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Seat belts optional in Bangalore?
s_yajaman - 1 March, 2011 | Traffic | Bangalore | Road Safety | cars | Citizen Reports | BTP | Transportation | Enforcement
Is the wearing of seat belts optional in Bangalore? On my recent visits here I find (on a quick check) less than 30% of private car drivers wear seat belts, almost no taxi driver and LCV driver wears one.
Contrast this to Chandigarh where I have recently moved to. Almost every single driver - private car, LCV, taxi - in Chandigarh (and neighbouring Panchkula and Mohali) wears a seat belt and insists that the passenger in front belt up. The police is quite ruthless on not belting up.
See today's Hindu for the tragic consequences of not belting up.
http://www.hindu.com/2011/03/01/stories/2011030162460400.htm
"The driver, who had not strapped on his seat belt, was thrown out and suffered severe head injuries. He died on the spot."
In a head on collision as well, belting up increases one's survival chances. And with an airbag not belting up can result in death if the airbag opens up.
If the drivers in my part of India can be made to wear seat belts, I'm sure Bangalore drivers can easily be made to comply. I think our traffic police is far too lax.
Srivathsa
COMMENTS
Speed Limit
pathykv - 4 March, 2011 - 08:24
The legal Speed limit within the city is 40kmph.
Since this is not implemented all other problems due to overspeeding, speed humps, pedestrians crossing the roads etc. result.
All roads within the city should be designed and constructed to suit the statutory speed limit of 40kmph and enforced by Traffic police, which will definitely bring down the accident rate.
K.V.Pathy
i guess Seat belts are required only during high speed .
j_venu - 2 March, 2011 - 19:21
since the average driving speed in bangalore is not so high , i think the traffic police have not made Seat belt mandatory yet.
i checked the delhi traffic website and it mentions seat belt and consequences of not wearing the same. however BTP site does not mention about seat belt.
http://www.delhitrafficpolice.nic.in/seat-belt.htm
http://www.bangaloretrafficpolice.gov.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=77&btp=77
Seat Belts : Mandatory
imran_huq17 - 2 March, 2011 - 19:44
What is the rule regarding seat belts? Is it binding using seat belts while driving in interior areas or bylanes?
The driver and the person seated in the front seat must wear the seat belts while vehicle is in motion ( U/S 138 CMVR r/w 177 MVA).
Please see the Frequently Asked Questionsusing the link below.
www.bangaloretrafficpolice.gov.in/index.php
LIST OF TRAFFIC OFFENCES, SECTION OF LAW AND FINE AMOUNT
Government Order No.TRD.309.SAEPA.2006, Bangalore, Dated 29.10.2007.
40 Driving without wearing Seat Belt - 100
compelling videos..
srinidhi - 3 March, 2011 - 03:39
Incidentally this post has come up when the seat belt videos are making rounds on FB..here are the two links..must watch..abs..ebd etc wont help..seatbelts will!
All laws are optional in
rs - 3 March, 2011 - 05:04
All laws are optional in Bangalore - they are only recommendations of the government which drivers are requested to obey with no consequences if they don't.
It all depends on quarterly revenue generation of the police dep
dvsquare - 3 March, 2011 - 06:16
It seems that it all depends on quarterly or montly revenue generation of the police Dept. Its true, you see many times, police just come up, stand at a few signals and start catching the vehicles crossing signals, where were they everyday? They start checking for speed violations also suddenly, where were they on any other day, I mean, people are really not in fear of caught by police while driving rash or whatever. A few peole who got caught in those 1-2 days, a few of those few take care next time that's all.
On the ORR, many times I have seen HAL police standing near Cisco office service lane or next signal to that towards marathahalli catching a few vechicles crossing red or driving fast. So, i feel, whenever they feel they have funds getting less, they just come, challan a few and done. There are already enough of other offences they can catch hold of the bangalore drivers like DL, RC book, insurance, pollution cert, rash driving, signal. Before coming to seat belt, any other offence is anyways proved and can be challaned.
I have seen at many signals, they are just standing and looking for people crossing the red, but at the same signals, they can't see any other irregularities happening, like Land interchange at the last point etc. I mean, as I stated earlier in many posts also, that enforcing lane system at signals atleast is very important and can be done just by enforcing people to go in the same lane they are standing at the signals. This means that if a vehicle is standing in the leftmost lane (because this was the empty lan) should be enforced to turn left as soon as the left turn gets GREEN, he shouldn't be allowed to go straight or turn right blocking other vehicles. No need to challan him, just enforce the lane rule on the driver according to which lane he is standing, that;s all, work done, rule enforced without any fine. Next time, people will automatically take care.
Same kind of things happen at the U-Turns, ideally only the rightmost lane should be queued up for the u-turn, but I see many times, many vehicles (specially cabes) come in the 2nd lane (from right) also and block the other straight going people on the road.
Deepak
It seems to me that this lack
rs - 3 March, 2011 - 06:58
It seems to me that this lack of enforcement amounts to not milking a huge cash cow. In many cities and towns around the world a major source of revenue is from traffic fines. BBMP seems to be suffering from an acute shortage of funds - but a two minute walk anywhere in Bangalore would convince anyone that if parking violators were actually fined - say a minimum of Rs 50 - this would lead to a huge increase in income for the BBMP / Police - even accounting for 50% being taken away by corruption. I cannot understand why the powers that be do not want to do this. Enforcing laws would not only benefit the city but would actually improve the traffic conditions ( and perhaps result in the `higher speeds' that seem to be necessary to mandate seat-belts ! )
Ramesh
True, no enforcing on parking, but they want road-widening
dvsquare - 3 March, 2011 - 08:09
I don't understand the govt authorities (BBMP, BDA or traffic police), they can't enforce the rules and can't properly use the resources they have, I mean the current roads and their width, but they want to go ahead and cut the trees, thereby reducing the green cover in the name of development. As Ramesh pointed out that a 2-minute walk on any road will give you an idea what's happening on the roads. You can see multiple cars parked under the sign of "No-Parking" board. People think that as a parking sign may be, not sure though, otherwise how come they have got the license, and anyways, getting a license doesn't need you to know the rules anyways, you just need to bribe some money.
Seat belts are mandatory
s_yajaman - 3 March, 2011 - 15:57
My post was meant to be a bit sarcastic. Seat belts have been mandatory in Bangalore since the early 2000s at least. When it started the police used to fine people not wearing seat belts. Now they just don't seem to bother.
As to higher speeds needing belts
a. An impact at 40kmph leading to one's head hitting the windscreen is like falling on your face from the first floor of the building
b. In the event of a head on collision it can save your life and the other driver from becoming an involuntary killer.
I remember going in a taxi from Bangalore to Mysore (in 2003) and the taxi driver promptly takes off his seat belt after Kengeri. His logic was the seat belts were only mandatory inside the city!!! Such is our attitude towards safety.
Srivathsa
infatuated with tech - no serious interest in enforcing
silkboard - 4 March, 2011 - 04:13
Would a simple naked eye test would throw up these
- Seat belt?
- Using cell phones while driving?
- Kannada only number plates?
- Overly polluting autos?
There would be more easy-to-spot violations, but 5 minutes spent at any junction can throw up 2 violations of above.
While Traffic Police (and Mr. Praveen Sood) have done some good things - enforcement levels have increased over last 2-3 years, numbers say that - but they have still been doing the "EASY" stuff. May be the approach is to go after low hanging fruits first.
Technology based enforcement from the luxury of a control room, even more convenience for 'us', the violators, of paying up the fines via credit card - all these are good things.
But - that vital thing - "the FEAR" of police is DEFINITELY not there. People overtake police cars on Ring Road, drive on the wrong side of roads right in front of traffic cops, drive past right under the stretched hand of cop screaming stop stop.
The "act" of issuing a ticket is important, traffic police forgets that. This "act" has to be "witnessed" by other wannabe violators. A random unplanned catching of a wrong side driver, and fining him in broad daylight, twice or thrice a week is worth 20 minutes of a cops time a week. NOBODY expects every violator to be ticketed.
But now, instead of "visible" expamples, tickets are mostly coming in the mail. And you pay via credit card. To hell with "the fear factor", and the "inconvenience as a deterrant".
One can add 1. Autos parked
rs - 4 March, 2011 - 07:05
One can add
1. Autos parked in Bus stops. Leading to BMTC buses stopping in the middle of the road.
2. No helmets.
3. Going the wrong way on a one way street.
4. Honking needlessly.
5. Not using headlights in the night.
6. Using high-beam unnecessarily
7. Xenon lights...illegal.
8. Reverse horn...illegal.
Seat belts and helmets, in my opinion, are fine to violate as they are just aiding natural selection. So I dont think its worth the while of the police to enforce those - though I think the helmet rule is the only one they actually seem to enforce.
Ramesh
Laws were not made for cops/gov but for us. Use common sense
afalak - 4 March, 2011 - 08:45
I does not matter there is a law or not, its common sense.
1> I always wear it while driving and if I am on the front seat regardless of the fact I am in Bangalore or Bhubneshwar or Delhi or Pune or US
2> Even in back seat I wear it if I know I will be going at high speed or might fall asleep (my friends survived a roll over once on Blr-Mysore stretch because they had put seat belts). Ditto for bikes and helmets with straps
3> I will never allow a kid whose height is less than 4 feet to sit at front. Does not matter he/she yells/scream or anything. The air bag will break their neck if deployed and it will deploy even at 30Kmph if I hit anything
4> Use Bluetooh headset only for phone calls and only if its urgent call or I am expecting one (say picking up wife from a pre-decided spot). Else pull over into a non blocking part of road and call back. I am educated enough to realize that concentration is needed to driver a vehicle which can kills in seconds
5> Always drive with both the mirrors. Only fools drive with folded mirrors. I am ready to spend 2k to fix a broken mirror by an idiot driver than bring someone back to life as I didnt check my blind spot
6> Always share the road, its a privilage that my other countrymen have given me and not my right
7> Save the life of people with suicidal tendencies who think laws and rules were made by cops so need not be followed. I might have saved > 10000 because of my defencing driving
8> Will never abuse/yell/shout/show-finger at another driver
9> Will always follow the traffic police or any authorities directions whenever I get them. They are just doing their job
10>Will never ever stop a police officer from doing his duty however corrupt and incompetent their clan might be. There are always the few who might be the change we want to see in cops.
11> Use low bean at night and only use high bean if I feel I might miss something and that too temporarily. Go low immediately if I am following someone (they have mirrors !) or if someone is coming in opposite direction.
12> Follow another vehicle so that I can see his vehicles tire touching the road (tire and tarmac rule)
13> Will do my best to follow lanes and speed limit on Indian roads
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