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-   -   Are VIPs exempt from following traffic rules on Indian roads? (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street-experiences/249283-vips-exempt-following-traffic-rules-indian-roads-2.html)

No point in discussing their attitude. But, let's not take the security detail of a leader lightly. No matter how satirically we even pull the PM of the country to this debate. Funny that people do not understand what SPG is trained for. Having the Prime Minister of a country like India stranded on a flyover is nothing short of a scary situation. People holding the highest offices are entitled to protection and priority movement. India is not NZ where you hardly have anyone moving on the roads, I find it funny when people compare India with Singapore and some Scandinavian countries. If UP were a country, it would be the 5th most populous. So, let's not joke about security arrangements of a leader (only the ones holding the highest offices, am not talking about the local corporators, MLCs and MLAs)

They should understand that threat assessment is done by security agencies and that is the reason we have Y, Z, Z+ categories. We had 2 PMs assassinated earlier and there were glaring security lapses in one situation. So, let's not make ourselves look funny when we compare the security detail of the PM with this case. It need not be just an assassination attempt, an unruly mob can do a lot more damage if there is no proper security.

I am not in favor of babus playing high profile and braking traffic rules freely. I just had to comment as some people always compare our country with some European ones where leaders have the privilege to roam around freely or even bicycle to work. Every country has it's own challenges, India has it's.

Agree with you on this, but the arrangements of the PM being pulled into this topic has become a bit of a straw man argument. I don't think anyone will have issues with the top elected leadership of any country or even each state being afforded whatever protection necessary. The issue is that every tom-dick-and-neta and their chamchas take advantage of the undeniable "leaders are rulers" (not simply government professionals doing their job) attitude that prevails in our country. I've seen SUVs with "panchayat member" and "xyz party president" boards bullying other traffic out of the way. That needs to stop and one way of doing that is to strip at least 90% of officials (and other non-political celebrities too!) of their "police-escort facilitated/our tax payer money-funded free movement" privileges. Let them get stuck in traffic and use bad roads, then perhaps public infra will improve!

Ambulances: Give way

Fire trucks: Give way

Cops with flashing lights: Give way

President, PM, CMs would usually get the road blocked for their passage so they rarely come into this picture here.

But when random ministers or govt owned vehicles try to bully you in their innovas or fortuners it does gets one blood boiling. But that said, i do give way when i can. Why unnecessarily increase my BP?!

OT maybe but why does Forestry department vehicle get to have a red flasher on top?

If anything, these 2 paisa local leaders ought to learn from the top leadership about trying to avoid inconvenience to the average populace due to their movement. Prior to Farmer protest fiasco, I would see the PM's convoy move with the traffic (no lights/siren) without any fuss in early hours. The only precaution they used to take was 2 SUVs occupy/block the adjacent lanes alternatively ahead and behind the primary vehicles. The RM (Raksha Mantri) and the Home Minister convoy too move without any road closures as such.

Other Union Ministers too rarely use police escort. You can often find ministers (not going to take names here) in their government Ciaz's waiting at traffic signals in Lutyens Delhi.

I don't know how all the ugly feudal characteristics start rearing their heads as we move down to states. Even DM/SSPs treat themselves as no less than kings. If the educated bureaucracy behaves like this (and you ought to hear the arguments these gentlemen give to justify the (mis)use of their position) then we should not really have any hope from the politicians. Their supporters will probably feel emasculated if they show up without the quintessential police "gunner" :D.

You should always leave them enough space to race ahead. They usually leave behind tens of disgruntled drivers in their wake.

They don't manage going too far though, you are most likely to meet again on the next traffic stop light.

Not just netas, some senior cops too are pretty egoistic on the road.

Was cruising on the Mumbai-Poona expressway in a Swift a few years ago. Came up behind this Bolero that was clearly a cop vehicle, saw a couple of cops inside and someone in plainclothes in the back. Followed him in the lane for some time, but finally decided to overtake. As far as I remember I overtook clean, with enough space and pulled back in to the lane to get in front of him clean too.

But something must have tugged at his obviously tiny...ego. Perhaps it was being overtaken by a small car, perhaps being overtaken by a civilian vehicle, or being overtaken by a KA-registered car in his Maharashtra, I don't know. Crazy cop began to speed up and aggressively overtook and cut right in front of me. Didn't need to panic brake or anything, but it was certainly intended as a gesture. Saw the plainclothes guy glaring at us from behind as well.

For a moment I was going to accelerate, pull up alongside and give him a piece of my mind, but my better self (my wife!) prevailed. It would have been stupid to do that, a no-win situation, certainly wouldn't have ended well for me. Just slowed down and let the idiot disappear in to the distance.

And these are the guys who are supposed to maintain law and order!

They can if they wanted to, the perks of diplomatic immunity!

In the UK for example, foreign embassies owed 105 million GBP back in 2017 in parking and congestion charges which was and probably never will be paid. Fun fact, India is in the top 5 list (and it's interestingly a mix of developed and developing countries).

There was also a interesting mention of this in the "What happens in Burma" episode of 'White collar' series where the Burmese consulate vehicle has lots of unpaid parking tickets in New York City.

If only one of those tyres would burst amidst the high speed antics causing them to hit a tree. Pretty sure I wouldn't be the only one grinning with schadenfreude.

Forget about MLA , MLC , MP etc here at Hyderabad , i see many kids of these politico's driving without number plates , our area MLA son always travels with 8-10 cars in convoy and all his cars are without number plates . yet no one will dare to stop these cars . Also i see too many cars with govt issued MLA / MLC stickers and another menance is cars with POLICE stickers.Even official police cars with PA registration normally used by Commissioner rank officer using Siren to bulldoze their way thru traffic :Frustrati

I had a similar experience to this , but i was not at all aware that I had somehow made myself part of a convoy it was a humble qualis followed by a 530d . Being a car guy I was following the 530d drooling over it it was only after 10-15mins did I realize that's it's a vvip convoy . I remember thinking to myself in those 15 minutes that how are the roads so disciplined today and how am I able to make such great time rl:

Off Topic Reply - They are racing against time to save the planet from the climate change. My humble request is to please allow when you see one next time.:D

On the topic - You can at least leave the the Government vehicles. In TN, the real menace is few politicos who are not in power but have private guards. They will be dangling in the convoy cars and threaten everyone and few cars won't even have number plate. But poor guys they have to settle for Headlight and Horns in the absence of flasher and sirens. I have not seen this in KA or KL in my limited driving. This menace has reduced now but still there in northern TN.

USA actually has to. Primarily due to diplomatic immunity. The people driving consulate vehicles generally have immunity and can't be prosecuted.

India should waive diplomatic immunity for that person to be prosecuted in US but if India decides not to, US at best can expell him from the country (which is an event that has a harsh impact on relations between any country).

Hence, for relatively minor offences like say overspeeding and rash driving US would easily let the Indian diplomat off the hook. In a more serious offence, say hit and run, US still can't prosecute but can persuade India to waive that diplomat's immunity (which India would in almost all cases to uphold its reputation).

Such a case happened with a Georgian diplomat in US as well.

Had Georgia not waived diplomatic immunity, Mr. Makhardze's claim would be valid and charges would have to be dismissed.

Many such cases have happened across nations. Refer to uses and abuses here

Although a general loophole could be to impound the car. As diplomats have immunity, not the car itselfrl:

But rest assured, we aren't gonna trouble diplomats over tints and neither is any superpower gonna disturb us for not paying fines or congestion charges (of which we owe over 6 million pounds to UK Link )

Sense of 'Entitlement' : 'You Owe ME!!!'
Actually this is an extension of our everyday life. I plead guilty of breaching many traffic rules, especially overtaking from the left.
Slow drivers, fast drivers, off-roaders, bikers, cyclists, bullock-, camel-, donkey-carts, pram-pushers et al, have this 18th 'sense' of entitlement.
The bottom-line is this sense permeates all walks of life. We are all (NO EXCEPTIONS) 'special'. As RK Laxman once said: "I looked for the common man everywhere, found none; they were all special in their own way."
We are all attached to this sense.
As the Buddha said: Attachment leads to pain.
So, let us leave these rants behind, be safe and live to drive. Give a wide pass to these 'entitled' idiots.
And if we listen, even the Supreme Court has recognised this as a problem (https://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...le60031147.ece)

WOW! I was just about to start a thread. In Pune, we had Hon. Prime Ministers visit on the 6th of March. On dissolution of the Rally all these Politicos dispersed and were going back to their bases.

1. These guys follow no rules whatsoever and want to maintain their Convoys. Rash Driving and Kriss-Cross Driving is very common among these people. I firmly believe this is ABUSE of Power, that too, on tax paid by all of us.

2. It is 'illegal'' for these so called politicians to make use of their sirens - as sirens are ONLY used for emergency vehicles.

3. I really doubt if the drivers of these convoys are actually fit to drive, leave apart following traffic rules

There should be a FORUM or a law against these guys. I was about to get a video of the same but, I could not capture it as we (group of cars in an around the convoy) were seconds from disaster and it was more important to drive safe at that moment.

Yes, if you are entitled enough - waste tax payers time and money by shutting the roads. Or else have the decency to follow the rules. Eitherways , guess who are the losers?

On a sidenote - Everyone except the car driver is entitled. Pune, has more speed breakers and potholes then roads itself. And of all the surprises - The road on which the PM was going to pass was fixed overnight. Believe me when I say, it was just the exact road where he was going to pass - just that lane :)

Even the Judiciary feels entitled, how can we expect a change.

https://youtu.be/IAmkq7p5u6M