Paying My Traffic Chalan

They are right when they say "Nobody is perfect". Everybody makes his own share of mistakes and pays for his own share of penalties. Thus I also paid for mine. Last month while taking my son to the Hospital when I took a right turn from Aurobindo Marg, I was stopped by the traffic policeman. Seemingly I crossed the road the moment when traffic signal just turned Red. Though in my opinion I turned before it turned red but that is a different debate which I had with the constable there. My fate was not on my side as I also could not find the photo copy of my cars insurance policy though it was berried in the papers (you pay when you don't sort your papers). I was slapped with a 1100 Rs. penalty which I had to pay at Patiala House courts.

So this Saturday when I started for Patial House courts I was expecting some time to be wasted during the day. Guys do you wanna take any guess how much time I spent in this process? Well I came out of my parking lot and there I was in the jam at the traffic signal out side the parking lot. It took me 7 minutes to cross this signal and I reached the courts. What amazed me reaching there is that there is no Parking in the courts. On asking a Traffic inspector, outside the courts, about the Parking he told me "there is no parking. You will have to park along the roadside." So be it I found a vacant space and parked my car there (parallel to the footpath). I had to report to the Room No. 20 and this is where a pleasant experience started. My chalan receipt was taken and I was told to wait outside until they call my car number. My turn arrived very soon. The Magistrate (I don't remember his name) was a gentleman. He was patiently listening to what people had to tell. I was ordered to pay Rs. 100 as fine I paid and got my License back. So now if you still haven't guessed the time taken it took me total of 50 minutes right from starting to reaching home. Yes from home to home in 50 minutes flat which includes 7 minutes halt while going and 10 minutes while coming back at the signal right outside the parking lot.

I have written this post to quash out all sorts of images of haggling in the courts. If didn't felt a need to pay any tout to get things done fast and easily, you wont either. I have already told that how gentlemanly and patient was the magistrate. Best part is that the whole process didn't actually take more than 15 minutes. Guess India definitely is progressing towards a better governance system.

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No Honk Challenge

Last year in April I wrote a post "Horn Not Okay Please", where I recommended noise pollution level in Delhi is too high, so we should honk less often. Last week one of my ex-colleagues argued that it is practically impossible to drive in Delhi without honking. Though I suggested

to honk less and not go down to zero but this brought up the thought to test how practical is it to drive in Delhi without Honking at all. Thus I took a "No Honk" challenge.

No Honk challenge means I will be driving to my office (23 Km one way) and back without reaching to that big button in the middle of my steering wheel. This means braving the traffic intensive areas like Badarpur and Kalindi Kunj among others. Do you think it is possible? Some say not possible at all while some other believed it is very much possible. Initially I thought of trying it for one day but later decided to extend it for 1 week. So the challenge started on last Thursday and I'll have to admit that the challenge started with a honk as soon as I started my car (damn this honking habit). But believe me I didn't even look at the horn for even once for the entire day after that. The next day was a bigger challenge I was subjected to the construction related diversions and also Kanwaria (Holy road trip on foot by Lord Shiva devotees) rush. But things till now have gone smoothly. I have driven close to 350 Km and in all have pressed my horn only 5 times. This include 2 times when I honked in parking lot when this guy standing in driveway refused to move and once when I started 10 minutes late but wanted to reach office 10 minutes early (did you read my post "Sure way to avoid traffic on the roads is to start early"). Now I know you would be wondering how many times I reached office late. Any guesses? I reached late to my office in total of 0 times.

I know there are some morons who will just honk because of no rhyme or reason. Some even take responsibility to invent some kind of music out of the noise (read that honking). But for more reasonable ones, I did an analysis for reason which force us to honk. In this No honk drive for a week I was frustrated, on some occasions. Lets talk about that guy who was the reason behind 2 of my 5 honks. In the evening when I reached parking lot, this guy was attending a call on his cellphone standing right in the middle of the driveway totally unaware of the risk he took over his life. God bless such idiots. Same is the case when someone stops in the middle of road, may be coz they wanna count the stars in day light.

A common reason we delhiets face is when the vehicle in lane next to you, overtakes wrongly, switches lanes and jumbles whole lane in order to win the race with an unknown vehicle. Having this bad habit of driving so that they block 2 lanes (or as I say driving in Opportunity Lane) gives them an opportunity to swerve across multiple lanes. I have one more classical case to frustrate drivers. People using a T-Junction as the bus stop and buses obliging them. What you don't believe this? Just see the picture.

So next time when you complain about so much of noise pollution on the roads just be sure that you are not being the reason to add some more. Following are some points I suggest to help Delhi fight this noise pollution.

• Be attentive when you are on the roads.
• Do not swerve across multiple lanes.
• Slow down and look for traffic before you merge in the road coming from a by-lane or street.
• Start early to get less frustrated.
• Don't be a speed monster behind the wheel.

I have lost the challenge but I have understood 1 thing how much unnecessary honking we all indulge in. But it would be unfair if I don't credit those guys who are considerate and genuinely honk less. My friend @hapharzd is one such guy who called me up and said how much he agrees with honking sensibly and he himself think twice before honking.

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Jaywalking on the rise in Delhi

First of all, I wanna say one thing that “If you know how to break a rule then you must know how not to break it too”. You all must have seen somewhere on the road, people usually cross the road at random locations other than a cross walk or cross the road when a traffic signal tells not to cross, this is commonly called “Jaywalking”. It’s unacceptable and pedestrians are supposed to cross the road/street/highway at the area which is designated for them but some pedestrian still prefer jaywalking, cross wherever they want and whenever they decide. The questions which are popped up in my mind that “Are they fool or too lazy to walk to the nearest crosswalk or don’t care what rules say and not even think of their life?” As it looks so stupid that you are driving and someone can see you driving towards him/her but still start crossing the road, that is really unacceptable. And with such attitude of pedestrians, driving is becoming difficult for motorists.

What they think? Jaywalking isn’t dangerous? Ofcourse it is, because motorists don’t expect jaywalkers to be crossing the road in the middle of the block. Jaywalking is putting pedestrians and motorists equally in danger. Jaywalking is not a criminal offense whereas hitting someone with your car/bike is.

In metro cities like Delhi where pedestrian traffic at it’s peak, jaywalking is commonly being seen everywhere as it appears to save time for you. But believe me it actually don't. And it looks, instead of car being a danger to pedestrians; pedestrians are now dangers to cars. Although DTP (Delhi Traffic Police) has enforced a rule under the section 28 of the Delhi Police Act, against all jaywalkers by which they will have to pay a fine from Rs. 20 to 100, still more than 900 pedestrians a year fail to make it to the others side and killed by the city drivers (as per DTP record). Delhi traffic police took up the “safe pedestrian week” drives twice in since last August. But have we learn something out of it? I seriously doubt. How many times we see the whole group of people jumping on the road in front of you when you are crossing a signal especially when you signal is green. I read somewhere that in UK it’s legal to cross all the roads except motorways, While there also it is suggested to “cross using a subway, a footbridge, an island, a zebra, pelican, toucan or puffin crossing, or where there is a crossing point controlled by a police officer, a school crossing patrol or a traffic warden”. In other countries like USA, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and others, jaywalking is commonly considered as infringing and the penalty is usually a fine and in Singapore the maximum penalty is 3 months in jail. Large hoardings are used with “Caution No Jay Walking USE CROSSWALK” symbol to educate the pedestrians.

Well there is a system called “Traffic lights”. These help pedestrians and motorists to let them know when and who has the right of the way. If any pedestrian fall down while on crosswalk, people would be there looking for them but if they do it while jaywalking, It would be difficult for a motorists to avoid an accident. Thus we as pedestrians also need to understand to respect motorist's right to use the road. People should use subways and foot over bridges. Always use the Zebra crossing at the signals/crosswalk. I my opinion the Authorities should take Pedestrian education drives more often. As much as I hate to say but section 28 of Delhi Police Act (against jaywalkers) needs to be enforced strictly for habitual violators.

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Roadside Liquor vends increasing the troubles for public

I was walking towards my home after parking my car (I use a public parking), when I crossed a liquor shop. The Vehicles were parked haphazardly, The 4 lane road was reduced to single lane by the vehicles of the customers, parked on the road. Traffic was just crawling. This is an everyday scene in our neighborhood.

In view of Commonwealth games Government has given an okay to sell liquor in shopping malls. But What I want to ask is what is being done to ensure that this revenue generating business do not generate the Nuisance for the public. Should there be not a rule stating that a liquor vend cant be operated in a area where there is not enough parking space. Also there should be a police constable deployed outside every liquor vend to ensure no drinking on road is allowed. This is a normal practice that the guys would stop their cars (or Bikes) buy a pint of beer open and enjoy it on the road only. Have we not seen it every time we have crossed any such shop? Now should we allow these people to drive after they drink? Its too risky.

This creates multiple problems. The cars (and bikes) are parked on the road leaving only a quarter of the road for people to use. Another problem is once the people have had their beer and start feeling light headed few spoilt brats would try to pickup the fights. This all is happening because Delhi police is short of staff (or that's what is told all the times). Liquor vend is too busy serving the customers that they cant put someone to stop people from drinking outside the vend. Even the shops nearby, do not bother to ask these drinkers not to drink in front of their shops. The space outside these shops becomes the open air bars for them. These shops and hawkers supply snacks and cold drinks so they do not want to loose their customers. And why not? The law leaves every opportunity for defaulters to escape from it. A shopkeeper who is actually providing snacks and even the plastic glasses can easily say I can stop from drinking within my premises but not outside it.

What I suggest is any shopkeeper outside whose shop people are found drinking should be legally bound to register a telephone complaint and ask for help to remove these drinkers. If he do not call the cops he should be fined. Public should be encouraged to make such complaints to the local police station. The telephone number of the local police station should be written in big font outside the liquor vend along with its license number. Even today we have rules that says “no liquor vends are permitted to be opened at a distances of 50 meters from the main gate of a place of worship, educational institution and place of public entertainment”. Police should do random checks and enforce a heavy penalty on those who drink on the roadside and to the shops or vends who allow such behavior.

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Pelican signals to facilitate pedestrians to cross roads safely

First thing, I would like to say that ‘Everyone is a pedestrian because everyone does walk as part of their means of getting around, no matter which mode of transportation they happen to be engaging in’.

In today’s world, we all have to be somewhere at specific times, therefore the road traffic is growing rapidly on regular basis and causing increase in fatal road accidents. So to face up, Traffic Signals are introduced as the solution to all accidents and traffic control.

Most of times it happened to see that Pedestrians are forced to wait endlessly at busy junction to cross the road and they take the risk to cross the road and ‘yes’ that risk can convert into an accident and sometimes it happens. But no worry, a tool called “Pelican Signal” is here to help us to overcome these situations. Though the Pelican Signals have been installed at various crossings in Delhi a little more than 3 years now, but public is yet to know that such a concept exits.

Pelican (Pedestrian Light Controlled Crossing) signal is a definitive light controlled crossing signal that features a set of traffic lights (Green Man & Red Man Signal) with a push button, operated by pedestrian for crossing. The controls to operate the light signals are on the pedestrian’s corner while the light signal for crossing is on the other side of the road. So if 4/2 wheelers are taking too much time at the signal, the pedestrians can press the button at the signal to cross the lane. When you want to cross, push the button to activate Pelican and if, Red Man signal appear on the other side of the road, do not cross and wait for the Green Man Signal to appear, but if, green signal begins to flash then you should not cross if you have already started you should have time to finish crossing safely. At some places audible Pelican with warning sounds are installed for visually impaired to safely cross the road without assistance.

So obviously, it would reduce the ‘wait time’ that pedestrian have to spare for crossing the road and once people will know the usage of Pelican there will be no question of chaos or accidents. We just need to spread awareness about it.

The Pelican Signals have been installed at more than 46 crossings in Delhi including Shanti Van, India Gate and Ashram Chowk. And I think, it is very important step taken by Delhi Traffic Police as the system had considerably reduced the accident toll of pedestrians in countries like US and UK among others.

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Electronic Parking Meter should be introduced in all Parking Lots by Delhi agencies

Today, Our Capital is reeling under a severe parking crisis at parking lots because parking in Delhi is often a pain at varied places like Hotels, Metro Stations, Shopping malls, government offices, because of the exponential growth in number of automobiles at unbearable rate for the corresponding space to park them at ease. In fact today MCD has only 143 surface parking sites which can accommodate approx 15,000 cars as against 60 lakh registered vehicles in Delhi. There can't be any ban on buying cars but 'Yes' there is always a thing called 'Management' which is made for and comes out for rescue to manage any messed chaotic system.

Parking is not about creating more space but optimizing its usage. The strategy behind parking is to manage the total available space and implement time limits for parked vehicles. How many times you people said that we don't want to go for shopping and it is just because there is no parking space in parking lots. There is no space because of lack of well managed system. "Electronic Parking Meter" can be a great tool in managing parking lots.

An electronic parking meter is a device used to collect money against parking a vehicle in a specific place for a limited time. A timer is set in the meter and display on the meter displays the remaining time. This helps people to move their cars within the allotted time. The credit card or smart card swiping option cuts the wait for the parking slip. When implemented properly it can support identification of unoccupied space and vehicles can be guided towards it. Through this, Govt. can also charge people who park their cars on public space on a street. It reduces the requirement of manpower for managing parking. Apart from it, people go on vacation and works around 8 hours per day only, so these issues will obviously be overcome by Parking meters so it also reduce the personnel cost.

Authority concerned Delhi Urban Mass Transit Authority (DUMTA) can consider proposing these meters for the welfare of traffic society and this will lead the current parking system to a more orderly and manageable parking system. Services like this will surely be another milestone in an aware developing country like ours.

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