Road Sense? Sorry what's that?

[Anorion]

They will break the laws as soon as they get a chance. This is what happens in India.

not everywhere. there can be a lot more ticketless travel for example, but people for some reason keep buying railway tickets. Many other countries have more advanced setups just make sure people buy railway tickets, but here we don't have or need so much.

some of the policies/laws that can improve situation - most of these are because of public pleasing, even if this stops it s enough. Can start with no low parking fares and no easy driver's license. India charges a negligible amount for road use. Now if people who drive/own cars start bearing the real cost of owning and driving a car, instead of the common public, the situation will improve drastically and immediately.

our parking rates are very low, especially in the metropolitan cities. these could be much higher and there have been studies conducted about this.

Following a comprehensive study on vehicular traffic in the Capital, New Delhi-based environmental NGO Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has suggested measures like levying of a hefty road tax, introduction of congestion charges and putting a high premium on car parking to the Delhi government in an effort to check the increasing use of private vehicles, leading to the traffic mess in the Capital.

Higher tax, parking charges can lower city’s car use: CSE - Indian Express

- - - Updated - - -

also, this article is about Bangladesh, but applies equally here.

And this brings us to the third reason why the traffic problem is so difficult to solve: politics. All of these fixes sound easy and obvious, but they come at a cost. One and a half million people drive rickshaws for a living, plus another few hundred thousand own and repair them. Government efforts to get people out of rickshaws and into buses and trains are going to attract huge opposition.
...
The obvious solution, or the one proposed by international experts anyway, is to separate the rickshaws from the cars from the CNGs, give each of them lanes and lights according to their top speed, and, crucially, make car drivers pay the cost of taking up more space on the roads.

But that, politically speaking, is about as plausible as suggesting that everyone fly to work on the back of a giant eagle. Car owners are a small part of the population, but a highly influential and politically necessary one. Having a car—and a driver, of course—is a major perk of being a government official or business executive.

this one also talks about making the the owners bear the cost more.
What Dhaka, Bangladesh, the Traffic Capital of the World, Can Teach Us | New Republic

 

[kaz]

 

[ashs1]

must take a leaf out of germany's road sense book
[YOUTUBE]hxl7vjaEutw[/YOUTUBE]

 

[beingGamer]

i would say "be the change you want to see"
i know there are lot of bad habits of Indian drivers/bikers, I rarely ride my bike, but when I do & stop at signals, i stop before the marked line & zebra crossing. If you want to see the change, be the change and let people know that those marks are not for you to stop your car/bike on

 

[Nipun]

not everywhere. there can be a lot more ticketless travel for example, but people for some reason keep buying railway tickets. Many other countries have more advanced setups just make sure people buy railway tickets, but here we don't have or need so much.

(...)

this one also talks about making the the owners bear the cost more.
What Dhaka, Bangladesh, the Traffic Capital of the World, Can Teach Us | New Republic

Unable to comprehend this at the moment. Sleepy. Will reply later.

YouTube Video

I have seen this video being shared on FB multiple times, and this is the comment I made today:

The same video has been shared by many people on Facebook. Many of them(not you though) mock me for telling them to follow traffic rules, to give way to emergency vehicles and all that. Yet, when it comes to sharing videos on FB, they all do it instantaneously with captions like "OMG! People can be so unsympathetic!". As I have said countless times, we Indians can never ever learn to act sensibly and responsibly on Indian roads. Never. It's not taught to us, it's against our moral values to be responsible towards the society. Especially when we have hypocrites laughing at those trying to feed sense and later sharing this video on FB.
That being said, the guy who added subtitles to the video surely needs some English lessons. And some road lessons, too. He says "whenever you hear siren of an emergency vehicle, move to the left and come to a complete stop". That's stupid. If you move to the left and stop, there are very high chances that you will bottleneck the traffic behind you which would further delay the emergency vehicle. The correct course of action should be identifying the lane the emergency vehicle is in and making sure you do not enter that lane. Of course, this is based on Indian conditions.
Also, "instead of giving space suddenly pushed brakes" is the stupidest thing I have heard/read since this morning. You have to keep enough space between you and the vehicle in front to make sure you can brake in time. It is not the duty of the vehicle in front to make sure the vehicle being maintains enough gap! This is more essential when you are carrying passengers in critical conditions. Tailgating will result in an accident!
I am not going to share this video on Facebook, because after writing 10,000+ words on this same topic people hardly do anything except either to comment, "Yes, you are right!"(while thinking, "chhod na yaar, koi aur follow kar lega ye rules") or to comment, "LOL You're an idiot if you follow traffic rules and/or try to drive sensibly in India".
/Rant.

I came back to say that where is effing seat belt?! That imbecile does not realize that the next ambulance would have taken a long time too, and lack of seat belts would only have made the situation worse. Dumbass!

That's a good initiative, but he himself is wrong at so many levels. Still, appreciated for spreading some awareness.

i would say "be the change you want to see"
i know there are lot of bad habits of Indian drivers/bikers, I rarely ride my bike, but when I do & stop at signals, i stop before the marked line & zebra crossing. If you want to see the change, be the change and let people know that those marks are not for you to stop your car/bike on

That's really very kind!

 

[kaz]

Yeah!!! The ambulance driver was more into the camera than on the road that's why he hit the vehicle in the front...
But still I feel pity for my people, the way everyone was blocking the ambulance showed how selfish people are...Most people think that an ambulance with no patient inside is using siren to get through the traffic...
At least at my place I have seen people giving way to the ambulance...

- - - Updated - - -

i would say "be the change you want to see"
i know there are lot of bad habits of Indian drivers/bikers, I rarely ride my bike, but when I do & stop at signals, i stop before the marked line & zebra crossing. If you want to see the change, be the change and let people know that those marks are not for you to stop your car/bike on

I don't see any zebra crossing in my city...We here take the hand of traffic police as the reference line

 

[Nipun]

Yeah!!! The ambulance driver was more into the camera than on the road that's why he hit the vehicle in the front...
But still I feel pity for my people, the way everyone was blocking the ambulance showed how selfish people are...Most people think that an ambulance with no patient inside is using siren to get through the traffic...
At least at my place I have seen people giving way to the ambulance...

Luckily, most people give ways to ambulances here too. What follows after ambulance has passed is traffic jam though.

I don't see any zebra crossing in my city...We here take the hand of traffic police as the reference line

Then a foot before divider ends should be the reference line..

 

[Anorion]

check out this plan in a developed country which gives the same conveniences of owning a vehicle without actually having to own one

Helsinki's ambitious plan to make car ownership pointless in 10 years | Cities | theguardian.com

we should just leapfrog ahead to this

 

[adityak469]

Guys need help.
Today while i was returning home from school as always, i was in an accident which resulted in my scooty's brake rendered useless, luckily i was not hurt much(few scratches). it was like this pic. i was on the right side of the lane, with helmet and with indicator turned on to turn left and on speed 30kmph, and the lane looked(was) empty until i was at intersection of the main lane and the small roadm there i saw a ~45 years old lady on a scooty on the wrong side of the lane and i hit the disk brake ASAP which resulted in me falling down, That ungrateful crazy a$$ stopped her scooty and said kya beta aacha se na chalana chahiye and then ****ing went on her own way, still in the wrong lane, the traffic police chowki was right there with 2 policemen standing around 10 steps away which did not bother to stop that aunty or to help me. i was pretty shocked at that, but the main concern is i couldn't do anything as i don't have a licence(15 years, 16 is minimum for a gearless licence, and on a side note, i drive quite well) and wanted to know what i could have done to get that crazy aunty to realize how to drive and to get her to pay up the fine(not the damage of my scooty)
*puu.sh/cNU8X/0c20ab1a1e.jpg

 

[Flash]

Glad that, it's a minor accident.

Few people continue to do a thing, though they knew it's wrong. Few don't even know what they're doing is right or wrong.
I don't know in what category that aunty will come. Even if you've tried to educate her, she would've blamed you only.

 

[amjath]

Yes glad you are okay.
People say, never follow government bus, share auto and lady driving a vehicle at least in chennai.
BTW no disk brakes in scooty you lying

 

[Nerevarine]

Even if you've tried to educate her, she would've blamed you only.

True.. some people are too egoistic to admit they were wrong, especially when it comes to admitting to a teen or a child.. thats why that lady just pulled a (movement speed +70%) from you

 

[tanmaymohan]

That drawing though. Hope you are okay

 

[Nipun]

Guys need help.(15 years, 16 is minimum for a gearless licence, and on a side note, i drive quite well)

I could not read your entire post as I have a presentation tomorrow that requires my time, but the minimum age of 16 you speak of is for two wheeler vehicles with an engine of capacity less than 50cc. No such 'scooty' exists in India anymore.

 

[happy17292]

Guys need help.
Today while i was returning home from school as always, i was in an accident which resulted in my scooty's brake rendered useless, luckily i was not hurt much(few scratches). it was like this pic. i was on the right side of the lane, with helmet and with indicator turned on to turn left and on speed 30kmph, and the lane looked(was) empty until i was at intersection of the main lane and the small roadm there i saw a ~45 years old lady on a scooty on the wrong side of the lane and i hit the disk brake ASAP which resulted in me falling down, That ungrateful crazy a$$ stopped her scooty and said kya beta aacha se na chalana chahiye and then ****ing went on her own way, still in the wrong lane, the traffic police chowki was right there with 2 policemen standing around 10 steps away which did not bother to stop that aunty or to help me. i was pretty shocked at that, but the main concern is i couldn't do anything as i don't have a licence(15 years, 16 is minimum for a gearless licence, and on a side note, i drive quite well) and wanted to know what i could have done to get that crazy aunty to realize how to drive and to get her to pay up the fine(not the damage of my scooty)
*puu.sh/cNU8X/0c20ab1a1e.jpg

You cant do anything when a lady/girl is involved. Everyone will blame you for her mistake. Better abuse her on her face and ruuuuun

Also do not panic in these kinds of situation. Apply brakes in a progressive manner, Its better to hit someone at slow speed than falling down and breaking your ribs.

 

[singleindian]

sorry to say,i hate whn kids @ school ride this bike and scooters! thy r showing off and driving crazy.i hope u dont fall in those category.

 

[Gollum]

In bangalore, everyone overtakes from the left.
All the slow drivers drive on the right side of the road
Bikes generally drive on Footpaths when all the vehicles are waiting at a signal
most of the time ppl jump red lights at unmanned signals
at night, there are no road rules

 

[amjath]

^ happens everywhere

 

[adityak469]

Glad that, it's a minor accident.

Few people continue to do a thing, though they knew it's wrong. Few don't even know what they're doing is right or wrong.
I don't know in what category that aunty will come. Even if you've tried to educate her, she would've blamed you only.

she did blame me, she said kya beta aise chalate hai, aacha se na chalana chahiye and luckily the road was empty or it would have been a major accident.

Yes glad you are okay.
People say, never follow government bus, share auto and lady driving a vehicle at least in chennai.
BTW no disk brakes in scooty you lying

there is disk brake in aviator :O

That drawing though. Hope you are okay

made it in 5 mins, what do you expect

I could not read your entire post as I have a presentation tomorrow that requires my time, but the minimum age of 16 you speak of is for two wheeler vehicles with an engine of capacity less than 50cc. No such 'scooty' exists in India anymore.

yup i know that but the 50cc licence works with all gearless scooties. the traffic police doesn't say anything if you have that license.

sorry to say,i hate whn kids @ school ride this bike and scooters! thy r showing off and driving crazy.i hope u dont fall in those category.

well i dont think taking scooty to school is show off for many people because in our school, our classes are over at 11 am and the busses leave at 1.30pm. its a 2.30 hours gap which is quite long, so scooty is the last resort as the main road is 10 min walk away form the school.

In bangalore, everyone overtakes from the left.
All the slow drivers drive on the right side of the road
Bikes generally drive on Footpaths when all the vehicles are waiting at a signal
most of the time ppl jump red lights at unmanned signals
at night, there are no road rules

still dont get what people get from going to the front from the sides when the traffic signal is red.

 

[Raaabo]

she did blame me, she said kya beta aise chalate hai, aacha se na chalana chahiye and luckily the road was empty or it would have been a major accident.[/IMG]

You are to blame legally, if she has a valid license. You should not be driving, no matter how "inconvenient" it is. Sorry, but you are the problem in India, a much bigger problem than an aunty breaking a one way rule.

You may drive carefully and be responsible, but you are still breaking a law, and that's how almost every Indian thinks. If she was in a car and ran you over, even then a court would not convict her because laws are made for a reason, and driving without a license is a bigger crime than driving in the wrong lane.

What's next? Beat up someone you don't like? Drink while underage? Drink and drive while underage? Litter? Throw toxic waste on the road? Who draws the line at breaking laws? Your moral compass might make you stop at a red light, others just break through, and still others may purposely run people over and cause accidents.

Wrong is wrong, but who will ever make Indians realise it?