abhimanyu

Traffic safety is a function of the rules evolved by the seasoned drivers of the country..

There used to be this joke about the Indian traffic in particular and mentality of the drivers in general. The joke goes like this – there are three categories of drivers one can normally come across when it comes to dealing with a speed breaker.

An American driver is a brash driver with his big fuel-guzzler. When he sees a speed breaker he would not slow down his car. He would just jump over the breaker not even bothering about the possible damage his act may cause to the car.

A British driver is a gentleman. He is an astute obeyer of law and he cares a lot about his car. Therefore he would not do a thing that can even give a scratch to his car. He would slow down his car and pass the speed breaker gently enough. An Indian driver is a class of his own and so is the Indian traffic for the drivers who ply their vehicles on Indian roads.

He would not like to slow down his vehicle on seeing a speed breaker as he is always in hurry – there are more road rages in India than anywhere else in the world. But then he is much more concerned for the safety of his vehicle than any of his counterpart in the world.

Without slowing down his car he will go to the extreme left of the speed breaker where the latter has the least bulge and go zoom over it. You all must have seen the tapered and worn off right and left ends of the speed breakers on the Indian roads precisely for this reason.

Driving in India is driving sans traffic regulations. Traffic safety is a function of the rules evolved by the seasoned drivers of the country. They can give James Bond a run for his money.

Roadway safety and driving safety on Indian roads are the result of the genius of an Indian driver and not traffic rules or any driving tips you can pick up.