Tag: Accidents

No fear, anymore!

What fears have you overcome and how?

Traffic in India is chaotic. There’s plenty to negotiate on the road. Incidents regularly happen as motorists don’t usually follow traffic rules. 

Pedestrians crossing the road at will, cars changing lanes without a warning, motorcycles jumping lights at junctions and the police turning a blind eye to blatant violation of those laws contribute just one thing.

A fear of roads. A fear of facing traffic. 

That instils a kind of fear in the minds of people who follow rules and abide by the law. 

What’s the option? How to respond to such fear of facing roadside violations?

I switched to traveling on public transport, such as bus, train and taxis. 

I’m so happy now finding a comfortable seat in the rear side of a bus or a train, listen to some good music and fall asleep. The taxis are much better with a brilliant air-conditioning.

I see no evil. I hear no noise on the road. 

No fear, anymore.

 

Wish I had ‘braved the weather’.

What’s a secret skill or ability you have or wish you had?

Roads in India are bad. Motorists often flout rules. Accidents, therefore, are a regular sight.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MORTH) says 70 percent of fatal road accidents happen due to speeding. 

And, Mr. Nitin Gadkari, the minister for transport, said people are so negligent on roads. 

It’s each individual’s responsibility to observe strict discipline while driving. One should always be on guard. With all senses open.

I wish I had the skill to spot the (most common) traps people in India fall so easily into, like cricket falling on bright headlamps.

The advanced skill that helps me (every day) spot potholes, leaking sewer holes, unmarked speed-breakers, a two-day old fallen tree, deadly blind-spots, sudden road-closures, diversions, a speeding metro truck from behind, a petrol station that’s “closed for maintenance”, a minister’s motorcade crossing, the dead-end (daily) election meetings, huge blaring speakers on either side, a falling billboard, a 15 ft cinema banner in the middle, a religious procession on foot, the auto-rickshaw in front that stops abruptly when seen a client, failed lights at junctions and a parking lot which is full (already) but without a notice.

Can I?

Make Indian roads safe for driving.

What do you wish you could do more every day?

India accounts for the highest number of road accidents in the world.

Seven out of every 10 lives, or 70%, die due to speeding in India.

In an interview last month, Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said that government intervention would not be enough unless citizens start following traffic rules more seriously.

I wish, therefore, I could do more by stopping citizens, educate them about safe driving and tell them to avoid speeding. And I hope that would help save lives on Indian roads.

I wish I could do it every day.