Traffic rules exist and always there are quite a few who would think that they are there to be broken. This is a sad fact of life in countries like India. Recently the authorities are trying to do their best to ensure some sense of discipline and avoid unnecessary accidents on stretches in Mumbai and suburbs and also the expressways- down to the level of parading the accident –damaged vehicles to inculcate some sense in the public.
Having said that and giving the authorities due credit for the effort they are taking to instill discipline in this nation of unruly motorists, I cannot help but point out to what I recently spotted as a signage just before the start point of the -Pune expressway, which also has seen its share of peril in recent times.
Serious as the subject is, I could not but smile at the choice of words. What exactly is this minimum fine upto business ? Is it that one part of the bureaucracy wanted a minimum number while the other part screamed for a finiteness to the whole subject ?
Or is it that that originality of the idea to have a technically infinite fine clashed with the impending elections round the corner and the fear of “fined” electorate threatening to boot the government out to infinite space resulted in this maximalism ?
Or is it that some learned post doctoral fellow in mathematics in this country has decided to help the bureaucracy in providing up-to-date statistical data on fine collections via a complex software which can make ISRO seem like child’s play ? Maybe it is the government’s idea of starting to bring more and more people under the educational umbrella by quizzing the hapless motorist after he commits the mistake on the median, mode and standard deviation of the fine collection the past one month and the reprieve being proportional to the marks secured in this impromptu viva.
Being mathematically challenged, I decided to drive on….
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