[Suess]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Thanks, Suess, that's exactly what I needed to know. I won't do it then.

Sometimes, when the Kandanchavadi road was blocked by perpetual roadworks, I would take the small road that comes to the MGR Main Road junction to reach the Canalpuram road, but the roads are, especially in wet weather, only really suitable for trucks.

Let me correct myself, i jsut took that road 2 days ago, and i would say now it is in much better conditions for 50-60% of its run as the road after bridge(if you enter from OMR side towards ECR) is newly laid and is all cemented! ya, sad, bridge is still narrow but car go through that, even this time saw one tractor with a mixer crossing it!

[Mr_Bean]

Originally Posted by PAVAN KADAM

Off-late i have visited Chennai ( Korattur - Ambattur - Kodambakkam - Neelankarai and other adjoining areas ) frequently.

And everytime i am there, thats the only time my friends collection of VW's move out of his garage for my regular run-about.

People have no respect to the fellow motorist, forget the poor soul on foot.

One word to describe - INDISCIPLINED.

When i started debating this with my friend who sat with me as a co-driver, He says " PAVAN, This is Chennai, nothing can ever be done."

This is the untold truth, There is a rant thread on Bangalore but believe me the traffic here in much worse & there is a mad rush . The two-wheelers are not scared for their life at all. Sights of two-wheelers carrying the entire family sends shivers down my spine, I dread the consequence in case of an accident involving a two-wheeler so I maintain quite a safe distance.

[Daewood]

^^
The only way to change things is to create multiple dividers to separate 2 wheelers, cars and Buses. At-least in the arterial 100ft and 200ft roads.
As you say the situation has become so bad, that the fear of someone going under your wheels is much more, than the fear of our own lives.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by Suess

Let me correct myself, i jsut took that road 2 days ago, and i would say now it is in much better conditions for 50-60% of its run as the road after bridge(if you enter from OMR side towards ECR) is newly laid and is all cemented! ya, sad, bridge is still narrow but car go through that, even this time saw one tractor with a mixer crossing it!

Thanks --- my journey was yesterday but noted for future. I'm telling myself that it would be healthier to walk down there and take a look, rather than sitting here on the internet!

Anyway, it was a pleasant drive, via Guindy. Dropped my wife off at the vipassanna centre, near thiruneermali (I must go and look at that temple on the hill, one day) so now we are both having silence!

[DWind]

@Thad
So you do not use the Thoraipakkam-Pallavaram Radial road to go to Thiruneermalai? I thought it was shorter and faster?

[VW2010]

I made the cardinal mistake of trying to drive towards Sathyam at 9 from Tambaram. I reached the destination at 10:35. I went to the VW service centre and i can say Chennai traffic is now the worst of all metro cities.

There is bottleneck everywhere because of the brilliantly planned Metro construction.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by DWind

@Thad
So you do not use the Thoraipakkam-Pallavaram Radial road to go to Thiruneermalai? I thought it was shorter and faster?

The Buckingham Canal is in the way, and it is much further to Sholinganallur than to Guindy (although traffic could be the main factor in journey time)

[DWind]

I am talking of this road. Thiruneermalai is almost on the same lattitude as Pandian road which you were talking about in your previous post.

[Thad E Ginathom]

That's exactly what I had in mind --- but Suess's previous advice put me off using that bridge and Pandian Rd.

[hajaar]

had yet another bad experience at the iit flyover. A van driver (tn 20 as 1186, says Al-Fajr on the back) got pissed off with me that I was waiting to try & change lanes and tried to hit my car with his van when he overtook me. I braked and he sped off. People just cant seem to be decent human beings.

[Iluvcars]

Originally Posted by hajaar

People just cant seem to be decent human beings.

Decency usually goes hand in hand with discipline. The latter has to be taught right from womb and has to be enforced till tomb. When the teaching fails and the enforcement authorities look the other way, the results are what you see in the roads everyday. In fact, for the kind of administration we have, the display of courtesy and discipline is well beyond what can be hoped for. Easier said than practiced, but those of us who have a family and self to care for, should exercise restraint to get home in the shape we would like to see ourselves.

[Gansan]

^^I agree. Better to have a separate car/bike for daily use and not mind a few scratches/dings incurred. Leave the favoutite car for week-ends/long drives. Road rage is highly risky in the current scenario. And it is only going to get worse, not better.

[vineetmanghani]

Another weird thing I've noticed about Chennai is that the Radio Taxi (the stupidly named Fast Track etc.) drivers are as bad as the local cab (Qualis, Tavera, Innova etc.) drivers in terms of discipline, bullying on the roads and plain apathy for others on the road. Just this morning a Fast Track guy in a shining new Logan almost ran me off the Tambaram Sanatorium flyover, and he was being a royal pain to everyone on the road.

The Radio Taxi (Meru etc.) drivers in other cities I've been (Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai) are well trained, polite and very safe and sedate on the road. Wish we could have something like that in Chennai, but the political powers that be don't let these chaps operate here.

[anekho]

Originally Posted by vineetmanghani

Another weird thing I've noticed about Chennai is that the Radio Taxi (the stupidly named Fast Track etc.) drivers are as bad as the local cab (Qualis, Tavera, Innova etc.) drivers in terms of discipline, bullying on the roads and plain apathy for others on the road. Just this morning a Fast Track guy in a shining new Logan almost ran me off the Tambaram Sanatorium flyover, and he was being a royal pain to everyone on the road.

The Radio Taxi (Meru etc.) drivers in other cities I've been (Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai) are well trained, polite and very safe and sedate on the road. Wish we could have something like that in Chennai, but the political powers that be don't let these chaps operate here.

9/10 Fast Track taxis I've been in have been driven by complete Madmen! Seriously, heart in mouth situations till I reach my destination!

Somehow I've always had a great experience with Bharti. The drivers are really decent, vehicles fresh (at least relatively) and very safe driving.

But yes, high time Chennai gets a fleet of Meru cabs!

[Gansan]

^^I have generally seen that Bharathi as well as Chennai call taxis are good. I never call Fast Track.