[Gannu_1]

People with retarded road manners!

We were returning back home from work and there's this two-laned road that merges into one single lane road. A brand new Indica with no registration plates (not even the dealer applied temporary registration sticker) decides to take the wrong side through a cut on the divider because this lane was busy with cars and trailers. Further ahead, where the divider ends and the road merges, a Xenon pickup truck is planning to cross to the other lane and has his indicators blinking. Something like this:



But he does not notice the Indica (which is on the wrong side of the road) approaching him at a good speed and just when he's about to turn, the Indica cuts him missing the truck missing him by a whisker, parks the car in the middle of the road where it merges into one lane and the driver walks out of the car to fight it out with the pickup truck. Woah!

[speedmiester]

Originally Posted by Quarter Mile

A dash cam looks like a must have these days. Every single day has its own hideous situations and some deserving to be captured on Cam. Cant we share these with the Cops for them to take action? Can these also be shared with news channels? Some can even profit out of those extremely stupid videos! Does the dash cam also come with a mike

I have been using a Dash Cam for the past 6 months and I don't feel safe if I drive without it. Even when I drive the other car over weekends, I need to fit the dash cam first and foremost. It's a must whether you are driving on Highways or in City.
They are getting cheaper, you can get a decent one with 1080P HD recording for around 3K. I got mine from Ebay for 3.2K INR. It is doing great even after couple of falls on concrete floor.

Originally Posted by IronH4WK

Yep they do. But one has to be careful what one says in the car. It records everything

That's one of the reason why I stopped viewing the videos on laptop or on the dash cam. It's full of colorful language, courtesy of Bangalore traffic.

[dark.knight]

Another day of reaching work in Bangalore, I've had it. Before all the fans of the city come at me, let me narrate a fact - I have been here for as long as I can remember, though I'm not from this state I've been raised & educated here. Now as I turn 30, everyday every fibre of my being wants to get out of here with my family to a city with a much lesser volume of cabs/bikes/autos. Its simply not a liveable city in any way or form. Gone are the days when people were respected as were rules. Though everyday I hope to drive to the best of my ability and senses (i.e following rules, not breaking lights, not changing lanes, not honking etc), external forces do not give me a break (excessive honking from rear when stopped at red light, not permitting me to change lanes even with advance indicator warning, occupying my lane from opposite lane forcing me to turn around them, blocking a lane with jiggly jolly riding at 1 kmph forcing me to change lanes to inconvenience other drivers hence bearing their irritation etc etc).

With near to 95% of the traffic having zero idea of rules I don't know who to blame anymore for being a bad driver. Sure in my view one may have driven badly but he might have responded only to the bad/irritating driving of someone ahead of him. I have always been proud of being a great driver & that's first thing that makes me proud to be a BHPian, knowledge of car mechanics or brands is secondary. I have thought of this before and today I'm thinking of it more than ever, even though other metros/cities might share this city's problems, the infrastructure & moralilty here is simply too broken to ever be repaired.

Now while I support the use of cameras & any other idiot proof measures to protect ourselves, this extent of work for something as blissful as driving is something I'm unable to digest. Russia has an insurance law that dictates having cameras due to the sheer amount of road-rage if I'm not mistaken. I hear stories of people driving V6/V8/V10's in U.S & Europe without fear & like they are toys. If we have to have so many precautions for fear of crimes of aggression just to drive a simple small car, let me be the first one to call out the elephant in the room - the country is broken. Wonder if Pune is a good alternative, I hear it has just as many jobs as B'lore and has lots of well planned areas to live in, on the outskirts. Inputs appreciated.

[raghu.t.k]

Originally Posted by dark.knight

Another day of reaching work in Bangalore, I've had it. Before all the fans of the city come at me, let me narrate a fact - I have been here for as long as I can remember, though I'm not from this state I've been raised & educated here.
.....
Wonder if Pune is a good alternative, I hear it has just as many jobs as B'lore and has lots of well planned areas to live in, on the outskirts. Inputs appreciated.

You are not alone, the sad part is that all metros/upcoming are equally bad. I am not sure if its the floating population or the road users' sheer disregard for the law as well as fellow human beings. I am seeing it in Chennai, experienced the same in Hyd, Gurgaon and Delhi,apart from some smaller towns as well.

You might also want to read the Pune traffic thread before making any decisions.

[JASMEET MATTOO]

And I still fail to understand why a person driving straight in his direction is always intersected by a fast moving car from other direction joining in the main road.

And yes sometimes the person intersecting and joining a straight road is on phone, so maybe he doesn't have time to change his gear. That's right buddy, my fault - I will take care of you. Grrr!

[rav11stars]

Originally Posted by raghu.t.k

You are not alone, the sad part is that all metros/upcoming are equally bad. I am not sure if its the floating population or the road users' sheer disregard for the law as well as fellow human beings. I am seeing it in Chennai, experienced the same in Hyd, Gurgaon and Delhi,apart from some smaller towns as well.

You might also want to read the Pune traffic thread before making any decisions.

Pune?..ah, Pune..I came to Pune in 2008, moved to BLR in 2011 and came back to Pune in 2012. In 2008 I was amazed on seeing the roads. Such wide roads and from the fact that I came here from Hyderabad, I was awed by the discipline and civic sense. My colleagues arguing on the contrary is a different point. I asked them to drive a vehicle in Hyd and then let me know.

But then I bought a bike for the daily commute. Why? There was no other alternative. Then I realized what's happening with the wide roads. The pavement is for the hawkers and first lane has the pushcarts. The second lane is where people stand for the office cabs, buses and friends picking up friends. The third lane is where the cabs, buses etc stop.
You must be wondering where the commuter is? Whether it's a car or a bike, you'll gradually develop a skill to weave in and out of the 3rd and 4th lane to reach your destination.

Now all of a sudden the corporation realizes that the existing roads are not fast enough for their public transport's "fast machines". So enters the BRTS. Now if you're from BLR don't visualize the volvos.

So they build BRTS corridors in the middle of the road, taking away two lanes which left people wondering "where are the buses to run on this corridor?". Then it turned out to be true: People now use them for morning walks, kids play cricket and the odd one that doesn't have the entry blocked sees someone on a bike take advantage.

So, all in all Pune is no different compared to other cities, at least by what I infer from the threads. If you're travelling to Pune for the first time, don't be surprised if you see a car swerve suddenly and come to a stop. He must have just seen his friend. If you're taking a turn, don't be tempted to test that balance of your car, there are autos, cabs and tempos parked right there; yep, right where you'd take the turn you'll see them parked with the drivers having chai.

I can rant on and on. As always there are those who drive nicely too

[rakesh_r]

Originally Posted by dark.knight

Wonder if Pune is a good alternative, I hear it has just as many jobs as B'lore and has lots of well planned areas to live in, on the outskirts. Inputs appreciated.

Have a look at the pune road condition thread .People here just love to drive on the wrong side,And yes there are lot of jack rabbits who just love to pop out of no where and yell "SURPRISE". You don't need to visit a zoo as you can see cattle, dogs and whatever 4 legged creatures you can name.
Coming from Mumbai i simply love the weather in Pune, the former being very humid. But i can safely conclude that Mumbai is far more disciplined in terms of road sense.

[vasoo]

95% of drivers in our roads has only one attitude, its all about ME, MYSELF and I.

1. I drive, hence I rule
2. I am coming, everybody else has to give way to ME
3. Rules don't apply to ME and only ME. Others follow them coz they are retards
4. I decide where to park or drive or stop or do anything with MY car
5. Everybody who goes faster than ME are crazy and slower than ME are stupid
6. MY car does not have to show any signals, others should assume what I am going to do next and behave accordingly
7. I will keep honking and drive always on high beam, others need not as I don't care
8. Don't even dare to touch MY car, it is more precious than all of your wealth
....

The above is about car drivers. For two wheelers all of the above and some more are applicable.

9. Only I am moving in the road, all other vehicles are standing still all the time. I can cut them in any direction and it doesn't harm ME or them
10. I always keep left, even when overtaking a vehicle in a blind curve. They should always assume I am around
11. I keep honking all the time even if others dont hear it as MY bike's engine has more sound
12. Helmet is for retards. MY head is made of much stronger cranium.
...

[paragsachania]

It is only co-incidental that the rant comes from Major cities and these are the very cities where we have the maximum IT Populace working (and perhaps driving too!!) & ranting about traffic woes. Talk about the liberty of using online platforms to do that.

Both the cities do suffer from Traffic woes but what Bangalore faces is to a bigger extent.

The difference between a typical 2 wheeler rider in Pune and Bangalore is that Helmet. Make that rider wear a Helmet in Pune or make the one in Bangalore remove one and ride. You will not be able to spot much difference . Second difference is that you can certainly expect a 3rd fella sandwiched between the rider and the pillion.

A helmet often gives most of the fellow commuters a wrong impression that the gentleman is riding safely like how seat belt does to drivers till you follow them for a while and spot them with high beams and folded/bent mirrors.

-Too many City buses on too narrow roads - Bangalore
-Too many 2 wheelers on the widest of roads - Pune

-Techie Biker with a Helmet & a wannabe Rossi - Bangalore
-Techie Biker with a Helmet & a wannabe Rossi, but with his collar up - Pune

-Techie car with loads of stickers and wrong apostrophes - Bangalore
-Non Techie car with Fancy plates and Political party stickers - Pune

-Driving at 40, right next to the median on a elevated road - Bangalore
-Driving at 30, right next to the median, turning left indicator to allow you to overtake from left - Pune

-Speedbreakers on Main road to slow down for traffic joining from by lanes - Bangalore
-Speedbreakers on by lanes to slow down for merging with main road - Bangalore

-Private Colorful buses, Maxi cabs, Share Autos - Bangalore
-6 Seater rickshaws driving parallel to each other - Pune

-Cabbie with a NIKE Tick mark on the rear windscreen - Bangalore
-Cabbie with a Reebok mark on the rear windscreen - Pune
(Both leaving the seat belt behind their back)

-Techies heading to Mysore/Mangalore on a weekend - Bangalore
-Techies heading to Mumbai/Goa on a weekend - Pune

-Make roads one way as traffic density increase - Bangalore
-Demolish buildings, compounds to make wider roads - Pune

-Educated techie showing the power of his education by getting into the RFID lane and blocking others at Toll booth - Bangalore
-Uneducated Driver sporting a party sticker showing his power in not paying the toll - Pune

-Techie Taking the car out of the garage on a weekend to buy Colgate Tooth paste from a nearby Mall - Bangalore
-Techie Taking the car out of the garage on a weekend to buy Pepsodent Tooth paste from a nearby Mall - Pune

-Cabbie with Airtel Tune for reverse - Bangalore
-Cabbie with "Dhoom Machaale" Tune for reverse - Pune


On a Serious note, Pune doesn't have the density of traffic that Bangalore has. In reality it doesn't face super long snarls (Barring the epic Hinjewadi) like how Bangalore does, quite often & for whatever random reasons.

But the traffic behavior in Pune can easily put you off if you have been driving in Bangalore all your life. Sadly, Bangalore too has been witnessing horrendous on road behavior off late.

What Pune lacks is a Outer Ring road. If Pune is trying to ape Bangalore, it also must learn from Bangalore and Build a cable stayed Bridge for monumental purpose !

[vasoo]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

I...

What Pune lacks is a Outer Ring road. If Pune is trying to ape Bangalore, it also must learn from Bangalore and Build a cable stayed Bridge for monumental purpose !

In my experience Pune is way behind Bangalore in one aspect, number of speed humps in the roads. Having many meaningless flyovers, cable stay bridges, magic boxes, one-way flyovers and ramps with humps on the way up followed by 5 inch wide gaps between the slabs at the top, pothole ridden roads with humps etc are standard features of Bangalore roads. The idea of having humps between potholes helps to effectively increase the impact of the hump so that more cars will end up having broken suspensions, odd shaped rims and flat tyres.

[dark.knight]

@raghu.t.k, rav11stars, rakesh r, vasoo, paragsachania

Always good to see some similar views with a pinch of sarcasm about the roads we are forced to drive on, had a good laugh . Yes unfortunately I'm aware that the situation in every city is nothing too different and worsening by the day. I used to enjoy driving but now its getting to be a pain even on weekends with mile long signal lines in certain areas on Saturday. Parking is next to impossible these days, as a result I just stick to walking to nearby places on weekends.

Yeah I guess I was expecting unreasonable things in the morning, my mind was warped sitting in traffic for an hour. Back to reality now, I cant do anything to improve the traffic situation except to drive as defensively as possible. Have a good weekend guys

[luvDriving]

A few more traffic gems observed in Pune :

1. The moment you switch on your indicator to (what else but ! ) indicate that you wish to turn left/right or change lanes, the car/bus/autorickshaw/2-wheeler/handcart/pedestrian/dog/cat which until now were at a distance will suddenly make all out effort to get ahead of you before you even turn the steering !

OTOH if you switch lanes, take a turn without indication, some people will have anticipated it (these are doctorates in Pune traffic) while others who do not anticipate, will curse you from within the confines of their vehicles but you can make the turn/lane change safely and quickly.

2. On similar lines, you observe that an elderly kaka on his two wheeler scooter is driving in a laid back fashion and decide to overtake him. The moment you start you manoeuvre, he will take offence and increase his speed AND block you from overtaking. I use this to make some slow pokes speed up a little. I do not actually overtake, only feign overtaking and lo and behold! They are on their way !!

3. No room left on the road ? No problem sir !! Drive on the footpath (wherever it has not been occupied by hawkers).

4. I am a pedestrian and I refuse to take the high road (aka as a footpath) even if it is hawker-free. I wish to merrily mingle with the traffic.

5. IF you wish to experience traffic hell, do give swargate a visit on any evening. No one can make more mess of road architecture than the PMC and no driver can make sense of it.

6. Even if you see a one way board march right ahead ignoring it royally (this is specially true in the old city portion). No one cares (including the traffic police).

7. Park bang in the middle of the road and walk off to have a cuppa (have observed this on Tilak road no less) or to a marriage ( road after mhatre bridge). I was stuck with hundred other commuters on this road because people attending a marriage in nearby 'lawns' had simply stopped their cars wherever they found space, locked them and walked away. One car was literally - an I mean literally - in the middle of the road.

No one protests, no one supports you even if you protest. I used to do so but time and again having observed that no one cares, I too have joined the sheep.

I think it is due to this attitude and combined with the high tolerance levels of the law abiding drivers, the number of accidents and incidents of road rage are much less here in Pune.

[Chetan_Rao]

It's not just the big towns, unchecked vehicular population explosion has hit the smaller towns as well. I was back home in Bhopal for a vacation recently, and got stuck in a traffic jam for the first time in two decades. It's the same town where one could play cricket in the apartment complex open spaces all day less than a decade ago, now one can't even walk to the gate without being apprehensive of errant drivers. Fights ensue daily over parking spaces that belong to nobody (and nobody claimed in the past) and imaginary encroachments. Less said about on-road behavior, the better.

We don't have enough roads, enough parking spaces, enough road sense, enough trained drivers, enough of ABSOLUTELY nothing worth mentioning.

Every Tom, Dick & Harry who can spend a few lakhs gets himself a set of wheels (add pocket change for a driving license), then does as he pleases with it. Unless we turn driving into the 'privilege' it's meant to be rather than a 'right' as every idiot on the road assumes it is, we have no hope.

[heydj]

So the colony where I live, my highly educated neighbor has 5 cars. One for self, one for wife, one for his father, one for his mother, and one family tourer. Now the parking space they have is for 2 cars, hence every other day a incident occurs.

When these educated idiots go on buying so many cars then what is common man supposed to do. One car per family of 4 should be the limit. Traffic snarls are only set to get worse, pollution levels will increase. (Today only our government auctioned off coal blocks, so that more pollution can happen). I admire Netherlands and the people there for riding bicycles. Our government should promote that, make better public transport, rather than subsidizing car industry.

[Thad E Ginathom]

A humorous note from an outsider-(sort-of)...

Is an Indian proud of being Indian? Of course!

Is he proud of his mother tongue? Absolutely!

Is he loyal to his state, to his native place? Very!

But what of what single fact is he most vociferously proud?

... that his city has the worst drivers!

Even I, when visiting other places, tell them that (as they are telling me the opposite) that Chennai traffic is crazy compared to the relative sanity of their streets.

I guess it is something we ought to stop being proud of.