[KarthikK]

I was returning home yesternight, at around 9 PM. I was nearing the last 2 turns to my home. For those of you familar with the Jayadeva underpass road heading towards Dairy circle, there is a small signal immediately after you pass the hospital gate and the convergys building.

The perpendicular road at the T-junction here heads towards Jayanagar 9th block. That road has a divider near the signal, but some vehicles try to jump the queue by using the opposite side of the road. Yesternight I took a left turn at this signal like I do on any other day, and came face to face with an Indicab driver who was trying to jump the queue. I stopped right in front of him. He gestured me to move out of the way, and I frowned at him and signalled my displeasure. He shouted out something at me in Hindi.

Enough was enough, I got out of the car, walked up and asked him what his problem was. I think he got a bit scared since he didn't expect me to confront him directly, or maybe it was my tall+hefty stature. He initially started arguing about traffic delaying his night shift pickup, etc in hindi, still not aware that I knew his 'localite' tricks. I blasted him properly in proper Kannada slang, and told him to reverse the car and go in the proper direction, else I would call up the traffic police and lock up the wheels. I gave him a piece of my mind on how these morons create a nuisance on the road with their antics, etc. What a satisfying argument it was, enjoyable stuff!

It also helped that I lied about having high level contacts in the traffic police , and could get his vehicle confiscated if he argued any further. I pretended to note down his number to up his fear a little more. He didn't speak much, probably got scared of messing around with "influential guys" *rofl*, he just reversed and went on like a decent citizen after this.

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.

Tip : Next time you get into an argument with errant cabbies, just pretend to be an influential guy with contacts in the traffic police / RTO. That should put these guys in their place. Who said lying was bad if used for the right purposes? *winks"

[Soumyajit9]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

I was returning home yesternight, at around 9 PM. I was nearing the last 2 turns to my home. For those of you familar with the Jayadeva underpass road heading towards Dairy circle, there is a small signal immediately after you pass the hospital gate and the convergys building.

That small signal is actually a nuisance. In my 5 years at BTM, I have never seen that signal ever work. Its' always on the Orange Blinking mode !! This adds confusion whether one should go or not.

Originally Posted by KarthikK

He gestured me to move out of the way, and I frowned at him and signalled my displeasure. He shouted out something at me in Hindi. Enough was enough, I got out of the car, walked up and asked him what his problem was. I think he got a bit scared since he didn't expect me to confront him directly (maybe it was my tall+hefty stature). Or maybe he thought he could take advantage of his localite status. He initially started arguing about traffic delaying his night shift pickup, etc in hindi, still not aware that I knew his 'localite' tricks. I blasted him properly in proper Kannada slang, and told him to reverse the car and go in the proper direction, else I would call up the traffic police and lock up the wheels. I gave him a piece of my mind on how these morons create a nuisance on the road with their antics, etc. What a satisfying argument it was, enjoyable stuff!

Well, your tall stature surely helps alongwith language. Its' not unusual that he started communicating in Hindi, trying to take advantage of the situation. Good that his stunt backfired and you gave him mouthfuls in Kannada.
Time for me to learn some Kannada mouthfuls.

Originally Posted by KarthikK

It also helped that I lied about having high level contacts in the traffic police , and could get his vehicle confiscated if he argued any further. I pretended to note down his number to up his fear a little more. He didn't speak much, just reversed and went on like a decent citizen after this.
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.

A moment of peace in my heart that someone out there did what I feel like doing, but cannot dare to do (what if he beats me up) !!

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by Soumyajit9

That small signal is actually a nuisance. In my 5 years at BTM, I have never seen that signal ever work. Its' always on the Orange Blinking mode !! This adds confusion whether one should go or not.

True. Worst part is this - when the vehicles from Jayanagar side are waiting to take a right turn towards Jayadeva flyover, these morons don't wait behind them. They instead take the opposite side as a shortcut to pass earlier. I've experienced this problem multiple times, but yesterday I decided to confront this particular cabbie.

A moment of peace in my heart that someone out there did what I feel like doing, but cannot dare to do (what if he beats me up) !!

Remember the name of some local politician or traffic commissioner. When in trouble or in an argument, lie that you are related to him or you are his close family friend. They will back off. If that doesn't affect them, go one step ahead and pretend to call the "contact" and pretend to give him details about the misbehaving vehicle. 99% of the guys will tow the line by the second route, when they overhear your fake "call". Always works, proven by personal experience, hehe. No one will want to mess around with "influential" guys, sadly that's the only thing which works in our society.

P.S - you need to act well, remember to speak confidently like an actual influential person for this method to work effectively *lol*.

[sandsun7]

Well done Karthik! That is the way to go!
Last week on Kanakapura road, while going towards Banashankari side, at some point between Banashankari bus stand and Konenkunte cross, an autorickshaw came on the wrong side of the road, and after coming face to face with a bus which had stopped at a bus stop, veered to his left, and came almost opposite to me. Although there was enough space for him to pass through (albeit in the wrong direction) between the bus and the car I was driving, I veered slightly to my left making sure I block his way and stopped there! After I gave him a mean stare and was about to veer back to right, he started abusing and eventually spat on the car! Funniest part is that the 2 passengers in the auto were also making remarks on us as if I had come on the wrong side! I had a colleague in the car who was carrying, else would have definitely not let them go so easily. I do speak Kannada well and that is always an advantage!

Originally Posted by KarthikK

Remember the name of some local politician or traffic commissioner. When in trouble or in an argument, lie that you are related to him or you are his close family friend. They will back off.

This works! I had done the same once during a spat off with a BMTC bus crew. Told the driver and the conductor that I know Mr. Tripathi (the then BMTC head, had read his interview in a newspaper the same day morning) personally and picked up my phone pretending to call him. They budged immediately !!

[rjalihal]

I still feel that Bangalore traffic is better compared to other bigger cities. People are aggressive drivers (Read: cabbies) in general as they have a tight schedule and are often over-worked. I blame their employers for this who are the call centers. I wish the next government shoos away all the call centers away from the state. No offense, but I am very much against call centers as it has destroyed today's youth.

Cheers!
Rohan

[Googleman]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

Remember the name of some local politician or traffic commissioner. When in trouble or in an argument, lie that you are related to him or you are his close family friend. They will back off.

Please.. this is an old trick and almost everyone is aware of this. Trying this will inturn put you in problem if the other party waits to try out who is on the phone to back you up.
Incase you get an incoming call, or the other guy grabs your phone to talk, you are in an embarrassing situation

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by Googleman

Please.. this is an old trick and almost everyone is aware of this.

I didn't claim to be the inventor, did I . I was just pointing out that nothing works against these guys apart from contact-related muscle power.

Trying this will inturn put you in problem if the other party waits to try out who is on the phone to back you up.

I am referring to cab drivers in my advice here, not any generic incident with regular road users. Most of the cabbies won't dare to do anything of that sort if they were the ones in the wrong. Like they say, "barking dogs seldom bite". By the way, why would they be allowed to try out MY phone?

Incase you get an incoming call, or the other guy grabs your phone to talk, you are in an embarrassing situation

Incoming call is a nice way to get into an embarrassing situation , good one! The other part is too filmy - grabbing et al. Obviously we will be 8-10 metres away from the guy when talking on the phone, not right next to them!

Anyway, we can go on and on finding loopholes in the method. I just mentioned something which works as an advantage when arguing with cabbies. If you feel it is not the right way, you can always try something else.

When confronted, most of the cab drivers will resort to ganging with other drivers and hounding the guy who questioned him, more so if the innocent was a non-localite. When you mention some influential names and speak confidently, you will see that the gang disperses. No one wants to mess around with big names. They will rather just swallow their ego and get out of your way at that point, than risk getting into bigger trouble. Pure psychology!

[mazda4life]

Just stumbled on this article - http://www.deccanherald.com/content/...s-traffic.html ...if its true, its unbelievable on all counts !!

[suhaas307]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

I didn't claim to be the inventor, did I . I was just pointing out that nothing works against these guys apart from contact-related muscle power !

The other day, I had an altercation with an absolute imbecile. He wasn't a cabbie, but if he was driving a white Indicab, you couldn't tell the difference. I was calmly driving on 100ft Road and was about to take 5th Main (near Dominos) when our hero driving his big Scorpio comes onto the wrong side of the road and directly into my path. I was on the left side of the road and was about 10 meters from the turning when he pops out and stops his car inches from mine and facing the wrong direction. I just stopped and waited for him to make a move, but to my utter amazement he switched his headlights on full beam and the fogs for good measure. A few seconds later, he began to honk and this is when I started to get annoyed. I refused to move even though he attempted to intimidate me by jerking forward. The honking and flashing went on for a minute but I did not give in. He then jumps out of his car. Imagine a 5'7" 60 kg idiot running his mouth off while leaning against your door.

At this point, I had enough. I decided to play a little trick on this nutter. I flung my door open pushing him away and pumped my chest up as I got out of my car. I stood next to him and spoke to him in the little Kannada I know. I told him that what he is doing is a violation. I dropped a few names and told him to hang on while I get them on the line.

I whipped out the phone and went straight to the BTIS website and got his details. Then, I switched my phone on silent mode and pretended to be on a call with someone influential in the Police Department. The fake conversation went something like this: "his registration number is KA0xxxxxx, can you tell me the details? (5 seconds later) Okay so his name is so and so, he drives a Black Scorpio and he has 2 traffic offences to his name.."

The chap who was standing a few feet away heard this and began to sweat profusely. I then hung up and went right to his face and said "please put your car in reverse and get out of my way before things get ugly." At this point, his tail was firmly between his legs as he hurried back to his car and quietly backed up before zooming off without uttering a single word except for "very sorry Sir, I'm very sorry"

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by mazda4life

Just stumbled on this article - http://www.deccanherald.com/content/...s-traffic.html ...if its true, its unbelievable on all counts !!

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!

[KarthikK]

I didn't understand what was meant by the 'clearing vacuum' part, how is it related to opening of doors? How can some other BMW's keys do it? Bizarre article! And how did one broken-down BMW on one lane affect traffic so much? MG road has 3 lanes in most places. Also it is not like this is the first time a vehicle is breaking down on the city's choked roads. We see trucks, cabs and water tankers breaking down every other day, and the rest of the vehicles just avoid them, squeeze into the remaining lanes and carry on.

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

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!

While the whole turn of events seems to be a series of goof-ups and failed attempts at restoring normalcy, we really can't blame the BMW owner for being the root cause. What would you or I do if we were in the same situation?? Allow the traffic police to tow (read as drag across) your 40 lac car with jammed wheels, possibly causing severe mechanical damage (which the traffic police obviously won't pay for) ??

Sorry to disagree, but I would do the same thing if I were in the driver's shoes, and no, he need not have to pay for dinner or cough up a hefty fine, simply because he didn't cause the mess deliberately or knowingly. Maybe BMW should cough up the fine for causing such reliability issues and niggles.

Buying a 40 lac car and getting stranded on the road for no known reason, is outrageous for the owner, poor guy.

[nkrishnap]

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!

Why fine the owner when its none of his fault. Its BMW who should be fined for making such a car.

In such a case, most of the BMTC drivers will be able to even have a rupee left if they keep fining the drivers for the buses breaking down ever so often.

Rather the inefficient traffic cop should be fined for ensuring the other 2 lanes getting chocked. They should manage it better than simply fine the BMW owner or tow away a 40 lakh car like towing a car which is in the junk yard.

Originally Posted by KarthikK

I didn't understand what was meant by the 'clearing vacuum' part, how is it related to opening of doors? How can some other BMW's keys do it? Bizarre article! And how did one broken-down BMW on one lane affect traffic so much? MG road has 3 lanes in most places. Also it is not like this is the first time a vehicle is breaking down on the city's choked roads. We see trucks, cabs and water tankers breaking down every other day, and the rest of the vehicles just avoid them, squeeze into the remaining lanes and carry on.

While the whole turn of events seems to be a series of goof-ups and failed attempts at restoring normalcy, we really can't blame the BMW owner for being the root cause. What would you or I do if we were in the same situation?? Allow the traffic police to tow (read as drag across) your 40 lac car with jammed wheels, possibly causing severe mechanical damage (which the traffic police obviously won't pay for) ??

Sorry to disagree, but I would do the same thing if I were in the driver's shoes, and no, he need not have to pay for dinner or cough up a hefty fine, simply because he didn't cause the mess deliberately or knowingly. Maybe BMW should cough up the fine for causing such reliability issues and niggles.

Buying a 40 lac car and getting stranded on the road for no known reason, is outrageous for the owner, poor guy.

How on earth did the BMW become suddenly so wide to block 3 lanes. Not against the fact that it could have caused inconvenience. But the article from the editor is taking it too far.

I too disagree on the owner being fined just because he has a BMW or a Merc. Rather the Traffic cops needs a proper whip for being inefficient in handling the situation.

[audioholic]

Guess the media had no knowledge so they cooked up some vacuum story. Else is there a possibility that the brake vacuum was lost and hence the car did not start or move? That is the only thing related between vacuum and cars. The driver did a good thing by not allowing those towing morons to lay their hands on the car and ruin it. Paying a fine would any day be a better idea than to let them tow and ending up with a transmission or driveline repair.

[500ContyCruiser]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

I didn't understand what was meant by the 'clearing vacuum' part, how is it related to opening of doors? How can some other BMW's keys do it? Bizarre article! And how did one broken-down BMW on one lane affect traffic so much? MG road has 3 lanes in most places. Also it is not like this is the first time a vehicle is breaking down on the city's choked roads. We see trucks, cabs and water tankers breaking down every other day, and the rest of the vehicles just avoid them, squeeze into the remaining lanes and carry on.

Originally Posted by nkrishnap

Rather the inefficient traffic cop should be fined for ensuring the other 2 lanes getting chocked. They should manage it better than simply fine the BMW owner or tow away a 40 lakh car like towing a car which is in the junk yard.

I have not seen, but as seen by my gf who was returning from office at the same time, in opposite direction.

She mentioned that the jam took exactly at the MG Road Metro station and though there was enough space for vehicles to pass by, cops did not allow (reason, donno). They had put barricades and chains to block traffic.

[nkrishnap]

Originally Posted by 500ContyCruiser

I have not seen, but as seen by my gf who was returning from office at the same time, in opposite direction.

She mentioned that the jam took exactly at the MG Road Metro station and though there was enough space for vehicles to pass by, cops did not allow (reason, donno). They had put barricades and chains to block traffic.

The cop responsible for it needs to be fired if they barricaded the road and ensured there was a pile up.