Road Safety and Traffic Discipline: A personal encounter highlights the urgent need for change

Traffic discipline and road safety have been topics close to my consideration for a few years. Humans have evolved by witnessing nature’s harmony, rhythm, and discipline; therefore, anything that deviates from harmony should stand out and be paid attention to. This is something that I have written about in my earlier musings, especially during the road safety week where I focused on collective responsibility as the need of the hour with a stronger focus on education, infrastructure building, and enforcement of policies and appropriate behaviours on the road.

Every day, we go out and witness reasonable chaos on the roads. I recently was privy to a not-so-favourable situation that once again made me ponder on the subject. As I was heading home recently, back from my travels, while our car was in the left lane and another in the right lane, a speeding vehicle joined the middle lane and sandwiched itself between the ones on the left and the right. Clearly, there wasn’t enough space for a vehicle to squeeze through, especially at a sharp turn, and the three cars were badly stuck. Honks from the rear started to grow with every passing second. With a reasonable sense of concern, more to do with my love for my car as I had invested in it recently, I got down to resolve the situation and, to my surprise, found two drunk individuals in the speeding vehicle in the centre, reflecting no remorse for what had happened. I made one right decision and one wrong. Right, that I decided not to fuel an argument. Wrong, that I let them go without a formal complaint. I wish I had noted the credentials of their vehicle at least and should have not let them go, as the honks and shouts by several car drivers behind made it incumbent on me to act. Looking at their reactions, I’m sure a short moral lecture to them would have gone unheard.

Have you noticed that the network, quality, and width of roads have been consistently evolving, yet the traffic remains as heavy or even heavier than it was in the past? Can this solely be attributed to the increasing number of vehicles on the road? Partially yes. But what are the factors contributing to this, and how can we come together to address this matter?

It is true that the increasing number of vehicles is adding to traffic snarls; however, the solution to the problem lies in what is majorly causing it. It’s a combination of a few things:

Driving sense: It's not only about lane driving, which would probably happen when most of us come together and not in isolation. Driving sense is about being conscious of traffic, routes, turns, speed, and braking. There's a myth that I've heard from a lot of people: if you can drive in India, you can drive anywhere in the world! Really? I can't! Because it requires a fundamental understanding of rules, discipline, and etiquettes, which I am not familiar with and take time to adopt when I drive overseas.

Over and under-speeding: Both don't make sense. In case one needs to be cautious, one can take the designated lane for that speed. Over-speeding rarely makes up for lost time. With mapping technology, I've rarely arrived at a location with a significant time gap from what the maps initially showed at the beginning of the journey, irrespective of whatever sense of urgency I may have felt.

Use of horn and dipper: I wonder why people use these two with ease, as if every individual has the right to use them at will. These are emergency measures and should be used accordingly.

Nevertheless, I had my own share of experiences. My driver, who has supported me for more than a decade, is still dealing with a sense of regret with no fault of his own, and the car undergoes a needless dent paint which surely costs time, money, and emotions. The least I can advice is to exercise more caution, and that is the best we can do within our control.