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.
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