One thing those bullet lovers are absolutely fascinated by their bullet is the thunderous dug-dug sound of their bullets. And why wouldn’t they? It makes the heads turn of every bystander on the road. Now whether these heads turn in awe or agony that still remains a question.
Nonetheless, if you are one of those who gets irritated by this blasting sound of a bullet then Congratulations! Your ‘acche din’ has arrived.
Police in Udaipur is taking a campaign level action against those bikers whose bullet bikes makes deafening cracker like noises on the streets of the city. 25 such bullets were caught yesterday by the traffic police. Traffic inspector, Netrapal Singh said “The natural sound of a bullet bike is normal. But the owners of these bikes later modify the silencer of these bikes into the one that makes the cracker like noise from the bike. This kind of bike riding is put under the category of dangerous bike riding and due to the same, police is taking required measures”.
Source: Udaipur Times
In case you are wondering what happens once they are caught, these bikes are confiscated by the police and just filling the challan won’t help you to release your bikes. While your beloved bullet is at the station, you have to get the modified silencer replaced by the original one after which you have to fill the challan of one thousand rupees. Only once you are through with the entire process are you allowed to take your bullet back.
This might be too disheartening for some bullet riders in the city but safety is more important than fancy.
News Source: Dainik Bhaskar
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We all are very well aware about the vulnerable traffic conditions of Udaipur. There is no Red Light, No Zebra Crossing, No Safety Concerns for drivers and other traffic on road that are using it. Not even pedestrians are aware about the proper use of road and the traffic that is running on the road. For the worst traffic situation in the city a little bit credit goes to those who are not driving or nor using the road as pedestrians. Then who are they? The credit goes to the road side stalls and other shop owners who encroach the property and prove a hurdle for the running traffic. There are many reasons for such horrible traffic in Udaipur.
This is the scenario for the day and during the night the other half of the problem comes into the picture. But, what is that? No doubt, you might have experienced many times when you had driven a bike or another two wheeler during night. The focusing high beam lights of other vehicles penetrate straight away into your eyes and leave you blind almost. You are left with no choice to stop aside or slow down your vehicle. Let us know the fact whether it is really necessary for all of us to drive using high beam lights.
I remember when I started learning driving I was always told the dos and don’ts to keep in mind while driving. One of them was No High Beam. In metro cities like Delhi the drivers are penalized for driving using high beam. If driving using high beam is an offence then why they are provided in vehicles. The answer is very straight forward and simple. Do you face the same driving scenario and same driving conditions every day? No, and accordingly we reciprocate to the situation we have to face ahead.
High beams are not meant for use inside the city. They are supposed to be used where there are multiple lanes of traffic and there is least chance of blinding drivers coming from the opposite direction. High beams are made to provide clarity of view from long distance. Thus vehicles moving at high speed must be able to see the road and hurdles on road if there are any from a long distance. This would enable them to decide and have better control on their vehicle. Stopping distance vary according to the speed of the vehicle. High beams should only be used where there are no street lights and secondly where vehicles move at a high speed. Both these factors relate to highway traffic and is not meant for the traffic running within a city. NO to high beam head light within the city should be respected and obeyed as a universal traffic rule.
According to the traffic police most drivers when penalized for ignoring the rule plead for the ignorance. They claim that they were unaware that using high beam within the city is an offence. And there is flock of drivers who are educated but still ignore the inconvenience caused to others.
It is not yet too late. Make a habit to check your level of head light before gearing up your vehicle on road especially during the night. Use high beam only when you really need it. It is a good driving practice to turn your head light to low beam when you notice some other vehicle coming from the opposite direction. This would help them to judge the road and would offer a clean and clear visibility. Say NO to High Beam.
Just a few days back I started off my bike and drove though a busy road in Udaipur. Weather was quite chill that morning and I had packed up myself thoroughly. On a crossing I stopped my bike at red signal. After two or three seconds later a car stopped behind me. And to my surprise the car owner started honking. He was asking me to give way to cross the road. I had no choice so gave him the way and he started crossing in the red signal itself. The other vehicles and two wheelers also followed the suite. Meanwhile a girl, pedestrian, was also crossing the road and her eyes, ears and hands all were occupied in her cell phone. And she had no idea of how many vehicles were approaching to her. Anyways, she escaped from any mishap. The next moment the signal turned green and I left to my way.
This is a common story, almost every day we see at our roads and crossing of Udaipur. In my case nothing vulnerable happened, but is everyone lucky like that girl who managed herself and safely crossed the road. You might have seen on a TV channel like Discovery and Animal Planet when a flock of millions of birds fly and migrate. They fly keeping a minimum distance but they do not collide with each other. They fly in sync and remain safe. This is not the case with humans. We cannot drive on road in a tandem. We have got different vehicles, different speed limits, different direction and a different purpose to drive. We cannot be in rhythm on road. Due to this diversity in our driving habits; traffic rules were made to keep a control on us. Situation becomes worse when we do not follow them even.
When things fall out of place then another layer is laid down to teach us a lesson – how to behave and how to be a good human being. The initiatives are then taken by the Government and different NGO’s which are committed to improve the statistics of road accidents that happen every year. Road Safety Week is an example of such initiative.
The Road Safety Week is an initiative that is being observed every year from 1 Jan to 7 Jan. It is initiated by the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways. The National Safety Council supplement the efforts of the Ministry, the Council from the year 2011 has started producing promotional materials like cloth banners, safety posters, pocket guides, safety films, etc to help its Members / Patrons to observe Road Safety Week effectively.
The state government at times modifies the date set by the Ministry and they declare a new date for the Road Safety Week in the state. This year the 24th Road Safety Week would be observed from 16th Jan 20 22nd Jan in Rajasthan. The Transport Department, Government of Rajasthan in collaboration with Traffic Police and other NGOs would work together to make this Road Safety Week successful. Many different activities would take place during the week to impart traffic and traffic rules awareness among the mass.
In the city like Jaipur the helmet was made compulsory a decade back, followed by helmet for pillion and they have also planned to launch the penalties for pedestrians who do not follow the rules on road. We, the people of Udaipur must take and learn the lesson from Jaipur and we should ask our self where we stand in terms of following the traffic rules and what driving sense we have on road.
Although it’s not too late yet, learn something new and enhance your knowledge during this Road Safety Week. Be an active participant and also help the administration to make this week a success.
