Why I like driving in Bangalore?
Those who are following my blog may be surprised to see the subject. But the fact is there are a lot of good things about driving in Bangalore. Having lived in three major South Indian cities (Chennai, Hyderabad, and now in Bangalore), I have observed a lot of things about the way people drive and the traffic sense in these cities. Here are some things I notice in Bangalore, and all the things are positive!
I have made a few changes based on reader feedback. You guessed it: I had to remove the part on honking :-)
- The traffic cops in Bangalore are doing a
greatreasonably good job. They have to manage a huge volume of traffic as it wades through narrow roads. Several metros have the advantage of wide roads, so traffic management is not all that difficult. Managing continuous streaming traffic over several hours requires great deal of tact, skill, and coordination. Not sure if you believe, but very few drivers actually honk in Bangalore. This is quite different from the scenario in Chennai, where drivers honk as they like.- Drivers
have learnt to be patient even while waiting for unending signal countdowns. Theyjust switch off the engine or sit back and listen to their favorite songs.But they are never impatient. Those who have driven in Chennai will know drivers are quite impatient there. - Lane discipline: Even though there is no lane system, car drivers follow lane discipline. They
queue up andfollow each other in most of the roads. The tendency to get ahead and not to pile up is seen in Chennai.
- Use of indicators: In Bangalore, you can be sure of using the indicators to let others know if you are taking a turn or slowing down. You can never get this done in Chennai, where you need to stretch your hand out and wave continuously to indicate you are slowing down or taking a turn.
- Vehicles of all types and sizes exist in all cities, but they have learnt to co-exist in Bangalore.
Those who have driven for some time have learnt to look at the harmony even though the traffic might look chaotic for someone coming in from outside. - In some small cities or towns in India, you can't drive without honking or using the horn.
But, that is not the case in Bangalore.You don't need to use the horn much here.The reason of course is, not everyone thinks they should be in the middle of the road. Every vehicle gets their rightful place, and others recognize that. - Last but not the least, there is
lot ofsome respect left for fellow drivers. People coming in from lanes and joining the main road actually wait, switch on the indicator and then only join the main road. There are thousands of traffic intersections that are not manned by cops, and people actually wait to allow vehicles coming from other directions to pass. I have not noticed this in Chennai, where everyone thinks they have the right of way.
These are just my views and observations. Feel free to leave your comments. I have nothing against people of any city. I love Chennai as much as I love Bangalore.
Vasanth,
I don't drive myself. But what you say about bangalore is quite opposite.
a) No where else (chennai/hyd) do people, in particular ladies, learn driving on arterial roads.
b) In bangalore, there is no sense of lane. Even slow drivers drive on extreme right while in chennai every lane is super fast unless there is bumper- bumper traffic.
c) In bangalore, you can be sure that 70% of the time, the drivers have used wrong indicators.
d) Even supposed to be cultured folks drive on pedestrian area. Any other city, they will be roughed up for doing this.
e) switching off the engine and not able to start on time elsewhere would mean a broken bumper but some how people get away with a just a few honks in bangalore!
f) People honk like mad as though honking a lot causes the signal to change!
g) Bribe people pay to traffic police is much higher here as everyone is happy to throw a 100 bill and escape the sentence.
Posted by Madhan Kumar on November 24, 2007 at 11:12 PM IST #
Thank you so much for your comments. It always helps to have different views. One thing that I get impatient with is trailing slow cars :-)
Posted by Vasanth Vaidyanathan on November 25, 2007 at 06:53 AM IST #
Hello Vasanh
I am from Bangalore Mirror, I wanted to know if I could use this post of yours for the 'blog talk' section in our paper. I like your opinion as they differ (actually oppose) what I have read in many other blogs... pls do let me know if you are okay with it my email id is nt.balanarayan@gmail.com
Posted by | Balu | on November 25, 2007 at 02:35 PM IST #
PS: I disagree abt the honking.. people honk like mad people. You are really lucky if you never got caught in the honking battles in Bangalore
Posted by | Balu | on November 25, 2007 at 02:38 PM IST #
Yes, you may post this entry in Bangalore Mirror.
Posted by Vasanth Vaidyanathan on November 25, 2007 at 05:04 PM IST #
Comments from Ketan Kulkarni [ketan2302 AT gmail DOT com].
Hi Vasanth,
No idea which year you are talking about in your blog. I have lived in Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad and Bangalore.
1. Cops in Bangalore are doing a pathetic job. Motorist break all rules in front of the cops and they do not take any action. I see this happening every day.
2. Honking in Bangalore is the worst in all the cities that I have lived in. Infact I find that people in Bangalore honk for no reason. I once had to tell a cab driver not to honk as there was no one on the road in front of him and he was still honking.
3. If drivers in Bangalore were patient, then you would not have some many drivers not following the traffic signals. You woould not have 2 wheeler drivers driving on the foothpath at the drop of the hat. Every time there is a traffic jam, motorist try to go ahead even from the wrong side of the road blocking the road completely and adding to the traffic problem. Infact many of the traffic problems in Bangalore are becasue of bad and impatietent drivers.
4. I am yet to see lane discipline in Bangalore. The only discipline I have seen drivers follow is that every lane is their lane and they can change lane per their whims whithout giving any signal.
5. I drive every day and I do see few people using the indicators. However, if I compare their numbers to the total cars on the road, then they will be hardly 1 percent.
6. Yes vehicles of all sizes co-exist in Bangalore. However, the bigger the vehicle, the more rash is the driver. Smaller vehicles need to be wary of the bigger ones or else risk getting bumped into by them.
7. Honking is like breathing for the drivers in Bangalore. for them honking is a much easier reflex action than breathing.
8. The last thing is find in Bangalore is respect for other drivers. Had than been the case, all the big vehicles including buses, lorries, tankers and trucks should have been driven on the slower lane. Here everybody follows only one rule, whatever space you find, justy try and shoot your vehicle into that space. Buses come from the left most lane to take a right turn is very common. Bikers cuting in front of the car drivers forcing the car drivers to take evasive action and try not to hit the bikers is common.
In the other cities that you mentioned, the road are 1000 times better than the roads here. in Bangalore, I find that there are more pot holes than roads. There are many main roads where the road surface has more potholes than tar. Also most of the main roads are very narrow. For example, the hosur road at one point becomes a single lane road. There is no poticial will in the city to take any action.
Road work here takes ages to complete and when it is completed, it is of very poor quality. It is only in Bangalore that taring a 1.5 km stretch takes more than a year. In Hyderabad and Mumabi, it is done in less than a month. Only here you will find road work taken up where you are left wondering as to why that work has been taken up when there was no requirement. Most of the road work on paper is of world best quality and money is paid accordingly. However, the ground realities of the work done are quite different.
Posted by Vasanth Vaidyanathan on November 26, 2007 at 08:19 AM IST #
Hi Ketan, Thanks for your comments. As I mentioned, those were just my views. You are free to disagree with them.
Posted by Vasanth Vaidyanathan on November 26, 2007 at 08:21 AM IST #
For some time, I thought you were just joking, may be talking about some dream you had. Overall, I agree with other people's comments here and I see Bangalore traffic the total opposite of what you have written. May be you are living in the suburbs of Bangalore ;)
Posted by Sivakumar S on November 26, 2007 at 10:15 AM IST #
Hi Siva, May be it is my own Bangalore within Bangalore :-)
Posted by Vasanth Vaidyanathan on November 26, 2007 at 10:28 AM IST #
Hi Vasanth,
The title of your blog in a way misled me. I thought you were joking. Anyway, let me share my thoughts on the subject.
1) Traffic cops cannot and will not do any 'great' job. With such a huge number of vehicles driven by hundreds of maniacs it is only possible for a lone cop to remain a spectator. But he will not hesitate to harass a 2-wheeler rider for a quick 100 bucks at any given opportunity, rather than booking the habitual offenders.
2) There are almost no drivers in bangalore, who DO NOT honk. I have seen people proudly diplaying their honking "skills" continously without using a basic amount of common sense. At any signal , one has to have guts to turn off his engine as he will be subject to continous honking, or sometimes even abuses if he fails to start his vehicle as the signal turns orange. I dunno how can one be sure that the fellow road user uses the correct indicator.(I have observed only a miniscule fraction of the drivers using them)
3) Yes, some of them having swanky AC cars will sometimes turn on the music and remain patient in their cool and comfortable interiors.
4) Personally,I feel lane discipline being followed relatively better in chennai roads(atleast in some of the major intersections on mount road) . In bangalore, I doubt if the drivers know what it means !! Almost at every intersection, the free-left (if existing) will be blocked in full view of a traffic cop.
5) During a traffic snarl, cars may pile up one behind the other only in narrow potholed roads. But 2 wheelers and autos religiously overtake these cars in the wrong side adding further chaos. In wider roads in the city, I have seen even BMTC buses doing the same , let alone cars.(I see this every day at Mayohall Jn where BMTC buses from Residency road to MG Road will occupy the right turn towards commiseriat road)
6) And about vehicles co-existing in Harmony, I agree with you to an extent. There has to be some 'harmony' in bangalore roads where the average traffic speed at peak hour is less than 15 kmph and where vehicles crawl bumber to bumber in 1st and 2nd gears.
7) I am yet to see any "respect" for the fellow road user. Its very easy to spot 2 wheeler riders easily making an unexpected entery to a main road from a bylane, assuming it is the other's reponsibility to apply the brakes as they are spotted. It is very easy to spot drivers speeding on the opposite direction in roads that have dividers.
As you said its always good to hear experiences and views of others and lets make this an interesting debate. These are again what I have felt. Keep writing :-)
Thanks
Pradeep.
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Posted by balaji on July 18, 2008 at 12:23 PM IST #
I currently live in Bangalore but from Chennai. I cannot agree more with you in all what you said.
I too saw the difference in:
1. Less honks
2. Sitching off engines (fuel and environment consciusness)
3. Very high patience
4. Use of indicators and 'solpa adjust maadi' attitude
The problems are:
1. Very high patience that nobody questions or protest against authorities for the never improving infrastructure
2. Hours of grinding halt traffic (chennai slows down but not stops)
3. Lack of planned road work for the demand.
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