Anyway, all this brouhaha got me thinking about a letter I had written to Times of India 2 years back about traffic conditions in Pune. Unfortunately, I was told so many times by TOI to reduce the article in size to fit the column, that I lost interest. Now that I have switched to Indian Express (not because of THAT episode, but due to other very valid reasons - which is a topic for another blog :-), and noticed how IE has some very good initiatives and coverage of relevant topics, I thought I should try writing again. And I have more experiences to add too!
So after coming back from US, where traffic rules are followed 99% of the time, where you learn the right of way by heart and follow it, where you actually READ the driving instructions manual and so on, it is an attitude reversal driving in India, especially Pune. There is only one word to describe traffic here - MAYHEM.
Now where should I begin? Alrighty then, it will be my favorite one - driving on the wrong side.
Item 1: Driving on the wrong side
I don't really know about other cities, but this seems to be a favorite item in Pune. I haven't seen this in Mumbai. Let me explain the technicality first. Typically, you drive on the left side of the road while the traffic moving in the opposite direction is on your right. In Pune, however, there are 2 more distinct directions. About 5% of traffic moves in the opposite direction on your LEFT too. These are the short-cutters or the cut-cornerers. They typically want to travel a short distance toward the right, but are too lazy to follow the normal flow. So they take the quick route. Some of them have gotten used to this technique so much that they do it even over longer distances.
Now it's not just the 2-wheelers who do it. 3-wheelers, cars and surprise surprise, trucks do it too.
Now who are the wrong-siders? Pretty much anyone. Middle aged folks kind of know they are doing wrong, so they don't look you in the eyes if you honk or glare at them (like I do. Now I have started giving them a thumbs-down too!). Teenage boys love to do it, they have that gleam of revolt in their eyes. For them it's not a short-cut, no convenience, it's a revenge against the society :-O. For teenage girls, riding their Honda Activas (which are too oversized for them), these sweeties have no clue they are doing anything wrong. Hey, they have grown up watching their aai, baba, dada, boyfr.. shhh, doing it all the time. My wife gave one lady a thorough scolding for dashing against a walker while driving on the wrong side and who had the nerve to shout at the walker instead.
This has become such a menace on roads that some senior citizens I know are terrified of crossing the roads in the evening, beacuse you never know where a vehicle will come from. So the new road-crossing rule is: look left, then right, then left and finally right. Hope you survived! Remember the game 'Frogger'?
Item 2: Traffic signals
First, a quote from a rikshaw driver: "PMC is only wasting electricity on these traffic lights". Hah. I think that pretty much sums up what I have to say. Rikshaw drivers probably think they are doing a duty to their customers by not waiting for the traffic lights to turn green. They need to get the customers home as quickly as possible. They must have watched James Bond in Octopussy! It's mostly the rikshaw drivers who do not obey signals. However, they are surreptitious in doing it. Not so with 2-wheeler riders. They take great pride in doing it - at least some of them. So you are all waiting at a light peacefully humming your favorite remix tune. A rider gets impatient OR someone weaves his way through, quickly looks around to make sure there is no cop (he skips this step at a no-cop-ever junction) and proceeds without even glancing at others. It's his victorious way (see how I do it!). A few riders follow him meekly. These were sitting on the fence (jau ki nako, jau ki nako..) until the torchbearer came along.
It hurts most however to see PMT drivers disobeying traffic lights. I think they should be penalized double than normal. Unfortunately my no-confrontation attitude comes in the way when I'm riding on a bus and the driver does not stop at red light. Hopefully one day I'll boldly walk up to the guy and tell him bluntly - 'babare, asa karu nakos'.. :->
Item 3: Helmet compulsion
I've never seen such a relentless campaign against helmet anywhere but in Pune. Some people have actually made it an aim of their life to vehemently oppose this particular law. So you have a "helmet-sakti virodhi aandolan", helmet burning.. no I'm kidding.
There have been so many arguments, so many articles in newspapers on this issue that it's mind boggling and I wonder why people still don't understand the safety aspect. Actually I'm a fence-sitter on this issue. I believe it should be left to the individuals to protect themselves. However, considering how the Indian mindset works, we need the law to tell us what to do. I wonder if people in US ever protested against wearing seat belts!
Here's my actual view on this. Make wearing helmets a law. Just like obeying traffic rules! People who want to break the law will do it anyway. Penalize them. Let's not spend energy arguing on the issue.
Item 4: Looking while merging
"LOOKING? What's that?" ..is what an average Punite would probably ask. Hey, when you drive you don't LOOK, you get from point A to point B. You do this like Abhimanyu - break the chakravyuha; you do this like Arjun - one goal, bird's eye!! Okay, there are exceptions to not looking, especially when an interesting specimen is riding in front of you...
Most 2-wheeler riders don't look when they are merging onto a road. There are no exceptions. It doesn't matter even if you are merging from a tapari gully into a major road. Never look back. Take the turn at the highest speed possible. Somebody honked? Cool! You did it!! Taste success.
Item 5: Lane system
This is the best part. This has nothing to do with Pune, you can see it on any Indian road.
They have freeways in US. But in India, all our roads are free-ways. In US, if a freeway has 4 lanes, then there are 4 vehicle flows. That's it, and you call it freedom! In India, we don't have lanes marked (that's so dumb). We CREATE lanes. Think customized roads. You know what size vehicle you are driving, so you create a lane for yourself. Bigger the vehicle, more the customization! On the other hand, smaller vehicles can dictate their own speed limit. So that's not too bad.
I think it's high time we had 2-wheeler training schools (of course they should TEACH you the traffic rules, not just GET you a license).
My conclusion is: For all this irresponsible driving (if you call it driving), we Punites deserve the connected potholes, I mean, the roads!
Guys, I would like to invite your views on improving the traffic-less situation. Let's generate some ideas. If we get some good ones, maybe I can dash off a letter to Indian Express, cc Pune RTO.