Moving All Posts to udayms.wordpress.com

This blog would be deleted soon. I am moving all posts to udayms.wordpress.com

Reason: I am finding it difficult to maintain multiple blogs.

[Solutions] Part 1: Better preventive checks and mechanisms

Ok. So as mentioned in my previous posts, lets stop discussing problems and start discussing solutions. My first step would be to embrace technology. Today, most of our traffic chaos are because of the following reasons –

1. The public can get away with a crime.
2. In the event of an accident, We have no logical way to find out who is the victim and who is culprit.
3. Too much corruption on the roads.
4. The current crime prevention mechanism (FINES) has proven to be way too ineffective.
5. Too many vehicles and too few police men on the roads.

These are just a few pointers. If we really look into it there would be a lot more. But, most of them would call for one solution – Find and implement an effective mechanism to stop crime on the road by imposing stricter and harsher punishments. But how do we catch them? That’s where TECHNOLOGY comes into action.

Database of all licenses and vehicles

Now, this is the easiest of the lot. I guess the RTO would already have a database already. If not in digital format, at least in paper files. The first step would be to consolidate this into a single database. Now that we have all license numbers on the database, we can keep track of crimes committed by drivers.

Step up fines and make it difficult

Step up the fines. Most of the penalty fine rates prevailing today seem so cheap that anybody can afford them. Hike them. Also, do not let police officers to collect the fines. The police officers who stop the vehicle should sieze the driver’s license and then ask him to pay the fine at any nationalized bank and then go to the traffic police station and present the chellan to get back his driving license. Sounds improbable? It works perfectly fine in Kolkata. Why wouldn’t it work in rest of India?

Ticketing on Licenses

Don’t stop at fines. Introduce Ticketing mechanism. Along with the fine, the driver would be issued a ticket. If a driver gets more than 6 tickets in a year, then he will have to take a retest to get his license back. If he he gets more than 6 years per year for more than 2 years, then his license will be canceled.

Cameras on signals

Now, this could be a costly proposal. We need cameras on all signals to record redlight jumpers. We could have a cheaper alternative to this. We will discuss that in another post later in this series.

Unless we catch criminals red-handed wouldn’t be able to establish their crime. Also, unless we have a system in place, we cannot really bring about any change. If the public has to drive properly, they are not going to do it with choice. They will do it only if they are afraid of the punishment. Today, every driver on the road knows that even if he jumps the signal. There is always the chance of him getting away with it. One driver can commit any number of crimes and still be let free on the streets to commit more crimes.

Technology would help us categorise and keep track of city traffic crimes and help us solve most of the problems we have today as humans are performing the task. Humans mean emotions, corruption, laziness, lack of accountability etc.

Note: Pls dont be in a hurry to judge the solutions from just this post. Feel free to comment. But, It would make more sense once I complete the entire series. 

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Riding Bikes with Kids

We were eagerly seeing some of the shots taken by one of our friends over the weekend and this one caught our attention…

 

This unintentional shot triggered a discussion on Kid’s safety. Who is responsible for the safety of kids in the vehicles?

In this case, it seems that the rider had transferred the responsibility to the Kid.  Wonder what is he carrying in the sack. It seems to be so precious that he is holding it so close.

Who is held responsible when kids gets hurt in accidents?  Do we consider negligence angle as done in several countries. Do we have clear rules or guidelines on Kid’s safety in these situations ?

Thanks to Ram Prakash for sharing this picture and giving consent for publishing this in Chennai Traffic blog.

Repeating Accidents in Ashok Nagar 11th Ave.

If accidents repeats in the same area, we term it as an accident prone area. It is time the traffic authorities declare the turning from Ashok Pillar to 11th Ave. as an accident prone area.

You might have read our previous post on a scuffle between the MTC bus drivers at 11th Ave. See these pictures. The same scene was repeated on Saturday (01st September 2007), but this time it was a car vs. MTC bus.

 

We reached the spot minutes after the accident took place, so we are not in a position to explain on how it happened. We just want to highlight some basic issues here.  The bus was stopped almost at the center of the road as evident in the next two photographs. The same was the case in the previous incident.

 

This bus stop is just after a turn and a signal. Authorities should think of moving it further down the road or take steps to make the vehicles stop properly.

Begging at Traffic Signals

Stopping vehicles at the Traffic Signals in Ashok Nagar is becoming a nightmare to the drivers.  Just as you stop the vehicle at the red signal, few people gets onto the road and approach the vehicles – ladies with kids, kids, beggars… the list goes on. 

 

The photo was taken at the signal near Udayam Theatre. You can see a three member team in the rear view mirror. One person is blind and the other two are accompanying him carrying a collection box. Even though there is a police outpost at this signal, these people carry on with their business. One of them claimed that police has allowed them collect money at this signal.

This practice common in Mumbai and new to Chennai can cause unnecessary traffic jam and accidents.

Changing the Lane or Moving other vehicles out of Lane – the MTC way

Have you ever watched any TV Programs on New York Police Department training on how to chase and move a  car to the side of the road.  If you are driving through Chennai roads, you might be lucky to witness some drivers who seem to have undergone such training.

See these pictures taken today (30 July 2007) morning between 09 and 10 am.  The traffic was at its peak. It took almost one hour and 35 minutes to cover 6 kms.

See how this MTC driver moves to left WITHOUT any indication. The car from which these photos were taken was on the left most lane running with the intention of taking a left turn. Now… see what happens when the MTC driver decided to move his bus to the left lane. Obviously the car driver cannot see the indicator. He can just see the huge vehicle moving in close to him from his right. The car driver would make an attempt to move to the left a little bit more. In this case, the driver decided to slow down and stop the vehicle.

 

The MTC driver cannot make an excuse saying he cannot see the car on his left. Check the rear view mirror of the bus, you can see the MTC driver.

 

Operation Successful…

The Driver or the Conductor of this bus (that runs on public money) does not care about the safety of other vehicles.  

By allowing the passengers travel on footboard and allow the passenger to get down on the road while the vehicle is in motion, they are endangering the passenger and putting other drivers in a difficult position. This shows their disregard for the safety of the passengers.

who is safe in this traffic ? Isn’t it time we see some serious effort from the authorities to educate the drivers and the public ? Are we ready to handle a crisis situation during peak traffic hours ?

Chennai traffic LIVE!

Kudos to Sify for the live feed of Chennai traffic on ChennaiLive.in. 

You can watch the traffic at these junctions: Kathipara , Thiruvanmiyur, Kilpauk, and  Kodambakkam

Let us wait and see how this effort by a non governmental firm will be used by the Traffic Police to make some positive changes.

BTW, it is really interesting to watch the traffic flow. 🙂

How to solve this?

Ok. While Raks is focussing on exposing some of the most obvious traffic crimes that we are able to see on the roads – The same crimes that the authorities are choosing to look away from, I am going to be posting some proposed solutions for each of our traffic problems. This is more of brainstorming ideas than a proposal. Feel free to post your comments and shout out your opinions.

Someone had to do this. We have been seeing many blogs here and there with postings of traffic crimes every now and then. But, traffic crimes in chennai deserves more attention than a one off posts.

And this blog, we hope will serve this purpose.

Who needs a helmet?

So… the helmet drama is over for the time being…

In Tamil Nadu and in Kerala…

People against Helmet and People for Helmet…

Government for Helmet and then after some sales… Government relaxes the order…

So as of now… we can drive without Helmet… No one is going to stop us…

Any way it was only for the “two wheelers” or only for mechanized two wheelers…

See this picture…

Isn’t this cyclist more prone to accidents than a person on a motor bike?

He is not interested in following the signal…

BTW, who said these signals are for cyclists ?

Cyclists have their on rules…

If you have any doubt, visit the traffic signal at Vadapalani junction on 100 ft. road.

Ashok Nagar 11th Avenue – The story continues…

The traffic chaos at Ashok Nagar 11th Avenue remains the same.

In one of the previous posts you might have seen the photographs of traffic block at night. Now see some photographs of the same location from a different angle. This time, the camera is focused from the 11th Ave. on the signal towards RTO office.

The traffic signal is green for vehicles from RTO office side towards 11th Avenue.

On the left end see the two wheeler on the wrong side. The bus drivers need to attend a few lessons on how to take a turn. The Car and Van is in a hurry to reach the 100 ft. road. See the cyclist… he is definitely in danger. But he braves his way through the traffic.

The traffic signal is not visible to those waiting on the 11th Ave. to proceed towards RTO office/100 ft. road.

There is a right turn for those driving from the 100 ft. road. But the green bus, the van, and the cars could cause a traffic block that could last for an hour.