[sudharma]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

Kundanahalli junction, Saturday evening, 9:30PM

I am waiting along with a lot of other vehicles at the signal which is showing red to traffic from Brookfields. The light is green for traffic coming from Varthur.



10 seconds later, the lights turned green, and the rest of us who waited patiently carried along our way, without risking our lives or of others on the road.

Wonder how much time the biker guy gained with this stunt!

Most probably gained nothing. 90% of the time he will be at the next Traffic Signal.

[sudharma]

Originally Posted by sabynag

In my area, people resorted to crude measures like putting large stones all over the place so that "outsiders" can't park. The "outsiders" are also smart - they push the stones to the middle of the road or in front of our parking entry/exit to make way for their parking and to punish us in return. No if I call ourselves monkey, am I too wrong ?

I have seen in some localities instead of putting stones in the road blocking he parking area, now the put plants / flower pots.!!!

[Tempelhof]

Originally Posted by RP_812

My Opinions in Bold above.

My view point is simply that there are many initiatives that the "authorities" can take to reduce accidents / road rage / jams, etc. in Bangalore, without having to legislate new rules.

• why should three people (sometimes more) be allowed to go in a two-wheeler?
• why can't one-ways be strictly enforced?
• why can't lane discipline be enforced and offenders punished?
• is it not possible to stop people from stopping BEYOND stop lines?
• why can't the height of the medians increased?
• why can't all the roads be marked?
• why can't we install cameras everywhere?
• why can't we punish erring Volvo bus drivers?
• why can't we fill the valley (pothole) in front of Big Bazaar in EPIP? - it has been there for ages now?
• why can't we insist that slow moving vehicles must use the left-half of the road?
• why is it not possible to increase the fine from a paltry Rs.100/-- to 0.1% of the value of the vehicle, minimum being Rs.500/--?
• why can't we enforce uniform fonts & font sizes for all registration plates?
• why can't we increase the number of patrol vehicles?
• why can't we move all the bus stops away from corners?
• why can't we insist that buses must stop only at the left most edge of the road, and not at the center of the road?
• why should Volvo buses stop wherever they like, instead of designated bus stops?
• why should an approaching bus to a bus-stop, overtake buses that are already there and then stop? why can't we insist that the bus must stop behind all the buses already parked?
• why can't we punish those vehicles that do not have all the lights working?
• why is it that we grin and bear high-beams?
• why is it that we cannot standardise the type of horn a bike should have, what a car should have and what a truck should have etc.?
• why is it that while the rule says that the tinted glass in the front and the back should have certain transparency, we are not able to enforce it?
• How come there are vehicles on the road that do not have even a single registration plate in English alpha-numeric?
• why is it not possible to regulate private buses? why should they come inside the city at all?
• why can't we prevent trucks from entering the city at all, instead of parking them in the outer ring road?
• why is it so difficult to standardise the shape / size of speed -breakers in Bangalore?
• when we build a new road, why is it that we do not think about how the rain water will drain from these roads?
• why is it that EPIP area, which is a heaven on weekends to drive, becomes a parking/driving nightmare during weekdays?

Because, the "authorities", if we have one in Bangalore, are sleeping. Period. There is no willingness, no initiative, no enforcement and no vision to do so. They seem to have a history of these traits, and never learn.

Why compare with other cities? Why can't Bangalore, which earns so much revenue, be a model city that others can follow?

[Tempelhof]

Add this to my list:

• why do we allow any "metallic bowl" (kadai) as helmet? Why not helmets for pillion riders? Is it that their lives are so cheap?
• why are autorickshaws allowed to ferry dozens of children to/from the school, with schoolbags hanging from all over?

[Spitfire]

I have now started riding to work instead of taking the bus.

So had to fill petrol in the bike. I made my way to the HP petrol bunk off old airport road.

Only one pump is dedicated to 2 wheelers and it is servicing 2 queues of bikes at the sametime.

I get in line with the rest on the right hand side and wait for it to move. One biker comes from my left forming a third line with his front wheel angled in such a way to get in front of me as soon as the guy infront moves.

I take off my helmet. Smile by broadest smile and in a loud tone ask him.

Me: Sir? Are you in a lot of hurry to go somewhere?
Moron: Duh?
Me: I am extremely sorry but i think i came before you and there are 2 queues here not 3.
Moron: (Takes off helmet) Duh?
Me: Sir if you are in a big hurry please go before me. I don't mind waiting.
Moron: No no. You go. (pushing bike in reverse with a embarrassed look)

Rest of the folks around have a hearty laugh at his expense.

He had an IBM tag round his neck.

[mjothi]

Originally Posted by Spitfire

Me: Sir? Are you in a lot of hurry to go somewhere?
Moron: Duh?
Me: I am extremely sorry but i think i came before you and there are 2 queues here not 3.
Moron: (Takes off helmet) Duh?
Me: Sir if you are in a big hurry please go before me. I don't mind waiting.
Moron: No no. You go. (pushing bike in reverse with a embarrassed look)

We are tuned to do what we are told NOT to do

[HappyWheels]

Originally Posted by Spitfire

... I take off my helmet. Smile by broadest smile and in a loud tone ask him...

That was a good one SpitFire! No one can argue with a smiling person!

Originally Posted by mjothi

We are tuned to do what we are told NOT to do

Reverse psychology is it?

[Spitfire]

Originally Posted by mjothi

We are tuned to do what we are told NOT to do

Precisely!! there were 2 more bikes behind me before the great soul made his presence at the pump. One of them was getting agitated and was waiting for me to react.

Originally Posted by HappyWheels

That was a good one SpitFire! No one can argue with a smiling person!

To be frank. I wanted to hit him on his head with my helmet and then kick him in his family jewels and finish it by wringing his neck.

But since i was off to work and didn't want to spoil my day, i thought it would be fitting to smile instead. And it worked.

[finneyp]

Spitfire, it feels bad when the moron is a well educated soul!

Today morning, at the ITPL Road near Ryan school cross, one IT moron in a WagonR tries to come from my left-side (I am in the middle lane though the road has only 2 lanes practically), then he sees a mini-bus stationary at the jn, immediately cuts me to the right, thankfully there was that giant hump, so the car was slow & I could manage to swerve it bit right!
I had to refill at the HP pump nearby, else I would have gone behind that moron & given my peice of mind!

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by RP_812

Broken number plates exist all over India , So I am not sure how that relates to "Police" and "Authourity" only in Bangalore.

I disagree.

Check Ore lorries and Sand trucks. Either the bull bar is fixed in a way to ensure that the number plate is only partially visible or the paint issmudged off the plates not only at the rear but all the 3 sides barring the front and yes, It DOES relate to Police authority only in Bangalore since they are glove in hand with the Lorry owners and the Mines and Geological department, A fact shared by my own schoolmate who is now a Police Inspector and I had asked him how these law breakers get away and never seen taken to task. The Police can never stop them, Period.

Please drive from Bangalore to Tumkur and back and the truth will unfold. I have seldom seen AP trucks with broken Number plates and usually they are KA and TN but You may be right regarding the abuse to the policemen elsewhere.

Originally Posted by Spitfire

Bangalore? I am in India. I am complaining about my home country. I am complaining about myself. Where are you from? Come out of the well.

I completeley agree!

I have seen Bangalore traffic scene changing in the past 6-7 years for all the reasons like Infrastructure, Density of vehicles, Bus Stops and increasing Signals, reasons which are valid but not certainly due to other reasons whatsoever. Hence, it is always WE and not THEY!

Till I got married, I never had a chance to drive in Gujarat and my perception (I never had any in the first place) completely changed. if one subtracts the City driving here, I give a thumbs up to the Highway driving. Great amount of discipline followed and never ever one dares to overtake from left. I have seldom seen anyone doing beyong 80-100kmph mark and maintaining a steady pace.Aggression is almost non-existent here. A mere flash of the headlights and the vehicle moves left to give way to overtake! Imagine this in Mysore Road or the Bangalore-Chennai section. A combination of continuous honking and flashing lights will "probably" divert the attention of the driver onto the rear view mirror and he still wont move. I still wonder how people drive with even the RHS ORVM folded??

My schoomates from my Home town Belur say that Bangalore registered cars behave like an animal released from cage as they see open roads and are usually used to drive in the City traffic. I myself have seen discipline amongst these country folks while driving. They still give way by getting two of their wheels off the road in case of a narrow road. A Bangalore registered vehicle stops right at the center expecting the oncoming driver to get down! Bangalore attitude huh?? or still want to hype this as being "Techie" too? Of course, They always see these as a Bangalore registered car and not if the driver/occupants are migrants from other state!

I have now got a chance to drive in Maharastra (More in Pune) and I am experiencing the good and the bad bits of it too and I am sure I will share them as I go. I have felt, highway driving by private cars is better here so far except for those yellow plate Boleros!

We have also experienced hypes like : Blackberry, Zero-Tolerance and No headlight Zone in MG Road, Separate Auto and Bus lanes (JPD to Minsk Square and Bellary Road) and many more. Where are they today? Please top telling that they couldnt fall in place due to traffic increase and blah blah. A law can be enforced no matter what.

When Interceptors were Introduced in Bangalore, newspapers made a hype again regarding its cost and its Hi-tech features. I was never surprised to see this on the Kalol-Mehsana tolled Highway in Gujarat much before its Introduction here.

Smart Card license - Hi tech now?? I was actually surprised to see such a card when my relative from Gujarat flashed his DL and I asked him what is that SIM Card like chip in it. When I googled, I found out that Smart Card license was introduced in Gujarat 10years back!!

The newly sourced imported device by the BTP to lock wheels of cars parked in a no parking zone made news a few months back. Saw them in Pune on FC Road on a couple of cars but never saw this as a "news" in any of the editions of the newspapers here.

Seat Belts rule is followed very strictly in Gujarat and Maharastra. You will Seldom get penalized in Bangalore for not respecting this. I remember the good old days when Cops stopped unbuckled drivers, especially on the entrance of Brigade Road.

Look at the cauvery circle Magic Box. It pains to drive from Windsor Manor all the way till you cross this Box and one would be surprised to call this a Singal free Intersection. Mind you, this was not planned 10 years back that you start blaming on the "IT Boom" which happened later, but now when Bangalore is experiencing the traffic mess.

Inner Ring Road has come up with IT parks and now Malls like Oasis center right before a traffic singal and we all know what jams this creates especially on a weekend. Forum Mall is another example. While giving permission to these, didnt BBMP, BDA and the BTP sync up and give a thought process on the Impact. IT and Traffic mess was already there when these happened?

Check out Sarkhej- Gandhinagar stretch full of Malls and Multiplexes and service lanes for easy entry and exit into these places. They seldom block traffic. This stretch is not "usually" marred with traffic Jams but the civic authorities planned it in advance.

A traffic Jam in Bangalore looks haphazard and we block the oncoming traffic by crossing the median and in Mumbai it still looks streamlined (Yes, A disciplined Jam) as cars stop on their lanes. The law enforcement by the cops here is commendable too.

Check out the entry to Bangalore from any direction - Mysore Road, Hosur Road, OM road, Tumkur Road, Bellary Road. Which one is better? (or worse).

Pune's Katraj Ghat (NH4) always encountered Jams and driving till the city was a pain. Then came the Bypass which eased but much before a "situation" arrived, a new bypass with those amazing twin-tunnels was already made operational giving such a marvellous entry and exit to the city. All this when the traffic was not that Bad.

I am also not being patriotic but have been experiencing these new places only since the past 3 years after spending 7 years in Bangalore and my childhood in Belur and I can still distinguish lots even between Bangalore and Belur for that matter (forget Maharastra and Gujarat) and I know why so much rant!

C'mon!! We need to get out and see the world.Errr, India! There are lot of things to know, learn and unlearn too.

Nobody minds here if a thread is started ranting traffic on any other city and I am sure inputs will pour there too.

[Spitfire]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

C'mon!! We need to get out and see the world.Errr, India!

Amazing post man. These are the kind of reasoning that makes the Rant about Bangalore Traffic Thread a long one compared to any other cities.

I too agree 100% about your points about traffic in the other cities mentioned in your post.

Your comparison to Bangalore traffic management is spot on.

We know we have a problem when traffic police switch off the signals at major intersections and let traffic from smaller lanes enter major arterial roads and leave the traffic on the major road waiting for the blessings of the Traffic Police.

NO WHERE IN INDIA, i have witnessed the above absurd behaviour as shown by the Bangalore Traffic Police.

[kishoryk]

I don't know when we'll see people being sensitive to a rushing ambulance. Yesterday night I saw an ambulance struggling to find it's way through near KR Puram flyover. There was a Volvo in front. This driver peeps out his window, watches the tamasha for some time and makes no effort to give way. And there is another Meru taxi trying to overtake and keep itself in front of the ambulance.
From that place and till it reached the new 'More' superstore on ORR, all of us, this Volvo, Meru and the Ambulance were crawling at slow speed. I try to tap on the door and signal the Volvo driver to move left (having given enogh space for him to steer left) but he gives me a blank face and does not open the doors or try to listen.

It's the same case this morning too when an ambulance is stuck in a traffic jam near Nagavara junction. Some good cab drivers create space and tell the other (private?) car guys to give way to the ambulance behind them, they don't budge.

Let's leave those private car guys. At least these institutional ones like BMTC and such a reputed one like Meru should have trained their drivers on road manners and such basic and important things.

I wonder, even if these guys are put in the same ambulance, they do not learn but leave it to their fate of course! But the thing is, they have no right to decide other's fate.

[Spitfire]

Originally Posted by kishoryk

Yesterday night I saw an ambulance struggling to find it's way through near KR Puram flyover.

Was this at around 1900 hours. I was there too.

And if you could have noticed at the Mahadevpura Junction the moron of a Traffic Policeman stops the traffic on the ring road and is allowing the traffic from the inside lanes to flow across the ring road. This created a block right uptill KR Puram railway station. The signals there were switched off i guess.

What an idiot that traffic policeman proved to be.

[Tempelhof]

Originally Posted by kishoryk

There was a Volvo in front. This driver peeps out his window, watches the tamasha for some time and makes no effort to give way. I try to tap on the door and signal the Volvo driver to move left (having given enogh space for him to steer left) but he gives me a blank face and does not open the doors or try to listen.

If the Volvo bus was BEHIND the Ambulance, he would overtaken the Ambulance - he has power steering and power, both - and blocked the way.

[mjothi]

Originally Posted by Spitfire

Was this at around 1900 hours. I was there too.

Me too. Noticed this guy take the opp. direction to pass the Mahadevpura. But he could not do it in KR Puram.

Everyday, around 5:30 or so, it starts below this Mahadevpura bridge. And i see more SRS kind of white cab vehicles, next only to private vehicles.

Imagine the whole crowd of like 1000s of employees leaving the premises all at 5:30pm. But you cant help Unless we have a different timing of office, its all going to be like this only.