[PetrolRider]

I stay in Bilekahalli on Bannerghatta Road and my office is in front of Jayadeva Hospital on Bannerghata Road. My office is just 2 kilometers away from my home. Unless until it is very necessary, I generally ride to office as bike is much faster to travel in BG road than car.

Here is the shock, on 12 February I was in office from 10 AM to 7-30 PM as usual.



"Mekri circle"? And when I go for the evidence, of course I get this.



Obviously, the duty constable took down a wrong number. As a result, I am going to pay Rs 100/- for no mistake of mine. I know, I can file a complain for this, but truly speaking, I am going to pay this Rs 100/-fine to save my energy and time which is more worthy.

[pahwa]

I had a frustrating experience with Bangalore traffic police today. I usually drive from RMZ Infinity to Whitefield everyday and was not aware that there is a 'No U Turn' sign board at the junction next to ICICI bank near RMZ Infinity. I missed the signboard because a lorry in front of my car took a U-Turn there, towards Gopalan Mall/Big Bazaar and was blocking my view.

As expected, 50 meters down the lane I was signalled by a traffic cop and I parked on the left. I was wearing a seat belt as usual. I showed my DL to the cop and was asked to pay Rs. 200. I assumed Rs. 200 to be the fine for taking the U-Turn and politely handed over cash to the cop. To my surprise, when I got the fine receipt, it showed Rs 100 for taking U-turn and Rs. 100 for Obstructing the traffic. I confronted to this saying there was no traffic that I could obstruct. The cop simply hurled some words in Kannada and walked away. I parked my car on the left and walked to the cop again for an explanation which I never got. I did note the name of cop and will lodge a complaint officially.

It seems that Bangalore Traffic Police is more keen on collecting fines that managing the traffic. The lorries they were stopping was causing more obstruction to the traffic than anything else. I hope someone gives them a lesson on workplace ethics.

[sansvk]

Off late I have noticed that the cops are randomly stopping vehicles (especially 2 wheelers) for document checks. Seen this on 13th cross Indiranagar and CV Raman Hospital Indiranagar near the Metro Station. An earlier press release had mentioned that cops cannot stop vehicles just for document checking unless they have committed a violation. Has this been revoked?

[pahwa]

Originally Posted by sansvk

Off late I have noticed that the cops are randomly stopping vehicles (especially 2 wheelers) for document checks. Seen this on 13th cross Indiranagar and CV Raman Hospital Indiranagar near the Metro Station. An earlier press release had mentioned that cops cannot stop vehicles just for document checking unless they have committed a violation. Has this been revoked?

That is true. Have seen many of them being stopped for no evident reasons on Old Madras Road just before the Gopalan Mall as well. I will question this on BTP's Facebook page and post their response.

[Thilak29]

Be in their shoes for a moment,look at their working conditions,meagre salary so on.I never really get angry at them or find faults at them. If you have so much anger to vent out show it to corrupt beaconed bureaucrats, unproductive politicians, Let your wrath be constructive. Much of who complain won't even stand their tyranny for couple of hours in dust/smoke and hot sun.

[pahwa]

Originally Posted by Thilak29

Be in their shoes for a moment,look at their working conditions,meagre salary so on.I never really get angry at them or find faults at them. If you have so much anger to vent out show it to corrupt beaconed bureaucrats, unproductive politicians, Let your wrath be constructive. Much of who complain won't even stand their tyranny for couple of hours in dust/smoke and hot sun.

Well, they have a tough job at hand - no doubt. No one on this forum would get angry at a polite cop. I do complain to higher authorities when cops are inconsiderate, rude and trying to mint money by fine or bribe without any justifiable reasons.

As far as working condition and salaries are concerned, none of us get a perfect job. No one forces a traffic cop to be one. Its about own choice and aspiration. We as taxpayers have all the right to question and complain when a cop deserves one.

[acroback]

Well I faced something similar. On 27th Feburary, there is a parking fine on my vehicle.
Guess what time is around 12:30 PM.

What is strange is I am in office at that time. How on earth is that a "no parking" area? :(

[sammyboy]

Originally Posted by pahwa

I had a frustrating experience with Bangalore traffic police today. I usually drive from RMZ Infinity to Whitefield everyday and was not aware that there is a 'No U Turn' sign board at the junction next to ICICI bank near RMZ Infinity.

Sad to read about the experience Pahwa, however this is my regular road too and the no U turn board has been around for many months now. I stay behind the big bazaar and whenever I have to go to Gopalan I either take the narrow lane in front of More or pass this no u turn board and take the u turn after the rk puram railway bridge. Many a times it's extremely frustrating because no one seems to follow the no u turn rule, and I feel like an idiot going all the way till the bridge to do that, each and every time. I have seen a lot of people knowingly/unknowingly taking the u turn even while police men keep trying to request them not to. I guess it was just your bad luck that you were behind the truck, however please try to notice these boards in future. Don't agree to the extra fine you had to pay but the chalan for nonU turn was legally correct.

[pahwa]

Originally Posted by sammyboy

Sad to read about the experience Pahwa, however this is my regular road too and the no U turn board has been around for many months now. I stay behind the big bazaar and whenever I have to go to Gopalan I either take the narrow lane in front of More or pass this no u turn board and take the u turn after the rk puram railway bridge. Many a times it's extremely frustrating because no one seems to follow the no u turn rule, and I feel like an idiot going all the way till the bridge to do that, each and every time. I have seen a lot of people knowingly/unknowingly taking the u turn even while police men keep trying to request them not to. I guess it was just your bad luck that you were behind the truck, however please try to notice these boards in future. Don't agree to the extra fine you had to pay but the chalan for nonU turn was legally correct.

Thanks Sammyboy! I agree. It was a mistake of mine that I missed the sign board. Did not argue at all with the cop for the genuine fine. Have now learnt it the hard way and I take my U-Turn only at the entrance of Pai Layout (Near Dominos).

[sansvk]

Originally Posted by pahwa

Thanks Sammyboy! I agree. It was a mistake of mine that I missed the sign board. Did not argue at all with the cop for the genuine fine. Have now learnt it the hard way and I take my U-Turn only at the entrance of Pai Layout (Near Dominos).

Had been to that side during the weekend, observed that there is a NO right turn board and a no 'U' turn board as well. Wonder how you missed them, it happens, forget it and move on.

[TheTeacher]

Well, well. I started driving in Bangalore from the end of July (moved from another state, then bought a car here) and I got a love letter from the BTP this afternoon.

It says "JD Tree Junction BG Road" and "Parking near Traffic Light / Stopping on Zebra Cro". Rs. 100 fine. I have no idea where JD Tree is.

I never, ever park indiscriminately. My family quarrels with me that I park farther away than needed because I take care not to obstruct traffic or someone's driveway. What may have happened is the light might have turned red and I might have stopped rather than go, and it might have been on a zebra crossing.

If indeed this happened, it's not my fault. In civilized countries, the green light turns amber and stays amber for enough seconds for traffic to clear the junction (this is carefully timed taking into consideration the maximum speed allowed on that road and the length of the junction the vehicle has to traverse to clear it). It is typically 4-7 seconds. You can either clear the junction when it is still amber, or you have enough time to stop within the stop line before it turns red. As the driver, you have to use your experience to determine whether to sail through or to stop. Passing through when the light is amber is not an offence.

Over here, the green light turns amber and in one second turns red. So you go from green to red in 1.5 seconds, a sitting duck for having broken a red light. Not to mention that they hide lights in the difficult to see places, and if a bus / truck is blocking your view, good luck.

I went to www.bangloretrafficpolice.gov.in to see the "proof". Entering ticket # or my car's registration number results in "not found". What do I do now?

Karnataka's appetite for additional revenue cannot be satiated. Are they just picking car numbers at random and mailing out tickets with offences selected at random just to increase revenue?

[sanjaykk]

Originally Posted by TheTeacher

It says "JD Tree Junction BG Road" and "Parking near Traffic Light / Stopping on Zebra Cro". Rs. 100 fine. I have no idea where JD Tree is.

Dont know if this helps but, JD Tree Junction on BG Road is the point on Bannerghatta Road where you take a right to JP Nagar and going straight you continue on to Bannerghatta road. This is the junction where a huge mall is coming up on the left side of the junction (while coming from Jayadeva Circle).
Its otherwise called 'JD Mara junction'

[TheTeacher]

My usual pattern is to and fro on Bannerghatta road, and occasionally turning right on Bannerghatta Road from JP Nagar Ring Road. I very rarely turn left into or right into JP Nagar Ring road from BG road. I was in a cab in the area last night (just getting back from a trip out of state) and saw only one very faded zebra crossing: on the Bilekahalli side when going south on BG Road from the Gopalan Mall side.

I don't know if it's worth raising a stink about this in court - take photographs, prove there's no visible zebra crossing at that junction. Am leaving on a 5-day trip soon, will have to decide whether to pay or not when I am back.

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by TheTeacher

It says "JD Tree Junction BG Road" and "Parking near Traffic Light / Stopping on Zebra Cro". Rs. 100 fine. I have no idea where JD Tree is.

I never, ever park indiscriminately. My family quarrels with me that I park farther away than needed because I take care not to obstruct traffic or someone's driveway. What may have happened is the light might have turned red and I might have stopped rather than go, and it might have been on a zebra crossing.

TT, I believe this violation is raised because the vehicle was stopped farther than / beyond the white line at a signal . I agree, at many junctions the white line is hardly visible and we are forced to use guesswork and find the right place to stop if we are the head of the queue. A classic case of bad luck in my opinion. Better to just pay the 100 bucks fine online and move on; these guys won't ever budge and reverse the raised violation.

By the way, in violations such as these, BTP usually attaches a photograph (taken by the constable with a digi-cam) of the said car with the number plate. Did you happen to receive this too??

On a related note, not too long ago I received a violation notice for parking the Thunderbird on a footpath in BTM layout. I was puzzled to the core since I don't ever stop at that area, and my bike usage is very very limited nowadays. Later I cross-checked the dates of the offense and remembered that the Enfield had been given for service on the same day at a service station behind Shoppers stop (BG road). The mechanic must have been having joy rides under the pretext of 'testing' and I had to pay the penalty later! The service station staff denied taking the bike out anywhere when I confronted them. I had no way to prove whether it was a mistake by BTP or whether some mechanic had actually committed the offense.

[TheTeacher]

Karthik,

1) I always stop behind the stop line, or behind a virtual stop line if one isn't present. Like I mentioned in my earlier post, it is possible that I braked when the light suddenly turned red from green and therefore I was beyond this boundary. This is not my fault, the jokers have to fix the green-amber-red timing of the signals.

2) I guessed this relates more to the stop line than to a parked vehicle. I wonder if it's possible to get it thrown out on court solely on this basis

3) I checked Thursday (when I received the love letter in my apartment mail box) and their website could not find the notice # or my car registration #. Was out of town Friday 5 am to 11pm, will check later today. Will them not having any proof bolster my case in any way?

M concern is if they are happily issuing challans randomly to make money (officially) and we pay up because it's not worth fighting over Rs. 100. This almost becomes a PIL / class action type situation.