Chaos of Lawbreaking Pedestrians and Two Wheeler Riders

[350Z]

These two are common things on our roads that irritate most of the four-wheel drivers and there is of course a reason behind it. Two wheelers are often driven in a horrific manner. Sometimes rash, zigzag, sudden lane changes and what not. It can turn into a major disaster in no time but ironically, it is the driver of a ‘bigger’ vehicle who would be held liable at the end. Young rider especially attempt to show their over smartness in public by illegally performing stunts or over speeding and zooming fast turns right in front of a car. Pedestrians are also not behind in this race. Not sure, if it is their tendency, but whenever a vehicle is approaching, they attempt to quickly cross the road considering as if someone else is going to care for their life. Huh? Although the mentioned cases does not apply to everyone and it feels glad to see that some civilized people still exist on roads. No offense intended, remember that we also play a role of pedestrian and two wheeler rider at occasions but what I wish to highlight is that one must act try to act sensibly, it’s a matter of life.

Drive Safe,
350Z

 

[raj_5004]

very true. but there are many cases where pedestrians are walking on the footpath & a car runs over them. also yesterday i witnessed a bus who dashed a biker from behind.

so it all depends on the scenario but yes, most of the times, i believe that bikers drive rashly & irresponsibly. if you ask the same question to bikers, they may share a different opinion though!

 

[Aditya]

Well, I drive a car, and ride my bike for the sheer pleasure of riding.
What I find amazing in some two-wheeler riders is an absolute disregard for their own safety. I would not expect everybody to wear heavy duty safety equipment, but hey, a well fitting helmet with a snug strap and decent shoes are I think a bare minimum. There I guys I know who will not wear a helmet because they can't speak on the cellphone while riding. HOW CRAZY CAN YOU GET???
And rash driving, I guess is more prevalent in 2-wheelers than cars. For whatever reason.
Regarding pedestrians, I can only say that as a nation, we seem to have absolute disregard for pedestrians. In most countries I have been to, the pedestrian has absolute right of way. Here, he has to fight to survive!!

 

[ilango[speed thirst]]

Its rash driving every where ,

People do not respect fellow driver/rider .

How can he pass me ?- the attitude of most people.

A man waiting for a u-turn in his car , people try to rush up before he completes the turn , he has to wait , a long queue is formed behind him , some times some may jump from that line .

People mentality is difficult to change.!

Worst case i have experianced is in chennai - the auto's and 2 wheelers they zip like morons.

And the pedestrian , some jump from no where in high divider erupted just to make them difficult to do this.

 

[cooldhaya]

Yeah i absolutely agree with Ilango! Even though they have placed high dividers to avoid pedestrian crossing they climb over it to cross it! Auto drivers and bikers try to sneak in every gap possible.

And worse is most of the two-wheelers and buses queue up on the left side of the road in any signal and thus blocking the vehicles wanting to take a free left turn in that place! I have to experience this daily while returning home at a signal near my place , i have to wait for the signal to turn green to take a left turn!

Hey 350Z the spelling of pedestrian is wrong in the Thread title i guess!

 

[Crazy cat]

The small the vehicle is, the stupid moves a driver will make. Small vehicle drivers will always sneak in any gap. They will make sudden moves on all direction. While a big vehicle driver would make steady moves. I always feel safer to follow a big vehicle and would never trust a 2 wheeler. But i found this condition in Mumbai better, as 2 wheelers there are less in number and lane changing/cutting is much less there. Though the Premier taxi drivers are exception.

@raj, regarding bus hitting bikes, i think the biker is equally responsible for it. They just cut in from the left side and the bus driver can hardly notice.

 

[blackbeauty]

I drive both car and bike, but I think its not the class of vehicle which makes rash driving. Its the person who drives. I agree many bikers drive rashly, but not all of them. I can show many rash car drivers who pose threat to bikers and others..
There are many cases in Bangalore when a biker stops at the signal and a bus or a car hitting from behind and crushing him. So, is that the bikers fault? When a bike overtakes a car, especially in Highway, the car wala will start honking repeatedly and overtake him at any cost. These are my personal experiences when driving a bike. And again I say, its not all of the car drivers.

 

[Crazy cat]

Your view of driving changes with vehicles of different types. If the vehicle up front brakes or slows down, a biker will try to squeeze through a gap, but a bus driver would have to slow down as well. But yeah, individual driving manners matters big time. But commuters in general would drive the same way.
In general it is hard to follow a biker on a highway. You don't have any idea when they would stop or take a turn or even brake hard. Their small size would make it hard for the car/bus driver to judge, as in a highway eyes will be fixed at quite long distance. These bikers will overtake and will get back to normal speed which is irritating. If you are on a bike, after you overtake a car stay well ahead of him, most probably the car wont honk at you.

 

[Anwar]

My few cents...

I was driving bike in bangalore since 1999. I wear a good quality helmet(ISI certified) with straps on when i am on road. I was using my bike as my daily commute to office as I hate the timings of my office cabs. I have never jumped signals, never cut lanes without using indicator, dont drive in a zig-zag manner and never used footpath for my commute. I have seen other fellow motorists in bikes doing all sorts of stunts(I am not talking about all.) I have seen quite a lot of bikers who drive decently in bangalore. Even today I saw one person on my way to office on his black Pulsar driving decently.


Now from the past 3 months I have quit riding bikes and shifted to car. I could see prettymuch the same thing with four wheelers also(Again Not all).
I see 4 wheelers overtaking other cars in parallel of twos and threes on speed brakers(dont care about the traffic from the opposite direction). Overtake from left if there is space left for him to squeeze in. Drive rashly and so on.Only thing which I did not notice with four wheelers are they dont drive on footpaths.(correct me if I am wrong).:)

Today morning I was following a Honda city(red) on my way to office and he was driving very decently all the way.

So my point is it is nothing to do with two wheelers/four wheelers, but it has to do with the person who is driving it and his mood.

 

[blackbeauty]

In general it is hard to follow a biker on a highway. You don't have any idea when they would stop or take a turn or even brake hard. Their small size would make it hard for the car/bus driver to judge, as in a highway eyes will be fixed at quite long distance. These bikers will overtake and will get back to normal speed which is irritating. If you are on a bike, after you overtake a car stay well ahead of him, most probably the car wont honk at you.

May be some people will be like that. I have experienced the other way also many times.When I overtake a car which is doing 60 with my bike at 80 and continue at that speed, he will honk continuously. In these cases, I slow down my bike and let that fellow pass. Some people feel ashamed when a bike overtakes his car.

So my point is it is nothing to do with two wheelers/four wheelers, but it has to do with the person who is driving it and his mood.

This is the same thing I have to tell.

 

[raj_5004]

@ CC: in this case, it was the bus driver who was driving rashly & the biker was going slow.

 

[RSM]

I agree that Pedestrians do create problems for 4-wheeler on roads, when they start crossing without traffic light, but equally, the 4/2 wheelers doesn't stop for them to cross, even the light is for Pedestrians. We all see that if the light is Yellow, instead of slowing down, everybody increases their vehicle speed to cross light before red. Similarly, the other side traffic will start as soon as Yellow light start at other side traffic light. And Pedestrians never gets their time to cross. We ALL have to be blamed.

When I overtake a car which is doing 60 with my bike at 80 and continue at that speed, he will honk continuously.

I don't agree on this. If you are overtaking in straight line with speed it should be absolutely fine with car drivers. What actually happens, is that bikers try to squeeze-in even at high speed and most of the time car drivers has to brake or be extra careful not to touch bike.

 

[blackbeauty]

I don't agree on this. If you are overtaking in straight line with speed it should be absolutely fine with car drivers.

Dude, its not all. Some morons do like this. And I drive a car and bike. Its fine for me if anyone overtakes me. I just go on at my speed.

 

[RSM]

I agree, and it should be certainly ok if somebody overtakes (exceptions are always there).

Actually, same argument happend with my younger brother and he was not agreeing and he was telling that after people starts driving car, they don't value bikers. But when he sat with me couple of times, i was able to show him how SOME bikers drives. And now he agrees with me, that it is actually car drivers who saves bikers on roads, otherwise in case of accidents, anyway bikers are one who will be in more danger.

 

[sriharsha]

Only thing which I did not notice with four wheelers are they dont drive on footpaths.(correct me if I am wrong).:)

buddy, 4 wheelers are no exception from using the footpaths. it so happend that i was waiting to enter forum mall's parking. there was a long queue(weekend) and everybody was waiting patiently.i had some cars in front of me, then my santro, a white maruti omni and 2 other cars behind the omni. suddenly the omni guy went crazy and started honking heavily. the guy wanted me to move front, more closer to the car in front of me, so that he could get out of the queue. but i refused to move as there was hardly 1m gap between my car and the car in front. then the guy went back and started reversing the car and some how managed to get on to the footpath which was on my left and he moved towards the gate on the foot path itself with great speed(~40-45 kmph). as the queue slowly dissolved and i was able to reach the gate , i could see that the omni guy was caught by the security and they even called the traffic cop who was nearby and the driver was slapped with a fine of 1000 bucks as this was breaking of traffic rules as well as negligent driving.
i thought that the guy well deserved the punishment.