A recent Facebook post by a friend triggered a long repressed desire to write something about this. The entry goes somewhat like this:
Then there was a prior incident in Ahmedabad, my home city, and the city which doesn’t know how to spell the word ‘traffic’. I was waiting for the signal to turn green at a crossroad, next to me a pair of gals on a Honda Activa and further to the left a pair of muscle bound morons on a CBZ. The moment there was a clear spot on the junction, the morons zoomed off, without regard for personal or public safety, right in the face of the traffic cop. The only response that the traffic cop could give was to shake his baton at the duo and utter a few expletives. Since the duo’s attempt was clearly an aimed at impressing the gals, I looked at them. To my horror, the very next moment these gals took off too. And unless I had gone colorblind or insane, the signal was still a bright red. These people were younger than me. I wondered. If this is the Generation Next, the future of India is bleak. So how do we train the Ahmedabadis (and Indians in general) and introduce the concept of ‘defensive driving’ and ‘traffic sense’ to them in a binding way?
I guess, that would require the rewrite of a gazillion antiquated laws and the twisting of the will of a million office-bearers. But here are ten things that I think will make the people take a moment to think and understand the true meaning of the word ‘Behave’. I like to call it my Policy of ‘Zero Tolerance’
Traffic police system: Clearly this has gone to the dogs. Manpower and will-power lacking, clearly this is not the dream industry which many wish to enter. So the first changes need to happen there:
1. Accepting bribe is tantamount to treason: The duty has to be respected in all its sanctity. Random sneak checks to find if on-duty cops take bribes and let off offenders. These people should be thrown out of the department dishonorably discharged and dismissed without pension + a monetary fine equaling the bribe amount while caught multiplied by the number of days the person ever worked.
2. Dress sharp and dress fit: The high-speed chases seen on ‘Cops’ etc always show cops who can really take down an offender and do it with panache. If you can’t run 100m in less than 20s, desk job with an early retirement is what you get.
3. Well heeled and wheeled: The fastest cars should be the cop cars. And so should be the bikes. Walkies, networked information, traffic cameras. Make technology the newest weapon in the cops’ arsenal.
4. Young blood, willing blood: Psych evaluations on the individuals joining the force. Find the ones who are willing to do things not because it is a job, but because it is a service to the nation.
5. Fast track but fair justice: With the technology working in conjunction, convictions should be faster and harsher. Ensure the first change however is active at all points in the system.
The 'real criminals' people: That said and done, the next question is what to do with the people who are actually spoiled rotten by the handicapped system. Clearly these are not victims of the system but rather the offenders who also deserve no mercy.
1. Giving bribes is also tantamount to treason: Anyone offering a bribe to any officer also has to be given the royal treatment. The fine should be a hundred thousand times the bribe amount offered and accompanied by a minimum of 5 years in prison.
2. Proud father no more: I’ve seen parents teaching their underage children to drive and show it off to others as a matter of pride. Book these people under reckless endangerment and confiscate their vehicles. If and when child services kick in, the kid gets taken away too.
3. Helmets ARE part of standard equipment: The last time someone actually tried to make these mandatory, the Ahmedabadis turned it into a joke. If a guy is caught without one, he is made to buy one on the spot. If you have a medical reason not to wear it, same medical reason say you cannot drive too. Seat-belts are to be treated similarly
4. Tire-killers: We enforce red-lights at all costs: Equip road junctions with automated tire-killers. These beauties will shred the tires of the moron who tries to jump the red light. If that is not lesson enough, the cop will take over.
5. Driving is a privilege not a right: This is the most poignant line in the DMV Manual that the Americans have to obligatorily read. Enforce this. Offenders should end up paying fines, spending jail time and losing their modes of transport.
Draconian as these may seem, if implemented to the ‘T’, Ahmedabadis will eventually learn. But truth be told, at times all it takes is just one person to change. Like the one who stops at a red-light not because there is a traffic cop at the other end, but because it is the legally and morally correct thing to do. Or be the cop who says no to the bribe and makes you pay the actual fine. So all I ask my fellow Indians who might chance upon this blog:
Traffic cop (TC): (Stops the friend who is driving a car)Unbelievably this post garnered a lot of “Likes”. So what makes Indians tick in this retrograde fashion? Why are these same individuals excellent model citizens when in a foreign land and the exact opposite when back in the homeland? That is a research question and the answer to it might be simple. Indians (a lot of them) and most humans are jerks. This is exactly why we invented the concept of society, law and order.
Friend: What happened?
TC: Broke a red light. License and registration please.
Friend: (Hands over documents)
TC: Don’t have PUC (Pollution Under Control certificate). Pay the minimum fine
Friend: Can’t we make an arrangement? (hands a fraction of the minimum fine, off record)
TC: (accepts and lets friend go)
Then there was a prior incident in Ahmedabad, my home city, and the city which doesn’t know how to spell the word ‘traffic’. I was waiting for the signal to turn green at a crossroad, next to me a pair of gals on a Honda Activa and further to the left a pair of muscle bound morons on a CBZ. The moment there was a clear spot on the junction, the morons zoomed off, without regard for personal or public safety, right in the face of the traffic cop. The only response that the traffic cop could give was to shake his baton at the duo and utter a few expletives. Since the duo’s attempt was clearly an aimed at impressing the gals, I looked at them. To my horror, the very next moment these gals took off too. And unless I had gone colorblind or insane, the signal was still a bright red. These people were younger than me. I wondered. If this is the Generation Next, the future of India is bleak. So how do we train the Ahmedabadis (and Indians in general) and introduce the concept of ‘defensive driving’ and ‘traffic sense’ to them in a binding way?
I guess, that would require the rewrite of a gazillion antiquated laws and the twisting of the will of a million office-bearers. But here are ten things that I think will make the people take a moment to think and understand the true meaning of the word ‘Behave’. I like to call it my Policy of ‘Zero Tolerance’
Traffic police system: Clearly this has gone to the dogs. Manpower and will-power lacking, clearly this is not the dream industry which many wish to enter. So the first changes need to happen there:
1. Accepting bribe is tantamount to treason: The duty has to be respected in all its sanctity. Random sneak checks to find if on-duty cops take bribes and let off offenders. These people should be thrown out of the department dishonorably discharged and dismissed without pension + a monetary fine equaling the bribe amount while caught multiplied by the number of days the person ever worked.
2. Dress sharp and dress fit: The high-speed chases seen on ‘Cops’ etc always show cops who can really take down an offender and do it with panache. If you can’t run 100m in less than 20s, desk job with an early retirement is what you get.
3. Well heeled and wheeled: The fastest cars should be the cop cars. And so should be the bikes. Walkies, networked information, traffic cameras. Make technology the newest weapon in the cops’ arsenal.
4. Young blood, willing blood: Psych evaluations on the individuals joining the force. Find the ones who are willing to do things not because it is a job, but because it is a service to the nation.
5. Fast track but fair justice: With the technology working in conjunction, convictions should be faster and harsher. Ensure the first change however is active at all points in the system.
The 'real criminals' people: That said and done, the next question is what to do with the people who are actually spoiled rotten by the handicapped system. Clearly these are not victims of the system but rather the offenders who also deserve no mercy.
1. Giving bribes is also tantamount to treason: Anyone offering a bribe to any officer also has to be given the royal treatment. The fine should be a hundred thousand times the bribe amount offered and accompanied by a minimum of 5 years in prison.
2. Proud father no more: I’ve seen parents teaching their underage children to drive and show it off to others as a matter of pride. Book these people under reckless endangerment and confiscate their vehicles. If and when child services kick in, the kid gets taken away too.
3. Helmets ARE part of standard equipment: The last time someone actually tried to make these mandatory, the Ahmedabadis turned it into a joke. If a guy is caught without one, he is made to buy one on the spot. If you have a medical reason not to wear it, same medical reason say you cannot drive too. Seat-belts are to be treated similarly
4. Tire-killers: We enforce red-lights at all costs: Equip road junctions with automated tire-killers. These beauties will shred the tires of the moron who tries to jump the red light. If that is not lesson enough, the cop will take over.
5. Driving is a privilege not a right: This is the most poignant line in the DMV Manual that the Americans have to obligatorily read. Enforce this. Offenders should end up paying fines, spending jail time and losing their modes of transport.
Draconian as these may seem, if implemented to the ‘T’, Ahmedabadis will eventually learn. But truth be told, at times all it takes is just one person to change. Like the one who stops at a red-light not because there is a traffic cop at the other end, but because it is the legally and morally correct thing to do. Or be the cop who says no to the bribe and makes you pay the actual fine. So all I ask my fellow Indians who might chance upon this blog:
Can you be that person?
2 comments:
What narrated is a harsh reality.Traffic offenders must be delt with heavy hand and not with rose flowers as offered by Ahmedabad cops in recent past to offenders to teach them by novel way.In spite of defensive driving it a hard time to drive on Ahmedabad roads.All measure suggested are worth implementing.
Excellent blog indeed!! Definitely we should use the new technology. I also like concept of tier killers.
But the very first thing I'm expecting from people of India is to follow traffic rules not for the shake of Cops/Regulatory body but for themselves.
Many time NRI (sp. Gujarati) complain about Indian roads and traffic sense, but most of the time I found them not following any rule, that's pathetic.
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