Coping with Indian Traffic Yes we all have very stressful daily city drives, it’s all part of the great Indian driving experience. So I just thought of compiling a little list on how to counter the stress of these daily drives.
1. Leave Early
Try and leave a little earlier than you need to. This way you can drive at a more relaxed pace, and actually enjoy the drive. It also will help you curb those fancy moves we make swerving through traffic to get ahead in line so we don’t end up late at our destination. I usually try to leave about 10-15 minutes earlier than I need too. Trust me it helps.
2. Wait at Every Signal
This is pretty much common sense. But wait let’s go a little deeper. The traffic light isn’t your enemy making you late. It’s actually your best friend. Giving you those few seconds or minutes to get out of gear, pull up the handbrake, maybe even switch off the engine to save fuel and just relax. It’s also a great time to adjust the rear view mirrors if needed, to change that playlist you are listening too. So after those relaxing seconds or minutes it’s a fresh you making your way to your destination. Forgetting all those who cut your lane, honked you excessively etc.
3. Stick in Lane
During rush hour there is a lot of traffic approaching you from all sides. So try and keep to your lane. It’s very tempting to keep changing lanes to get ahead of a few cars and you will probably get to your destination about 10 minutes earlier, but if you follow point 1 then you don’t need to be earlier. So stick to your lane, make your drive smoother, as well as traffic smoother for other road users. This will lead to a stress free drive not only for yourself but for everyone on the road.
4. Avoid the Horn
It is extremely stressful to be honked at, but it’s a lot of stress having to use the horn as well. So please refrain from honking other road users unless absolutely necessary. Not only is all this going to lead to a stress free nation, but a quieter one too.
5. Park Sensibly
There are many times when we have to park on the side of the road, for varying reasons. Please ensure that your vehicle is parked appropriately and will not block traffic from any direction. You obviously remember cursing that guy holding up or slowing down traffic because of his careless parking or halting.
This brings us to the second part ~ Coping with other road users
1. Give Way
Try and be a bit more accommodating. When someone wants to pass, give them way. If another road user is turning onto your road, and no one is tailing you. Ease off that gas pedal, let him turn. Set a good example, and others will follow soon.
2. The Excessive Honker
So the guy behind you is honking you nuts. You actually are just following the car in front, it’s not your fault, but still in this case let excessive honker go ahead. Give him way, if he mumbles a few words at you when he passes do not reciprocate. Instead hold a finger to your lips, maybe smile after that. Now this is going to take the guy by surprise, and hopefully he will think about it, and twice before honking excessively again. If not on the next occasion maybe the one after that.
3. The Lane Cutter
Yes it’s very unfortunate that we actually have a breed of such talent. So the fellow cut you in line or while turning. It certainly wasn’t necessary but he did it anyway. So instead of honking away and turning into an excessive honker. Here’s what I do. NO NO NO ofcourse we don’t swear at the guy. Assuming the guy is in front of you now that he has cut you. In the daytime. I flash my high beam for about 3 seconds sometimes even 5 when I am really mad. And this is constant not rapid flashing. Your stress just vanishes holding the headlight stalk for those few seconds. And yeah the guy gets the message. Hopefully he will learn something from this silent yet effective display of anger. Please note that constant flash is not advised in the night for obvious reasons. So I stick to 2 maybe 3 rapid flashes. In no circumstances should you try and cut him off again or overtake him. He’s obviously in a great hurry, let’s not make this a competition let him GO.
4. The High Beamer
Extremely irritating breed, if the motorist is behind you, please switch your inside rear view mirror to night mode by flicking the switch. And allow him to pass as early as possible, to regain your stress free drive. If the high beamer is an oncoming motorist. First of all slow down, Keep your eyes on the left side road marking, the one that marks the end of the road and beginning of the footpath. This will help greatly in case the light is blinding. If you feel that by not switching to high beam you are compromising your safety as well as that of other road users or pedestrians. It’s better to switch to high beam, until the oncoming motorist has passed. Please immediately switch to low beam after the high beamer has passed.
5. The Abuser There are a lot of folks who get abusive, yes sometimes we make mistakes, and are at the receiving end. If it's your mistake, accept it graciously mouth a sorry or a hand gesture indicating your regret and move on. There is no point in swearing back and getting all stressed out. Mistakes happen, we are human after all.
6. The Macho Man
This guy is one step ahead of the abuser and actually gets out of his vehicle to physically attack you. If you see such a guy approaching roll up the windows if they are down. Leave a little rolled down so that the guy can talk to you, but not enough for him to squeeze his hand through. Verbally talk it out. Again, if it's your mistake accept it and apologize. If no damage has been done, drive off. If things seem to be getting out of hand, call 100 immediately or drive off to the nearest police station.
The above mentioned points are what i try to follow, you are welcome to share your own tips and tricks on coping with traffic situations.
Drive Safe! |