[Prowler]

@ nilanjanray

I spent many years in Mumbai, and have spent the last 3 years in Bangalore. I find that in Bangalore/South of Bangalore people have absolutely crappy driving manners.

If you think Bangalore people have crappy manners, come to Madras. Madras has probably one of the worst kind of drivers in India - especially the autos and 2 wheelers.

[nilanjanray]

I am sure there are other cities competing for the 'worst road manner' prize :-) My hometown - Kolkata - is far worse than Mumbai. Moreover, there the pedestrian is the king - he can walk anywhere, anytime - and stops traffic as he pleases. Any issue, you become the rich bad guy driving a car - exploiting the poor common man.

[Wolfheart]

Rules for issuing drivers licenses should be made more stringent. There should be a written as well as a practical test which should include basic courtesy and introduce the concepts of lanes, right of way and courtesy. Further, there should be well educated (and well paid) traffic cops who should enforce these rules.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by para_7k

• Unstrapped helmet when you can suddenly enter an area with low visibility

Unstrapped helmet is wrong at any time.

Scored one success with a friend, telling him, "it just means the helmet hits the ground separate to you head". It was nice to see that he actually realised the truth of this.

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by Wolfheart

Rules for issuing drivers licenses should be made more stringent. There should be a written as well as a practical test which should include basic courtesy and introduce the concepts of lanes, right of way and courtesy. Further, there should be well educated (and well paid) traffic cops who should enforce these rules.

If this were to happen, then almost 80% of the applicants would have to go home just waving hands coz they would never pass. Then what about the "upar ka income" for the RTO guys. Other than that how would the license issuer be certified - by going through the same tests?

It pains me to see a lot of vehicles always on the pedestrian marking leaving absolutely no space for the people to cross the roads and esp the bikers & ricks who pose an eternal danger to the road crossers who wouldn't know when these morons would start charging even when the signal is red.

[Wolfheart]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

If this were to happen, then almost 80% of the applicants would have to go home just waving hands coz they would never pass. Then what about the "upar ka income" for the RTO guys. Other than that how would the license issuer be certified - by going through the same tests?

Well if those people can't pass those tests they don't deserve to operate motor vehicles at the cost of other people's safety(and sanity). If 80% fail then our traffic problems would also be solved wouldn't they?

Put stringent recruitment criteria for traffic cops too. Hire only competent candidates (based on merit not quotas) and pay them well. That solves your corrupt cop problem too.

[Newpunter]

We might also need licenses for pedestrians trying to cross the road. How many times has it happened that some moron tries to cross the road while talking on his/her mobile without even checking if the road is clear to cross or not. When I was in school, we were taught that before crossing any road, you have to check right and then left and cross only if the road is clear. This is imbibed in my system and I never cross the road without checking this.
However, here I find everyone just crossing the road without worrying if there are any vehicles or not. Most of the time, people start crossing then check to see if there are any approaching vehicles and then freeze on the spot if they see some vehicle storming down their path.

[vjabraham]

aaaahhhh!!!!If I start about people's road manners and common courtesy, I think my post alone would run multiple pages. Nowadays it's so frustrating to drive on roads that I hardly go anywhere dreading driving through traffic and dealing with dim-witted and un-cultured imbeciles! I am no saint but, I atleast make it a point to drive responsibly and apologise if I do something wrong.

[mb_jg]

Originally Posted by Newpunter

We might also need licenses for pedestrians trying to cross the road. How many times has it happened that some moron tries to cross the road while talking on his/her mobile without even checking if the road is clear to cross or not. When I was in school, we were taught that before crossing any road, you have to check right and then left and cross only if the road is clear. This is imbibed in my system and I never cross the road without checking this.
However, here I find everyone just crossing the road without worrying if there are any vehicles or not. Most of the time, people start crossing then check to see if there are any approaching vehicles and then freeze on the spot if they see some vehicle storming down their path.

Agree, it happens every single day! People just blindly cross, make U turns & stop BANG in the middle of the road.
In Pune, everyone behaves like some DON nowadays. I almost feel sorry for the state of affairs & what we are eventually passing onto our kids. I can't imagine how bad things are gonna get in a few more years.
I am already worried about my kid (now just 2.5yrs) travelling to school, college.
We just cannot acknowledge the presence of another human being anymore, period!! And in my opinion, a lot of it comes from upbringing.

[aargee]

Originally Posted by Newpunter

When I was in school, we were taught that before crossing any road, you have to check right and then left and cross only if the road is clear. This is imbibed in my system and I never cross the road without checking this.

Time to change the old school rules

You need to first look both right & left, cross to the middle of the road, once again look left & then right & cross the remaining half of the road. If possible, keep looking left & right during the entire process of crossing the road.

Reason? You don't know which moron rides in wrong way; when they hit you, you're blamed for being a jay walker

[rohan_iitr]

To add to what aargee posted, I would like to say that in Bangalore, one must keep looking left and right alternately, even while crossing a one-way road. One way road does not guarantee that traffic will come only from one way.

In Bangalore, bikers and moped riders have a habit of going wrong way in a one way road, that too at high speed.

Rohan

[Newpunter]

Originally Posted by rohan_iitr

In Bangalore, bikers and moped riders have a habit of going wrong way in a one way road, that too at high speed.

Rohan

Not just bikers and 2 wheelers, I have seen cars come on the wrong side in Marathahalli, even during peak traffic hours .

[vasoo]

I think what we need first is to "train the trainer". Govt should make it very strict for the driving schools to register and have properly trained trainers. The current crop of driving schools are imparting all the wrong rules and techniques to budding drivers. I was actually aghast to see my wife driving after a few classes from a local driving school. Not aware of signal lights, honking every 10 seconds evne if there is nobody around, scaring away pedestrians by speeding towards them, squeezing into small gaps, changing lanes as if it never existed, the list goes on. I stopped her from "learning" this anymore and asked her to observe how to drive from me

OT:
I remember when I learned driving decades ago, the first thing my "aashaan" (master) taught me was to use horn! Of course in those days I dont think anybody used indicator lights for turns, it was always hand signals. He was our family car driver as well, and was one of the most rash drivers I have ever seen. He used to drive from Kottayam to Trivandrum in less than 2.30 hrs in those days with the speedo needle staying above 100 almost all the time in our 1976 Mark3 Amby. Naturally I also picked up all his traits and was dreaded for my driving style. At some point in my life, I realized the mistakes and is still in the process of learning to drive better. I am now even scared to think of those days

[sunishsamuel]

Originally Posted by vasoo

I think what we need first is to "train the trainer". Govt should make it very strict for the driving schools to register and have properly trained trainers. The current crop of driving schools are imparting all the wrong rules and techniques to budding drivers. I was actually aghast to see my wife driving after a few classes from a local driving school. Not aware of signal lights, honking every 10 seconds evne if there is nobody around, scaring away pedestrians by speeding towards them, squeezing into small gaps, changing lanes as if it never existed, the list goes on. I stopped her from "learning" this anymore and asked her to observe how to drive from me

+1 to that. i used to get really irritated when i saw the car drivers (not generalizing but a common scene in the cities) trying to drive the same way as you described above. Later when i saw how they are being taught, i realized the root cause and now feel empathetic towards them. I now seriously doubt if the indicabs, sumo drivers actually went to driving school. They would have possibly bribed someone and got their license to kill.

And do i also see a relation between cost of the car vs driving methods ? eg:- notice the difference between someone who drives a normal leyland/tata bus or lorry compared with someone who drives a volvo/merc truck or bus (though there are lot of exceptions) I heard volvo/merc drivers are trained very well before they get behind the wheels and possibly scared too as they are driving expensive vehicles compared to the cheaper cousins of theirs. Also compare the way rolls, bmw, merc, landcruisers driven compared to indicabs, indicas, sumos, altos, santros ?

Repeating what's said earlier, but from my experience, the rot lies in the system. The driving schools, license issuing, everything is corrupt. Half the junta doesn't even have a license. When i went to get my license in hyd, i looked stupid as i was the only one with a car that was in good condition (a friend's zen) wearing seat belt, switching off cell phone per the rule ! A guy in front of me was driving one dilapidated maruti 800, started the test, went straight into a divider, could not move from there. The inspector shouts to the agent. "reddy, nee vadiki driving theliyathu, license ivvala ?) (reddy, your guy does not know driving, should i issue license?) A guy nods his head, (possibly an agent with name reddy) and another bad driver on the road. Reminded of the movie Indian.

Overheard a lady in my apartment complex proudly saying that she rides her scooter and car for the last few years without license and never got caught. And her solution to other women if they get caught by police is to either smile or cry so that police won't trouble them. She proudly claims that she does not know how to reverse her car. (her car is a testimony for her driving skills with hardly any place without scratch or dents) Men are not different either.

Now, there is a trend of husbands teaching wives, siblings teaching each other driving. All they try to teach is to turn the accelerator and how to apply brakes. No rules, no systematic driving, and had the embarassing experience of being shooed away when i politely tried to suggest safe driving to a family friend of mine. Everyone thinks if they get into trouble, they can throw money or call the who's who and get things resolved. Policemen adds to the misery. I don't understand however, will you get back lost limbs or lost lives if you have money and know even the president of india ?

[gururaj r]

@sunishsamuel: Driving a merc or bmw still does not make any difference. At Mumbai, several five star hotels have these cars driven very fast and rashly by the drivers while dropping passengers to airport.

OK, if it is not enough, I see an owner of a merc daily - driving on the wrong side at Andheri East from some complex two building away from Skoda showroom; really sad and signed to him about the same the other day does not seem to care; may be because I was walking - when will people learn?