Driving in the City

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By Rajkamal Rao 


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If there's one thing that has driven us crazy since relocated to India, it is driving.  Nothing ever seems to go right when you drive.  Murphy's law applies every second you are on the road.  And the sad truth is that it can only get worse.

Here are our pet peeves on a good day when traffic is moving relatively quickly (about 15 kms an hour).

1. Excessive honking.  People just like to honk.  There is no other explanation for this absolutely idiotic behavior.  We are sitting in a long line of traffic at a light, packed bumper to bumper; the light turns green and every car honks.  Does the driver in row 5 honestly think that the driver in the car up front hasn't noticed that the light has changed?
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2. Not stopping at red lights.  People should be arrested for this.  The truth is that there are not enough jails to incarcerate each violator.  Picture this.  You are standing at a red light and you are in the first row.  Vehicles all around you are inching forward with their brakes on giving you the feeling of being at the starting line of the Daytona 500.
   
   Suddenly, a whole host of vehicles decides that they have waited enough.  You lunge forward to join them but look up to verify if the light has changed.  No, it hasn't.  It's still red.  So you brake.
   
   You look at your left in horror as cars, trucks and buses dash down to the middle of the intersection and are on their way forward.  The light is still red.
   
   A full 20 seconds later, the light changes to green.  You catch all the violators at the next traffic light where the cycle repeats.
   
   What in the world did the violators gain by jumping the red light? 
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3. Wrong way driving.  People should be arrested for this as well.  As cities build more physical dividers between north and south bound lanes; and U-turns require you to spend extra time and fuel, vehicles conveniently drive against traffic.
   
   Two weeks ago, my son shouted a warning as I was driving on a four line highway in the city.  A truck carrying cement was in my lane coming directly at me.  He didn't even have his headlights on.
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4. No lane discipline at all.  The slowest vehicle is generally driving on the fastest lane.  If you stick to the rules and try passing him from the right, you will never get an opening.  You honk (and wince when you do it) and the driver ahead reluctantly lets you pass to his right.  And he glares at you as though you committed a major crime.  Consider yourself lucky if he doesn't shout at you.
   
   Others snake in and out of lanes without any turn signals.  This applies to cars and trucks.  The theme appears to be to advance at any cost with no regard to lane discipline.
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5. Typical physical impediments to advancing in traffic.  I have never seen so many obstacles to getting to where I want to go.
   
   You have to watch for the hundreds of potholes and this slows you down.  The pothole always appears at strategic points (for example at the point when you can make a free left). 
   
   Then, there are speed breakers. [ Many of these are absolutely required, especially at traffic lights, because nothing else can force people to slow down, if not stop].  
   
   How about the folks who merge in to your lane without first verifying that they can?  This is a common issue when a street joins the main road you are traveling on.  There is no concept of yielding in India.  And the guy who cut in front of you is often a three-wheeled diesel freight carrier with a top speed of 15 km/hr!
   
   And just when you think you are making progress, a truck or car is parked in front of you.  The driver looks ahead completely oblivious of the traffic back up he has created behind him.
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6. Non synchronized traffic lights.  A friend of mine was so frustrated about New York City traffic that he quipped that every alternate set of traffic lights on 7th avenue was synchronized.  Bangalore is just like that.  During rush hour, you stop at every light.  Period.
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7. Manual override of traffic lights.  In an attempt to alleviate traffic (and with the best of intentions), a cop stands at major traffic intersections with his hands on the controls of the traffic light.  But he can only see what he can see - and his interventions create excessive backups all around as people try to outsmart the cop.