[ASHISHPALLOD]

Originally Posted by hyd_traveller

The background of this proposal stems from a recent accident in the outskirts of Hyderabad.

I am providing the essence of the accident (and may have some facts wrong, so please excuse) : A few brothers and their families were on a pilgrimage from Gujarat to Tirupati in a scorpio and crossed Hyderabad towards Vijayawada.

That scorpio was from Ahmadnagar in Maharashtra going to Tirupati.

[MX6]

Originally Posted by hyd_traveller

He was now on the wrong side of the road and facing the oncoming traffic so he pulled to the right side of the road and continued to drive till he met a oncoming truck face-on resulting in deaths of 8 out of 10 people in the scoropio there and then. Other 2 were critical in the hospital as per the papers.

That's the driver's mistake - Continuing to drive. Ideally, he should have stopped on the shoulder. Put his warning signs on, off loaded all the passengers to a safe distance to save lives first.
Then when there's not much traffic, he should have just tried to taken a three way turn (as they say in US) to now start going with the flow of traffic and gone back till he finds a safe place with opportunity to get back on the right road. It would mean extra distance travelled. But then they'd have reached Tirupati later and not Vaikuntam instead.
An Idiot driver still thinking that he can save a few kilometers and continue brashly on wrong side has killed 8 persons. It's not accidet. It's murder. And to stop such incidents we have a blanket ban on high speed vehicles from 12 to 5.

And from AP saab's message stating that it's from Ahmednagar, one never knows, whether they mistook the missing divider for a shift in highway lanes or knowing the drivers penchance to drive in any lane they want, whether it was a belligerent attempt to drive on the wrong side entering from some other area to save distance by not having to take a u-turn.

Originally Posted by hyd_traveller

"High-speed vehicles face midnight ban"

This is the knee-jerk reaction from the government. If the government has the guts, let it implement the rules and regulations of M V Act scrupulously. Most of the government vehicles including that of politicians irrespective of party affiliations will have to be banned for not complying with the M V Act. Many of the cab/auto-rickshaw drivers will be rendered jobless.

[CPH]

Originally Posted by niks_devil666

Why don't they stop selling/registering vehicles in the state and ban the vehicles plying on the road. Only cycles and bullock carts will be road legal. This will bring down accidents to almost zero.
Great thinking by the govt. !

Nah, I have got a much better idea:

Go and ban everything with wheels or legs on the roads. Collisions will be impossible on the roads from the time the ban starts.

I think what you should let the government know is that you neither appreciate the fact that they want to sent you back to the dark ages (which they tried to do for as long as governments exist) nor the fact that the general public is deemed stupid be the authorities.

The implementation of safety measures needs to be effective as much in the night as in the day.

It is rediculous to have drivers on trucks change every 300km.

In Europe a truck driver is not allowed to drive/work more than 11hours a day, but can only do this for 2 weeks a day, has to have every 4.5 hours a break of 45 minutes, and can't work more than 90 hours in 2 weeks.

All is controlled by an electronic tachograph.

Drivers caught going above the limits can get arrested, but definitively will be fined heavily and so will be their employer.

If a driver causes an accident in countries like Germany, Austria they will be subject to a police enquiry, which can result in charges of criminal negligence (with possible prison sentences), manslaughter or even murder.

Speed doesn't kill. The stupidity of people thrown together with speed is what is killing.

Implemented responsible laws and proper training/education are cutting accidents even when the traffic flows fast.

[theMAG]

This is draconian. They need to improve the highway driving experience by making it safer and more predictable rather than this.

[nairrk]

What happened those heavy trucks move in the night times - all will turn up in the early morning, making heavy traffic congestion everywhere?? Most of the long drive cars/buses all move along in the night to save time and avoid traffic.
Dont think banning vehicles in the night will serve any purpose, other than saving
accidents in those hours!?

[Torqy]

Don't be surprised if they ban people from stepping out of their homes.
WOW. Talk about simple solutions!
KA and AP think tanks have a lot in common. If we can't control something, we ban it. Cool.

-- Torqy

[prince_pervez]

With that diktat they ought to ban huge buses and trucks in the city limits as they cause fatalities with rash driving. Come on, is this even believeable ? Please!

[hvkumar]

What nonsense! Half the road accidents happen because of bad roads, unmarked diversions, construction debris, rumblers/ bumps, vehicles without tail-lights, issuance of licenses to "non-drivers", overloading of taxis, buses without speed governors, bribe-hungry cops, and so on. I suppose banning "high-speed" (preposterous, if that really happens, imagine the power in the hands of errant cops) vehicles at night can happen after all the above measures fail. Whart is next - "night drive tax"?

[Torqy]

Originally Posted by hyd_traveller

The background of this proposal stems from a recent accident in the outskirts of Hyderabad.

I am providing the essence of the accident (and may have some facts wrong, so please excuse) : A few brothers and their families were on a pilgrimage from Gujarat to Tirupati in a scorpio and crossed Hyderabad towards Vijayawada.

Thinking like those THINK TANKS, i have an idea.
Ban all Scorpios from Gujarat headed for Tirupati.

Instead of fixing the roads, proper road-signs, enforcing traffic rules and driver education, they ban driving!

[aargee]

I can sense two things that could happen...
1. People try to speed up as much as possible to cross the stretch before midnight
2. Incase, they're unable to, they'll find accomodations at near by place to stay over night. This means business!!!

[jeevmenon]

continuing (1) above. ... and there will be more crashes in the state which bought in the law since they are trying to get out of the state before midnight and crashes in MH, TN, KA, OR because there the cars are trying hard to be amongst the first to enter AP - as there would be a huge queue at the borders with each passing minute after 5 AM.

and continuing (2) ... and more hotels and there would be a scramble to own one of these and there would be a hotel-mafia linked to politicians, and leading to changing inter-state political equations http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/images/smilies/LOL.gif

[aargee]

Originally Posted by jeevmenon

continuing (1) above. ... and there will be more crashes in the state which bought in the law since they are trying to get out of the state before midnight and crashes in MH, TN, KA, OR because there the cars are trying hard to be amongst the first to enter AP

Now I sense something funny; the stretch on AP becomes safe, but the continuing stretch on KA/MH/OR becomes unsafe; so those states too will adopt the "successful" strategy from AP govt. Whoa!!! isn't that something to ?

[xingamazon]

I still dont understand one point, in case if I start by around 11 in afternoon from Chennai and I am about to enter the mentioned highways in Andhra at around 9 30 pm night. what will they do, will they stop me at the toll booth and say I cant go inside at all.

Can they actually do that. Not caring about how I spend the night halt with my family???

[Ravveendrra]

Wonderful, the babus have come up with another way to make money via bribes. You are driving from Mumbai to Hyderabad, leave Mumbai at 11.00 a.m. so you are in Hyderabad by midnight (to beat the ban). You run into major traffic jams at the two state borders on the way, where greedy men man some booths. You are held up for an hour or two (it has happened to me) and you are approaching Hyderabad around 1.00 a.m. when you are stopped by some eagle eyed cop who promptly informs you that you have broken the law by driving after midnight and the only way out is to cough up.


When I used to travel to Vijayawada regularly, I would take a bus and the most convenient for me was the one that left at midnight (in both directions). I would get on, go to sleep and arrive at destination between 5.00 and 6.00 a.m. The timing was perfect, I could do my work through the day, have a dinner meeting and get on to the bus to arrive to a full day's work the next day. Now I will have to stay back for another day to do my meetings or lose half a day.

I have a doubt. If I were driving to Hyderabad and was some 100 km from Hyderabad at midnight. Being a law abiding citizen I would stop at the stroke of mid night. Who should I call for protection and security? Is the Government equipped to provide security to law abiding citizens from robbers, dacoits and Naxalites? If the sarkari types expect me to stop at the last town I would be passing before midnight, will they provide me accomodation in that town? Is it okay for me to crash out in the SP/Dist. Collector/RDO/MRO's house till the morning?


With such brilliant people in charge of things in our country, it is no wonder that we have been becoming a superpower for the last 30 years. Yes, a superpower - a superpower of corruption.

Long live India, India the superpower - the superpower of idiocy. Mera Bharat Mahaan - Mahaan gadhapana.