Horn OK Please or Sound Horn is a phrase commonly painted on commercial vehicles like trucks, buses and local taxis in India, [1] [2] to alert drivers of vehicles approaching from behind to sound their horns if they wish to overtake. [3]
On April 30, 2015, the Government of Maharashtra banned the use of "Horn OK Please" on the rear of commercial vehicles, on the grounds that it encouraged motorists to honk unnecessarily and caused noise pollution. In Maharashtra, such signage is a violation of Section 134 (1) of the Maharashtra Motor Vehicle Rules. [4]
Bal Malkit Singh, former president of the All India Motor Transport Congress, welcomed the ban, stating that the phrase was required in the past when the roads were narrow; but that on modern wide roads and multi-lane highways, drivers could use lights and indicators to overtake other vehicles. [5]
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport freight, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction, with a cabin that is independent of the payload portion of the vehicle. Smaller varieties may be mechanically similar to some automobiles. Commercial trucks can be very large and powerful and may be configured to be mounted with specialized equipment, such as in the case of refuse trucks, fire trucks, concrete mixers, and suction excavators. In American English, a commercial vehicle without a trailer or other articulation is formally a "straight truck" while one designed specifically to pull a trailer is not a truck but a "tractor".
A motor vehicle, also known as a motorized vehicle, automotive vehicle, automobile, or road vehicle, is a self-propelled land vehicle, commonly wheeled, that does not operate on rails and is used for the transportation of people or cargo.
An auto rickshaw is a motorized version of the pulled rickshaw or cycle rickshaw. Most have three wheels and do not tilt. They are known by many terms in various countries, including 3wheel, Adaidaita Sahu, Keke-napep, Maruwa, auto rickshaw, auto, baby taxi, bajaj, bao-bao, chand gari, easy bike, jonnybee, lapa, lapa-lapa, mototaxi, pigeon, pragya, tuktuk, tukxi, and tum-tum.
A passing lane, overtaking lane is a lane on a multi-lane highway or motorway closest to the median of the road used for passing vehicles in other lanes. Countries with right-hand traffic put the passing lane on the left; those with left-hand traffic put the passing lane on the right. Motorways typically have passing lanes along their entire length, but other roads might only have passing lanes for certain segments, depending on design specifications typically related to available space, funding, and traffic levels. A 2+1 road alternates the passing lane between directions every few kilometers/miles.
All motorised vehicles plying on public roads in India are tagged with a registration or licence number. The vehicle registration plate is issued by a Regional Transport Office (RTO), the district-level authority on road matters in the respective state or Union Territory. The number plates are mandatory on both front and rear of the vehicle and are required to be in modern Arabic numerals with Latin letters. Complete specification of registration plates are specified under the HSRP: High Security Registration Plate rules.
The Mumbai–Pune Expressway is India's first 6-lane wide concrete, access-controlled tolled expressway. It spans a distance of 94.5km connecting Raigad-Navi Mumbai-Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra state and the financial capital of India, with Pune, the cultural and educational capital of Maharashtra. The expressway, which was fully operationalized in 2002, introduced new levels of speed and safety in automobile transportation to Indian roads. It is one of India's busiest roads.
The automotive industry in India is the world's fourth-largest by production and valuation as per 2022 statistics. As of 2023, India is the 3rd largest automobile market in the world in terms of sales.
Roadway noise is the collective sound energy emanating from motor vehicles. It consists chiefly of road surface, tire, engine/transmission, aerodynamic, and braking elements. Noise of rolling tires driving on pavement is found to be the biggest contributor of highway noise and increases with higher vehicle speeds.
The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation abbreviated as, is the state run bus service of Maharashtra, India which serves routes to towns and cities within Maharashtra as well as to its adjoining states. It also offers a facility for online booking of tickets for all buses. Recently from 21 May 2020, the Corporation Started Goods Transportation, Private Bus Body Building, Private Vehicle Tyre Remoulding. In future, Corporation plans to start petrol pump for private vehicles all over the Maharashtra.
Truck art in South Asia is a popular form of regional decoration, with trucks featuring elaborate floral patterns and calligraphy. It is especially common in Pakistan and India.
General Motors India Private Limited was a subsidiary of General Motors for its operations in India. General Motors had 93% stake in this partnership and the remaining 7% was held by SAIC. It was the 5th largest automobile manufacturing company in India after Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Tata Motors and Mahindra. After 21 years of operations in India, General Motors ceased selling cars in India by the end of 2017 as a part of its global restructuring actions.
Cars such as Toyota Etios, Maruti Omni, Mahindra Logan, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Indica and Tata Indigo are fairly popular among taxicab operators. The livery of the taxicabs in India varies from state to state. In Delhi and Maharashtra, most taxicabs have yellow-black livery, while in West Bengal, taxis have yellow livery. Private taxicab operators are not required to have a specific livery. However, they are required by law to be registered as commercial vehicles.
Headlight flashing is the act of either briefly switching on the headlights of a car, or of momentarily switching between a headlight's high beams and low beams, in an effort to communicate with another driver or drivers. The signal is sometimes referred to in car manufacturers' manuals as an optical horn, since it draws the attention of other drivers.
The Mumbai Trans Harbour Link, officially named as Atal Bihari Vajpayee Sewri–Nhava Sheva Atal Setu and colloquially known as Atal Setu, is a 21.8 km (13.5 mi) 6-lane grade separated expressway bridge, which connects Mumbai with Navi Mumbai, its satellite city. It is the longest sea bridge in India, and the world's 12th longest sea bridge. The bridge begins in Sewri, South Mumbai, crosses Thane Creek north of Elephanta Island, and terminates at Chirle near Nhava Sheva in Uran taluka, Navi Mumbai. The road is linked to the Mumbai–Pune Expressway in the east and to the Coastal Road in the west. The 6-lane highway is 27 meters in width, in addition to two emergency exit lanes, two edge strips, parallel crash barriers and noise barriers on both sides. The project costs a total of ₹17,843 crore (US$2.1 billion). The bridge has a capacity to handle 70,000 vehicles per day. Construction on the bridge began in April 2018, and was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 12 January 2024.
The Sion Panvel Expressway is a 25 km Indian highway located entirely in the state of Maharashtra, that connects Sion in Mumbai with Panvel, via Navi Mumbai. It is one of the busiest and most important roads in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and connects Mumbai with the city of Pune. The National Highway 4 and Mumbai-Pune Expressway begin at the eastern end of the expressway, at Kalamboli junction, near Panvel. The highway is also used by vehicles traveling towards Mumbai from Konkan and Goa.
Electric vehicle warning sounds are sounds designed to alert pedestrians to the presence of electric drive vehicles such as hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), and battery electric vehicles (BEVs) travelling at low speeds. Warning sound devices were deemed necessary by some government regulators because vehicles operating in all-electric mode produce less noise than traditional combustion engine vehicles and can make it more difficult for pedestrians and cyclists to be aware of their presence. Warning sounds may be driver triggered or automatic at low speeds; in type, they vary from clearly artificial to those that mimic engine sounds and those of tires moving over gravel.
Awaaz Foundation is a charitable trust and non-governmental organisation in Mumbai, India which builds awareness, carries out advocacy, and is involved in educational projects to protect the environment and prevent environmental pollution. It has impacted many important decisions by the government and influenced policy making in important environmental matters in India. The beneficiaries of the Foundation are the citizens of India at large.
SaveLIFE Foundation (SLF) is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental organization focused on improving road safety and emergency medical care across India. SLF combines evidence-based research with policy advocacy, communication, and on-ground execution of projects in the two areas of crash prevention as well as post-crash response. Over the past few years, SLF has facilitated the enactment of the Good Samaritan Law in India, which insulates lay rescuers of injured victims from ensuing legal and procedural hassles. It has also adopted the Mumbai Pune Expressway to transform it into a Zero Fatality Corridor, trained several thousand Police personnel and citizens in basic life-saving techniques, and built technology platforms to assist road users and those interested in road safety.
The Motor Vehicles Act is an Act of the Parliament of India which regulates all aspects of road transport vehicles. The Act provides in detail the legislative provisions regarding licensing of drivers/conductors, registration of motor vehicles, control of motor vehicles through permits, special provisions relating to state transport undertakings, traffic regulation, insurance, liability, offences and penalties, etc. For exercising the legislative provisions of the Act, the Government of India made the Central Motor Vehicles Rules 1989.
Sumaira Abdulali, born 22 May 1961 is an environmentalist from Mumbai, India, founder of the NGO Awaaz Foundation and convenor of the Movement against Intimidation, Threat and Revenge against Activists (MITRA). She was co-chairman of the Conservation Subcommittee and honorary secretary of Asia's oldest and largest environmental NGO, the Bombay Natural History Society, and was a Governing Council Member between 2008 and 2021.