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A chilling news carried by bangalore mirror – lane indiscipline and blatant violation of traffic rules leads to death of at least two people.
It’s probably the case in pretty much every state/city in India but since I am currently in Bangalore, will restrict my observations to it.
Add to the tragedy, the cops here are either just plain incompetent or are party to the abuse. Here’s a news that highlights just this. Only yesterday I had to confront a two-wheeler motorist for jumping lanes in a dangerous way. People don’t even bother to check if it’s safe to switch lanes before doing so. They just presume the other guy will compensate for their stupidity. This guy was willing to pick up a physical fight – talk about civility! If he has time to stop for a fight, I am sure he has time for safe driving too.
I, for one, have zero tolerance for rash drivers. My choicest of abuses are reserved for them and they don’t deserve my respect in any form. Not only they endanger their own lives, but lives of those around them. On few occasions, I’ve seen married guys with their kids/wife on their bikes and driving in unsafe manner. I wonder what culture they pass on to their kids?
Another thing I’ve noticed – some of these rash drivers, as soon as they realize you are not local, they switch from English to their local dialect (Kannada, in Bangalore). They assume they can garner “local support” by playing their “local language” card. Unfortunately, it works in their favor. The locals begin ganging up on the “other” poor guy.
I had another case of a rash car driver who adds to the pain of driving in Bangalore traffic. I have given him a piece of my mind, but have seen him continuing with his uncouth antics. This guy too tried pulling the same trick on me – switching from English to Kannada. Unfortunately for him it did not work out so well. I promised to gift him a broken teeth or jaw if he crossed my path the wrong way again. I’ve since jotted down his car number (KA-XX-X-8626).
An erratic driver jumps lane and crosses into my path. I break to soften any possible impact but his leg gets brushed with my two-wheeler. He turns back to say “be careful”. I then question him – “Tell me genius, what happens if you voluntarily put your hands in fire? You burn yourself. But can you complain the fire burned you?” He protests that I was careless when his leg got hit. “Next time on, watch before you make erratic lane changes. The degree of burn could be greater.”
I have been meaning to add a dash-board camera and a helmet camera so I can record it as proof of their insanity…post it on a public forum and hopefully shame them into some learning.