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Old 19th July 2015, 04:07   #2506
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re: Traffic and life on the roads in Chennai

I was driving home past friday evening when i see a dude standing in the middle of the road - not the OMR divider, but the actual road, trying to cross. I had a slight headache that day, i was driving at or below the OMR speed limit - something that I or most others rarely do.

I slowed down further to let the guy cross, and he just stands there. I figure he wants to let me pass as there is no traffic behind me, I speed up and am about to pass him when he jumps headlong in front. I brake hard, but I still hear the sound of him hitting my car.

I stop my car to get out and see if he is okay, but I'm immediately surrounded by auto drivers and locals who are taking photos of me and my car registration. and they force me back into the car, and ask me to park my car- I am in the outermost lane

I park my car in the inner lane. With a prayer, I get out to see what has happened to the guy, when I'm suddenly met by people asking me to leave. I go and check up on the dude - he seems inebriated and bruised, but without any cuts or broken bones. The auto guys also ask me to leave - that we are done here.

I thanked God and left. Apparently the guy jumped too late and hit the side of my car. If i had braked a bit later, or he had jumped a bit sooner, I might not have been here typing this story in the comfort of my home.

Watch out for idiots on the road

Last edited by greenhorn : 19th July 2015 at 04:09.
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Old 19th July 2015, 12:37   #2507
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re: Traffic and life on the roads in Chennai

Hi.

I was planning on bringing my Bombay registered 4wheeler to Chennai, for personal use, for a period of 2-3 months. I'm trying to find out the RTO rules that govern this. If someone here can help me out in understanding the general rules for this, it'd be a great help. Do I have to pay any tax or surcharge, etc etc.. ?
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Old 19th July 2015, 18:22   #2508
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re: Traffic and life on the roads in Chennai

Quote:
Originally Posted by Shanmd View Post
Hi.

I was planning on bringing my Bombay registered 4wheeler to Chennai, for personal use, for a period of 2-3 months. I'm trying to find out the RTO rules that govern this. If someone here can help me out in understanding the general rules for this, it'd be a great help. Do I have to pay any tax or surcharge, etc etc.. ?
Hi, In Chennai, there is usually no harassment for out of state vehicles. Having said this, do keep all your originals with you. Ensure that there are no dark film in the windows. Wear a seatbelt. Follow these and your stay should be hassle free.
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Old 19th July 2015, 18:40   #2509
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Originally Posted by Shanmd View Post
Hi.

I was planning on bringing my Bombay registered 4wheeler to Chennai, for personal use, for a period of 2-3 months...... Do I have to pay any tax or surcharge, etc etc.. ?
Generally in Chennai traffic cops will not bother a out of state vehicle. But even you have to ensure that you do not give them the chance to stop you. Ensure that your vehicle does not have IND number plates/ customised number plates (fonts/style). Ensure that you do not have sunfilm on your windows. Lastly, even though you would be doing this always, ensure you have your seatbelt(s) on!
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Old 19th July 2015, 19:45   #2510
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re: Traffic and life on the roads in Chennai

It's a general 'tickmark' from me on all the above points.
Is there a yellow tape-on-headlights business over there? Or any other such 'special' rules?

I remember once in Hubbali, the traffic cop tried to shake me down for some money for driving ahead when the lights turned green. I was stumped at the obviousness of the intention.. and all this because I was in a MH vehicle. There were a couple of cars that crossed before me and more after me, not to speak of the tonnes of bikes. I stood my ground and refused to budge.. wasted 20mins, but eventually left without paying. They also tried to tell me that putting up gps handsets inside the car (on the dashboard) was not allowed. They were a real desperate lot... that inspector and his two hawaldars.
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Old 19th July 2015, 20:49   #2511
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re: Traffic and life on the roads in Chennai

Quote:
Originally Posted by greenhorn View Post
I was driving home past friday evening when i see a dude standing in the middle of the road - not the OMR divider, but the actual road, trying to cross.
......
Watch out for idiots on the road
That's bad, and extremely risky. What time was this and where on OMR did this happen. The Volvos, and cabs would have normally taken care of this guy.
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Old 20th July 2015, 12:48   #2512
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re: Traffic and life on the roads in Chennai

Quote:
Originally Posted by Shanmd View Post
It's a general 'tickmark' from me on all the above points.
Is there a yellow tape-on-headlights business over there? Or any other such 'special' rules?
No Yellow tape business here.
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Old 20th July 2015, 13:24   #2513
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Originally Posted by raghu.t.k View Post
That's bad, and extremely risky. What time was this and where on OMR did this happen. The Volvos, and cabs would have normally taken care of this guy.

Good god nothing unfortunate happened. Maybe that guy is a habitual drunkard and offender and maybe thats why the locals asked you to go. Good that you were below the official speed limit. Its better to maintain that especially in congested areas and allow pedestrians to cross and stay fuss free, even if it means that we will be bombarded with honks from vehicles behind us.
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Old 20th July 2015, 14:00   #2514
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re: Traffic and life on the roads in Chennai

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Originally Posted by raghu.t.k View Post
What time was this and where on OMR did this happen.
7 PM friday, Somewhere between Okkiampet and mettukupam - there is a bus stop there.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kiran_cr View Post
Its better to maintain that especially in congested areas and allow pedestrians to cross and stay fuss free, even if it means that we will be bombarded with honks from vehicles behind us.
This is a bus stop, and there is a foot overbridge there, but still there is a continuous stream of people keep trying to cross on the road - Most people are sane, and the chaos is manageable, but then you get wildcards like this one

Quote:
Originally Posted by Shanmd View Post
Hi.

I was planning on bringing my Bombay registered 4wheeler to Chennai, for personal use, for a period of 2-3 months. I'm trying to find out the RTO rules that govern this. If someone here can help me out in understanding the general rules for this, it'd be a great help. Do I have to pay any tax or surcharge, etc etc.. ?
Potential things to fall under the chennai traffic police net -
Drunk driving
Documents
Booze if you are travelling to/from pondicherry
Plastic/non compliant number plates - plain lettering on metal boards is all they accept
Speeding - speed limits are pretty low even on the OMR
Sun film
End of month Targets - I was once stopped and asked to pick and choose an offence from the day's menu I chose sun film as it was the cheapest (100) even though I didn't have any!

What I've been told (and have experienced) is that, as long as you drive with a seatbelt, cops tend to go a bit lenient on you.

Last edited by greenhorn : 20th July 2015 at 14:07.
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Old 20th July 2015, 16:40   #2515
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re: Traffic and life on the roads in Chennai

Quote:
Originally Posted by ksmrsm
In Chennai, there is usually no harassment for out of state vehicles.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shanksta
Generally in Chennai traffic cops will not bother a out of state vehicle.
A slight correction - out of state 4-wheelers are not targetted. But an out-of-state 2-wheeler will attract cop attention and be stopped. This is from personal experience - have driver AS / GJ cars here with no issues at all. But have been stopped umpteen times (and asked for NOC etc) while on a KL bike. Once was even stopped & asked for papers when on a friend's Madurai-regd bike.
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Old 20th July 2015, 18:59   #2516
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re: Traffic and life on the roads in Chennai

Quote:
Originally Posted by greenhorn View Post
7 PM friday, Somewhere between Okkiampet and mettukupam - there is a bus stop there.
....
If it was at 7PM he should thank his lucky stars. I normally leave after 8 so that I can avoid all the chaotic traffic, wannabe racers and the cabs hired by the IT companies.
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Old 21st July 2015, 10:58   #2517
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Quote:
Originally Posted by supremeBaleno View Post
A slight correction - out of state 4-wheelers are not targetted. But an out-of-state 2-wheeler will attract cop attention and be stopped. This is from personal experience - have driver AS / GJ cars here with no issues at all. But have been stopped umpteen times (and asked for NOC etc) while on a KL bike. Once was even stopped & asked for papers when on a friend's Madurai-regd bike.
I have seen a lot of out of state cars(Especially KA & AP) being stopped at various places for faulty number plates mostly. One particular place where they stop these vehicles is near Ashok Leyland office in Little mount. A bunch of cops are always there waiting to stop riders without helmets and drivers without seatbelts.
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Old 28th July 2015, 21:25   #2518
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re: Traffic and life on the roads in Chennai

Me against Chennai

I spend time on and off in Chennai, having been based out of there since 1999; am currently out of the country. From 2011-2013 I drove a Swift and my 2 wheeler (Unicorn) from Tiruvanmiyur to MEPZ (Tambaram) regularly.

The one thing I could never quite achieve was stop at a red light.

In Thiruvanmiyur, I would stop at a particular red-light to take a U turn and sundry auto-wallahs would get out and yell at me for stopping. You would think that I had eloped with their daughters, given their levels of passion.

At the signal on GST road outside MEPZ (approaching from Chromepet), I would stop at the red-light prior to turning right and into the MEPZ campus. As of today, there is an overhead skywalk for pedestrians to cross safely, but back then, when the vehicles had a red the people would cross over. But alas! Nobody would stop at the red signal. Vehicles would menacingly whizz past people trying to get across the zebra crossing. There I was, in my bike or car, fighting to give the poor pedestrians a chance. If I was in my bike, I would get off it and go fight with the offending fools. If it were my car, I would just roll up the windows and be oblivious to the honks.

At one particular signal in Ramapuram (near Porur) which I know is not a "free-left", I refused to jump the signal and got into a nasty verbal duel with an auto-wallah but I ultimately had to give in to a huge truck that honked me into submission. I really appreciate the "no free left" board placed there because it really is a blind turn which is dangerous when there are oncoming vehicles on the main road - but alas, I did what I was forced to do.

Red means red. Chennaites just won't get it.

This is the sad story of one man against Chennai's worst. I really hate Chennai for its bad road manners. I find all the inflated praise of Chennai to only ring hollow.
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Old 28th July 2015, 22:02   #2519
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re: Traffic and life on the roads in Chennai

@locusjag, valid points there and reflects the current traffic-sense in the city. And guess what, it ain't much different in other states of the country. I see the same happen in Kerala.

By 2011-13, when you did MEPZ, the traffic scenario had already turned bad with the roads unable to cope with the growing-by-day bikes/cars. I used to do Adyar - MEPZ in the mid-nineties and it was so much fun riding with the sparse traffic on GST Road. Good old days.

You are right about us in Chennai being harsh on pedestrians. In the nineties, bikers/cars used to respect the Stop line, violating which would result in a Rs50 fine (big in those days).
Today, bikers/cars/buses/taxis edge slowly past the line and almost into the middle of the junction not only obstructing traffic from other sides, but making it hell for pedestrians.
And this inspite of many signals having the timer.

Last edited by supremeBaleno : 28th July 2015 at 22:03.
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Old 28th July 2015, 22:52   #2520
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re: Traffic and life on the roads in Chennai

Quote:
Originally Posted by supremeBaleno View Post
A slight correction - out of state 4-wheelers are not targetted. But an out-of-state 2-wheeler will attract cop attention and be stopped. This is from personal experience - have driver AS / GJ cars here with no issues at all. But have been stopped umpteen times (and asked for NOC etc) while on a KL bike. Once was even stopped & asked for papers when on a friend's Madurai-regd bike.
You are right on target in telling that out-of-state bikes are targeted by these cops.

Funnily though, my friend was stopped on a routine check. Later, the cop saw the number plate and asked - "Andhra bike-a??" My friend's registration number was "TN 22 AP xxxx"
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