Road accidents in India is a significant problem. With about 1.47 lakh incidents of road-related deaths just in 2017, the situation seems to only get worse. But is it just the government’s/concerned authorities’ responsibility to find possible solutions to this problem? Don’t we as citizens should also feel responsible and at least follow traffic rules and not indulge in harmful road behaviours? I have experienced many incidents where I was just left speechless due to the ignorance some of us are capable of while driving. Here are some road behaviours which I really wish people stopped indulging in:
Honking, Hurry Up!
Do I even need to describe this? Patience is a thing of past. Intolerance on the road – that’s so cool!
It was August 2018, I was in an auto-rickshaw, and someone was honking from behind. We literally thought he needed a way, but there was no way! We still allowed the person to go first. The auto-driver didn’t say anything, and even I felt, “Koi emergency hogi!” (It must be some emergency). In seconds we found out what it was. The guy came in full-speed and hurled as many abuses he could’ve in that split-second. He was just in a hurry because he had no patience to wait like others. No offences but the windscreen read: “Jaat. With a moustache, and a bandook!”
Threats
In my previous organisation, our two sales executives went to meet a client in Okhla. They were in Gurugram, in a cab, and waiting for the light to turn green. The car behind them bumped into theirs. Now, the traffic was still, so how could someone just bump into your car just like that? Their cab driver got out and returned as soon as he got out, in almost no time. Let’s name my colleagues S and A. Both S and A said, “Bhaiya kya hua?” (What happened?). The driver’s face turned pale, and he was breathing heavily. The moment the light was green, he sped unprecedentedly. Later he told both S and A, “Jaise hi mein wahan gaya usne neeche se bandook dikhayi or bola: Chup-chap jakar baith ja.” (The moment I reached there he threatened me by showing me a gun and asked me to go back.) We keep on talking about safer roads but what can we do about these entitled people who think they own the roads and can get away with anything?
High Beams
A guy in a Scorpio sent us a signal to stop at the end of the road; the signal is called ‘High Beams’. I was in an office cab, and he applied brakes right on our tail, almost touching the cab and shouted “Tanne deekha nae, me kab se signal dera!” (Didn’t you get it, I did send you a signal to stop!) It’s intolerable. The way that these light blinds you. How people use this as a tool to speed-up and cross anywhere. It’s a way of saying, “Hey! I’m over-speeding – just like that – can’t apply brakes because I was never told to use them so please, you slow down and let me cross the road like a king!” We desperately need to educate these careless drivers who are not only breaking the rules, but also putting the lives of people around them in danger.
Seat Belt
I am charmed that my folks and friends always wear seat-belt before hitting the road. It’s such a laudable trait, especially in today’s time. But I happened to go to a nearby wedding, in Sahibabad, with them and the moment we crossed the border: cluck and sigh of relief. “Bhaiya, seat-belt?” a going-by-the-rule-book nerd questioned the unquestionable authority of an elder brother. “Abey Delhi me hi to challan hota hai! Huh…” (Stupid, they fine you only in Delhi.)
That day I learnt the principle of negative reinforcement. I never grasped it in the psychology classes in college. It was my day to learn the lesson, not my brother’s.
Drinking and Driving
We’re at the crossroads. It’s rush-hour. A guy in his 20-something ( he must be drunk) was taking his head out time and again. He asked for a side by honking, and my auto-driver shifted to his right. The poor driver thought he must be heading to our left, but the guy came from the left and rose in front of us in a spoon-like concave-curve-like trajectory and sped heading straight down the road during the red light… He jumped a red light! At the crossroads where two-sided traffic was moving. Five cars applied power-brakes. I must have witnessed a massive collision. The guy had no effect, it seemed. When everyone stopped, he didn’t pay any attention while others were busy catching their breaths. He headed for his destination, which could’ve been unfortunately different had other’s not applied brakes at the right moment.
So, he managed to put his life at risk along with other innocent citizens. There’s no point of rules to be in place if we fail to implement them. Not just the traffic police but we are to be blamed as well.
Helmet Who wears it?
I will never understand how people get away with it on roads and how they forget it’s for their own safety. A head injury might kill them, but they won’t risk looking ‘uncool’ with those helmets. I often wonder if the negligence comes from a lack of value for their own life or is it just because they know they will not be caught? As it seems that we only fall in line when we are afraid of being held accountable…
Pedestrians, are you listening?
While we keep on blaming and holding drivers for making roads unsafe, pedestrians too sometimes indulge in annoying behaviours:
Sorry, my bad, maybe you have earplugs on… It may feel like biting the bullet, but it’s crucial here to attempt to create a caricature of pedestrians. While we blame the guy in control of the steering wheel, it’s equally necessary to invite the earphones-in, as-if-I-care kind of people on the road to share the blame for a mishap on the road. Why I’m saying this? It’s irritating for the driver to continuously honk at the pedestrians who are immersed in the music and seem to care less for their lives while crossing the roads. It’s disappointing to see people swimming across the road to make it to the other end and not use the subway. Shouldn’t pedestrians share the blame in such cases? I think we need to rethink the role played by all stakeholders when it comes to road accidents. It’s the person inside the car, it’s people outside, and equally the control authorities and vigilante agencies on the road.
These are common annoying behaviours we all must have witnessed while using the roads. I don’t think it needs a lot of effort to correct this; it only needs to be actively called out by fellow citizens and traffic police. This is the only way to tackle the current situation and avoid road accidents in future.