BAD dreams do not necessarily scare the hell out of us at night. Nightmares can also be a daytime experience, especially in the morning when you wake up with the worry to get to your workplace on time. A change from home to office means some kinetic action. Commuting becomes the real task, particularly if you are in the driving seat yourself, while work at office may be as cool as a ‘drive-free business’. Yes, what I’m referring to here is the dangers that can be caused by bad drivers and terrible traffic.
Vehicular traffic runs more in our arteries than on roads. It runs along our nerves rather than in lanes. It nearly clogs our respiratory tracts. It’s hypertensive, nervy and chokes us up at the same time.
A chaotic freedom of expression finds its way in our driving behaviour. A nation that does not obey basic traffic rules hardly cares for the rule of law. Our Constitution cannot govern our driving passion. Regulatory intervention is merely a lawless enforcement.
Traffic violation is the most horrible form of social violence. Having some road sense is far more important than having common sense. And if you don’t have it, it might prove disastrous. Don’t try and turn your vehicle into a nasty weapon. Speed maniacs can really hurt.
Discipline gives way to a free-for-all idiots during the rush hour. If cars had elbows, they would be nudging. People want to cross roads with green signals on. Many people don’t give two hoots about the red light. Driving fast, within the city, is no use, since traffic signals serve as speed-breakers only.
When we drive a car, there are so many attractive distractions all around us. Heedless motorcycles weave in and out of lanes without any trace of caution. Bikers try to fill any vacuum or unoccupied patch of road that they see. They don’t even leave the space created by two vehicles empty and try to get in between them for reasons best known to God.
Sleep-deprived terror heavyweights, also known as truck drivers, can sometimes cause carnage. They drive sans any fatigue even after a long haul trucking from coast-to-coast. They threaten like rolling juggernauts.
One must also keep in mind the brazen public transport buses and rattling rickshaws. They have their own share of wreaking havoc. While displaying their art (or science) on roads, it appears that bus and rickshaw drivers are totally devoid of any kind of vision, nor do they feel the need to visit an eye specialist so that their eyesight could be checked. It seems that most of these drivers are always in a state of anger, whose reason is never known. According to a psychiatrist, “Most angry drivers in such situations do feel threatened while taking part in an unofficial race with their fellow drivers, but what is at stake is their pride.”
No doubt, recklessness has left us with impairment in driving capabilities. However, tailgating, speeding, weaving between lanes, excessive honking and moving too slow in the fast lane are other forms of driving behaviours that might make you hit the ceiling. Again, an expert suggests, “Under no circumstances should you attempt to teach anyone a lesson.”
Roads are not meant to put our personal proclivities, emotional stress and financial worries on display. People show our national character through their driving habits.
Driving patterns show individual problems. People tailgate to peep into others’ privacy; they overtake to tell they must come first everywhere; they jump the queues; they don’t honk; and they give air to their emotions wildly etc. Cars moving along with you must be dealt like your mobile neighbours. They’re always interested in what the other is doing or up to.
So friends, before you hit the road, you must check the oil of tolerance; make sure that your clutch of self-control and brakes of modesty are in order.
BAD dreams do not necessarily scare the hell out of us at night. Nightmares can also be a daytime experience, especially in the morning when you wake up with the worry to get to your workplace on time. A change from home to office means some kinetic action. Commuting becomes the real task, particularly if you are in the driving seat yourself, while work at office may be as cool as a ‘drive-free business’. Yes, what I’m referring to here is the dangers that can be caused by bad drivers and terrible traffic.
