Mumbai Police and Car Music Systems

The great (!) Mumbai Police have done it again…..in order to get some cheap publicity and to cover their inabilities in other areas,they have started a new drive through their traffic department.

Today I was reading Hindustan Times and surprised to read the news that Mumbai Traffic Police will now punish the car drivers for listening to the music on their car music systems!Are the Police mad?If listening to music is illegal then how come the sale of car stereos is allowed legally in this country?How come all those automotive manufacturers give open advertisements for factory fitted music systems as added attractions to their top end models?

Police claim that listening to the music distracts the driver and may cause accidents. Then are Police thinking of banning even co-passengers from sitting into the cars? Because they also can do the “crime” of talking to the driver and may “distract” him!

Let us see what causes distraction and what does not. I fully agree that speaking on mobile phones..even through hands free causes distraction. The reason is,the caller ,at the other side may not be aware of the road and traffic condition in which the recipient of the call is driving.He can not stop talking when there is a critical traffic condition /difficult patch to drive and allow the driver to get his car out of the mess first and then continue talking. Also the discussion may be of some important topic where the driver may have to concentrate fully (client call/business discussion/telephonic interview,etc etc)..and this may cause distraction while driving.

Now lets compare the case of a person ..say drivers family member like his wife sitting at the co driver seat.She may know that there is lot of traffic and hence she should keep quiet for some time to allow her husband steer clear through it.There is other form of communication which is non verbal and she may want to “communicate” non verbally…Or to make the point clear,in case she wants to convey that she is not very happy with him..she don’t have to say “I am unhappy and upset”. She can just keep a straight face and look out of the window without uttering a single word….the emotions are made clear to the driver..However if the same driver has to quarrel with his wife over a cell phone,then they have to waste their “creative” energies to find enough “vocabulary” to get the message across.. “Look,I am angry on you..”

Now what is the conclusion? The conclusion is, if the “sources” of the so called “noise” are internal to the vehicle like a co passenger or even a music system,it can be controlled and they can be “turned off” ..(.please do not take this literally in case of the above example….I do not mean to suggest “turning off “your wife….)

The music system/radio are for the relaxation of the driver and it may not be a factor which is out of control of the driver..so much that it will distract him…..

I guess Mumbai Police should concentrate on other ways to stop accidents…good roads and good traffic management are the two key factors to avoid road mishaps.

To close this..the funniest thing told by the DCP of Mumbai traffic police to HT in his interview is,rather than claiming that radio in car helps them to get traffic update,they should chek the update via SMS!Now if I am driving alone and need traffic updates,Mr.DCP expect me to get my cellphone out and send SMS to traffic police server and wait for update..which is more distractive?Passive listening to radio updates or active SMS sending?

P.S:Shortly Mumbai Police are banning the walkie-talkies from all their police jeaps…and also in the process of getting an order out than only one constable will be allowed to drive per jeep as if the other policement travel and speak,the driver may get distracted ..he he he