Let's hear about your city traffic and how good your driving?

[rikhav]

I got my first four wheeler driving license in USA, I came back to India, bought my Santro!!!. First few days days of driving in Bangalore was a nightmare, I felt as if all the other vehicles are coming to attack me:sad: (so many vehicles and so close to each other), then I got used to the terrific traffic .

initially followed the laws of the land, like driving in the same lane, following the signals, overtaking only from right etc..., that changed for worse after few minor accidents.

First accident: I was waiting in the signal in my car behind a mini bus, the bus driver suddenly shifter to reverse gear and banged my car, took immediate left and sped away!!! i could not catch him

Second: A lorry driver in the process of overtaking me from left broke my left side mirror, i manged to catch him, but his attitude was, yes i did it, but now do what ever you want. I called the police, they said come to police station and complain. I went and waited for one hour to meet the officer to explain the accident, he asked me to get the car for examination only after that he will register the complaint, he also told me that I may have to come to court and give details!!!, I never returned to police station fearing harassment and waste of time

Moral of the story: The bangalore traffic is pathetic, the drivers are crazy!!. the police are greedy!!!. I have seen police hiding behind bushes and poles to catch the people without helmet and jumping signals, even neglecting big traffic jam near by roads..

All this happens because there is no stringent action taken against people breaking the law. If immediate action is taken against who so ever it may be , this wont be happening
Take you case , you are bound to run away when the police is ready to harass you rather then help you

Yeah, it would have been a different story if you were some actor, politician of any rank or some connected person

Basically people dont have any fear of breaking the law, so they are carefree.

 

[vramak]

I have driven in more than one continent and my experiences say that Chennai traffic is pathetic.

That I can't argue with. I have driven only in India mainly in Chennai and Bangalore. Maybe, I've fully adapted to the traffic conditions here.

 

[teky]

That I can't argue with. I have driven only in India mainly in Chennai and Bangalore. Maybe, I've fully adapted to the traffic conditions here.

I think we need someone like the one in your signature standing at every signal & junction :lol:

 

[BLASTO]

I would rather have a Diesel powered second hand Tata sumo without pete's box than a high revving petrol engine inside a shoe box for the city traffic demolition derby.

Still remember the day i banged my old Octavia behind a Honda city where i had a broken number plate and small dent in the bumper while the city had the back bumper cracked and falling down.The biggest joke is the fact that due to the impact of me crashing behind the city, it went and crashed on an alto which also lost its rear bumper leaving a major dent on the city's front bumper.

Off-Topic.
Honda vehicles come with G-Con pedestrian safety. What it generally means is, the vehicle takes most of the damage by the way causing minimum casualities to the driver and pedestrians in the event of a collision. It is not wise to make fun of such a good measure.

I for one, will be more than willing to get my vehicle damaged instead of causing more damage to the pedestrian in the even of collision.

Europian cars, especially the feat-s are so much rugged and cause no or minimal damage to the vehicle. But pedestrian safety is compromised.

And dont even get me started about the sumos around. I ask who gave them permission to install metal parts in the bumper? I think even it is legal, it can be legal in only our country! IMO, this is a lethal weapon and should be gotten rid of at cost. The damage it causes in event of collision is beyond comprehension. It saves the vehicle from structural damage alright, but at what cost?

P.S: I dont own a honda or a sumo.

 

[suri]

I would rather have a Diesel powered second hand Tata sumo without pete's box than a high revving petrol engine inside a shoe box for the city traffic demolition derby.

Still remember the day i banged my old Octavia behind a Honda city where i had a broken number plate and small dent in the bumper while the city had the back bumper cracked and falling down.The biggest joke is the fact that due to the impact of me crashing behind the city, it went and crashed on an alto which also lost its rear bumper leaving a major dent on the city's front bumper.

yeah - old men in (east-european) diesel tractors can cause a lot of collateral damage - and still have a smile of their faces- when their reflexes and brakes fail-

-yeah - one should live one's (smelly) diesel life. ( why not one buy {and drive} a sherman tank - diesel - 620 bhp - and flatten everything in one's path?)

perhaps a little bit of neuro tonics taken every day will allow one to cruise the urban roadways in one's tractor - without killing people and destroying their property.

One must go and surrender one's driving licence immediately - alzheimer's is incurable

and one must remember to have a bath every day

 

[teky]

Off-Topic.

Europian cars, especially the feat-s are so much rugged and cause no or minimal damage to the vehicle. But pedestrian safety is compromised.

Blasto - Do you have any proof behind this? I don't think they compromise on safety factor of pedestrians given that they have to undergo rigorous tests.

 

[vramak]

I think we need someone like the one in your signature standing at every signal & junction :lol:

Hehehe! Yeah. Punishment for traffic offenses will be , "Stand in line... dododododododo punch!"

 

[suri]

Off-Topic.



Blasto - Do you have any proof behind this? I don't think they compromise on safety factor of pedestrians given that they have to undergo rigorous tests.

yeah teky - read this about east european cars - and especially read the last paragraph -

Six Appalling Autos

regds

 

[thekinge]

+1

Not many of us think about the plight of these guys. I, in fact, think the bribe they accept is justified considering their working conditions and relatively low income. Traffic policeman in Chennai are ruthless and arrogant alright but then they can't really charge us unless we commit an offence.

I would not agree with the bribe part. They get paid very low salaries, yes, but taking & giving bribes cannot be justified. It's just that we have given up and accepted it as a part of life

 

[teky]

yeah teky - read this about east european cars - and especially read the last paragraph -

Six Appalling Autos

regds

Suri - Okay - But I don't see a FIAT or a VW in that article being mentioned. Blasto's concern was around Fiat's being built strong and compromised on Pedestrian safety. Also the Cars mentioned there aren't truely european if you know what I mean

 

[longshanks]

yeah - old men in (east-european) diesel tractors can cause a lot of collateral damage - and still have a smile of their faces- when their reflexes and brakes fail-

-yeah - live your diesel life. ( why not buy {and drive} a sherman tank - diesel - 620 bhp - and flatten everything in your path?)

perhaps a little bit of neuro tonics taken every day will allow you to cruise the urban roadways in your tractor - without killing people and destroying their property.

you must go and surrender your driving license immediately - alzheimer's is incurable

you are not eligible to comment on Alzheimer's,tractors, rickshaw's, cycle, when you drive a petrol engined plastic box.

One good thing though , you really don't need to have Alzheimer's to make that petrol powered shoe box to loose control.

I knew u were getting all these "Terms" , "Phrases" or even words copied and pasted from some websites , thanks for sharing the link.

I could be driving a tank, bmw 3 series or a skoda, why would you worry when you are driving a lightning fast petrol shoe box which can reach 100mile in 2 secs and give the pleasure of 15G's around corners.

BTW nothing of this car gets sourced from Eastern Europe except for the name so calling it eastern Europe is like calling Ben Kingsly Indian.Even if it is eastern European then it is for people from western European to make fun since they have better cars made in their countries. We should only make fun of car brands originated may be from Africa.

The accident happened cause the plastic Honda guy braked suddenly, immediately after signal turned green and within 25 meters of movement. I had a bus which was following close behind me, had i braked suddenly like that freak for no reason(no hole, nothing under 10meters to break suddenly) the bus would have has some good time with my rear bumper, so the best thing was to go bang on that car and even in that 10kmph collision i think Honda's safety feature worked well and the bumper fell down.Not only that the car gained additional pickup and banged on the alto which was almost 10 meters before it. people who saw this actually cursed the Honda driver and the police there said everyone has to claim insurance to take care of damages but since that Honda guy looked real sad(Almost crying) i paid and got him a new bumper.

Edit : paint your car with a flaming scorpion on the sides - shark mouth grille up front - make sure you have a high revving petrol engine (and not a diesel tractor with pete's box) - free-flow exhaust - and wear a helmet! - hope you done all this to your midget made shoe box before you try and scare me in the city traffic.

Off-Topic.
Honda vehicles come with G-Con pedestrian safety. What it generally means is, the vehicle takes most of the damage by the way causing minimum casualities to the driver and pedestrians in the event of a collision. It is not wise to make fun of such a good measure.

I was talking about the bumper falling down without taking the impact, don't know what Con pedestrian safety is that , if the bumper falls down without fully receiving the impact don't you think the metal chassis will take the impact instead? and in what way is that good for a pedestrian or the owner of that car.

You have see how Volvo cars are built and what quality they have yet they are the safest for pedestrians and drivers alike.

Building a car light weight with cheap plastic to save money and make good margin with "until something major happens lets continue this" attitude is the reason why u see a lot of recalls by midget manufactured vehicles.

 

[thekinge]

Please see post #57. Your and vramak's posts seem to indicate that I am going offtopic. That is not true. Please see the forum section and the thread topic.

I did not indicate anywhere that you're going offtopic. It's quite to the contrary - both you & I are discussing about traffic in Chennai. Just that my viewpoint differs from yours. And yes I do know that this is general chit chat section.

In fact I find these continual suggestions of asking to post these thoughts elsewhere irksome. This is an open and independent forum - not that this needs reminding.

Again, I did not ask you to stop posting your thoughts in Hifivision so no need to get irked about it. As you rightly indicated, this is a open forum and one is free to post their thoughts as long as it does not violate the rules of the forum. However, a couple of points:

1. Since you were hoping that some good official may come across this thread in Hifivision and take some action, I was merely pointing out other websites and forums where your thoughts and posts have a better probability of crossing an useful official's eyes
2. When anyone posts in a public forum, their posts are also public, in that people will view those posts and provide their responses. The point of a forum, regardless of section is that every post will be viewed and discussed. No one can stop that. And there's nothing like one person is right and the other is wrong.

And how on earth do you know that I have not done one or two things from your list - not to mention a few things not on that list?

I don't and I don't need to know what and where you have logged your complaints. If you already did, good for you. I was merely giving you pointers to websites where your posts have a better chance of being seen by relevant officials since you mentioned here that you'd hoped that some of those officials come across this thread in Hifivision and do something.

I was not discussing root causes of the traffic problems. Pointing out that they exist. A wholly different thread is required if we want to address root causes and solutions thereof.

You were discussing the traffic problems in Chennai which are quite real. Every problem has a root cause and I was pointing few of the root causes of the problem. There's nothing wrong with discussing the root cause when discussing a problem, right? In fact, discussing just the problem without discussing it's root causes is akin to merely discussing a disease's symptoms without analyzing what's causing the disease.

No one says that Chennai has the world's best traffic management. If you read my posts even I mentioned that the Forbes article mentioning Chennai as the world's third best commute was a joke. However as you rightly believe that driving in Chennai is pathetic, vramak & I were merely pointing out the positives that there were as well as the root causes of the problem.

 

[thevortex]

1. Since you were hoping that some good official may come across this thread in Hifivision and take some action, I was merely pointing out other websites and forums where your thoughts and posts have a better probability of crossing an useful official's eyes

Quick correction. I was not and am not hoping for any "good official" to come across this and set things right. I said there was a probability . And yes there is a difference.

As otherwise, yes, I am all for discussion.

 

[dinyaar]

Frankly No indian city can be in the top 10/20/50 cities to drive in.

Mumbai is just exploding at its seams in every way. How can roads made in the 40s/50s keep up with modern demands?

Its just my opinion and no offense to anyone from the suburbs but I feel suburban mumbai with its Autos and miserable roads is a nightmare to drive. South Mumbai is definately better and there is some semblance of discipline. Naturally it can always be better but its not too bad. Maybe sometime in the future when all the proposals (haji ali /pedder Rd flyover, Phase II of the sea link etc etc) are implemented this traffic congestion may ease.

Some areas where they have recovered land & widened the roads (Napeansea Road) are much much better and its only a matter of time before this is done all over wherever it is possible.

The toughest problem is the mentality of the average driver. Cabbies /BEST I can understand as they are barely educated, suffer from fatigue/irritation due to the traffic and the weather but its the private car owners that show scant respect for the rules. I guess the miniscule fine and the 'flexible' official are just no deterrent!!! One feels (& generally does) one can get away with anything.

Maybe something like a congestion charge or similar is needed ASAP but then that is working in cities like london where the tube network is fantastic but sadly thats not the case here.

Frankly its a tough situation for our traffic police as we are running out of road for the ever increasing amount of cars. I guess these kind of problems are bound to prevail in unplanned metros like mumbai.

I drive a lot every year mainly in Europe/UK and frankly its pointless to even compare.

Rgds

 

[rikhav]

I stay in suburbs and totally echo Dinyaar bhai's comments. Infact we were discussing this just a day back.
The city roads just cant take the number of automobiles it has. Sometimes driving is like fighting in a war

 

[venkatcr]

The other day I was listening to 98.3 on Chennai traffic issues. The DJs had brought in Traffic Ramaswamy and were questioning him about his book and what he did. He has done some 7 years of research on the traffic issues, and admitted at the end of the day that he was completely frustrated. Every government department and police office he went to laughed him off as a useless messiah.

I remember when I came to Chennai from Delhi some 25 years ago, traffic was peaceful and people followed all rules including cyclists having lights in the front and the back. Compare this with an incident I had just yesterday. At a junction near TIDEL park, after I get a green light I go straight to enter into the back lanes. Right ahead of me, is a motorcyclist who is standing in the middle of lane facing me. He is not only in the wrong lane but standing in the middle of the road. As I honk at him, he keeps standing the middle of the road and waves me off. Where do I go? I am on my correct lane and this driver in on my lane and refusing to give me way. Losing my temper, I drag him to a policeman Sargent who fines him 50 Rupees. In the course of the discussion, the motorcyclist kept arguing with me and the policeman that I was wrong for driving on the left side of the raod ! In the course of dealing with this situation, I heard half a dozen other drivers arguing with the cop that rules are not compulsory and that they are being harassed.

Another issue that many of you would have come across is this. When you want to overtake a vehicle on say a highway, the driver ahead of you will flash his right indicator. The first time I saw this was when I was doing 100KMPH and I slammed the brakes, not realizing the idiot in the front wanted me to overtake him.

Now multiply these kind of drivers a million times, and you have traffic on the Indian roads. Break all rules, and just bulldoze your way in. If something happens, it is the other guy's mistake.

The TIDEL crossing is something I face everyday. Seeing the complete chaos, I visited the SP of Traffic Adyar in his office and explained to him what was happening and whether he could so something about it. His answer? He has more important things to do, and I should just live with it. In another case my wife was involved in an accident where a car came again on the wrong side and smashed my friends car. As I was working with a local policeman to file an FIR, a senior cop drove by. He looked at the situation and shouted at the copy - get a compromise or file charges against both parties. Losing my temper completely, I stand in front of his car, and challenge his stupidity. And I was threatened for obstructing an officer on duty!!

As the population of our cities go up, as more and more vehicles are purchased by untrained and incompetent drivers, the chaos in the roads will slowly give way to violence, accidents, injuries and deaths.

Can anything be done about it? If an educated young driver does not even know which side of the road to drive on, what can be done? As they retire, people will move away from these mad houses. But I really wonder what young people who are starting their lives will do.

Very little, I am afraid. The government does not care, the administrators do not want to take the effort, RTO's performance are judged by their revenue - you have a recipe for disaster.

Only if you drive in a place like the US (which BTW has 20 times our traffic), Dubai or other cities will you know what is happening in India is not be proud of at all.

Cheers

 

[BLASTO]

Off-Topic.



Blasto - Do you have any proof behind this? I don't think they compromise on safety factor of pedestrians given that they have to undergo rigorous tests.

Fiat Grande Punto - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Check the safety section.

That is a random car I picked up as it runs in india. You can google for others.

Also, Iam not saying it is a bad thing just that different people give importance to different aspects. Here crumple zones and overall structure is built stronger but it affects pedestrian safety negatively.

 

[BLASTO]

Frankly No indian city can be in the top 10/20/50 cities to drive in.

+1.

IMO, none are qualified for first 200 even.

 

[BLASTO]

I was talking about the bumper falling down without taking the impact, don't know what Con pedestrian safety is that , if the bumper falls down without fully receiving the impact don't you think the metal chassis will take the impact instead? and in what way is that good for a pedestrian or the owner of that car.

I dont understand the exact situation correctly. But from what you explained, it is possible for the that the bumper took the impact and dismantle after absorbing it. Yes the metal chasis will take the impact next, but that too will crumple and deface. That is the idea. I don't support it. I agree there are better ways to implement. But given the options (in india in particular), these are some of the most pedestrian safe vehicles around.

BTW, I dont understand why you are so happy after causing damage to two cars on the road by hitting them from behind and then criticizing the cars for bad build quality? Care to explain?

You have see how Volvo cars are built and what quality they have yet they are the safest for pedestrians and drivers alike.

You have to see how many can afford to buy it!

Building a car light weight with cheap plastic to save money and make good margin with "until something major happens lets continue this" attitude is the reason why u see a lot of recalls by midget manufactured vehicles.

Personally I dont think these cars suit indian market too.

In India, we care nothing for safety. Human life itself is not cared for as much as the european and US. Accident assistance is at the bottom and the time it takes to reach hospitals is increasing exponentially.

 

[teky]

Fiat Grande Punto - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Check the safety section.

That is a random car I picked up as it runs in india. You can google for others.

Also, Iam not saying it is a bad thing just that different people give importance to different aspects. Here crumple zones and overall structure is built stronger but it affects pedestrian safety negatively.

Not taking anything against you Blasto - But wanted to highlight something here

Hmm, What about a Hyundai i20 then which claims 5-Star NCAP rating

Hyundai i20 | Euro NCAP - For safer cars crash test safety rating

The protection offered by the bonnet was good in most areas likely to be struck by a child's head but was predominantly poor in those areas where an adult's head would hit.

It has scored 64% on pedestrian safety which is more or less same to that of Fiat and is Korean. The version sold in India isn't NCAP 5 star even, Because you don't get 6 Air-bags et all. Still Hyundai manages to put the NCAP 5 star rating sticked on the car and sell loads