TRAVAILS OF AN INDIAN DRIVER

An average Indian driver refuses to learn his lessons properly; it seems, after observing the driving habits of the drivers over a period of about 40 years.

I have been using the roads of India in different parts of the country for the past more than 40 years, major portion of this as a driver myself. However, it is observed that the habits of the driver in the 70s continue to be that of the present day drivers also.

First of all, once anybody enters the road with his vehicle, the person is in a great hurry, ostensibly to reach the destination early or on time! But whether he is able to achieve this goal in spite of his hurry, is best left to one’s imagination. In his hurry, he tries to coax the vehicles in his front to get a space to overtake. Many a times this coercing also takes the shape of intimidating (especially by the bus drivers to the smaller vehicles), which may lead to accidents also some times. I always wonder, if the person is so particular to reach the destination on time, considering the nature of our roads and the traffic observed, why he or she can’t leave a bit early to achieve the goal.  After coercing the vehicles in front, if the person sees a little space, he/she tries to squeeze the vehicle through this opening, irrespective of whether it is through the left or right! The impatience of such people is more observed at the traffic signals, level crossings etc. when everybody tries to take his vehicle to the front to the maximum possible, leaving practically no space  for the oncoming vehicles. When the traffic light turns green or the railway get is opened, because of this mad scramble there will be a traffic jam on the spot for some time which may leave one or two vehicles with minor scratches on the body. If everybody maintains the lane discipline and stops his vehicle right at the back of the vehicle in front, in a line, such traffic jams can be easily avoided, I believe. While talking about stopping the vehicle in a traffic signal, most of the times it is observed that a person wanting to turn to the right side stops his vehicle at the extreme left, often blocking the free traffic to the left, and when the light turns all the way to the right blocking all the vehicles waiting for the green light, again resulting in a traffic jam. If all the drivers stick to the lance discipline at least at the traffic signals, the traffic flow will be much smoother in all the places.

Another observation I could make while on road is the non observance of driving rules on the roads by many drivers. On a four lane road, (two lanes in each direction) it is clearly defined that the vehicles should move on the left lane only and the right lane should be used for overtaking only. However in practice it is observed that many vehicles, including fully laden heavy vehicles which normally move slowly, are driven in the right lane and very rarely give side to the fast moving vehicles in the back for overtaking. And as a rule many vehicles in the back overtake such slow moving vehicles through the left lane on a regular basis! I have made it a point not to overtake through the left side of the vehicle and hence keep on asking for side to overtake either by mild horn or blinking lights in night, but for kilometres together do not get the side for overtaking.

Use of blinkers at night instead of horns is one thing which many of the drivers are not aware of, it seems. During night they drive the vehicles with the full beam on, blinding the drivers of the oncoming vehicles. The basic courtesy (or even the rule) of dimming the light when a vehicle is seen in the opposite direction is not observed by majority. And most of the vehicles, especially the new generation luxury vehicles, sport powerful halogen bulbs in the high beam mode thereby completely blinding the oncoming driver leading to many accidents. Even though use of such powerful lights are not permitted under RTO rules nobody bothers to check the usage of these, and even of checked such people are never booked, may be because of their financial influence. As a rule, the vehicles should be driven with low beam only in cities and on well lit roads.

Even the vehicles of driving schools teaching the driving lessons to aspirants do not follow the traffic rules many times. While practicing on the roads, it appears, the instructor never tells the candidate to slow down and give side to a vehicle coming from back, if there is enough space for the vehicle to pass. This happens very rarely and the vehicle moves right on the middle of the road and it is the duty of the driver in the back to find out a way to overtake! During the driving tests also such etiquettes/rules are never tested. They only see whether the person can balance the vehicle and drive properly and declare him/her passed!

When we talk about the driving habits, one cannot forget the infrastructure available for the drivers too. In the 70s a fast passenger bus of KSRTC used to take about 5 hours to cover a distance of about 200 KMs between Trivandrum and Ernakulam. Now a superfast or express bus of the same KSRTC takes six to seven hours to cover the same distance because while the number of vehicles on the road has increased manifold during the last 40 years, the road remains more or less the same without much addition of width making it impossible for the vehicles to gain speed. The government should ensure that the infrastructure (read the roads) is also developed in proportion to the increase in number of vehicles added to the road every year so that the driving on the roads can be a pleasant experience.

Procession on the roads

Now it is the festival season in Kerala, with most of the temples, churches etc celebrating the annual festivals. As part of the festivals, it is customary to take out processions , which used to be within the temple premises, of the deities etc. Now it is observed that these processions have come out of the precincts of temples and churches and are taken through the main thoroughfares, thereby blocking the traffic in the main roads. The other day I witnessed one such procession on National Highway 47 between Aroor and Eramalloor when the entire traffic on the highway was diverted to the other side of the highway thereby seriously affecting the free  movement of the vehicles . This caused a delay of about 10 minutes for any vehicle to cross the particular point. And it was also observed that an ambulance with patient was also caught in the melee and the police personnel on duty could somehow manage to clear the way for it. Similar incidents will be happening at many other places too, I am sure. It is high time everybody took a call on the matter and limit such processions, be it religious, political or otherwise away from such busy thoroughfares and free the other people from such inconveniences. Here in the name of religion a handful of people were holding the travelling public to ransom, to say the least. On the four lane highway two lanes were completely occupied by the group comprising caparisoned elephants, percussionists, other performing artists etc. 

I do not understand why the police personnel should allow such processions to be taken out ( presumably to avoid any conflicts in the name of religion) Is this the way a secular country should be run, I wonder!

Another hazard during the festival days is the noise pollution caused by the festival places by blaring out music in the early morning and nights in high volume thereby disturbing the peaceful life of the people living nearby. Is it not the duty of the police to ensure that the noise level does not cross the permissible decibel level even when a mike permission is given to the organisers? Such noise pollution also takes place whenever some programme is organised in public places with permission from police. I understand that there is a supreme court ruling prohibiting the use of loud speakers after 10 P M or before 5 PM. I hope the local police officials who accord permission for use of the speakers will ensure that this ruling is strictly enforced in all cases. 

Funding of Political Parties

A big hue and cry has been raised on the suspected funding of Aam Aadmi Party prior to the Delhi elections! Old co passengers of the party who formed the AVAM have alleged that the party has received black money as donations and accused them that they were also not above board. This issue was further taken up by one of the TV channels who were also grilling the representative from AAP saying that they had received funds from some "shell" companies. The  issue was further escalated by slapping of notice by IT department on the party asking them to show the source of fund for the donation of Rs 50 lacs received by them.

From the whole issue I understand (or rather fail to understand) how the party can be blamed at all. The whole issue came to light only because they wanted to be transparent (unlike other parties) and put the details of all the donations received on their web site. And the representative from AAP confirms that the amount was received by way of a Banker's cheque (Pay Order) issued by a Bank and was delivered by somebody giving the details of the donor company to whom the receipt had been issued. I wonder whether anybody receiving a donation is expected to verify the balance sheet details of the donor company before accepting the same (as it is alleged that the company's paid up capital was Rs 1 lac only and had incurred a loss during the year ended 31.03.2014). Is it really possible to verify all these facts, in the name of transparency? When the amount is by way of a Banker's cheque issued by a Bank, what is the need for checking the source at all (which should have been ensured by the Banker). It is quite unfair to crucify the party without knowing the full facts and the full procedure behind issuing a Banker's cheque. All that the party can now do is to return the money so received, if it is proved beyond doubt that this transaction was a dubious one. However, one would like to know whether all the other political parties verify the source before they accept the donations by way of cash or kind before making such an unwanted hue and cry over a non issue.

I hope the AAP will take a principled stand and furnish all the facts to the IT department in reply to the notice received and clarify the position to the public immediately. 

The media also should try to understand the issue fully before making the same a topic for panel discussion.

However, the present issue has once again raised the question of funding of the political parties. I fail to understand why the parties raise such huge funds and spend the same in the elections, which itself can be a reason for corruption , post election. All the parties on their own should decide to curtail the expenditure during the election. The election commission , on its part, should also reduce the present level of permitted expenditure for each constituency, after consultations with all the parties. It is quite natural that if somebody spends money to get elected to the post, after getting elected his primary objective will be to recover at least the money spent, if not much more from other sources which will lead to corruption. (Pure economic sense!) Seems like an Utopian idea? But how else we can cleanse the system?