Quote:
Originally Posted by saisree
(Post 5789819)
To our people & politicians this is not considered to generate vote. Subsidies, freebies, reservations are the only important items. Heck, none talks about improving the education system
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Coming to the rules, regulations and education with regard to safe driving/riding in India, there are multiple facets such as the Government, manufacturers, drivers/riders and the society at large who use the road infrastructure.
We have been consistently and vehemently voicing our opinion about vehicle safety, better infrastructure, better driving etiquettes etc. Let's see how an OEM manufacturer thinks about the future of automobile industry, specifically the 2 wheeler segment.
I have been driving/riding close to over four and half decades and I had the privilege to give a telephonic interview/conversation with a group of young techies from Bosch, over Zoom. The interview was conducted in the first week of March, this year. There were 3 techies/ execs on Zoom (4th gentleman couldn't join due to some unspecified reason) and I started with a basic introduction of myself with my experience driving since 1976/77.
Those days were entirely different from the present days. Sparse to none traffic, none of the airbags, seatbelt safety. The Ambassador Mark 2 had gear stick attached to the steering column and headlight dim/dipper was at the feet, next to clutch. That was an era that the present millennials cannot even dream of. We have come a long way since those rudimentary contraptions.
The Team of Bosch engineers were from their "Two wheeler & power sport solutions division" and were keen to understand the pain points of motorcycle group riding and how they could alleviate or better the riding experience. Here is their division link that I garnered from internet.
https://www.bosch-mobility.com/en/so...d-powersports/
They wanted to know if I endorsed group riding and if I could suggest any improvement on the motorcycle that could be useful universally for a rider. What were my pain points?
Well, the pain points in group riding are more of non motorcycle centric but human centric. It's the bloated egos of some riders, I have big bike, I ride faster than you syndrome that causes pain more than the motorcycles. Over that, each motorcycle has its own pro's and cons and the rider knows the capacity and limits of his motorcycle very well. So motorcycles matter less than riders, but Bosch engineers were exploring " there should be something that we can add to the motorcycle to make it better and tell us what it is".
I used to ride in groups, but have since some years restricted myself to solo riding. I suggested that the present motorcycles are already overloaded with technology and if there was one thing I specifically would like to have is an SOS emergency Button. Once the button is pressed, an SOS/Emergency message is immediately flashed to the near / dear/ with exact gps coordinates and also possibly to the nearest police station/hospital or say Govt authorities..
The Bosch team appeared to be keen to add more technology to the motorcycle and to up the game and they were exploring all the possibilities in that direction.
I had a very different take on the motorcycle riding in India. I explained them that I am old school, and I would rather the manufacturers/OEMs/ private sector/ Govt focus on
1. Educate the common rider about Motorcycle riding/ theory/ techniques etc.
In USA there are motorcycle ride training schools and tracks where they teach you how to ride a motorcycle safely.
We have thousands of 4 wheeler driving schools in India but NO Motorcycle riding schools. There are more 2 wheeler riders in India than 4 wheeler drivers.
But the irony is there's no proper school teaching how to ride a motorcycle. Every 2 wheeler rider should know about target fixation, counter steering, emergency/panic braking techniques, leaning techniques, negotiating a tight curve, basic repairs such as making a puncture, cleaning spark plugs, replacing bulbs, clutch, brake cables etc.
Over that, we need riders to know about road rules, regulations, do's and don'ts and lot more.
2. Practice: Once you have education and you learnt the theory and riding techniques, then it boils down to practice and practice and more practice. Learning is one thing, practice is another thing.. Practice panic breaking, leaning, avoiding target fixation etc again and again such that it becomes muscle memory..
Govt should stipulate some minimum hours of practice before issuing the licence..
3. Technology: With education and practice, now all the technology loaded on the motorcycle can be utilised to it's max. It could be ABS, cornering ABS, ride modes, traction control and the dozens of ride aiding gizmos..Now the rider is fully ready and prepared to use the technology to it's full capacity.
As the interview progressed, I went on a bombastic monologue (they were truly gentlemen. They listened and gave me space. Great guys)
I told them " You are making motorcycle intelligent and rider inconsequential. You want add all comforts and gizmos and make the rider sit on sofa with a remote while the bike does everything. Where's the FUN dude? Why no rider is falling 😳? No falling no fun" Have you ever seen a rider who has never fallen off his bike???? (I wasn't insisting that the rider falls, but that it's a natural progression to become a better rider. It's something like a baby learning to walk. The baby falls a few times before it starts to take it's first steps. You don't stop a baby falling because it hurts the baby. No, that's the way the baby learns)
Further added that if I want total comfort I will sit in backseat of a car. Why would I ride a motorcycle?
You are putting so much technology on the display screen? You want the rider to ride or watch screen? He can do only one thing at a time. So stop putting more stuff on the screen.
I told them, today youngsters remove ORVM as soon as they sit on a bike, they don't strap their helmet and you want to give them Cornering ABS. Holy Cow! What's wrong with you guys?
Guys, we are a developing country, we don't have motorcycle learning schools, We get Driving licence sitting at home (by paying some agent), most kids don't know the very basic road rules when they hop on a bike AND, You want to add more technology/ gizmos? You have absolutely no perspective of the ground facts. You are totally out of touch with the ground realities.We are not USA or Europe ( not yet)
I went on with my rant and my proposal was simple.
1. Educate
2. Practice
3. Implement
4. Improvise
I suggested them that Bosch should start a dozen or more motorcycle riding schools all over India teaching theory, riding techniques, road rules and regulations, basic repairs and introduce their technology as pilot in those schools and take it from there.
Today I could clearly see the generation gap. They were like "It's all about technology and gizmos" I am like " What Technology and what Gizmo? Just give me a solid Motorcycle man.
Finally what was supposed to be an interview, turned out to be a monologue from my end. I must have spoken for around 45 minutes to an hour (though the initial schedule was only 30 minutes)
I honestly believe they got the wrong rider (that's me) for this interview and any young millanneal with hot blood and fast motorcycle would have provided a ton of usable advise and information to the tech team.
Coming back to the point as to why India has the highest accident and fatalities rate in the world, it all boils down to my 4 phase proposal list . We cannot jump to phase 3 (technology and features filled cars/bikes (safety features included) without going through the phase 1& 2. (Educate & practice)
In the end, at the closure of interview, the Bosch tech team was very courteous albeit gave up on me as an Uncle blabbering incoherent vintage story and smiled " We should have interviewed your grandson instead of you. How did we ever get this so wrong?"
