Bandh karo yeh music!!!!

Dear Readers

The crackdown on drunk driving has definitely made the Mumbai roads safer. But the traffic police are taking the enthusiasm a bit too far, and are implementing a ban on music in cars across the city. They believe this will prevent drivers from getting distracted while driving, and will thus reduce road accidents.

An excerpt from the Mid Day (26/08/08): Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic, Suburban) S M Sabde said, “Talking on the mobile phone while driving distracts the driver. As does listening to music.” He added that those guilty of playing music in a car will be fined Rs 500 under Section 190 (2) of the Motor Vehicles Act, which deals with violation of standards of road safety, control of noise and air pollution. Why did the cops suddenly decide to crack down on music? “The law always existed. All we are doing is follow it seriously, to prevent losing innocent lives. I have already instructed traffic policemen in my jurisdiction (Mahim to Dahisar) to be extra cautious about such violators. We will come down heavily on them in the coming days,” Sabde reiterated.

Agreed that there should be a fine on loud music in vehicles. But a complete ban on music? It may in fact worsen the problem. I think we all agree that driving on the roads in nearly every major city in India is a stressful and pissing off activity during peak hours. Music is obviously the only way out. From now on the phenomenon of road rage, mostly limited to games like Burnout and Need for Speed, will be something commonly seen on the Mumbai roads.

Those in the radio business will definitely be affected. Radio stations connect these poor souls stuck in cars that are in turn stuck in traffic jams to the world outside that of long rows of vehicles, most of them having pissed off, irritated drivers at the wheel with a chronic habit of honking furiously and swearing at other drivers.

And I fail to understand, how exactly are the traffic cops supposed to distinguish between those cars that have music playing in them from the ones that don’t? Surely, it is impossible to do so unless the music is either very loud or the cop decides to stop the car and check if the guy inside is “distracting” himself with music. Or in extreme cases, such vehicles are identifiable if any of the occupants of the vehicle are seen making weird gyrating movements (imitations of Pappu Cant Dance and Dard-e-Disco are also classified as weird gyrating movements). If the occupant in question is a passenger, the cop is required to verify whether or not it is a personal media device that the music is being played out of. And if it is a personal media device, it has to be verified if the music is being listened to with a pair of headphones thereby not causing any “distraction” to the driver.

I really don’t think betel-chewing beedi-smoking traffic cops would fancy going through the above process for the sake of traffic rules. I predict that to eliminate the lengthy process described above, the next thing that will be banned by the Mumbai Traffic Police will be car stereos and decks. The Traffic Police Dept needs to understand that if there are not enough hats to go around, the problem isn’t solved by lopping off some heads.

Yours Ludicrously