Traffic Violators
So, You may have heard about the first result in youtube for the search query “India”. It is called “India driving”, a candid potrait on what happens on Indian roads. One of my friends has even come to a conclusion that Indians dont have the disciplined driving gene in us. Even if you forget the bad PR that such a video could do to the country ( and it’s tourism), it is still necessary that we figure out a way to fix this problem just so that we reach our homes safely.
A little while ago, Siddharth was talking to me about traffic violations and an idea he had about creating a wall of shame and possibly also enable people to say sorry. And then he stumbled upon Traffic Violators.
Although the idea is novel and I have to congratulate Abhishek Kant for the initiative, the website needs to come a long way before it can really make a change.
For the most part, the people who report the violation probably want to remain anonymous. As much as I want better driving conditions, I would rather not get fire from someone else. I dont understand why I have to create a login to report a violation. If you are going to trace me back, I guess, I would not even report in the first place. Also, Login/Register is a big fallout. When it comes to “citizen initiatives” you have to make it as easy and compelling as possible.
There are about four violations as of now in a corner of the page. If the site is about violations, should that occupy center stage? Also, it is unclear what happens once I report. Do you give an opportunity for the owner to come back and say sorry? What about “cabs” driven by employed people? Most of the “travels” vehicles have a “Do I drive bad” sticker stuck somewhere on the car. Shouldnt it be possible to report that too? Other related information such as what is the kind of vehicle and what is the kind of violation is worth reporting as well. How will the information get disseminated? The more places you are able to see it, the better. I am probably talking about an API or a widget.
Anyways, Cheers! to Abhishek and all others involved and drive safe. Please dont Honk.
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Traffic violations are a way of life in India. Can you imagine how much time it would take you to reach office if everyone followed lane discipline considering that the roads are generally 1/8th the size and 4 times more populated. Sometimes I think it is not as bad as it is made out to be. The number of road accidents are surprisingly lower compared to any other country. The existing system seems to be the best solution, given the circumstances. The system seems to have reached an equilibrium minimizing all the costs involved(accidents, commute times etc etc)
Parashuram
19 Dec 07 at 4:39 PM
@parashuram : I agree with you on many fronts, But that does not make traffic violations right. I am not talking about people sticking to lanes. I am talking about people driving on the wrong side. People honking from behind when there is a red signal.
Basic stuff. Surely, they cannot and are not a way of life.
shivku
20 Dec 07 at 12:36 PM
hi
thanks for your review of trafficviolators.com.
we have now completed our code sprint and are ready with Version 2. In the new release we sorted out a few bugs and implemented a host of new features. And guess what, the features were what you asked for. For a list of features that we took to work on, please refer here:
http://trafficviolators.wordpress.com/2008/05/30/revamping-trafficviolators/
We invite you to take a look at the enhancements done. You are certain to see your feature request being taken care off. We would feel very encouraged if you could take a moment to browse through the site and again share your thoughts around the same.
We are holding off announcing the new version of the site till July 1 2008 so that you can get an early preview. Based on further feedback we receive, we will make the choice of going live or not on July 1. In case you have any suggestions/ comments for us, please let us know at info@trafficviolators.com.
Thank you for your support and encouragement.
Abhishek Kant
25 Jun 08 at 1:53 AM