varun

Gone through this blog found at http://silkboard.wordpress.com/2006/06/09/ any comments?

Time to educate you on some more Bangalore traffic specialities.

Did you know about “q Turns” ? Let me describe this rather easy to explain Bangalore speciality. “q turn” is stylish Indian cousin of the plain vanilla “U turn”. A U turn happens when you keep turning right and right till you reverse your direction. But when executing a q-turn, the driver first turns slightly to the left to announce that hey, I am about to start on a U. This left deviation is then followed by the series of rights that eventually puts him in the reverse direction. Vehicle’s trail almost resembles a “q”, hence the name “q turn”!


You may have heard of "reckless drivers". At Bangalore we have "brakeless drivers". These drivers drive as if their vehicles dont have brakes, hence the name. They are usually found comanding the wheels of Toyota Qualis (a vehicle that helped associate word dumping with Toyota) or Tata Sumo (a rare four wheeler sold without any suspensions, Tata assumes you will accesorize with suspensions). Brakeless drivers excel in overtaking vehicles from any direction possible. I can guess - after spotting a few accidents - that one of them may have actually succeeded in overtaking a larger trucks by passing it under its belly. How to identify a brakeless driver? If you see a Qualis or a Sumo with a sticker behind it that says - “For feedback on this driver, please call” followed by scratched out string of digits - 90% chance that you have spotted one!



“Pttrrrr” is a tic term that may be explained better via a podcast. This event happens when an auto-rickshaw owner decides to use a mixture of petrol and kerosene as the fuel for his vehicle. The adulterated fuel will not only save him some money as Kerosene is subsidised fuel and hence cheaper, it also helps him get easy attention and hence more customers. How? This special fuel mixture works as a noise enhancer, each time you try to race the auto-rickshaw engine, it will produce an ear shattering noise. The “Pttrrrr” phenomenon is named after this exact noise.

rana

I want to add few more here...

Wobbling two wheelers are common on city roads. These two wheelers usually ride slow, around 30-40 kmph. And once in a while they pretend to lose control. When they do that, the scooter or mobike swerves left or right. This is followed by verbal exchanges between the wobbling rider and the rider or driver that just got brushed.


Before I tell you about this one, a pop quiz. Tell me the only two companies in the world that make “ gymnasiums“. Telco and Ashok Leyland! The gyms offer affordable fitness experience to bottom-of-pyramid consumers in our cities. Tail simulation is a popular exercise. They have special bars behind these buses you can hang on to. As the bus moves around, you simulate a tail and strengthen your biceps.


Ever heard of “broken ears”? Outside rear view mirrors (ORVMs) or the “ears” of all cars here lead a borrowed life. Any ORVM you see is either about to fall off or has just been fixed. These make perfect targets for two wheelers and autos to practice “brushing”. Plus, the “ears” serve as safety zones for cars and cabs. ‘Let me see how close I can get to my neighboring vehicle without touching it’. ‘Oh no, this is too close’ - and another broken ear on the road.


Unexplained mutations about a generation ago have produced this new variant of “color blindness” in India. Called “I see green“, it is common amongst city drivers. Symptoms? Red, amber, green or black (defunct signal), all colors appear green to the patient. Strangely enough, it is a very contagious disease that spreads on sight. Once you see a patient hit into the symptom at an intersection, the symptoms hit you. Everything around you turns green. And you wonder why they have three lights on each traffic pole, when they all can only shine green.