14 Unique Things You Will Know When You Start Driving In India
Driving in India and among its crazy traffic is a unique experience and you get to learn new things every day. Here are some of the lessons that you get to learn when you are driving in India.
1. The Pedestrian is the ultimate traffic controller
We have faced any scenarios where we are driving along a road and we see a pedestrian in the middle of the road waving his hand to stop and we have option to do so. They will jaywalk, take their own sweet time and cross the road.
2. People crashing into your rear-view mirror is nothing
Over speeding has its cons, and not be surprised if a speeding vehicle becomes impatient and overtakes you, don’t be surprised if he takes along the rear-view mirror along. And if you complain, you will be said that it’s a common occurrence in the traffic.
3. People driving slowly in the flyover and texting at the same time
One can see many people driving slowly on a fast lane at the same time chatting and texting. They are oblivious of the traffic around them and take their own sweet time in getting through. The worst part, there is nothing you can do to change it as repeated honks fall into deaf ears.
4. Scratch free cars? A myth
Driving among the crazy traffic in the city it is almost imminent that someone will scrape by while overtaking and as a resultant take off some paint or leave a scratch on your car. It is almost impossible to see a car that are free from dents and scratches and it is better that you do not have attachments towards your car.
5. Hitting other cars is just the same as touching it
You get an almighty tonk from behind and all you get as a result is a mere apology from the fellow driver that he had just touched the car only slightly from behind. You can see a major dent on the bodywork but to others it’s just a minor contact that can be fixed very quickly.
6. Rickshaws? Oh no!
Rickshaws are the most annoying of all the slow moving vehicles. The take up the space of a car, move at a snail’s pace and will do nothing better than choke traffic. It is best that they are kept of the city’s main roads.
7. Auto-Rickshaws? The new Bond Car
We all enjoy James Bond weave his fancy rode among traffic chasing the bad guys and make a pretty good show out of it. Now imagine the same scenario on the Indian roads, in the form of those ugly green and yellow auto rickshaws. They weave through the commotion even if they get an inch of space, wriggle out of it and are even faster than your SUV.
8. Bus Drivers? They are the worst
When it comes to buses they are the principal causes of a traffic jam. Despite having designated traffic lanes they take their own sweet lanes, stop anywhere on seeing a chance to get a passenger on board and move painfully among the main roads of the city, a nightmarish experience.
9. Cycles? Oh no!
The main roads of the city should strictly be off limits for cyclers but we can see quite a few of them on route, moving along gingerly without a care and oblivious to all the congestion and inconvenience he creates to his fellow passengers along the way.
10. Cows? The icing on the cake
If you think that cycles and the rickshaws are the the worst speed breakers, think again for we have the cow. Returning from a gaze, the cow will stroll leisurely, cross the street with gay abandon and leave all those passing by wondering whether to laugh or cry. They simply have to bide time till it strolls off.
11. Road Rages
Road rages are as common as cows and more often than not, a crowd soon gathers to watch the show and turn on their thinking caps to determine as to what started the commotion. A few even lend a hand or two and do nothing more than increase the commotion and cause a traffic congestion within no time. The great Indian circus in full flow!
12. Cars Breaking Down
Since the cars are rarely serviced, but is incredibly well maintained on the exterior it is a common occurrence to see them breaking down in transit and as a result they need to service along roadsides or to be towed away by breakdown agencies, a common occurrence on Indian roads.
13. Honk away
No regard is paid to schools, colleges and hospitals and sound pollution maintenance and drivers keep on honking away in order to make the car ahead aware that he is not driving according to his satisfaction and needs to make way. So much is honking popular that trucks and other heavy vehicles even encourage honking by sporting the famous sigh ‘Horn OK please’, which is not okay at all
14. The Indian Highway
India is the only country in the world where you can see that highways are been constructed through villages and the villagers treat it as a back lane for all their daily activities alongside them which include cooking, washing and all sorts of daily chores.