If I had to describe the traffic on Kerala roads with one word it would be Chaos. Call me chicken but I didn't have the courage to get my hands on the steering wheel during the 2 weeks I was in Kerala. It is out of sheer luck that people venturing out on the roads daily reach home safely. Much of the roads are exactly same as what it used to be 5-10 years ago but the vehicles on these roads are 10 or 20 times what it used be; added to this the unruly drivers scornful of traffic laws. The end result of this is total chaos and traffic snarls everywhere. Here are some of my observations about traffic on Kerala roads

Overtaking: The right of way is decided by who blinks their headlight first. Drivers can overtake when ever and where ever the feel like. They can also overtake through either side of the vehicle irrespective of whether there is enough room to do that or not. It is also common to see a vehicle overtake another over taking vehicle (double overtaking) taking up whole of the road and forcing the oncoming traffic to pull over to make way for these guys.

Brake lights: Brake lights are a rare commodity on Kerala roads. There are very few vehicles with working brake lights. Of all the public transport vehicles (I mean buses, KSRTC and private ones) that I noticed not even one had a working bake light. With no brake lights it is left to the driver behind to guess what the vehicle in front is up to.

Traffic Lights: Development is coming finally to Kerala cities. Traffic cops in traffic islands of the old days are slowly being replaced by traffic lights but still it is a long way to go. There are not enough traffic lights in most of the cities and much of the intersections are still being manned by traffic cops. In places where there are traffic lights finding those lights is a treasure hunt. I assume the folks in charge of installation have done some scientific research to find the most inconvenient location in an intersection and have installed the traffic lights there. Many of the drivers think that at a red light they are supposed to stop in front of other stopped vehicles and not behind them. Hence these poor drivers try real hard to sneak their vehicle in front of the other vehicles; auto drivers and 2 wheelers are the ones who are most successful in this. The result of this is that drivers stop their vehicles way ahead of the stop line and cannot see the traffic light anymore. Now it up to the driver behind them who can see the light to honk and signal all those in front of him that its time to go.

Pedestrians: If you thought the drivers are unruly wait until you see the pedestrians. Jaywalking is the most popular hobby of mallus. Nobody likes to walk on the sidewalks. They will walk, loiter or stand in the middle of any road (even highways). I guess people don't know what Zebra crossings are for, they cross the streets where ever the want when ever they want. At places where there are walk signal lights no body bothers to wait for that to turn green people keep crossing continuously causing further traffic jams.

Traffic Cops:They are the mute spectators you see in Khakis a Whites standing here and there along the roads. They are tired and have in most cases little or no interest at all in traffic. They are just waiting for their shift to end and probably they don't even they know when. I dont know these traffic cops undergo any kind of training in traffic management.In old day's traffic department used to be where politicians use to shun honest defiant cops who wouldn't suck up to them. I believe this is still the case and that would explain the lack of motivation among traffic cops. Drivers and pedestrians jump traffic lights and flout traffic laws right under their nose and they don't seem to give a darn about it