Hi friends
At last I have decided to throw my money out to have my own site. If you want to go to the blog straight away here is the link. Of course I have a forum also where I hope you will park to discuss traffic and other issues.
See you all there:-)
It is not an unusual sight to see women riders/drivers on roads of our Chennai as well as the mistakes and rule breaking by them. Apart from their behaving 'equally' bad it is their speed which surprises me. I and many other riders suffer from back pain because of our roads which exist in between pot holes. Will not the women mostly in their early twenties suffer the same? Will it not affect their health during their pregnancy?
It is not new. It is not a brain wave. It is once in a while announcement by the traffic police. Three deaths of elderly people aged 60 & 73 on the same day made them announce once again that foot bridge is being contemplated to help pedestrians cross over and thus hope to reduce the accidents. But did they consider the following:
1. Can the elderly climb the stairs?
2. Are the existing foot bridges being used and if not why so?
3. Are there enough space on both sides of the road to build a foot bridge?
4. Will the foot bridge solve the problems of no foot path or unusable foot path, if they exist?
5. What is there to stop our tankers, buses and lorries crashing against the foot bridges?
6. Will the foot bridges facilitate the flow of non-crossing pedestrians by having spaces to walk around them?
7. If the answer is negative to 6 then will not the pedestrians walk on the road which is the perennial problem?
As it has been already mentioned in some other post the problem to be tackled is haphazard parking which not only reduces the width of already narrow roads but also force the pedestrians to walk in the middle of the road.
Then where will they park? They should have enough parking lots. The parking fee should be small and the fine for parking in no parking zone heavy. The roads are public property. That does not mean we can use them for our private use, be it parking or urinating. Maybe the people who park their vehicles on roads, whether it is in front of their homes/flats or elsewhere should be treated as encroachers of public land.
Pic. 1 - Neither of them wearing helmet but both of them with headphones!
Pic. 2 - Not wearing helmet but has this on his number plate 'if you dare catch me'!
Pic. 3 - Nice slogan for our roads I feel(give me strength is what it means-for those who can't read tamil)
These two slogans remind me that I should also put one on my bike which I am postponing for a long time. The slogan is 'If you can't be on time, be early'.
What will be your choice. Please let me know.
Pic. 1 - Safety for head No safety for Lungs
Pic. 2 - Helmet covering number plate instead of head!
Pic. 3 - Vehicle with blank number plate. I saw another vehicle also of the same make with blank number plate but with party flag!
Pic. 4 - Picture says everything about helmet & law!
Some move their vehicles not waiting for signal to change while some even go through the oncoming traffic - all to save seconds forgetting there is no second life! Rising at idling speed or rising with brake on in the case of gear less vehicle is what many do either due to ignorance, habit or engine problem. This not only increases the pollution but also eats(drinks) up the precious black diamond, petrol. Maintain your vehicle and save yourself, others from pollution and the world from oil crisis! Camaraderie without concern about other motorists on road is another problem seen frequently.
The tn government has once again said that it is going to do some thing about traffic problems, accidents, etc. And once again has announced that it will tame our auto drivers! Some weeks back it was also announced that a website is going to be launched by chennai traffic police. If my memory is right they had launched twice already, once in 1998 and once recently in 2004. Both have expired and I hope the new website doesn't get the same treatment.
But in my opinion drastic measures are needed to control our erring motorist than announcements. They are
1. All stop lines at the signals should have spikes springing up on red light and retract on green light. A war like measure as our roads resemble war zones.
2. All one way streets should have spikes bent towards the wrong side and depressible so that vehicles from right side can easily go over.
3. Cars with single occupants should be fined heavily to encourage car pooling.
4. Empty autos should not be allowed to cruise around looking for gullible victims aka passengers.
5. Erring motorists should not be fined. Their families should be made to come to the station and give a written declaration that it will not happen again.
6. Rash drivers should be directed to do service atleast for one day in the trauma department of any hospital.
7. People who get into accident because of their own fault should not get any compensation.
8. The contractors who lay the road should get their payment only if a citizens' committee approves of their work.
9. Cable, EB, Sewerage digging work should commence and finish overnight.
10. The garbage cleaning should commence and finish overnight.
11. All the places other than those marked for parking should be made No Parking areas even if it is in front of our own houses/flats. Those who don't have the power to increase the width of the road don't have the right to decrease it.
Hi can you think of anything I must have missed:-)
Recently I heard a news and read one. Both are related in a way. Both show how over confident drivers are and how foolish. Some how people seem to have a rebellion towards any law imposed, even if it is for their own good. Maybe a fallout of Satyagraha movement!
The first one narrated by a friend of mine. A couple just 35 days into their marriage riding a bike, gifted by girl's father of course. Both without helmet, of course. Two vans full of youngsters racing on road crossed their path. Head on collision. What else. Both are in the hospital in serious condition.
The second one is that of a elderly couple going in a car. Wife was driving lost control crashed through the centre median and crossed to the other side. What happened next would have been funny if it had happened in a movie. In the impact the door of the car flung open and the couple were thrown out in the path of a lorry. Both dead. If only they had their seat belts on...
Where does the government come in this? How can it monitor our educated illiterates? Common sense seems to be the most uncommon sense on roads.
Maybe the two metro buses are trying to implement the traffic rule 'don't overtake on over-bridges' - of course for others!
The above photo shows the state of stone dividers kept from Kodambakkam bridge to Valluvar Kottam. There is no gap anywhere and if you come from Mahalingapuram you cannot take a right towards Kodambakkam bridge. So people just move the stones without caring for the danger the moved stones pose other motorists. The police should either provide for U-turn somewhere or make the dividers unmovable.
Pic 1. Both husband & wife wearing helmets.
Pic 2. Rider wearing helmet and pillion rider having a helmet.
Pic 3. Both rider & pillion rider on cell phone!
Pic 4. The pillion rider has the helmet on but not the rider!
By the way the autos there don't use meters but are very reasonable. I should say cheap compared to Chennai. Then autos at any other place is cheaper than at Chennai. Still the autos are looked at as underdogs by some here! Anyways after a few days in Secunderabad and Hyderabad I thought I am going overboard with the situation in Chennai. Chennai traffic is faaaar better comparatively.
The above picture taken in front of Charminar, Hyderabad is an accident. The cyclist in the photo was not in the original frame but came in when I clicked. Just zooming through, intersecting oncoming autos and nothing happened except for my heart. Then I found that this is how everyone behaves on road there. You don't have to stop for anyone. You just go and others go around you. But then I saw a fight between a biker and an auto driver because of some brushing while on the way to Secunderabad.
On 8th June I was fortunate to attend the above said meet. I say I am fortunate because I came to know that I am doing a good job! Also many bloggers came to know about this blog and today Metro Plus gave details about the blog too. So after a few months' lull I intend to publish my views on Chennai traffic once again. Ok Ok Ok stop clapping. Now let's get to business.
Some weeks back I was crossing the road and saw two bikes coming fast. I finished crossing and turned to look at the offensive riders. They must have been in a hurry. They didn't notice the speed breaker until the last moment and without slowing down just hit the speed breaker. One with a single rider another with a female pillion rider sitting sideways. Both skewed a little and the riders with their hands held to the handle bar managed to balance. But even I was watching the female jumped, couldn't balance and started sliding behind. Thought that she will recover her balance but she didn't. She slid still further causing the bike to fall on its right. The rider also followed suit and the helmet on the petrol tank fell down. The other biker stopped and helped them to the sidewalk. The girl must have been shaken out of her bones. What a trauma with so many onlookers around.
They must have reached home late, I suppose.
Today I attended a seminar titled Traffic Easy organised by the madras chapters of Soroptimist International. Though I had to move out before the finish I sat through lectures by Dr. Prithika Chary, Senior Consultant Neurologist, Ms. Shobha Iyer, Citizen Consumer and Civic Action Group and Dr.Murthy V.A. Bondada of IIT, Chennai. It was an informative and eye-opening session to say the least.
Dr. Prithika Chary talked about the health hazards of traffic congestion and how it is projected to be the no.2 killer in the year 2020 and stressed on walking for a short distance instead of what we do now!
Ms. Shobha Iyer talked of the neglected lot on road, ie., pedestrians and cyclists and hoped for consultation with people of the locality by the authorities before implementing any solution.
But in my opinion Dr. Murthy's lecture had pragmatic solutions and the way to implement them. Here now are some of the points from his lecture.
1. We don't use the same mantras for all functions. We have a different one for marriage, child birth, pooja, etc. The same way for a short distance we can walk, for one or two people to go with little luggage we can use bike or auto and for long distance family trip we can use cars.
2. While long term solutions are implemented the short term solutions also should be taken care of.
3. In Chennai context he gave the following statistics.
28% of the people walk
13% of the people use cycle
29% of the people use bus
18% of the people use bikes/scooters
4% of the people use cars
3% of the people use autos
rest use lorries, trucks, etc.
Those who walk and use cycle are not considered as road space hogger s and also don't contribute to pollution.
Though 29% use buses it is <1% when trips by buses are considered.
18% of the bikes/scooters occupy 75% of the road trips.
4% of the cars occupy 18% of the road trips.
Autos used by 3% of the people make 2% of the road trips.
But most of the road related schemes seem to be having 22% of the vehicle population, ie., bikes/scooters and cars neglecting totally the interests of pedestrians and cyclists.
If only the pedestrians are given proper side walks and cyclists a separate lane most of the congestion and accident related deaths will come down. Actually 40% of the accidents are due to traffic congestion and only 25% due to rule violations, as informed by Dr. Prithika Chary earlier.
I didn't take notes. Otherwise I could have given a much detailed report.
Suddenly there was a screeching sound and rubber smell. But no accident. The 150cc biker just averted an accident. An old man on cycle was saved! But on close scrutiny I could see the cause and effect of our peoples' attitude toward 'right turners' and 'road crossers'!I just don't know why the people behave this way. You try to cross a road. You look right, left and again right as required. You spot a vehicle which is at least 100 meters away. You think it is safe. But think again! That vehicle will suddenly pick up speed and cut across your path. You have to jump back. If he had continued with the same speed and path you would have crossed with no trouble and he would have gone his way going behind you. But no. He/She will not let you. Whether you are crossing from the right or left side of the road, 'the vehicle should cross only in front of you and before you cross' seems to be their rule! The rub on the wound is they will be back to their normal speed once they cross you. For a moment imagine that you are in your vehicle. A person is crossing the road from your left 'no need to brake' distance away. Instead of moving to your right as people do normally you can move to your left which will make your path as well as his clear. No need to reduce speed, for both of you. Same tactic for a person crossing from your right. This time you move to your right, that's all. Mind you. I am talking about situation where you have space to move. Not when you are one of the 100 vehicles trying to be the first one at the next signal! Oh! I forgot. It is nearly the same thing when you try to turn in to a street on your right. The old man was trying to turn and the biker wanted to overtake before the old man could do so! Even after that the old man was not allowed to turn. The biker just whizzed past before the cycler could recover. Even after that the old man could not finish turning and had to back up towards the left side of the road as cars, bikes and a bus started piling up. That is the salt added while rubbing!
Watch this video which gives you a nice insight into the way people behave on roads, whether they are motorists or pedestrians.
Recently my father had to go to Mumbai by flight. On reaching he contacted help desk about catching an auto to Kurla. Immediately the person in charge there geve my father a pamphlet and escorted him to an auto. The pamphlet contained details about the fare to be paid. The auto driver put on the meter and started. Contrary to my father's thinking, conditioned by chennai auto experience, there was no haggling when he got down! Incidentally the meter showed the distance travelled and not the fare to be paid. The pamphlet had detailed instructions about the fare to be paid based on the meter reading. By the way the minimum fare is Rs.9/- for the first 1.6 kms and Rs.5/- for every other km. So we, Chennai people, have one more thing to dream about: )
