Car & Bike Traffic sense

M

mk76

Adept
http://www.hindustantimes.com/newde...congest-delhi-roads-ngt/article1-1369335.aspx

Is this a challenge of NCR only?
Have you observed this problem in other cities?
What in your opinion could be done to improve the situation?

In my opinion following is need of the hour
Infrastructure
1. SHOW Political Will
2. Increase traffic police staff ASAP
3. Office timings should be made flexible to start as early as 7 am for an effective staggered load.
4. Instead of building more residential complex, build affordable office complex nearby
5. Decongest metros and groom tier-2,3,4 cities
6. Create traffic sense awareness

Humane
1. Let go of the mentality, that people who stay late are the only ones who work
2. Accept there is a traffic issue that really drain people proportional to the distance they are coming from.
3. Be sincere and honest, when driving. Obey the rules.
 
1. have all licence plates with an rfid (or similar) chip so any signal jumpers/over-speeders can be automatically fined via sensors+cameras thus reducing the dependence/reliance on bribing a cop.
2. use of mathematical algorithms to track and manage traffic flow - of course this will require the ability to view/change signals from a central location.
3. i've also noticed that while most people give way to ambulances there is always some %$#%&* who doesn't, even though there is place for him to get out of the way. i think that should be considered a criminal offence.
 
This is a problem in entire India although certain cities seem to have more of it than others. Personally I felt that the chaos of Delhi traffic is nothing compared to Hyderabad. Chandigarh on the other hand despite having heavy traffic also has good traffic control compared to other cities.

Traffic control in virtually non existent except at very few places in Hyderabad. Not a day passes without seeing at least a minor accident and that is during day. I have seen traffic police being brazenly assaulted on the road for stopping a car that trying to jump the red light and the guy was a typical IT coolie from one of the companies here, not even some ministers son.

Majority offenders in Hyderabad leading to this situation are two wheelers and female drivers in general. I have seen my share of rash and traffic rule breaking drivers in the city, but a female driving a four or two wheeler in a sensible manner seems to be as rare as an Unicorn and just like an Unicorn, I have to yet come across one female driver in this city who drives properly. Even our office cab drivers see them has their bane because they damage their vehicles on a regular basis and get away without any compensation.

Personally, I would say that better policing, heavy fines, mandatory prison sentences and revocation of license after repeat offences would go a long way in improving the situation.
 
Yeah, I guess, it's almost the same everywhere in India. I cannot say Bangalore being worst, but it's really bad.

Problem in Bangalore road
1. Less number of traffic cops.
2. Poor planning. They are trying to make ORR signal free my making flyovers in all junctions. But with poor designs it not really helping. They had left a gap (to go under the flyover) in between the to-fro bridges, which normally should be on the either sides of the bridges. And now in many places the traffic cop had to block the gap to maintain a decent tyraffic flow.
3. Poor planning in creation of work places. Whitefield EPIP area which is the major IT hub (read somewhere work strength being ~4.5L) have just 3 roads to enter/exit not wider than 40 feet may be + one mud road. Ecospace tech park on ORR was fine until few more such tech park came up now throttling the ORR traffic. (read on t-bhp, it took 3 hours from office basement parking to reach the ring road, from Ecospace, when it rained in the evening).
4. snail paced metro work - missing dealines since last 3/4 years.
5. No proper driving test for issuing license - if somebody is going through the driving schools, they just need to attend the test to get a license. Also, due to limited resources (track/time/personnel) - a proper test is not any possibility.


Solution can be as mentioned in the OP.

But about the human mentality, it's tough. The same guy who holds the door for me in the office would cut me roughly or honk uselessly or turn without any signal on the road. It's like a war on the roads. Most people are aware of laws and rules, but still chooses to ignore them bacause
  • herd mentality [everybody taking the incoming lane/everybody jumped the red, why not me.]
  • nobody to catch them.
  • they are stupid :)
this is my only weapon on the roads. :)
funny-car-hand-sign-traffic.jpg
 
Sometimes, I give company to my mother who usually take my kids to their bus stop. And not a single time, I see people stop at RED signal even after watching people (kids) trying to cross. Motorcyclist zoom past like anything. Men (usually in 20 - 40) act like color and people-blind and do not bother to stop.
At that time, I can't help, but really feel very angry.

But looking at other side, I feel, it is more circumstantial. In office, people are forced to reached early and stay late. And in place like Delhi, it can take anything between 1-2.5 hrs to reach home. So the personal life goes for a toss. The very infamous 'Lala' culture prevails in most of the offices. Insecurity, lack of sleep, lack of satisfaction is making people aggressive. Entropy is increasing and is seeking chaos and anarchy. Desperate measures are needed, but as everyone knows, the political will is interested into something else.
 
mk76 said:
2. Increase traffic police staff ASAP
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Traffic police themselves need to brush up on basics and rework their priorities. The only time they act is if they see money. Instead of working on silly stuff like fining people for sun film, if they actually pushed for people driving in a disciplined way in their lanes, we all would move much much faster.

mathrisk said:
5. No proper driving test for issuing license - if somebody is going through the driving schools, they just need to attend the test to get a license. Also, due to limited resources (track/time/personnel) - a proper test is not any possibility.
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I think they ought to focus on taxi drivers for a start. When airplane pilots have extensive training and strict regulations, then why not better standards from taxi drivers who are supposed to be professionals? Instead taxi drivers are racing towards (pun intended) breaking every rule on the road and harass everyone else in the process. Roads near airports are the most glaring example of these morons driving. Its disappointing that cash rich taxi services like Uber, Ola, etc. are simply passing around freebies instead of using that money to improve the quality of driving.
 
There is absolutely no hope when we have drivers like these, anyone with zero traffic sense can acquire a license in India.
How about tougher tests and inspectors at the RTO for a start ?
Just read the comments on this video


Edit: When I'd gone to the RTO to get my MC license as a teen, I saw a guy pop a wheelie on a splendor during the 8 thingy. It was probably the first time he was riding a geared bike and the inspector on duty couldn't care less and was looking the other way, that idiot must've definitely been granted a license.
 
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my licence experience in Delhi-
i was told the test consisted of theory and practical which seemed quite proper and thorough but...
1. for theory the rto officer had some road safety brochures underneath the glass-top of his desk. he points at one randomly and asks what it meant. getting it right is a pass.
2. for the practical part, the instructor kicked a rock around the track a bit, then gets a dried-out coconut from a garbage pile nearby, puts it on the road and then asks me to reverse between the two. i was passed but the lady after me killed the coconut and was failed (till next attempt).

w.r.t. to mad cabbies - has anyone tried the 'call this # in case of rash driving' thing? does it work?

yes they are understaffed but increasing the # of traffic cops will only lead to more bribery and salary cost to us taxpayers. spending money on more reliable signals, cctv and traffic management automation (like lights change green for ambulances and fire trucks) will be better.
in fact, staffing for back-end operations and investigations are needed. it's common fact that unless it involves significant damage or loss of life it will not be reported let alone investigated by the authorities. this lack of cold-case or trivial-case investigations is having a bad effect on insurance premiums and payout rates across the country.

the biggest problem as far as i see is that people always think that they can bribe their way out of anything in India. if the fine is levied afterwards via a cctv grab and a e-challan then the option of giving a bribe is out. this will effectively take away the 'safety-net' of the rich and powerful since all violations would be automatically recorded and logged in a db (they should also be accessible via rti).
i think accountability has not been fixed properly and that is the biggest drawback of the govt.
if a cop catches a violator he issues a fine, so shouldn't the converse be true? i.e. if a cop is caught taking a bribe then he (and his superior) should have their salary for the month forfeited.
 
mk76 said:
But looking at other side, I feel, it is more circumstantial. In office, people are forced to reached early and stay late. And in place like Delhi, it can take anything between 1-2.5 hrs to reach home. So the personal life goes for a toss.
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- how can an employer force somebody to put in more hours? it's always the worker's choice to continue bearing the harassment at work.
- everybody has 24 hours in a day. it's upto the individual to manage their time. if 24hrs fall short for anybody working in delhi, they should move to other cities :p

the traffic situation (driving sanely) won't improve even if private companies had 8 hours shifts. indians would still drive in similar manner whether you live in a congested city like delhi or not. :D mera bharat mahan!

Lord Nemesis said:
but a female driving a four or two wheeler in a sensible manner seems to be as rare as an Unicorn and just like an Unicorn, I have to yet come across one female driver in this city who drives properly.
Click to expand...
LOL
 
One of the major reasons I decided to move to my village was my road rage. I lived in Chandigarh which some have described as having better traffic sense than other places, but even that didn't cut it for me. I get angered very easily when behind the wheel and got into many altercations regularly. Although I still come across bad drivers over here in my village but my driving time has greatly reduced which helps a lot. There are days at a stretch when I don't drive at all. Although this will change in the coming months when I start my business, but I will most probably employ a driver for the commercial aspects. I am also enjoying riding my Bullet again as it is much safer over here and much more enjoyable since I am in the hills. Surprisingly, I never feel anything close to the stress/anger when I am on the bike that I do when behind the wheel of a car.
 
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