Sources of the Woes of Traffic on Indian Roads

                                                Sources of the Woes of Traffic on Indian Roads

Let me itemize them but in no particular order:

1. Pedestrian indiscipline

2. Unnecessarily sounding the horn; the larger the vehicle, the louder the horn (SUVs)

3. Leaders of Political parties − Rallies

4. The security details of politicians

5. Yellow barricades (sometimes, one may have to zigzag to go past them) on thoroughfares (for you security, the police say) 

6. Cattle

7. Parking on road shoulders, if and where they exist

8. Parking on one half of the carriageway 

• A to-be-condemned police van has been parked on the carriageway for at least the past three years; this is sufficient license for the other vehicles to park likewise

 

9. Tourist buses and their passengers

10. Processions – Weddings, funerals, some religious functions, temples ...

11. Round Table Conference (without the table, yet round nonetheless) in the middle of the road

12. Not many pedestrians are aware that one should walk on the right side of the road

• This way, the pedestrian (assuming his eyes are forward looking and he is walking normal) is aware of the vehicles approaching her as vehicles are driven on the left side of the road as the driver of the vehicle sees it (this I learned when I was about seven or eight years old)

 

13. School/college students (boys/girls/young adults) walk at least four abreast occupying at least half the street/road 314. Any car will be parked right in front of the door of the shop in which some purchase(s) may be made 

• The ownerette (female owner!) has to pop in, spend at least ten minutes and come out swinging her bag(s) of purchase(s); more the number of bags, more is the swinging!

15. Parking against the traffic direction is called road freedom for the one doing the parking

16.  Item number 15 above is called road rage if anyone other than you does it

17.  If you own your vehicle, then sharply cutting in front of a pedestrian is the norm

19.  Use of High-beam headlights on well-lit urban roads

20.  At railway level crossings, when the gates open, it is the season for “Open sesame” for everyone; left is right and so is the right!

21.  Young motorcyclists enjoy making every one deaf by removing the muffler from their exhaust pipes.

21.   Road markings in India are puzzles in themselves 

• Do not ever try to solve them; when in Rome, do as Romans do. Lose your inhibitions.

22.   Traffic signboards are worse than road markings

23.   Traffic lights are still worse

24.   Paver blocks are highways for any and all vehicles, from cycles, bicycles, tricycles, with and without training wheels, four wheelers 

25.    ...

 

That above is not exhaustive, merely what I have observed. If the reader has more, please fill in the ellipsis at item number 25 and do not hesitate to add more!

Raghuram Ekambaram