Saturday, February 12, 2011

An observation on Indian driving

Where the hell did these guys get their licence from ??

How can you have seven lanes of traffic in a three (sometimes two) lane road ?? I don't know but it somehow works here. Three of those lanes will generally be the tuk-tuks. And...that doesn't take into account people walking on the road, pushing trolleys or anything else for that matter.

Somehow....it just seems to flow. The "magic arm" helps too: this is arm hanging out the window of whatever vehicle, that indicates "I'm going this way...do not hit me".

Don't even get me started on roundabouts: they truly are a free-for-all.

Saying that, however, I can see method to the madness. No-one seems to drive faster than 50 kph. Any faster & you can't anticipate what the 20 million other cars on the road are going to do.

2 comments:

  1. Road rules, or behaviour is tied intricately to culture and interactions. It is fascinating as you learn the social rules and norms of a culture the way there traffic works makes sense. Our traffic flow heavily relies on others obeying a strict set of rules, others are more fluid but no less strict just in a different way. If you can understand the traffic you will understand what it means to be Indian.

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  2. Oh Sandro, I can tell you haven't spent much time in Asia before :-) 'elizard' sums it up nicely - as you learn about India, the traffic will make sense. Me thinks you'll struggle to come to terms with Australian traffic too in a few years time. Have fun!
    Lesley

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