMW would look with a tree branch of leaves stuck on one side, like we see on broken down buses and trucks.

[sagarpadaki]

What would the traffic police have done in the same situation if it was a BMTC volvo that had broken down instead of the Bimmer with its wheels locked?! Beats me. You cant push either of them!

Point is they don't know how to manage traffic in case there are such bottle necks. I have seen this umpteen number of times where in they just don't bother to improve the situation. A huge jam caused by one broken down BMW highlights the incompetency of the traffic police!

[ajmat]

What I read was that the vehicle immobiliser kicked in, disabling the car!

Wonder whether it was a dud key, even a dodgy import with questionable keys

[Mad Max]

This morning's incident:

I take Hosur Road from near the Hosa Road junction to NICE Road where I get on and head towards Mysore Road. The service lane before Hosa road is a two-way with a divider marked for vehicles to move either way. Very often, people heading towards EC block the oncoming lane and that creates a huge mess.

Today, it was vehicle KA 01 MH 5968 (Black XUV 500)'s turn to be a genius. He decided that he'll not stop for anyone, goes into the opposite lane. Then he sees a milk truck turning and cuts across into our lane. Everyone honks frantically and doesn't let him in. So, he squeezes by the milk truck and then steps on the gas. In that split second, traffic has come to a halt and he's a millimeter from my rear bumper. Gave him an earful but doesn't matter to him. He speeds into oncoming traffic IN the service lane and then cuts across a load auto. But he sees a motorbike in the far end and now, he starts to wobble because he doesn't have space to go. I could hear people shouting at him. For a moment, I thought I'd chase this idiot down and hand him a beat-down. But, I just couldn't bring myself to drive as rashly as him to get a hold of him.

From the looks of it, it was a driver driving the vehicle (or a mechanic taking the car for servicing). If you know this vehicle, Kindly alert the owner of this vehicle that his vehicle was very lucky today and that it may not be so lucky next time.

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

What would the traffic police have done in the same situation if it was a BMTC volvo that had broken down instead of the Bimmer with its wheels locked?! Beats me. You cant push either of them!

Point is they don't know how to manage traffic in case there are such bottle necks. I have seen this umpteen number of times where in they just don't bother to improve the situation. A huge jam caused by one broken down BMW highlights the incompetency of the traffic police!

To add to what you said, I have seen cops umpteen number of times standing near major bottlenecks and trying to harass trucks/commercial cargo vehicles for collecting fines/bribes, when their focus should have been to ensure smooth traffic flow at those junctions.

A couple of days back, I was returning home at roughly 6pm and was stuck at Silk board signal heading towards BTM. When the signal went green and traffic started moving, one particular truck on the left lane spotted cops waiting near the flyover and to avoid them, took a U-turn and escaped in the opposite direction towards HSR, with the constable frantically blowing the whistle and chasing the truck by foot . While it was funny to watch from a distance, this last minute U-turn caused a major chaos and most other vehicles on the road had no choice but to give up and wait. Needless to say, the signal turned red too.

[naveenroy]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Wow. This is a wild piece of news!
How perfectly idiotic this whole thing sounds!
And the fine slapped on the driver - they should have at least fined him 5000/- for the inconvenience to the public.
Or maybe made him buy dinner for everyone who was stuck in that jam.
This is absolutely nuts!

Sorry but why can't the car be towed away. In the face of a huge traffic jam, the car should have been towed away! If you can carry away bikes that are parked illegally, you can tow away a car too!

And for the life of me, can someone explain why cops do not tow away cars that are parked illegally? Tow them away and people will learn. I'm tired of seeing cars parking in bike parking zones and getting away with it. Try doing it the other way around

[svdath]

My guess is that mostly the people in beemers or the merc or audis or any other high end [10+ lakh] vehicle owners would make sure that the cop who towed away the vehicle, pay the price of it by getting some influnetial person call up the traffic ACP. That is the reason the inspector at the signal does not want to get in to taking a decission of towing the beemer and for his bad luck, a scratch comes on the vehicle.

mostly that is not the case with 2 wheelers.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by naveenroy

Sorry but why can't the car be towed away. In the face of a huge traffic jam, the car should have been towed away! If you can carry away bikes that are parked illegally, you can tow away a car too!

Because all four wheels were jammed. Even for towing, at least 2 wheels would be rolling. In this case they would be dragged causing damage to tyre due to friction to the surface.

And for the life of me, can someone explain why cops do not tow away cars that are parked illegally? Tow them away and people will learn. I'm tired of seeing cars parking in bike parking zones and getting away with it. Try doing it the other way around

Difficult situation I would say. You literally need to lift the car. The police guy would have also gotten a bit hesitant looking at the expensive vehicle and must be fearing if the owner was some big shot and who may have the muscle to get back.

[Soumyajit9]

Guys travelling to and fro BTM Layout via Silk Board - I have a question. Any idea why is the divider been broken off and steel barricades put up at the junction, in front of the Silk Board office ?
One thing that comes to my mind is because of this, the traffic cops can mobilize the width of the junction to ease jams. But hey, who will stop bikers ? They just push away the barricades and jump into any possible gaps, endangering opposite lane users.

Normally, when I come from HSR side, I maintain the right most lane after the junction. This is to avoid crazy bikers on the left lane.
Now-a-days, I keep away from the right lane, because the barricades are all haywire and bikers protruding out of minor gaps in those barricades. Potential accident situation.

[sumathindra]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

I had a sound sleep yesternight, with a stupid, satisfied smile on my face. I'm smiling even now! Waiting for the next chance to shout at these errant cabbie guys. I don't think they will ever learn though.

I endorse what you did. I have done it a couple of times myself because the other driver was completely at fault. In fact they are a pain to pedestrians and oncoming traffic as well. This in my opinion is nothing to do with ego/road rage but pure disciplining

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by Soumyajit9

Guys travelling to and fro BTM Layout via Silk Board - I have a question. Any idea why is the divider been broken off and steel barricades put up at the junction, in front of the Silk Board office ?
One thing that comes to my mind is because of this, the traffic cops can mobilize the width of the junction to ease jams.

From what I had heard through a BBMP person standing there when the demolition work was going on, one section of the stones in the divider wall was giving way and collapsing onto the road due to old age. This being election season (calendar reads very close to May 5th ), the corporator of that area is losing no time in impressing citizens with some 'crucial renovation' work, by replacing the entire stretch of divider there. I don't think it was done to maximize space for traffic to flow, if he is to be believed. The dividers should be back there in some time.

I still maintain the right lane there when coming from HSR side. The left side has too many risks to my 4 bumper corners - cabbies trying to nudge past you, bikers trying to squeeze in, a major bus stop, a road joining in from Hosur side, etc. The barricaded divider is still a better option if you ask me. At least your right side bumpers are safe .

[Soumyajit9]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

From what I had heard through a BBMP person standing there when the demolition work was going on, one section of the stones in the divider wall was giving way and collapsing onto the road due to old age. This being election season (calendar reads very close to May 5th ), the corporator of that area is losing no time in impressing citizens with some 'crucial renovation' work, by replacing the entire stretch of divider there. I don't think it was done to maximize space for traffic to flow, if he is to be believed. The dividers should be back there in some time.

I still maintain the right lane there when coming from HSR side. The left side has too many risks to my 4 bumper corners - cabbies trying to nudge past you, bikers trying to squeeze in, a major bus stop, a road joining in from Hosur side, etc. The barricaded divider is still a better option if you ask me. At least your right side bumpers are safe.

Ohh, I see. So the reason is old and breaking off divider wall. Well, I don't have a voter id card here, so no point in not-believing the BBMP fellow.
By the way, I am loving the tarred roads in B'lore. I wish there were elections before every monsoon !!!

One bad BBMP pro-active tarring is the HSR Service lane.
If you are coming from Agara side and the moment you get down from the HSR Flyover, the service road is super tarred till the junction before Silk Board. Remember there used to sand laden lorries parked all over the service road. They are all gone now. So what happens now is that there is huge traffic flowing on that lane too. The choke-a-block happens at the point where the last opening to Hosur road is. Rather at every junction where there is a opening from main road to service road. The BMTC Volvos, Company buses, go over to service lane and then try to bully and barge into the main road, choking each and every opening.


This is what I mean. (Sorry for the pathetic image that I managed to draw).