The traffic police of Bangalore city recently put a multitude of "half" speed breakers in place across busy roads of my area. For the uninitiated, a "half" speed breaker is one that exists only on the side of the road where the intention is to slow traffic down, e.g., just before a cross road.
The traffic police probably thought it was a master stroke of careful budgeting while also achieving targeted speed control. So far so good.
What really happened?
In Bangalore, most drivers believe speed is God. Fools risk the wrath of the One Above if they slow down at cross roads or at speed breakers or even to stop themselves from mowing others down. However, it's not pleasant to be bumped on a speed breaker when driving at breakneck speed. So these worshipers of Speed God devised another method to please their deity. The wonderfully pious drivers started to swerve to the *other* side of the road, each time they approached a speed breaker on their side!
No prizes for guessing that this led to total chaos not to mention close shaves for the hapless drivers on the non-speed breaker side of the road.
Fortunately, the traffic police quickly caught on to the mess they inadvertently created, and overnight the speed breakers were all extended to cover the entire road.
This led to two things:
1> Folks being forced to slow down for no reason because the speed breakers were uniformly extended, irrespective of which side of the road they were needed.
2> The Speed God worshipers got nasty bumps as they swerved to the wrong side of the road, only to be met by ... a speed breaker.
While I must admit I enjoyed the spectacle that <2> created, it does sadden me to live in a city where people think of driving rules as mere advisories to be flouted at will.
The traffic police probably thought it was a master stroke of careful budgeting while also achieving targeted speed control. So far so good.
What really happened?
In Bangalore, most drivers believe speed is God. Fools risk the wrath of the One Above if they slow down at cross roads or at speed breakers or even to stop themselves from mowing others down. However, it's not pleasant to be bumped on a speed breaker when driving at breakneck speed. So these worshipers of Speed God devised another method to please their deity. The wonderfully pious drivers started to swerve to the *other* side of the road, each time they approached a speed breaker on their side!
No prizes for guessing that this led to total chaos not to mention close shaves for the hapless drivers on the non-speed breaker side of the road.
Fortunately, the traffic police quickly caught on to the mess they inadvertently created, and overnight the speed breakers were all extended to cover the entire road.
This led to two things:
1> Folks being forced to slow down for no reason because the speed breakers were uniformly extended, irrespective of which side of the road they were needed.
2> The Speed God worshipers got nasty bumps as they swerved to the wrong side of the road, only to be met by ... a speed breaker.
While I must admit I enjoyed the spectacle that <2> created, it does sadden me to live in a city where people think of driving rules as mere advisories to be flouted at will.
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