‘Horn
“OK” Please’, ‘Mera Bharat Mahaan’, ‘Buri Nazar Wale - Tera Muh Kala’, ‘Stop
Signal’, etc are some of the iconic truck graffiti that has become a part of
Indian road culture.
Seriously - is this the caliber of a transport commissioner’s office in framing policies to tackle a menace of such mammoth proportions? Ban an iconic slogan? That’s all?
And first of all, is it the right reason that this august body has identified as the culprit for honking? Is this the reason we honk? Because we see a slogan written in front of us on a truck?
I know we are dumb, but that dumb? In that case we should NOT be honking in ‘No Honking’ zones, or for that matter we should not be smoking either, where such signs are displayed in a more visible and intimidation manner. Everything would be hunky dory.
Is this the simple solution to such a large social problem, when honking seems to have been ingrained to be our birth right, where we live under the impression that the louder we honk the more audible we will be, when we live under the misguided assumption that a mere press on the horn button will melt away the bottleneck in front of us and also the traffic, when we firmly believe in the miraculous powers of a horn that will restart a stalled car in front of us, or will instantly teach the learner in his vehicle to drive expertly in an instant and move out of our way.
Does the transport commissioner even realize that current deplorable state of the Indian traffic (in)discipline and road sense is also largely a part of their department’s doing. That a systematic apathy in enforcement from their end – which incidentally is their main job – has resulted in a culture of absolute disregard for their breed. No one and I mean NO one takes these jokers seriously on the road, as they are identified as the most visible embodiment of the bribe culture.
But that’s just one part of the whole problem.
We honk because we do not consider displaying patience on the road to be a virtue. When drivers squeeze in their cars in every available nook and corner in a jam in their attempt to beat their other brethren and arrive just a millisecond earlier than them. Can the commissioner enforce disciplined lane driving no matter how bad the jam?
We honk because we are disgusted by the portly memsahib, alighting in the middle of the road, right in front of her shop, in her own sweet time, with no sensitivity to the fact that there is a pile up behind her on the narrow road. Seriously why can’t she – assuming that she is more educated than her driver – instruct him to pull up on to the curb and then alight? Can the honorable commissioner ban people from stopping where they please? Can he educate drivers on such civic senses through a total overhaul of the Driving License Issuance procedure and system? NO he can’t because these are mammoth tasks, and he seriously does not have any inclination to bring about any social changes, Sorry that’s not in his KRA and certainly not on his ‘Job role’. Let someone else do the dirty job.
We honk when we see a green light and then a group of pedestrians trying to cross the road – in total disregard to their red light and certainly in no regard to their life, because for them, it’s an attitude issue – which says that ‘You-as-a-driver-are-responsible-for-my-safety-and-I-am-not-concerned-and-that-crossing-the-road-anywhere-anytime-&-anyhow-is-my-right…..!!! Can the honorable commissioner ensure that traffic crossings are kept free and drivers are accorded their right of way. Can jay-walking be banned? Can the driver also be accorded her rights?
We honk when we are suddenly confronted by a car sneaking in to change lanes and trying to enter my lane in an effort to be one up on the toll booth.
We honk out in sheer despair when we are faced with a bottleneck in the road that arises out of an unplanned and faulty design in the carriageway that prevents seamless travel. Can some gutsy, logical and visionary commissioner liaison with the road departments and insist on having a say in changing the way in which we design roadways, crossings, intersections, and signaling?
We honk, when on large intersection, we are faced with a barrage of vehicles immediately starting from the other end, while we struggle to just scrape through. It’s indeed befuddling how signals of the other lane come on immediately after one lane has turned red without any time gap. A time gap, which will ensure that the intersection is cleared of all backlog and is perfectly and safely clear, before the next lane is given permission to cross? Is this rocket science or just pure non application of common sense, when incidentally this is a perfectly valid norm all over the world? Can the commissioner ask the programmers of these traffic lights to look into this simple matter?
We honk when we speed down a road with total disregard to anyone’s safety including our own, in an attempt to prove some point. Can the honorable commissioner enforce speed limits?
We honk in absolute frustration and contempt when we are faced with the prospect of spending the next 10 minutes in the extreme right, so called fast lane, on a highway, behind an overloaded truck, travelling at a speed of 20 kmph trying to overtake his brethren travelling at 15, when he has no right to block the lane with his misguided ambition. So can the commissioner/s influence the legislative authorities of this country to formulate laws to ban overloading, ban vintage and mechanically inefficient vehicles, and enforce MINIMUM speed limits on interstate highways through the use of appropriate prime movers? No he can’t do this either.
So he takes the easy way out. Ban an insignificant harmless slogan. Sheer tokenism, rather than take the bull by the horns and reform the system which has gone to the dogs.
So Mr. Commissioner / Legislator whatever. Next time you honk do let us know if there was a truck with this slogan in front of you that prompted you to honk. Oops I forget - you don’t drive, you have a chauffeur and a car with a fancy beacon. How can you be expected to be abreast of the realities of life. !!!
Wake Up India.....
Sadly the most iconic of
them, the ‘Horn OK Please’ has been singled out by the Maharashtra State Transport
Commissioner’s office as a culprit for the incessant and unnecessary honking
that we indulge in and as such, has been banned from the rear of all trucks……
Seriously - is this the caliber of a transport commissioner’s office in framing policies to tackle a menace of such mammoth proportions? Ban an iconic slogan? That’s all?
And first of all, is it the right reason that this august body has identified as the culprit for honking? Is this the reason we honk? Because we see a slogan written in front of us on a truck?
I know we are dumb, but that dumb? In that case we should NOT be honking in ‘No Honking’ zones, or for that matter we should not be smoking either, where such signs are displayed in a more visible and intimidation manner. Everything would be hunky dory.
Is this the simple solution to such a large social problem, when honking seems to have been ingrained to be our birth right, where we live under the impression that the louder we honk the more audible we will be, when we live under the misguided assumption that a mere press on the horn button will melt away the bottleneck in front of us and also the traffic, when we firmly believe in the miraculous powers of a horn that will restart a stalled car in front of us, or will instantly teach the learner in his vehicle to drive expertly in an instant and move out of our way.
Does the transport commissioner even realize that current deplorable state of the Indian traffic (in)discipline and road sense is also largely a part of their department’s doing. That a systematic apathy in enforcement from their end – which incidentally is their main job – has resulted in a culture of absolute disregard for their breed. No one and I mean NO one takes these jokers seriously on the road, as they are identified as the most visible embodiment of the bribe culture.
But that’s just one part of the whole problem.
We honk because we do not consider displaying patience on the road to be a virtue. When drivers squeeze in their cars in every available nook and corner in a jam in their attempt to beat their other brethren and arrive just a millisecond earlier than them. Can the commissioner enforce disciplined lane driving no matter how bad the jam?
We honk because we are disgusted by the portly memsahib, alighting in the middle of the road, right in front of her shop, in her own sweet time, with no sensitivity to the fact that there is a pile up behind her on the narrow road. Seriously why can’t she – assuming that she is more educated than her driver – instruct him to pull up on to the curb and then alight? Can the honorable commissioner ban people from stopping where they please? Can he educate drivers on such civic senses through a total overhaul of the Driving License Issuance procedure and system? NO he can’t because these are mammoth tasks, and he seriously does not have any inclination to bring about any social changes, Sorry that’s not in his KRA and certainly not on his ‘Job role’. Let someone else do the dirty job.
We honk when we see a green light and then a group of pedestrians trying to cross the road – in total disregard to their red light and certainly in no regard to their life, because for them, it’s an attitude issue – which says that ‘You-as-a-driver-are-responsible-for-my-safety-and-I-am-not-concerned-and-that-crossing-the-road-anywhere-anytime-&-anyhow-is-my-right…..!!! Can the honorable commissioner ensure that traffic crossings are kept free and drivers are accorded their right of way. Can jay-walking be banned? Can the driver also be accorded her rights?
We honk when we are suddenly confronted by a car sneaking in to change lanes and trying to enter my lane in an effort to be one up on the toll booth.
Or when a share-auto driver,
in a desperate bid to outrace his rivals, weaves in and out of traffic and even
trespasses or encroaches into my lane, forcing me to duck to the left…..Can Mr. Commissioner,
have the guts to take on the Auto unions to either ask their drivers to shape
up of face severe penalty including stripping away of their permits and
licenses? No he doesn’t.
We honk out in sheer despair when we are faced with a bottleneck in the road that arises out of an unplanned and faulty design in the carriageway that prevents seamless travel. Can some gutsy, logical and visionary commissioner liaison with the road departments and insist on having a say in changing the way in which we design roadways, crossings, intersections, and signaling?
We honk, when on large intersection, we are faced with a barrage of vehicles immediately starting from the other end, while we struggle to just scrape through. It’s indeed befuddling how signals of the other lane come on immediately after one lane has turned red without any time gap. A time gap, which will ensure that the intersection is cleared of all backlog and is perfectly and safely clear, before the next lane is given permission to cross? Is this rocket science or just pure non application of common sense, when incidentally this is a perfectly valid norm all over the world? Can the commissioner ask the programmers of these traffic lights to look into this simple matter?
We honk when we speed down a road with total disregard to anyone’s safety including our own, in an attempt to prove some point. Can the honorable commissioner enforce speed limits?
We honk in absolute frustration and contempt when we are faced with the prospect of spending the next 10 minutes in the extreme right, so called fast lane, on a highway, behind an overloaded truck, travelling at a speed of 20 kmph trying to overtake his brethren travelling at 15, when he has no right to block the lane with his misguided ambition. So can the commissioner/s influence the legislative authorities of this country to formulate laws to ban overloading, ban vintage and mechanically inefficient vehicles, and enforce MINIMUM speed limits on interstate highways through the use of appropriate prime movers? No he can’t do this either.
So he takes the easy way out. Ban an insignificant harmless slogan. Sheer tokenism, rather than take the bull by the horns and reform the system which has gone to the dogs.
So Mr. Commissioner / Legislator whatever. Next time you honk do let us know if there was a truck with this slogan in front of you that prompted you to honk. Oops I forget - you don’t drive, you have a chauffeur and a car with a fancy beacon. How can you be expected to be abreast of the realities of life. !!!
Wake Up India.....
Well said man...
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