Are Indian drivers closet Formula 1 drivers or just plain suicidal

durian

I SURVIVED MY TRIP TO MYSORE!! I'M STILL ALIVE!!!

Wow! Another eye-opener. This road trip from Bangalore to Mysore made the Hosur Road commutes (see first post) look like kids-play. The Mysore road is a two-lane road. When we went, both lanes were busy. Incredibly, my driver managed to pass streams of cars (not just one car) with head-on traffic coming - some of them being huge trucks. Now, that was impressive. But, in a strange way, I was getting used to it. In my mind, it is simply amazing (no astounding) how he is able to judge his ability to speed up, the speed of the oncoming traffic, the obstacles on the road (and there were many), etc. in order to pass. There were, however, many occassions where both sides had to brake and one had to duck into the shoulders. What is totally incredible is not a single scratch. Totally amazing.

But just when I got used to the trip to Mysore came the trip back - IN THE DARK!!!! Now that was a totally new dimension. First, the road is nowhere straight - partly because the road followed the countour, partly because the road is being expanded to a divided 4-lane highway, partly because there is all manner of people on the road, partly because some of the oncoming traffic had no headlights. My driver continued his aggressive driving passing cars - AND ALL THIS DONE IN THE DARK OR WITH ONCOMING TRAFFIC BLINKING THEIR HEADLIGHTS OR WITH THE HIGH BEAM ON.

I guess driving in India helps prove the Darwinian Theory - you simply can't last this long if you are no good. And damn, was he good (if not dangerous).

All I can say is that Hosur Road commute (which blew my mind early this week) simply pales.

But you know, as great as the visit to Mysore Palace, Tipu's Summer Palace, etc in Mysore, I actually relished the road-trip more. By going by car, I got a chance to have a Coke with the locals at a roadside dhaba, saw a remote out-of-the-way temple situated by a river, photographed kids playing and women washing clothes in the river, watched people working in rice fields, observed life in a number of villages, mingled in a farmers market near Mysore. The most incredible part of the trip was on the return leg in the dark. The villages were simply crawling with people. My driver said that Saturday night is market night. We parked and walked around the market surrounded by a mass of humanity, the smell of spices, cooking, etc around us, the sight of women in incredibly colorful/beautiful sarees, kids wandering around with their parents, the variety of food and stuff, etc. It was simply awesome/amazing. WOW.

I AM VERY ENJOYING IT MEANS WOW!!!!!!

Hippie at Heart

Peculiar traits of driving in India are already well explained by great exponents, I feel its more about adjusting to the traffic ‘melee’ as far as foreigners are concerned. Some time back when a friend moved lock stock and barrel to USA. He told me later on he was scared to death driving in there for a good month because it appeared too organized and too fast on highways, one slip (which would be very unlike given the sense of order) and he will be on the way to happy hunting grounds, because of great speed they fly around. In India we are appears more chaotic but actually with that speed we are not trying to kill others, or ourselves as there is simply no scope for that given the kind ridiculous speeds (by the standards of what developed countries have on high ways)

Any day I would be more terrified in India by a black cow sleeping peacefully in middle of night that you notice when you are almost over her. By the way anyone have some kind of rational theory why Indian cows in metro cities have a panache for sitting bang in the middle of road?

Digital Drifter

The warmest place anywhere, especially in winter!

Down south, the police have come up with a hard way of teaching the milkmen; they sell the cows off to the abattoir! the milkmen promptly start getting the cows home!

machadinha

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Digital Drifter

you mean, the purpose of an acc'tor pedal is /not/ to floor it? the other pedal is a brake and this is a vehicle which moves,so....

SHIMLA

The rational reason is because they are cows - animals - who are not gifted with the power of thought. The cows can be excused.

What about those hawkers who occupy the entire footpath meant for pedestrians; thus forcing the latter to walk on the road which is already infested with traffic and animals??

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durian

After only six days in India, I have come to the following conclusions about Indian-style driving (flame away).

1. readmymind was absolutely right. I too thought my driver was the worst but in hindsight, I now know they know exactly what they are doing. They are aggressive but not bad - in fact, they are damn good. The bad ones get weeded out early.

2. hippie at heart is dead-on in the sense that speed matters. If we were traveling at higher speeds, I am sure the consequences would have been deadly. Instead, in a few cases, when passing cars, we are able to get into an Indian version of the "lets see who blinks first" game and see if the opposite direction will slow down or we would have to abandon the passing attempt (or just squeeze close to the other cars and end up with 3 cards on a 2 lane road). In a few rare case, the oncoming would be forced off to the shoulder or we have to force ourselves back into our lane. Most of the time, the pass goes through without a hitch even when the oncoming traffic is heavy and the cars in the opposite direction seems so amazingly close.

3. WRT honking, I now also realize that sometimes honking may be a signal to warn people that you are behind them. Of course, honking is also done to tell people to the the "($@%^" out the way. My driver used his own money to purchase a horn add on that gave him (get this bijapuri) 8 different honk tones (fast clippy tones, random honk tones, etc.). He said it cost him RS900. He truly must value the ability to honk to shell out that much.

4. mala may be on to something - I think it is what drivers in India evolve into. What is that saying "in a room full of people doing crazy things and you are not, maybe you are the crazy one". BTW, not saying that they are doing crazy things, but you get the point. A couple of days, I was (tongue-in-cheek) talking to a friend about how my driver drove. When we went out to lunch, we took my car. When we got in, my friend in a low voice scolded my driver in Indian. I knew something was going on because I occassionally caught words like "fast", "dangerous" and my driver protesting that he was going "normal speed", etc. My friend at lunch apologized that Indian drivers were the worst, didn't follow rules, used their horns too much, etc etc. That night, he drove us to dinner. Guess who was hitting the horn, zig-zagging through traffic, trying to beat the lights, coming very close to 2-wheelers, etc. I am sure it was all done unconsciously and naturally that he didn't know he was doing what he criticized my driver of doing.

5. finally, don't drive a 2-wheeler or bike. They are constantly shoved around, beeped at, and have to endure the exhaust fumes. If there are any mistakes made involving a car/truck and a 2-wheeler, I suspect the impact to the 2-wheeler will be tragic. Unfortunately, I realize that most can only afford 2-wheelers. Actually, the irony is that my driver is saving up to buy a 2-wheeler. Talk about turning the tables.

Have a great day.

nedhopkins

If you want to ride with Formula One drivers, get on a public bus in Rio de Janeiro. Better yet, just watch as they storm down busy streets and turn corners at speeds that really ought to topple their buses over.

By comparison, Indian bus (and other) drivers were models of caution.

snowcrab

I always felt that Indian drivers moved their vehicals like boaters. In a boat there are a few conventions about what side to pass on, but that's about it. Since there is no designated pavement/non pavement areas in the water you just point it wherever there are no rocks,shallows, shoreline or other boats.

Western drivers seem to drive more like self propelled locomotives. There are lanes painted on the road and you are expected to maintain your lane much like a train is expected to stay on it's tracks. The way technology is developing I will not be suprised if eventually all major roadways will be equiped to not only sense vehicals but ultimately control their position on the roadbed. That means westerners expect all the vehicals and everything else they meet to behave in a very predictable manner so they feel very comfortable in driving much faster than their reflexes could posibly compensate for in the event of unpredictable events like a cow on the road. Hitting a moose, cow or horse on the highway usually kills both animal and driver. Drivers who do not obey these lane rules, like drunken people cause terrible accidents all the time and garner much ire from those who do.

I'm a pedestrian so my issues are different. In India you know a driver is not going to stop for you, his actions are more or less predictable in that sense, so you just move through the gaps in the traffic. Because the traffic is going slower it's easier to estimate if that gap is going to be big enough. In the west, some drivers will stop for you, some will not so their actions are not very predictable. Here many people on foot are killed because a driver in one lane stopped for them but a later arival booming along in parallel lane did not, so you have to be very careful trying to cross a busy intersection on foot, a fast moving vehical can cover ground deceptively fast and if you don't make eye contact and determine if they are going to stop or not you can find yourself trying to occupy the same space as many tons of metal at the same time, usually with more deleterious effects to you than to the machine.

I find negotiating roadways on foot in places like India just easier because you don't have to figure this out all the time.

machadinha

The one riddle remains: In some places people at night will drive without their headlights on (apparently they feel this saves fuel), only to flash them at full strength at any opposing traffic at the last moment amidst much honking. I could never figure out how they notice the oncoming traffic at all in the pitch black darkness though. How does that work? You just honk when you suspect something's ahead and hope for the best? I'm talking unlighted winding country roads here. Tamil Nadu drivers among others had a penchant for driving this way.

beach

There is nothing called a 'crazy driver' in india. Including me, everyone drive like 'crazy'. It is a three dimensional skill. Might is right, is the name of the rule. An extreme sense of balistics is essential to master the skill.

There is this 'caste hirearchy' of the roads. Trucks are supreme power on the streets, then comes the Buses, cars, ....and bikes are the outcastes.

I've to comply with this norm, according to what I drive, a car or a bike. Nothing wrong with it

For all that matter waht you have experienced is a simple thing. Travel from Alway to Cochin (in kerala) by a city bus. You can experience the 'bus version' of what you have seen with the cars. I mean three or four buses racing on the 4 lane street. Of course Delhi- Chandigarh bus ride is no comparison to this .

May be that is why we call India on a move...Horn OK plaese

(BTW you might have seen the on coming vehicles flashes their head lamps in day time when your car/other vehicle get into other's line. The flashing means- "I'm not going to stop/slow for you!!". If the other driver flashes his head lamp means "I dont agree!!", that is the code language of driving )

ramalaka

After driving here for 1.5 years, I am continually astounded by the sheer number of morons on the road. With the highest accident rate in Asia, India's accident rate, deaths and injuries will continue to rise until 2042 according to a report by WHO.

In 2004, BMTC buses killed 98 people, injured a several hundred, and as one 60 year old resident who grew up panned, 'And that's what's reported."

My wife is leaving India in mid-April and i am following in late April. In those intervening two weeks, I plan on playing demolition derby in my Ambassador. I've already been in a few scrapes and came out on top. It actually felt quite good to strike some pompous bastard, and, I've got my lathi if things get nasty, as I plan on denting quite a few Scorpios, and other vehicles.

Reply back if you've got a nasty streak and don't mind mixing it up...a whack to the rear quarter panel, and smash to the bridge of the nose is what most of these drivers need. Bangalore demolition derby starts 16 April.

machadinha

Determined to up those numbers eh.

beach

A thread here with similar theme...

http://www.indiamike.com/india/showthread.php?t=7240

snowcrab

[quote=beach]There is nothing called a 'crazy driver' in india. Including me, everyone drive like 'crazy'. It is a three dimensional skill. Might is right, is the name of the rule. An extreme sense of balistics is essential to master the skill.

Very enlightening post Beach, I hadn't realized it was all so personal. Can't count the times in years of driving I've arrived home with no memory at all of the trip, total automatic pilot at 120 klicks all the way. (Lived in the country, Alberta drivers change tires at 50mph, speed is everything, other drivers really don't register as long as they are in the right lane.)