Everybody that lives in India knows all about the roads we have here. Even a 10 minute ride out on these roads is equivalent to jumping out of a plane with no back up parachute. It is true that the roads are quite dangerous and very poorly built but from my observance, the primary reason for all the danger is not the build quality but the people themselves!
After having spent 3 years living in Wichita, Kansas, the realization of how dangerously we live in India was like a punch in the face. It's been 9 months I've been back in India and I still cannot cross the road in front of my house by foot. It's just way too scary, way too unpredictable. There is never a break in the traffic, so you've got to force yourself in between the zooming vehicles. I'd rather drive 3 miles and waste fuel, than risk my life getting across 100 ft of pure madness.
I've better adapted myself to the driving conditions but still get jolts of fear when I see someone perform bravely foolish stunts just to overtake a single vehicle. I've also realized most of the traffic jams are also caused by the lack of common sense of motorists, rather than the road builders. Of course the road building jobs are themselves so silly, even a teenager would be capable of building better roads and the rains multiply this problem ten-fold. And then there are the illegally parked vehicles, sentimental religious structures in the middle of the road and all sorts of animals having a picnic.
Even though it is an undeniable fact that the management of traffic and road quality is of the lowest quality, this post really is about the motorists.
I feel quite justified in stating that we have among the worst drivers in the world. I don't know who trains us to be like this but surely something needs to be done. I am guilty of being a part of this system myself but there is little I can do to set it right. And I've noticed that is what everyone else says too - "I know I'm breaking the rules but we are forced to do it since everyone else does it". Who is this everyone and why do they constantly "find themselves" in a situation where they are "forced" to break traffic rules?
I've tried driving without breaking at least the most basic rules and it works! I still get to my destination, thankfully unscathed, and maybe, just maybe, a few minutes late. Seriously it isn't so bad! Sometimes I've waited alone at a red light while the rest of them simply jumped, I've slowed down for pedestrians to cross while the others zoomed even faster just to get past the poor walking people already risking their lives. I feel I'm among the few that use turn lights too!
But I've noticed the use of the turn light just does not work! There have been many situations when there were 4-5 motorbikes on the side I was turning into, and I switch on my indicator to "indicate" that I'm turning. Not one guy notices this! All the motorists promptly speed up trying to overtake me from the wrong side before I make my turn. One time a biker nearly crashed into my car's left side and I was more angry that I stopped and saved him a trip to the hospital instead of just smashing into him and breaking his bones.
So basically, the turn light kind of works the opposite way. Instead of warning people I'm about to turn, it seems to be sending a message that I'm allowing them to over take me from that side. And this is basic driving sense, you don't have to live in another country for years to know how to use a turning indicator!
And then comes another irritating part of the driving experience, the Honking! Oh man.. where do I start? All I can say is, it is a major mess. I simply fail to understand what prompts people to use the horn so excessively. The road is perfectly straight, most - if not all - of the vehicles seem to be moving in the correct direction, and I still hear non-stop honking from at least 4-5 vehicles around me! The reason for the honking is something that only the honker can explain.
I've actually observed (and I'm not exaggerating) people honking almost sub consciously! I remember one instance very well - there was this guy on a bike and was driving straight on a mostly empty road and his finger was on the horn button pressing it in regular pulses - beep-beepbeep-beep.. i seriously felt something was wrong with him. But this kind of behavior is something you can observe in a lot of people. Some sort of psychological disorder in the general mass of motorists? Give them a horn button to press and they'd do it while sleeping.
Also another thing i've noticed is that a surprisingly huge number of people absolutely fail to honk at least once when turning into blind lanes. Now that's another major management disaster of not having organized traffic in the smaller lanes (not unexpected if they can't manage the major roads either!). The introduction of a Stop Sign (and the threat of a ticket for not stopping) might take a few centuries to come by, but in the meantime, the safest way would be to slow down at a blind turn with a short friendly beep on the horn. While these guys overdo it on the big straight roads, they don't do it where it is actually useful!
I cannot even remember the count of how many times I've ended up face to face with another motorist at blind turns, just because he didn't beep. The worst part is, I never fail to beep and the only thing that prevents me from crashing into him is my own low-speed which allows me to stop quickly. The other idiot simply corrects himself without even slowing down and zooms away past me without a second glance! And like I said, this has happened so many times, I just cannot count.
All these are just a few examples of how bad the situation is. There are hundreds more such issues on our roads, each of which cause accidents, sometimes fatal. Each of these occurrences leave me astonished about the mentalities of people around me. I have no problem against anything Indian, in fact, I love everything about it, but there are a few things that are to be realized as faulty. It is a clear example of a flaw being repeated over and over again till it actually becomes acceptable and even believed to be right.
I hope that in the coming few centuries, if the human race can survive long enough, our country can correct a few flaws like these and making living here a better experience.
After having spent 3 years living in Wichita, Kansas, the realization of how dangerously we live in India was like a punch in the face. It's been 9 months I've been back in India and I still cannot cross the road in front of my house by foot. It's just way too scary, way too unpredictable. There is never a break in the traffic, so you've got to force yourself in between the zooming vehicles. I'd rather drive 3 miles and waste fuel, than risk my life getting across 100 ft of pure madness.
I've better adapted myself to the driving conditions but still get jolts of fear when I see someone perform bravely foolish stunts just to overtake a single vehicle. I've also realized most of the traffic jams are also caused by the lack of common sense of motorists, rather than the road builders. Of course the road building jobs are themselves so silly, even a teenager would be capable of building better roads and the rains multiply this problem ten-fold. And then there are the illegally parked vehicles, sentimental religious structures in the middle of the road and all sorts of animals having a picnic.
Even though it is an undeniable fact that the management of traffic and road quality is of the lowest quality, this post really is about the motorists.
I feel quite justified in stating that we have among the worst drivers in the world. I don't know who trains us to be like this but surely something needs to be done. I am guilty of being a part of this system myself but there is little I can do to set it right. And I've noticed that is what everyone else says too - "I know I'm breaking the rules but we are forced to do it since everyone else does it". Who is this everyone and why do they constantly "find themselves" in a situation where they are "forced" to break traffic rules?
I've tried driving without breaking at least the most basic rules and it works! I still get to my destination, thankfully unscathed, and maybe, just maybe, a few minutes late. Seriously it isn't so bad! Sometimes I've waited alone at a red light while the rest of them simply jumped, I've slowed down for pedestrians to cross while the others zoomed even faster just to get past the poor walking people already risking their lives. I feel I'm among the few that use turn lights too!
But I've noticed the use of the turn light just does not work! There have been many situations when there were 4-5 motorbikes on the side I was turning into, and I switch on my indicator to "indicate" that I'm turning. Not one guy notices this! All the motorists promptly speed up trying to overtake me from the wrong side before I make my turn. One time a biker nearly crashed into my car's left side and I was more angry that I stopped and saved him a trip to the hospital instead of just smashing into him and breaking his bones.
So basically, the turn light kind of works the opposite way. Instead of warning people I'm about to turn, it seems to be sending a message that I'm allowing them to over take me from that side. And this is basic driving sense, you don't have to live in another country for years to know how to use a turning indicator!
And then comes another irritating part of the driving experience, the Honking! Oh man.. where do I start? All I can say is, it is a major mess. I simply fail to understand what prompts people to use the horn so excessively. The road is perfectly straight, most - if not all - of the vehicles seem to be moving in the correct direction, and I still hear non-stop honking from at least 4-5 vehicles around me! The reason for the honking is something that only the honker can explain.
I've actually observed (and I'm not exaggerating) people honking almost sub consciously! I remember one instance very well - there was this guy on a bike and was driving straight on a mostly empty road and his finger was on the horn button pressing it in regular pulses - beep-beepbeep-beep.. i seriously felt something was wrong with him. But this kind of behavior is something you can observe in a lot of people. Some sort of psychological disorder in the general mass of motorists? Give them a horn button to press and they'd do it while sleeping.
Also another thing i've noticed is that a surprisingly huge number of people absolutely fail to honk at least once when turning into blind lanes. Now that's another major management disaster of not having organized traffic in the smaller lanes (not unexpected if they can't manage the major roads either!). The introduction of a Stop Sign (and the threat of a ticket for not stopping) might take a few centuries to come by, but in the meantime, the safest way would be to slow down at a blind turn with a short friendly beep on the horn. While these guys overdo it on the big straight roads, they don't do it where it is actually useful!
I cannot even remember the count of how many times I've ended up face to face with another motorist at blind turns, just because he didn't beep. The worst part is, I never fail to beep and the only thing that prevents me from crashing into him is my own low-speed which allows me to stop quickly. The other idiot simply corrects himself without even slowing down and zooms away past me without a second glance! And like I said, this has happened so many times, I just cannot count.
All these are just a few examples of how bad the situation is. There are hundreds more such issues on our roads, each of which cause accidents, sometimes fatal. Each of these occurrences leave me astonished about the mentalities of people around me. I have no problem against anything Indian, in fact, I love everything about it, but there are a few things that are to be realized as faulty. It is a clear example of a flaw being repeated over and over again till it actually becomes acceptable and even believed to be right.
I hope that in the coming few centuries, if the human race can survive long enough, our country can correct a few flaws like these and making living here a better experience.
