The problems on the road
By: K S S Pillai
In a novel that I am reading presently, the hero, a British citizen, is on a tour of America. He buys an old car to drive across the country. He is habituated to the right-hand drive in his native country, while the driver sits on the left side in America.
The traffic moves along the left side of the road in one country, and it moves on the right side in the other country. Even the wipers on the windshield in front of the driver are of better quality than those on the other side. As expected, he and the other road users face several problems till he becomes habituated to the new arrangement. The police apprehend him often and issue warnings.
Though traffic rules are there for the safety of the driver and other road users, they are often violated, resulting in fatal accidents. The media report many deaths on roads daily. Recently, several people lost their lives or were seriously injured when a car mowed them down. The accidents are caused by drunken driving, telephone usage while driving, not wearing a seat belt, disobeying traffic signals, over-speeding or similar acts.
Over-speeding is the villain many times. Although closed circuit TVs installed at strategic points have brought down the cases of traffic violations, most drivers cannot resist the temptation of over-speeding on smooth roads. Sometimes the offending vehicle jumps over the divider on multi-lane roads and hits vehicles coming from the opposite direction.
Several accidents are also caused by the inferior maintenance of roads, particularly during the rainy season. There is no dearth of warnings, sometimes unnecessary like the boards in hilly areas with winding narrow roads that advise people to drive slowly. Luckily, I am such a slow driver that even auto-rikshaws overtake me.
Accidents are also caused by domestic animals in some states. Living in a State where killing cows and their progenies is prohibited, I often find cattle lying in the middle of the road in groups during peak hours. My friends in other places, where there is no such prohibition, tell me they don’t have such a problem for obvious reasons.
As it is up to me to save my life and that of others in my vehicle, I negotiate the obstruction by driving slowly and cautiously. If any animal is hit, the cattle owner can be expected at the spot in a jiffy, along with his cronies, carrying deadly sticks and demanding high compensation. The problem is more acute at night as it is difficult to see the black-coloured animals.
Despite having an age limit for the driving licence, we come across many two-wheelers driven by young students in almost all schools. They speed through city roads, often carrying their friends as co-passengers, causing accidents. Even though the parents are considered equally guilty of such accidents, the practice continues.
There was a time when a licence was required to keep a bicycle in Kerala. Night riding without a headlight and tail light powered by a dynamo was illegal. Despite the rule prohibiting more than one extra passenger on a bicycle, I remember whole families carried in such a vehicle.
There was a police inspector in my home town, waiting for cyclists speeding through roads by standing on pedals without using the seat. Others cycled without touching the handle. The inspector would stop them and carry away the seats and handles, saying they did not need them.
With more and more people acquiring mechanized vehicles, I sometimes wish we had the same means of transport as our forefathers, who used animals like horses to carry them from place to place. Even gods of some religions are shown riding buffaloes, wild animals and certain large birds.
(The author is a retired professor of English. He is a regular contributor to ‘Kashmir Vision’, his articles and short stories have appeared in several national and international publications)
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