[arjyamaj]

Why bother with the rules anyway? Just use commonsense...

This was an email forward (edited to suit this forum of course) that I had made some time back.

Spread the word- it could make a difference


I live in Delhi and work in Noida. What I do NOT get is this- the Delhi Government has been nice enough to give you roads that the best of the world could match and the rest could only wish for. Why in the world must you ruin my driving pleasure for your lack of road sense?

With that, allow me to refresh your memory with some driving basics:

1. Its a road- not a runway. Just because your car speedometer shows the number 180 does not mean that your car can actually do 180 kmph- and certainly not on public roads, even if it is the Taj Expressway. If you do need to show off your driving skills, do try the bouncing cars at the amusement park.

2. There's reason why there are white lines and yellow lines on the road. Get this- yellow lines cannot be crossed- dont ask me why, I dunno. But maybe it has something to do with obstructing traffic coming from the other side?

3. About the white lines on the road again- while you could take them for marks on a runway (refer #1), I dont think that was the idea. Its called a lane- a space between two strips of white lines in which a vehicle may drive. STAY IN IT! If you have two lanes it means that you leave the left one alone- for the people turning left. If there are three, it means that you WILL use the ONLY the right lane to turn right- not the middle and certainly not the left. Completely unnacceptable!

4. Lights- look at those colours- green, red, yellow. Red means stop. Period. Red does not mean "Let's see if I can make it to the other end of the crossing without getting hit". Red also does not mean you get to honk while the guy in front of you knows what red means. And no, jumping a red light doesnt prove that yours is bigger, it just proves that you have a smaller brain (again refer to # 1 above)

5. Zebra crossings- again, they're there for a reason. Its for pedestrians (read, lesser mortals, for you) to cross the road. Yes I know they dont pay road tax and we do, but give them a break, they do need to cross the road at times. DONT stop on the crossing- giving yourself an advantage of a few meters will not result in you getting home earlier. Trust me.

6. SUV's (especially you Innova and Tavera types)- yes yes, we know. We understand that what you lack in your head you will make up for in your car. I'm sure you could probably run me down in my dinky lil Alto, but dont, seriously. Throwing your weight around does not make you a better driver. It does however, make our lives a little less important. There's a reason the mammoths died out- go figure/

7. Slow moving vehicles- autos, trucks, buses, rickshaws and cycles- this goes for you. GET OFF THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD!!! Its bad enough to negotiate the huge SUVs (refer # 1 and # 6 above), I really cant take care of you as well. Trust me, I do not want to be going at 20 when I can actually do a 50 or even a 60 (!), especially on an incline. Get off the middle, take the left lane. Leave the faster lanes to people who can actually drive at the speed limit.

8. Overtaking- do you know how irritating it is to have someone slalom you from the left? You're completely blindsided and therefore slow down, reducing the overall speed of traffic. Dont do that. If you think I'm going too slow, check the speed limit first. Even so, blink your lights, or even honk (am not too averse to that) and I will get out of your way, I will move to the left.

9. Indicator- yup, you could use them on occasion. On occasions like when turning, or even when changing lanes. I wish I could read your mind, but I cant. However, putting on your indicators would help- trust me.

10. And finally, for people who walk- I'm sure you love walking. In fact, I love it too. However, I'd love it even more if you could just GET OFF THE ROAD!!! I pay Road Tax- a lot of it- every 3 years. You dont. I pay for the asphalt and the cement. You dont. Did you look over to the left? Oh look... there's a raised strip just for you! Thats right, just for you! And its called a footpath... woah!!! I mean, do you get to walk over there? Yes of course you do... that's why its called a foot- path? Now isnt that nice. Right, so will you please get yourself off the road that I pay for and get over to the footpath which again, you dont pay for (well actually we all do pay for it).

Yours
A relatively new addition to Delhi