When will they Improve??

It's been some time now that there are articles that have been coming up in news papers regarding the steps the PMPML is taking to make sure it's drivers follow the traffic rules...
A Great sign and Effort which does need to be applauded.... In fact i have been noticing PMPML buses with keen interests after all this and i must say that 6/10 buses are making sure they are not letting their bosses down... so wel done drivers of such buses....
unfortunately thought jus 2 days back i happened to witness somethin... what... read on..

this happened on senapati bapat road at the dominoes signal... i was waitin at the signal rite behind a PMPML bus.. i was very happy to see that the bus driver had made sure he stopped before the zebra crossing. There was also a sticker put up behind on the window of the bus which read "i am ashamed of stoppin in front or on the zebra crossing. I will make sure i obey traffic rules" (all this was in marathi, i'm just translating)

seeing all this, i was really impressed, but.... but... unfortunately, for some reason or the other something got into the driver and the fellow just took off from no wher, when there were still 10 seconds left for our signal to turn green.... i mean, once again it makes me wonder, what was he thinkin???? or wher exactly he had to go, that he could not wait for 10 seconds??!!!!! this just spoilt all the good work he had done.... i wish i could have taken a snap of this and earned my self Rs.100/-!!

Which "year" is this fellow living in.... it's been atleast 6-7 years since the format of number plates was changed... it is now black letters on white background, but obviously this one seems to have missed out on that.... this is the 3rd case i have come across in just about a span of 3 weeks, fortunately this time round i was able to take a snap of this...!

again, million dollar question, WHY??????!!!!! i alway's wonder what people talk, or what is so IMPORTANT that they cant take their vehicle to the side and then speak on the phone... this is even more dangerous when on scooter (for eg. an acitva or scooty) as the hand that is holding the phone is the one which is used to apply the BACK brake... so...!!!!

one more... this lady came almost 15-20 mtrs down the wrong side of the road, least bothered of the on coming traffic... why??!!! what pleasure these people get by doing such things??!!! and it's their own life they putting at risk, and the best part is that it seems they dont even realise this, or are noth bothered of the fact that such stupidity could one day cause harm to them, and may be to others also who are not at fault!!
and all this is done for what??!!! to save certain amount of petrol!!! they are so concerned about the resources getting over isnt it???!!!!

TATA bus (MH14-BA-8037), again very clearly seen that the signal is red, but what's going through the bus drivers mind, he only knows??!!! i mean, why would a SANE person o'wise wait in the MIDDLE OF THE ROAD when his signal is RED??!!! this is RIDICULOUS... it's about time these CO. buses are put to task by the owners themselves!!!

What are they Doing??!!!! it is clearly seen in the photo (right hand corner) that the signal is green for the vehicles coming from the other side, then what are the 2 scooters (both uncles, one on an activa and the other on a scooty) doing in the middle of the road when their signal is RED??!!!! (this photo is taken at Hutatma Rajguru Chowk near Karishma Soc. Kothrud wherin the people coming from karishma, goin towards MIT college like the 2 uncles) have a red signal, when the signal seen in the photo is green!!!) and these are the people who very readily and conviniently blame the "young generation" for driving rashly....! they are setting such fine examples themselves!!! once again, WEL DONE!!!!

as You can see (standing on the line, left to right are Pooja,Mayuresh, Radhika, Parag's Brother and Abhay) are making sure that the work done by mr mane in stream lining the traffic does not go waste...

who said Cops dont do their duty.... Mr.Gautam Mane, the cop in picture, is trying to get people to stay within the white "dividin" line that is drawn on the road, so tht people comin from the other side are not blocked....

is somethin missing out here??!!! NUMBER PLATE??!!!!

What exactly is he talkin or what is so important that he cant WAIT and TALK??!! and the interesting part to note ( i was rite there observing him so i can tell all this) was that he stopped to remove the phone from his pant pocket, (he tried to remove it while riding the bike, but did nt manage,so stopped) and then continued on his bike while speakin on the phone... how DUM is that??!!!

this is exactly what i meant by Role Parents play.... Both the ladies are comin down the WRONG SIDE of the road.... the one in the background is taking her kid along wit her, n this is what the kids gonna do when he Grows up... So Wel Done PARENTS!!! keep up the 'GOOD WORK'!!!

First Attempt at Traffic Control

It was a hot late-afternoon and when most of the people were yet to arise out of their Sunday afternoon siesta, a group of friends, including yours truly, assembled at the busy Karishma square for what was going to be our first attempt at traffic control. Each one of us had a million questions as to how to and what would be the starting point of our task. Our first point of contact was Mr. Gautam Mane, the officer in-charge of controlling the traffic at the square. After a brief introductory chat and discussion, we decided to control the traffic that came from City Pride. The task was cut-out. We had to ensure that everyone stays behind the dividing line so as to allow the traffic proceeding towards Karishma, Pizza Hut and Swapnashilpa to pass smoothly, which is the crux of the problem in that square.
We formed a human chain and ensured that the traffic does not spill on to the opposite lane causing hindrance to the traffic coming from Karve Road (especially for those that drive from Karve Statue towards Pizza Hut). As the evening wore on and the peak hour approached, there was a marked increase in the volume of traffic and we had to be alert constantly in order to keep the traffic streamlined. As we did our little share, Mr. Mane and his colleagues continued to manage the heavy traffic with great skill and perfection.
The whole exercise earned us quite a share of bouquets and brickbats, making the whole effort fairly fruitful. We also realized how difficult and thankless work our city traffic police have to do. Unfortunately, despite their hard work, more often than not, the traffic police end up being at the receiving end of our criticisms. Personally, my respect for the cops has gone up several notches and has made me acknowledge the herculean task that they undertake daily, of single-handedly controlling the unrelenting traffic of our city.
Overall, it was a great eye-opener and a huge learning experience for each one of us. It also taught us that WE as citizens can help the Traffic police immensely, and for that all we have to do is that the next time we see RED LIGHT WE STOP... cant WE "EDUCATED" people do even this much??!!!!
Let’s hope that this is a firm beginning for several greater efforts to come.

This article has been Written by my Friend Radhika Rao, im jus posting it on her behalf!

The man who helped us out to acheive our 1st objective.... Mr. Gautam Mane.!! (this is the 1st of a series of photo's i'l be putting up... also an article i wil be posting)

Role Parents Play

Jus the other day i read an article in the paper wher in a young boy age 16 with 2 of his friends had gone for a "drive" in a honda city and sadly he met with an accident and passed away.... Who is to be BLAMED???!!!! the boy?? For me it's the PARENTS... how on earth was the boy allowed to even SIT in the drivers seat.... he ws 16, jus got eligible for getting a 2 wheeler licence and here he is speedin away in a car!!!!
how can Parents be so careless....
Parents and the ROLE they play (nothing personal against parents here btw!! :-))... For me, they are the ones who should be held responsible (especially for all the accidents that are taking place in the age group of 16-20)
why i say this....
simple...
i'l give an eg.(may have happened in real also)
a young boy is goin wit his father or mother in/on a car/scooter and the father/mother jump the signal... the boy asks why did you jump the signal, and prompt comes the reply, it's k nothing happens...
Excuse Me??!!!! nothing happens??!!! what kind of a reply is that... or what an "ideal" example is the parent setting in front of his child??!! the same kid when he grows up he's gonna say that if my parents break the signal why cant i, i mean if they dont find it wrong, why should i or rather HOW CAN IT BE WRONG??!!!

another eg i could give is of young kids travellin on their cycles... these kids come ridin down the wrong side , break rules thinkin it's allowed as they r on cycle etc... n once they grow up and "motor" is added to "cycle" they do the same thing.... so it's all hand in hand....
this however if is brought to the childs notice by his parents i'm sure he will respect Traffic Rules... but for that the Parents must 1st make sure they themselves are Disciplined and respect the rules laid down, cause then only can they expect their children to do the same....

Also i feel that the main target now of all organisations, groups etc should be the "youngistan"!!! cause these are the ones who are gonna be joinin the bandwagon with their bikes and cars.... so if they ready to follow and respect the laws laid down, life's gonna be a lot easier... of course we must Spread Awareness among the existing people also, and try our best to persuade them to Obey rules, but "youngistan" has to be the "LAKSHYA" for me...!!
:-))

Good to See!!

I dont know how it happened, when it happened but i surely know why its happening, it is for the good of all of us. 2 weeks ago we members of My Pune.com had started activity of clicking pictures of people voilating the laws on traffic signals, capturing pix of PMT breaking the signals.. etc. After that I have been observing, suddenly people have started obeying the laws. That also in the early morning time which according me or rather Pune is impossible to imagine. Also PMTs are following it strictly. May be this is the condition for the route which i follow regularly for my activities, office , home etc. But i am definitely happy on the progress which has taken place.!! Hope it continues and other people learn it faster! Would like to hear your latest experience.
PS: You can write down your experience in comments.

Indian mentality - the bigger vehicle gets blaimed

For long I have been observing one thing, where ever there is an accident or some sort of problem involving vehicles ...
the bigger vehicle involved gets the blame..
Just think of any of the accident sites, pedestrian v/s Scooter / 2 wheeler, the scooter rider gets the blame ..
2 wheeler n car , car gets the blame, & so on ...

its time people realise that the blame might also be of the smaller vehicle or may be of smaller vehicle only ...

Follow Traffic Rules! Save Pune !

Roads dug up

Late last week i.e Friday, the stretch from MIT school, where Paud road bifercates till the end of Anand nagar was re laid.
Machines & people worked day & night for two consecutive days, to get the road back in shape.
For people like me who resid in the area it was a big relief. Added to it was the fact that a signal was being put up near Bombay stationaries.
However, as usual the joy was short lived.
In a perfect display of lack of co - ordination between various departments of PMC, the road was dug up, the very next day.
Something which was pre planned.
The road is still in a bad state, opposite bombay stationary & work is going on to lay pipes.
There is no certainty that the road would be done up & even if it is , it would be just patch work...

we often blame two wheelers for flouting traffic rules but conviniently forgot pedestrians.... jus wanted to bring to notice that most of the times when a person on foot is knocked down, 9/10 times we blame the motorist.... why??!!! why dont we blame the pedestrain... jus putting across a situation wher u wil notice how sometimes for no fault of theirs motorist's are targeted... in the above pic if a two wheeler knocks down any1 of them, i would blame the ppl walkin not the motorist.... why??!!! cause behind them if u can notice the white lines (in short called pedestrian crossing), that is where these people should be walking and crossin the road from, not from the MIDDLE of the ROAD!!!! so these things need to be considered as wel... small things, but equally IMPORTANT!!! so hopefully next time when u guys are crossing the road n happen to notice such white lines USE THEM, cause then if ur knocked down it definitely is the fault of the Motorist!!
:-)

hello every one....
well i'm sure all of us are fed up of the traffic voes we have to face daily... frankly speakin we are kinda helpless too in certain situations, and sometimes we feel tht 'only if we could have got to Change this scenario' .... i say , why only feel, but... YES OF COURSE we can bring about a Change in the Scenario.... all we have to do is follow certain SIMPLE BASIC things (i want say rules, cause suddenly the mentality changes, when the word RULE is flashed in front of us) any way's... so what BASIC things am i talking about, well i'm jus gonna be noting them down... you can go through them (these are not taken from any rule book directly, so there may be a chance of mistakes, i do apologize for them)
i'l start of wit the one's for Drivers or Riders.. here we go...
1. Red Signal- STOP
2. Yellow Signal- SLOW DOWN (pls dnt speed up n try to get to the
other side of the road)
3. Green Signal- u can NOW Go!
4. Yellow Flickering Arrow Signal- U hv a free left turn. PLEASE NOTE,
if u dnt c this yellow signal, u DONT hv a FREE left turn, u HAVE TO
WAIT for the signal to turn green to go Left!
5. Please STOP before the White Lines tht u see drawn before Most
signals. in front of these lines there r Horizontal white lines drawn
which Indicate Pedestrian Crossin... it's the PLACE wher Pedestrians r
suppose to cross the road, so please stop ur vehicles BEFORE the
lines, n not ON those lines.
6.The continuous white lines that r drawn in the middle of the Road,
actually is suppose to be an Imaginary Divider, so obviously u r NOT
SUPPOSED to over take on such roads (atleast not by goin on the other
side of the white line, u may by stayin on ur side of the line... u
wil see such lines mostly on Bridges, eg of such Bridge is S.M.Joshi
bridge near Garware College... ) same way u'l see dotted white lines (or
broken white lines) on the road, which also is suppose to be an
imaginary divider, but u CAN over take....
7. The "pass" light tht we all use... well ther's a rule to tht
also... One Long Pass means U telling the guy in front of u to Stop so
that u can go, but if u give the "pass" light more thn once, means u
tellin the person in front of U to Go n u wil WAIT. so next time b
careful...
8.When u want to Turn (right/left) you r Expected to Give ur Indicator
atleast 50 mtrs b4 u turn, n not when you r just about to turn... so u
should be in ur lane accordingly... i.e if u want to turn left, u shld
b on the left of the road "at least" 50 mtrs b4 givin proper indicator.
9. We follow Right Hand Side Traffic rule, which means that you have
to Give Way to the Person on your RIGHT... to b more clear, if
approachin say a "round about" (the cirlce that is ther in the middle
of the road) u have to wait n let the traffic on ur right hand side go
1st n then u go....
10. When u comin frm a lane n joinin the main road, please look RIGHT
1st n then LEFT, nt the other way round.... also please STOP n then
come out of the lane n not come out of the Lane n STOP on the road as
tht causes a lot of accidents...
11. Horn only when absolutely required, n PLEASE DO NOT USE YOUR HORN
when u see the signal turn Green n person in front of u is stil to
move... he's gonna move, he's not waitin there to start a PARTY, jus b
Patient!!
12. When turning Left, please make sure u Turn "sharp" as in by stayin to the LEFT of the road. For a Right turn u take a "broad" turn, as in u turn from the Center of the road, and as u turn u join on the Left lane of the Road, and don't Cut back in onto the Right lane.

Now somethin for the Pedestrians....
1. Use the Footpath wherever available and access able.
2. Walk ALWAYS on the right side(this is because u can always see what is coming towards u and thus prepare yourself accordingly) of the ROAD if there is no footpath.
3. Be vigilant of traffic while walking along the side of the road.
4. ALWAYS Use Zebra-crossing to cross a road wherever available.
5. Before crossing a road FIRST look to your right and then to the left, not the other way round please!!!!!
6. While crossing a road if a vehicle suddenly comes at you, just stand still, don't move back and forth as all your doin is confusing the person in front of u!

i hope we all take a note of these things and also IMPLEMENT them the next time we are out on/in our vehicles....
Happy and Safe Driving or Riding!! :)

The Good Man

Nariyal Pani Wala Standing before the line for the Green Signal!!

Flirting with traffic... the 1st experiment

A gang of 10 friends, in their early 20's meeting at a eating joint, the traditional cuppa of tea replaced by lemon water Few of them working, few of them studying, nothin in common but one, desire,desire to do something,hunger to change the worldburning desire to have an idea on which they can work, carry on & do good to the society. Generations &generations of people have felt this desire in their early 20s, hardly anybody could transform it into reality, with this at the back of the mind & the challenges in front, the discussion starts,tempers go high, cribbing comes in, efforts are measured, time slots are decided,everybody knows, an idea, can change our lives, but where is that idea... and there is comes... to do something good for the traffic in pune... the best case is discussed, a trouble free traffic, disciplined & smooth, in pune & so is the worst case, nooo, its not thefailure , our determination is just too much to even think of it, the worst case being spreading awareness. Now with the idea in place, discussion shifts, people are more eager to contribute & jotting down of points starts,Many other groups are discussed, how they work, why they failed, what went wrong & a SWOT, strengths , weakness, opportunity , threats for our own group done Its time to get on to the field... Sunday 23rd March, morning 10am, a small group of 3 assemble at good luck chowk, one of the oldest & most famous places in pune.Objective : None ...None because we had no idea what to expect & its always better to be there with a blank, empty mind ! Two good photographers, Parag & Sameer, & myself, Ameya, started off with observing the traffic in Good luck chowk, next to Home Decor near Sagar Arcade on FC road.Something which was already known got confirmed,hardly anybody stops before the stop line. The reason of selecting good luck chowk was that, recently it has been spruced up & all the roads leading to it, have zebra crossing as well as stop lines, so it is easier to see if people follow rules out here. About 4-5 vehicles stopped ahead of stop line on each cycle of signal.We always feel that we are so called educated class of the city & what not, but we were utterly shocked when we saw a nariyal pani wala stopping before the stop line with his cart & 2 wheelers crossing the line. Being youngsters we have always heard people shouting & yelling that 20 somethings dont know how to drive, but then again what we observed was totally opposite, it was the 40 sumthings who were more than eager to go past the signal, leave aside the stop line . . . ! A whole team of police led by API Garde was stationed at the chowk & spotting us take photos, 1 warden & 1 police was sent to this side to enforce the rules.They were doing a really good job but the commuters just refuse to listen to them. Seeing that the police are doing their job well, we shifted our location, we crossed the road & went opposite to Good luck, from where vehicles turn to JM road,most of the times under impression that there is a FREE RIGHT.Here we had an objective in mind, to take snaps of PMT busses which break signals.. and we were successful in that. The stop line & the signal post on this side have a big gap in them & it tempts people to come forward.Seeing us there, few more police were summoned & posted out there who were trying their best to enforce the law. A scooter wala driving without a number plate was caught. & then a bajaj good auto for carrying excess load.It was a great sight, to see law being enforced in such a strict manner. After many many instances of people being forced to stop, leave aside stopping before the stop line, we decided to wind up, but not before talking to the police force deputed there. And so we met up API GARDE, who was leading the team out there at good luck chowk.Our first Q was why do we require police to enforce?The signals are working, the rules are known, why shouldnt the commuters themselves follow it ?He said, it was his wish to see this happen but has no hopes that something like this would happen in his lifetime.Another constable, Varpe, who has served the police force for 33yrs, joined in & shared his experiences.API Garde, has a wish that there should be a system, wherein your snap is clicked for breaking the signal, followed by that being linked to central system which sends you the snap & deducts the fine from your bank a/c. All said & done, a sense of doing some thing or rather starting something was sufficient to make this sunday a memorable one.Offcourse, well begone is half done but there are many generations who have left it at that half done level & its challenging to complete any task.The determination & the enthusiasm shall take us ahead... & more than anything else, the burning desire to do something, something good which ultimately benefits all. ..Ameya

E-mail to pttf (Pune Traffic & Transportation Forum)

Dear Sir,
I am Parag Deshpande, residing in Dhanukar Colony, Kothrud. I have been thinking of public transportation and violation of laws on the road since many days. I have seen many people violating the rules on signals, honking the horns even when the signal is red. In the last month I have observed largely, people spitting on the road has increased tremendously. So me and some of my friends came up with an idea of Capturing people violating laws on the road, throwing garbage anywhere (not in the dustbin, from the bridge into the river), people spitting on the road and publishing them in newspapers, websites etc. in some media. We also came up with the idea of publishing photos of people who are not violating the rules, so that the bad one's can really learn something from these good people. I guess after seeing one's photo in the paper or website people will get ashamed and may become a better citizen for the society.Can you help us in publishing these photos in some public media? Or can i get some contacts where in i can speak with them?Thank You in advance and hoping for your co-operation

Regards
Parag Deshpande
97666 90900