[selfdrive]

Originally Posted by sajo

That wasnt the intention,sorry, didnt mean to generalise. I just wanted to point out for the average Johnny Punekar, the sense of whats right or wrong is non-existent or twisted as per his conveniences.

sajo, of course it was not meant by you and in terms of generalisation I was referring to the overall attitude that people follow these days.

As against introspecting on their driving or understanding that the other guy on the street is as hassled with traffic most morons just make it worse by blaming others. I dont know what is the big ego trip in being labelled a good or great driver. After all everyone makes mistakes, how much does it take to put one's hand and smile?

Again this is not meant for you or your comments, just a general observation (rant?) about the average moron who keeps honking in b2b traffic or drives up the wrong side to overtake a few vehicles

[Swanand Inamdar]

I agree, while morst two wheelers do not follow traffic rules, it is wrong to label all two wheelers as law breakers. Some do drive sensibly.

Here's what transpired today morning- While on the way to office, near Bhusari Colony a biker in front of me changed lanes all of a sudden. For no reason. I just gave him a look while overtaking and had just let it go. This biker comes up to me and signals me to take my window down. Now, all ready to tell him off, I roll down my windows and to my surprise, all this guy does is says Sorry. He did not mean to do that and would be careful henceforth. He even thanked me for not showering him with the choicest of abuse, when he clearly expected them from me! Is this still Pune? Or am I still in the Goa effect .

[sajo]

There is heavy traffic congestion on the NH4 bypass road today, courtesy , 2 pileups.
One is just after Praj and one is near Balewadi. People may want to wait for some more time before the congestion clears.

[mmxylorider]

^^^ unfortunately I was on NH4 when the traffic started piling up. Had no choice other than to continue.

The first pileup involved 3 busses and 1 Indica behind the last bus. A good part of it's front was crushed. It seemed to be a clear of an overtaking gone bad. The second bus collided with just few inches (IIRC) of contact and the ripple effect was felt on the Indica.

[Swanand Inamdar]

^^MMXylo: That looked more like a chain reaction of rear endings. The bus in the front had a huge dent on the back, a sign that the second bus must have rear ended it. The Indica was a clear sign of rear ending.

Even near CC, there was an Indica (or something similar) that had an accident. The front fender was completely damaged.
Didnt see the one near Balewadi. Probably had gotten clear by the time I crossed it.

[noopster]

What ya guys talking about? I came from Sus Road, took the bypass and reached Phase 2 office in a record 23 minutes today.

Left home at 10.10 and already at my desk. Good feeling!

[anilisanil]

Intuitively, I took the sus-nande-chande route. At office in 35 minutes(left at 10 from Bhavdhan), but my neck is now seeming like a detachable part. India is truly a karmabhoomi, you either get jammed smooth roads or neck breaking traffic free roads!!


@noopster may be because traffic seem to have got stuck behind Praj junction. Seems like heavy vehicles keeping left are unable to turn right due to traffic and it took me a good 10 minutes and a lot of idiots for Bhavdhan Jn to Sus Jn!!

[Swanand Inamdar]

Another buffalo found dead on the bypass. This time on the opp side of the road(leading to CC). Between Lalani Quantum and Praj Ind. Whats happening? Poor buffalo. Traffic had already started to pile up, one lane being closed.

[sajo]

Originally Posted by Swanand Inamdar

Another buffalo found dead on the bypass. This time on the opp side of the road(leading to CC). Between Lalani Quantum and Praj Ind. Whats happening? Poor buffalo. Traffic had already started to pile up, one lane being closed.

I think this one was a cow.
Poor things get hit by HCVs as their owners let them out for grazing. Bovines not being as agile as their canine and feline counterparts may also be a contributing factor.
Why do they have to take the highway I dont understand. There are plenty of green pastures (for grazing) off the highway and along service roads.

[moralfibre]

Originally Posted by Swanand Inamdar

Another buffalo found dead on the bypass. This time on the opp side of the road(leading to CC). Between Lalani Quantum and Praj Ind. Whats happening? Poor buffalo. Traffic had already started to pile up, one lane being closed.

Originally Posted by sajo

Why do they have to take the highway I dont understand. There are plenty of green pastures (for grazing) off the highway and along service roads.

Seems like the cattle cannot distinguish between roads and off road farm terrain. I don't blame them.

[sajo]

Originally Posted by moralfibre

Seems like the cattle cannot distinguish between roads and off road farm terrain. I don't blame them.

I was talking about the owners who herd them for grazing.

[selfdrive]

Why does the Juna Bazaar have to be held on the street all through Wednesday? They end up blocking at least 3/4ths of the road (half is for selling junk, and 1/4th for loading/ unloading junk). Is it worth it to block the traffic for junk sale? If somebody gives me tradition, I would suggest taking it somewhere else, after all junk can be sold anywhere.

Why do pandals have to be put up on the best part of tarmac on the road? Can the not be erected on the worst part of the road, at least traffic would flow smoother and the road would not be destroyed throughout?

Why do cops hit two wheeler riders? This morning at the chowk where Karve road merges with Paud road (from under the flyover), a cop had stopped all traffic so that people taking a u turn from Paud road towards Karve statue could proceed. An intrepid rider (inside a hooded raincoat) proceeded straight into the incoming uturners after waiting a few minutes. The cop (no cap, aviator type glasses, get the drift) lost it, ran after the two wheeler rider and gave a huge whack across the back of the head/ shoulder. The rider was almost under the flyover then and when the hood was removed, we saw it was a lady!
The cop was literally ejecting bricks. I guess the people around were surprised that he actually hit a lady, the lady was shocked with the whack she received, and probably the cop was shocked to know he hit a woman. I gave the cop a hand signal asking why he did that and his response was hitting his head in frustration. I am not sure if he was mad at himself or that lady. Nevertheless I had to proceed further, so dont know what happened next.

There are multiple issues here:
Can cops hit drivers, even if they are breaking the traffic rules?

Lets say the lady got over her shock, can she claim the cop outraged her modesty? Would she need witnesses? there was another beat marshall there who came over and tried to tak to her as soon as it was obvious it was a lady.

This got me thinking to what I would do/ how I would react if a cop hit me. I would not attempt the stunt the lady executed so amateurishly, but if a cop hit me what would/ could I do? I obviously cannot hit back but can I file a police complaint? Will I need witnesses for that? What is the action taken against the errant cop?

Perhaps the woman was too scared to respond. Are people so busy these days that they cannot stop to remonstrate with someone who just hit a woman? Please note this includes me too. If I wanted to I could have stopped right there and created a traffic block arguing with the cop. My bad that I gave into the persistent honking.

[sajo]

WOW, thats quite some experience Selfdrive. What vehicle was the lady on?
When you say huge whack by your standards, I guess we have to multiply it by 2 to bring it to female standards. I guess the lady may not have even noticed that they are being stopped.
Couldnt the cop guess it was a lady by visual cues ? (Clothes outside the jacket, footwear, built etc).
With regards to the thrashing, I guess a "loud" whistle would have did the trick for the lady.
On the other hand, given the kind of traffic users we have, a huge number of people do not heed to any kind of polite gestures by even traffic cops. On my daily road, people stopped taking the wrong side of the road only after a well built cop menacingly raised waved his "danda" at them with every intention to hit if they had proceeded. Infact, I have seen him hit a tempo driver with it.

[noopster]

@selfdrive- I can't imagine the look on that poor pandu's face .

Smacking a 2-wheeler driver (male) on the noggin is par for the course- I am not defending it, but have seen cops doing it, especially to young riders. I don't know about "outraging modesty" but if I were the lady who got knocked on, I would be pretty insulted to have been mistaken for a male.

Typically women riders in Pune have this standard cream-and-patterned jacket they wear (I hate the look of it but my wif wears one too and claims it helps). Maybe the cop should have asked her- madam, why aren't YOU in uniform?

A colleague had an accident with a cow grazing at Baner bridge the other night- actually he braked hard and an Indica taxi rear ended his Honda City, damaging it to the tune of 70-80K (like what happened to mdsaab's Civic). Tackling these bovine incidents is fast becoming a moo point.

[Swanand Inamdar]

Bala: Thats quite an incident! Firstly to the more serious of the two:

First and foremost, cops are NOT supposed to hit anyone. Male or Female. Thats like taking the law in your hands. They can do that, only in dire circumstances (riot, self defence etc). He could have whistled/stood in front of the vehicle, or the likes, to stop the person in question from proceeding. Hitting is not a solution. Unfortunately, cops in Pune have a tough job to do, and at times it leads to such acts.

Now, as far as Juna Bazaar is concerned, I share your grievence. Its such a pain to follow age old practices. They can easily be give a ground nearby for this bazaar. It astonishes me that even the cops give them support and divert traffic (or try to do so).
Same's the case with another tradition being followed in Pune, where traffic needs to be diverted. I wont go into the details, as this may then lead to a religious debate. You all know what I am referring to.