This is my second post about Bangalore traffic and it is only because Bangalore traffic gets on my nerves - like really gets on it. I feel like driving with a hammer in my hand and whacking the shit out of people who cut, swerve, change lanes without indicator, every single bus on the road and jay walkers.
Reason for my frustration is that I take my vehicle to work, and I carpool (I am an environment friendly person you see). What I have observed is that if there is a traffic jam - it is invariably either caused by a broken down bus (that has a leaf sticking out of it's rear end - thats the signal employed here *Shakes head*) or a "traffic police".
Coming to the first one. The bus would have broken down in the fast lane and will be tilted - thus blocking 1.5 lanes.
The second case is where the police are under the assumption that they are doing some great job in controlling the traffic, but what they are actually doing is causing a jam and inconveniencing everyone else on the road. Or they will be holding up the traffic because a politician needs to reach somewhere urgently.
This being said - there is a jam. Now, what is the outcome ? Irritated drivers, cab drivers who are not from Bangalore and thus need to cut from the left most lane to take a right turn, bike guys who squeeze in wherever they can, autos who think that if they can fit the front wheel their entire vehicle will fit in that gap. All of this leads to even longer delays.
You guys won't believe this, but at a level crossing everyone is in such a hurry to get across that they drive on the wrong side to get ahead, thus blocking traffic from the other side, thus no one can move !! I have actually witnessed a situation where this happened, no one was able to move and a frikkin' train was approaching !!!!! No one seemed to care, were honing and still trying to overtake from the wrong side *facepalm*
People in the city are in such a hurry to get to where they want to, that they do not realise that they might as well just start a few minutes earlier and avoid the mad rush.
Traffic police are out to make a quick buck and are not interested in actually maintaining law and order ad ensuring rules are followed. One day they will only catch vehicles where the pillion is not wearing a helmet - irrespective of whether the main driver is wearing one or not, or if people are speeding / driving on the wrong side of the road / speaking on the phone while driving - no, nothing else except the pillion's helmet ! Such focussed attention to detail is beyond me.
Bombay has tonnes of traffic - more than this place, but it is organised. I prefer calling it Organised Chaos. There is so much more traffic, but people follow lane discipline, they do not cut, the police are to be feared, rules are meant to be followed; and the icing on the cake is - they realise that there is no point in trying to overtake and cause a jam as you are not helping anyone.
Bangalore has a long way to go to even try to come close to Bombay, and from the way things are going, the distance is just getting longer and longer.
Reason for my frustration is that I take my vehicle to work, and I carpool (I am an environment friendly person you see). What I have observed is that if there is a traffic jam - it is invariably either caused by a broken down bus (that has a leaf sticking out of it's rear end - thats the signal employed here *Shakes head*) or a "traffic police".
Coming to the first one. The bus would have broken down in the fast lane and will be tilted - thus blocking 1.5 lanes.
The second case is where the police are under the assumption that they are doing some great job in controlling the traffic, but what they are actually doing is causing a jam and inconveniencing everyone else on the road. Or they will be holding up the traffic because a politician needs to reach somewhere urgently.
This being said - there is a jam. Now, what is the outcome ? Irritated drivers, cab drivers who are not from Bangalore and thus need to cut from the left most lane to take a right turn, bike guys who squeeze in wherever they can, autos who think that if they can fit the front wheel their entire vehicle will fit in that gap. All of this leads to even longer delays.
You guys won't believe this, but at a level crossing everyone is in such a hurry to get across that they drive on the wrong side to get ahead, thus blocking traffic from the other side, thus no one can move !! I have actually witnessed a situation where this happened, no one was able to move and a frikkin' train was approaching !!!!! No one seemed to care, were honing and still trying to overtake from the wrong side *facepalm*
People in the city are in such a hurry to get to where they want to, that they do not realise that they might as well just start a few minutes earlier and avoid the mad rush.
Traffic police are out to make a quick buck and are not interested in actually maintaining law and order ad ensuring rules are followed. One day they will only catch vehicles where the pillion is not wearing a helmet - irrespective of whether the main driver is wearing one or not, or if people are speeding / driving on the wrong side of the road / speaking on the phone while driving - no, nothing else except the pillion's helmet ! Such focussed attention to detail is beyond me.
Bombay has tonnes of traffic - more than this place, but it is organised. I prefer calling it Organised Chaos. There is so much more traffic, but people follow lane discipline, they do not cut, the police are to be feared, rules are meant to be followed; and the icing on the cake is - they realise that there is no point in trying to overtake and cause a jam as you are not helping anyone.
Bangalore has a long way to go to even try to come close to Bombay, and from the way things are going, the distance is just getting longer and longer.
