Road (Non) Sense

My work place is just a 15-minute drive away from my residence. I commute daily through my personal car to my work place. Considering that I normally enjoy driving, this short drive should not even register in my mind as something out of the ordinary. But unfortunately, every ordinary has somehow found a way to get the prefix of extra attached to it.

This half-an-hour of daily drive has increasingly taken the shape of an ordeal for me due to various reasons.

In my view, taking a vehicle out on the road is a big responsibility, wherein the driver of the vehicle implicitly undertakes to be responsible for not only his/her own safety, but also of other vehicles and pedestrians on the road. A driving license entails with it the undertaking to follow certain rules and regulations. Following any kind of rules, regulations and discipline is increasingly becoming out of fashion. The treatment one is subjected to on the roads, can be termed as no short of hooliganism.

In this age of “Time is money”, everyone is in a hurry. There are no rules followed apart from survival of the fittest. When I got my driving license about 6-7 years back, I had come to understand a few basic guidelines to be followed when I was on the road. These, inter-alia included, Overtaking from the right, following speed limits, using indicators, maintaining distance from the vehicle ahead of me, following the signals, no unnecessary honking, using dipper at night, wearing helmet when on two wheelers etc. Some of these guidelines like overtaking from the right, limiting the usage of horns to a bare minimum etc. have long become extinct, whereas many others are quickly on their way to extinction.

I would like to recall a personal incident here. I and my husband were one day returning home at about 9-10 P.M. As we neared a traffic signal, we saw it turn to red and diligently stopped, switching of the engine of our car. Engrossed in our personal discussion, we suddenly heard loud honking. To our utter amazement, we turned around to see a vehicle behind us honking frantically. Undeterred, we stood our ground, and unfortunately for the driver of that vehicle, he could not find a way to pass us and had to wait behind us till the light turned green. No prizes for guessing what happened next….as soon as the lights turned green, he zoomed past us hurling a ton of abuses in the process! I don’t know what our reaction should have been, but this incident could evoke only amusement and laughter from both of us….

This incident is an apt and clear reflection of the state of affairs on the roads today. You will be mentally harassed and tortured if you dare to follow rules. Keeping within speed limits will attract blaring horns and staring and abusing people from all sides. The rights of the vehicles on the roads are directly proportional to their sizes. The driver of the vehicle behind you will not leave even a centimeter of space between his/her vehicle and yours. These are just a few examples. The list is long and difficult to cover here.

The pathetic condition of our roads only compounds the agony. However, this is a whole different area and would require separate and dedicated coverage.

So, is there any light at the end of the tunnel? Not wanting to let go of my optimism, I would say yes. It would again have to be the combination of two steps forward by the law enforcers and two steps forward by the law abiders. Rules and regulations are not meant to be just formulated and forgotten. They need to be implemented and implemented strictly. The space vacated by discipline is taken up by chaos, and if discipline does-not come from within, it needs to be enforced. On the other hand, there is no match for self-discipline and having to abide by certain essential rules should not be taken as a restriction but a necessity, in this case, for the safety of the one’s own as well as others’ lives.

Once again, I leave you with these thoughts to ponder over, and decide for yourselves what is sensible and right for you and what isn’t.