My take on drivers on Mumbai roads- A post from 5 years back

This popped up in my FB memories and after having a moment to revel on my creativity, I decided to share this on LinkedIn and too see if the thoughts still resonate with this changed world of pandemic infused lack of traffic on roads.

So here goes some thoughts from a post written originally on 3rd September 2016!

I don't claim to be the world's best driver or even best driver in the Wing of my building complex , I learnt driving late and hence can't say that it's my second nature( like many others do). But yes I learnt driving with the rules and in a civil way, so I can claim that I am amongst few civil drivers that you face on the road.

Having now driven in 5 continents , at least I have earned the right to comment on others' driving. This is not a commentary on the driving skills but a note on the drivers themselves .

This thought has crossed my mind many a times that, can driving be a test of a drivers psychology? Yes I am a HR professional and tend to steer every damn conversation towards competency, capability or psychology.. ??.

For you to understand a driver's psyche or at the surface level, personality, you need to be a keen observer on the roads, here are some samples of what I have observed over years:-

1. The habitual offenders of skipping traffic light- would these be the opportunists even in work place and at first instance of either a process deviation or of no one watching may possibly jump to take a shortcut? Could they be the nightmare for audit team or those who top the compliance watchlist.

2. The ones who drive in between the 2 lanes( yes even India has lanes on the road) - could these be the fence sitters, the indecisive ones, who would be tempted to sway to either side depending on the challenges ahead. On any odd day this skill might come in handy even in work place , but on the other days these are the ones who create commotion on the road and confusion in the work place.

3. The ones who do follow the rules and stop their car for the traffic signal but stop over the zebra crossing- could they be the ones who consider themselves custodian of rules and systems yet look down upon the underprivileged ones? I bet the same set of folks scoff at other drivers , if they were the pedestrian crossing the street. My mind says this set would be one questioning the late comings, dress code et al in office and yet would reach late to work meetings.

4. Then there are the despicable ones who press the accelerator when they see a pedestrian?crossing the street, stopping short of running over them. This set, I believe have some very dark shades . I do hope that this lot doesn't turn up in a work place but if they do, rest assured they will hit you during your lowest points in life. This set would never appreciate efforts, will always find fault and would show you down in your weak moments.

5. The ones who drive slowest in the fast lane and don't give way are for sure the traditional set following the principle of might is right. Because they captured the slot first , who could possibly move them away. The best part of this lot is they are relatively unfazed by criticism or challenges or honking on the road.

6. The great honkers- now these are sprouting across the nation and cut across caste, creed, religion, region and socio economic status- my heart reaches out to them- they are hurt, troubled and unhappy. They carry so much of angst inside them that it's blinding. They might be 5th in the queue on a traffic signal but will honk away to glory , completely blind to the fact that the car doesn't have wings. There are lot of these at work place also, the cynical, the unhappy ones, the ones who want to get ahead of others without the effort but by only complaining.

There could be many more of these driver personality types and collectively they would be perhaps worth writing a book.

But for now there is only one more, the perfect ones- they drive in the lane, never honk unless cautionary, give way to pedestrians, use an indicator before changing lanes, never overspeed . This tribe is still taking shape in our country and is difficult to find. Similarly the perfect personalities are difficult to find in a work place! ??

On some other day, I will tell you about more personalities but for now I am back to observing and also trying to keep my car scratch less on the Mumbai roads!

I also came across this interesting report on 7 different kind of drivers- https://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2015/08/there-are-seven-types-of-drivers-on-today-s-roads-study.html