Fine by me!
Bad news for traffic violators in Delhi, who will now have to shell out an additional Rs. 500 over the normal fine. Is Bangalore listening?
It may be well for Bangalore to learn a thing or two from Delhi. Imagine the change in traffic discipline this could bring about here. Sometimes, only fear can discipline people.
I’ve lived in Dubai and I know what it means to be fearful of the cops and avoiding getting fined. The result: A very well disciplined Dubai traffic. You will never ever see someone driving over the median to get to the other side, or someone jumping the red signal or a biker who dares to ride without a helmet.
Bangalore is a long way from being a Dubai but implementing this law could be a good start.
Maybe it’s a good idea to implement a ban on smoking while driving too. Incidentally, I almost got a cigarette burn in my trousers last night while riding back home, when someone from a moving car in the next lane, threw a cigarette butt on the road. It bounced off the road (I’m not kidding!) and on to my precious Allen Solly pants but thankfully, it again bounced off back to the road. Introducing this law could also leave us with clean ‘butt-free’ roads too.
So, anyone for the 500 bucks fine?
Fine…and if it doesnt work..Tie the culprit to a tree and leave him there for an hour.
I’d suggest the following:
First Offence:
Undergo a full day session on traffic etiquette. This has to be funded through corporate participation. Driving License to be returned only after completion of session.
Second Offence:
Fine of Rs. 5000 or six months imprisonment
However in the current scenario, its not possible to implement this system in Bangalore coz we do not have a reliable police mechanism in place.
Haaaaaaahah…butt-free! oh, and good point too.;)
@Ajith: Great ideas… but you’re right about the police mechanism. I guess that needs to be fixed first!
@Ushasi: Thanks :-)
yes Nisho I agree wwith you on banning smoking while driving !! they should ban talking over cellphones while you drive. Specially for auto drivers…it is really scary !! in first place they drive very rash and once they get on to call they hardly have attention on road. many times I have to request them to talk later !! :-((
@Saaya: There is already a law on talking on cellphones while driving, which attracts a fine of Rs.100. Visit the BCP’s website, for more information on various fines. Maybe next time you could warn the auto driver of reporting him to the police if he keeps using his cellphone while driving.
The auto drivers are actually more scared of the cops than they seem to be. They might try to challenge you or threaten you but don’t give in. Take them straight to the police station and then you’ll see how frightened these guys really are.
Hi
In India in General, Bangalore in particular, there is no discipline while driving. Bike riders think that they are Rossi and Car drivers think that they are Schumacher while driving on the roads, but except Karthikeyan, no one else has entered international Motorsports arena. If you checkout how Rossi or Schumacher drives on the City Roads, they may be very decent.
Some basic things should be done by the Government to impose discipline.
1. Traffic Police should become honest and should not accept bribes at any cost – First and fore most thing. If the fine is more – these people will become rich since people will bribe them instead of paying fine.
2. Spikes should be introduced on the white lines of the road to impose lane discipline. If someone drives happozardly, his vehcile will get punctured and this is an automatic fine without “police intervention”.
3. Special “One Way” spikes should be introduced which will puncture cars coming from wrong side.
4. If a person is caught because of violation of law or because of an accident, his lifetime license should be cancelled. An accident history should be maintained for each driver.
5. Currently Traffic police is making money for people not carrying License/RC Book/Emmission test although many have it, but might not have carried. All the records should be centrally kept in a computer and when needed if police calls a call center or a control center he should get the details.
6. If the traffic police asks for the bribe, he himself should be jailed.
7. Currently no preference is given in the signal lights for the pedestrain to cross in India, whereas in the western countries, highes preference is for the pedestrain. Traffic signal for the pedestrain just “blinks green”.
8. Synchronized signals will eliminate jams and should be given more preference. You don’t need expensive flyovers or underpasses if you have synchronized signal.
Please add on to this thread much more suggestions.
Good thoughts Vasanth. However, #1 and #6 are easy to say but tough to implement.
@Vasanth: Great points. I’ll add couple of mine here:
9. The traffic cops should be given more salary so that they won’t be desperate enough to take bribes. I know this won’t completely stop bribes but it might at least reduce it.
10. Deploy more traffic cops. There are many unmanned junctions in Bangalore and the traffic situation is pathetic in those areas. The vehicle population is increasing by thousands every day and more traffic cops are needed to manage this growth.