[k_ajay]

Originally Posted by typeOnegative

Once a month is bad man.

Though the question is not for me, yeah, I ask for a ticket. And contrary to general opinion, most of the cops have been pretty nice about it. If you are ready to pay the penalty you automatically get a lot of respect. Plus shelling out the money makes you more careful.

So far have been caught thrice:

1) Not wearing a seatbelt - 100 Rs - was new to Mumbai and had forgotten to wear it just because I was in a hurry.
2) U turn on highway : dangerous driving - 500 Rs - was not aware of the classification of the road
3) Lane cutting - 100 Rs - again was not aware of the rule on the road I was driving.

On all occassions the cops were pretty nice the moment I said I will pay and that it was my fault. Oh yes, they also gave the receipt. Have not repeated either of the above mistakes again.

Type O, excellent attitude.. Keep it up. Like you said, only when one pays through the nose, will the person never repeat the mistake again... I just got a car on Sat'dy morning and I've made it a point to wear the seatbelt daily, even without knowing if it is compulsory or not in Chennai...

Your setting a good example... Appreciate it...

[manaa45]

my two cents

i have also been let oof many a times. a smile definately helps, though i have never been caught without a seat belt or talking on the cell, some times for not spotting a signal or a wrong turn or wrong parking.

i try to patao them, that i m getting late, or i have to attend an urgent meeting, may be being a girl also helps sometimes. have never paid any bribe as i feel paying bribe , i myself am adding to the corruption level. may be not bribing may not make much difference but still i dont have a guilt conscience that will keep on pricking me, when i know that i paid money to hide my mistake.

once i had been to goregaon when i parked my car, facing the oncoming traffic in a place where legal parking was allowed. when i came back my car was towed and fortunately for me it wasnt far away, i went there, accepted my mistake, did not argue as i knew i was wrong, and asked him how much i had to pay. he asked me for the license and i showed it to hi, he told me to pay 300 rs and i asked him to take 200 and he agreed readily. i paid him, collected receipt, went out , checked the car for damage. sat in the car and drove off.

i again say , dont pay bribes, it doesnt work for the country overall.

shubbhi

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by dadudeonfire

nah dude its nothing like that...just that whenever they catch...not that i get caught everyday...averagely once a month...now its upto me if i

Once a month, holy cow! I have been fined only once in my entire driving experience (which started before you were born), that too for turning left where there was no free left turn. Paid the fine promptly and took receipt, that was 10 years back, that too on a scooter.

Oh, there was another time (in 1992) when I was caught for jumping the red light (it turned read as I was crossing), but the inspector let me go with a friendly warning (with smile) once I told him I was an Engineer. I think those days Engineers did command some respect.

Exactly what do you do in your car to get caught once a month? I mean other than looking 16...

[typeOnegative]

Originally Posted by k_ajay

Your setting a good example... Appreciate it...

Thanks Ajay. Appreciate that!

[Revvmaster]

I had a strange experience the other day. My car got towed when it was parked in a perfectly correct place. There was no no-parking sign, it wasn't near a corner (way way far from the 15 metres), not parked at an angle other than prescribed, not close to a gate. But it was parked in the wrong direction.

I was fuming intially cuz i couldn't understand why it happened so. So i walked up to the police station and on the way i saw a bus in the same lane, a few paces away, parked in the wrong direction.

I went up to the officer incharge and told him that i'm aware of my fault, but i will not budge till you don't fine the bus owner as well. And just because there isn't any towing facility for a bus, he will go scot-free while i'll have to pay the fine. 5 minutes of arguing and ahem... pushing the guy around with my press credentials, he quietly asked me to sit in the car, drive off and not pay a single penny. Strange but it happened so.

His stand though was simple. I didn't commit a major offense and he was probably too lazy to come along with me and ensure that the bus owner gets fined as well.

So,

Parked car in the wrong direction ... Rs. 300

Not having to pay a penny and getting your ego boosted... Priceless.

Revv

[Surprise]

Originally Posted by Revvmaster

But it was parked in the wrong direction.

I went up to the officer incharge and told him that i'm aware of my fault, but i will not budge till you don't fine the bus owner as well.

.. pushing the guy around with my press credentials,

Why not pay that fine with receipt & correct yourself as you know it's your fault.

Original intention of your argument & using your credential was to escape from paying that fine. Is it?

mee being a girl i just got to smile and act a bit sad and im free,,,do that all the time...i pity u guys...u would be better off if there were women traffic cops...
adios

[cream]

Originally Posted by k_ajay

Type O, excellent attitude.. Keep it up. Like you said, only when one pays through the nose, will the person never repeat the mistake again... I just got a car on Sat'dy morning and I've made it a point to wear the seatbelt daily, even without knowing if it is compulsory or not in Chennai...

Your setting a good example... Appreciate it...

hey typeO, that's really cool.

i do the same too - have been caught perhaps 4 times in my 12 year driving lifespan...and always admit my fault and pay up. all of the time it's my mistake/carelessness rather than anything deliberate.

once when i admitted my fault, the cop was so happy, he gave me my license back and didn't charge me the fine! he went on to say that catholics (he saw my name on the license) were very gentlemanly and nice!

Originally Posted by 999

mee being a girl i just got to smile and act a bit sad and im free,,,do that all the time...i pity u guys...u would be better off if there were women traffic cops...
adios

and you gals complain about being the weaker sex!!!

[v1p3r]

Originally Posted by manaa45

he asked me for the license and i showed it to hi, he told me to pay 300 rs and i asked him to take 200 and he agreed readily. i paid him, collected receipt, went out

WTF? How does that work? Isn't a fixed rate?

Seriously guys, isn't the fine rate a fixed rate? If it's bargainable, it just means that the receipt is fake.

[drifter]

Actually 100 bucks is the fine for no parking and 200 bucks are the towing charges.
So the cop maynot have made the reciepts till then...so he chose to waive the parking fine.

Drifter

[mclaren1885]

Originally Posted by cream

and you gals complain about being the weaker sex!!!

very well quoted cream..yup u just hit the bulls eye on this one..gals tend to get away with the traffic cops just by mere talking(u know the mushy expressin way)..have seen a lot of my firends get away with breaking the traffic rules and are left scot free..while we guys are tortured,threatened and what not..
PS:next time u feel like breaking a traffic rule(and dont want to shell out) all u got to do is make a lady sit behind the wheel..the rest will taken care of all by themselves..

[Surprise]

Originally Posted by mclaren1885

.gals tend to get away with the traffic cops just by mere talking(u know the mushy expressin way)

Even guys has quoted of getting away from fine with their talks (accepting the mistake). If gals argue with the police guys as what the guys do, even they will not be spared.

[viper]

Originally Posted by revtech

hey dude how did you get the protocol sticker !!
have some contacts or what ??


Rev

Hey all you guys out here. PLEASE BE VERY CAREFUL IF SOMEONE OFFERS TO SELL YOU A PROTOCOLE STICKER OR OFFERS TO GIVE IT FOR FREE. You can get into real deep **** if caught with one since these are only issued to ministers and govt officials.

You can be arrested for upto 3 years as these stickers allow access in to all restricted areas and are a security threat. There was a big racket of duplicate stickers doing the rounds approx 8-9 months ago and I know someone who was arrested for having one on his car.

@BYRAMSHROFF - as I had a protocol on the car and that he couldnt stop me even in I was on the phone. If you read the letter that comes along with the sticker it clearly say that this is not an immunity from breaking traffic rules(not the exact wording), however cops do let you go off but do not take that for granted.

Viper

[byramshroff]

Hey Viper thanks for the warning man but mine is totally legal no jhol.
My dad is an honorary joint secretary of the ALL India Congress (the sonia gandhi congress) for Maharashtra so Its all good I have it on most of my cars.Either way I will be more careful next time.

[dadudeonfire]

yeah viper dude i know about that...anyways thanks for the information as i did not know that only govt officials are allowed to have that