Not So Easy Rider
Indian Roads
Having spent almost a month in India now and traveled a large part of it by road I though it best to write some things down in case I forgot about them.
In the past 5 years there has been a massive investment in the infrastructure of India, with many new roads being built and the old ones getting resurfaced to a high standard and busy roads getting extra lanes. The National Highways now have 2 lanes either side, though many drivers still drive on the left hand carriageway the wrong way into oncoming traffic. This is apparently normal, as when a tractor comes to the junction of his dirt road the and gleaming NH and he wants to go right, he'll do just that not knowing that he should first cross to the opposite carriageway. In being driven between Delhi and Jaipur the other week we were doing 100 kmph down the outside lane when we saw an ageing Mahindra jeep coming towards us in our lane. This did not seem to worry the driver as he calmly stood on the brake pedal and swerved into the inside lane. I was glad I had packed spare boxers anyway.
India, like Nepal, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and a few other countries still "drive" on the left, like us Brits. Yes, I certainly got a lump in my throat when I crossed over from Tibet (China) into Nepal to see the vehicles all having their steering wheels on the correct side. In India, because of the narrowness of roads through towns and non dual-carriageways, this rule is entirely flexible. For example, if a taxi wants to stop it will do so in the middle of the lane without moving over a little. Traffic will then build up behind it until the volume and pressure gets so great it sort of overflows around the obstruction and into the path of oncoming traffic. Naturally those in the wrong lane have priority over anything else and so there is no giving way. The sounding of your vehicle's horn signifies that you have right-of-way, and so it passes that two wide vehicles may pass each other in a narrow spot with many millimeters to spare.
The use of mirrors is not encouraged. The ever-versatile horn comes into play when you need to overtake someone. As you approach them you sound your horn. You then steer out into the adjacent lane regardless of what happens. Even on a blind corner you will then accelerate as fast as your vehicle can in a low gear and continue too sound your horn. This will not only alert the driver that you are overtaking them, it will also protect you from oncoming traffic. You then hope to bugger that they then brake so you can safely pull back in front of them. You get used to this after a while.
Headlights in and out of cities are optional. The vehicle's full beam may be used occasionally to insist that the vehicle in front should get out of your way bloody quick else they'll end up under you, though this is again flexible. Headlights also perform the same role as the horn at night.
Maintenance of your vehicle depends on how long it will last without it. With the growing middle class in India, there are more new cars on the roads. This is not the same explosion of wealth as in China but you now see many well off families now driving around in new Maruti Suzukis; small hatch-backs no bigger than a Fiesta. These have come to rival the ancient Hindustan Ambassadors that used to be the standard "Indian car". The Ambassador is basically an old Morris Oxford with a different engine in it. It is way short on mod-cons but is built like a tank. They are still widely used as Taxis and by the Civil Service. Most of the time you will see these cars in fairly good nick (no rain = no rust) though the petrol rickshaws often will leave a smoke trail visible from space. Being stuck behind one of these can be nasty.
Two-wheeled transport is still the most popular form on the sub-continent with Hero-Honda, Suzuki, and Bajaj who make scooters being the most popular. Enfields are too expensive for most Indians to own. Even the family can have one of the Bajaj scooters as their primary form of transport. I saw one pootle past be the pother day and it had two adults and three small children sitting/standing on it. Obviously in all classes of vehicle the capacity depends on the comfort level you want maintained. A rickshaw "licenced" to carry 3 people will often carry many times more, and so on.
The rule of the open road is very simple and remarkably consistent. Might is Right is it. This means that the larger vehicle always has right of way, regardless of anything else. The hierarchy is as follows, with the Daddy at the top:
This is the order of things and this is maintained.
For example, on a NH only yesterday I saw a Mahindra 4WD reduced to Coke-can proportions after trying unsuccessfully to take on a TATA truck (TATA are the engineering conglomerate who make them, they are large and not articulated to you can imagine they gain the sort of inertia that would rival an oil tanker). The Mahindra was totaled and the truck had a tiny dink on its front driver's side wing. This is why the order is maintained.
As a sobering thought, though this may not come as a surprise, over 1200 people are killed on India's roads every day. All for the want of a driving test.
Having spent almost a month in India now and traveled a large part of it by road I though it best to write some things down in case I forgot about them.
In the past 5 years there has been a massive investment in the infrastructure of India, with many new roads being built and the old ones getting resurfaced to a high standard and busy roads getting extra lanes. The National Highways now have 2 lanes either side, though many drivers still drive on the left hand carriageway the wrong way into oncoming traffic. This is apparently normal, as when a tractor comes to the junction of his dirt road the and gleaming NH and he wants to go right, he'll do just that not knowing that he should first cross to the opposite carriageway. In being driven between Delhi and Jaipur the other week we were doing 100 kmph down the outside lane when we saw an ageing Mahindra jeep coming towards us in our lane. This did not seem to worry the driver as he calmly stood on the brake pedal and swerved into the inside lane. I was glad I had packed spare boxers anyway.
India, like Nepal, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and a few other countries still "drive" on the left, like us Brits. Yes, I certainly got a lump in my throat when I crossed over from Tibet (China) into Nepal to see the vehicles all having their steering wheels on the correct side. In India, because of the narrowness of roads through towns and non dual-carriageways, this rule is entirely flexible. For example, if a taxi wants to stop it will do so in the middle of the lane without moving over a little. Traffic will then build up behind it until the volume and pressure gets so great it sort of overflows around the obstruction and into the path of oncoming traffic. Naturally those in the wrong lane have priority over anything else and so there is no giving way. The sounding of your vehicle's horn signifies that you have right-of-way, and so it passes that two wide vehicles may pass each other in a narrow spot with many millimeters to spare.
The use of mirrors is not encouraged. The ever-versatile horn comes into play when you need to overtake someone. As you approach them you sound your horn. You then steer out into the adjacent lane regardless of what happens. Even on a blind corner you will then accelerate as fast as your vehicle can in a low gear and continue too sound your horn. This will not only alert the driver that you are overtaking them, it will also protect you from oncoming traffic. You then hope to bugger that they then brake so you can safely pull back in front of them. You get used to this after a while.
Headlights in and out of cities are optional. The vehicle's full beam may be used occasionally to insist that the vehicle in front should get out of your way bloody quick else they'll end up under you, though this is again flexible. Headlights also perform the same role as the horn at night.
Maintenance of your vehicle depends on how long it will last without it. With the growing middle class in India, there are more new cars on the roads. This is not the same explosion of wealth as in China but you now see many well off families now driving around in new Maruti Suzukis; small hatch-backs no bigger than a Fiesta. These have come to rival the ancient Hindustan Ambassadors that used to be the standard "Indian car". The Ambassador is basically an old Morris Oxford with a different engine in it. It is way short on mod-cons but is built like a tank. They are still widely used as Taxis and by the Civil Service. Most of the time you will see these cars in fairly good nick (no rain = no rust) though the petrol rickshaws often will leave a smoke trail visible from space. Being stuck behind one of these can be nasty.
Two-wheeled transport is still the most popular form on the sub-continent with Hero-Honda, Suzuki, and Bajaj who make scooters being the most popular. Enfields are too expensive for most Indians to own. Even the family can have one of the Bajaj scooters as their primary form of transport. I saw one pootle past be the pother day and it had two adults and three small children sitting/standing on it. Obviously in all classes of vehicle the capacity depends on the comfort level you want maintained. A rickshaw "licenced" to carry 3 people will often carry many times more, and so on.
The rule of the open road is very simple and remarkably consistent. Might is Right is it. This means that the larger vehicle always has right of way, regardless of anything else. The hierarchy is as follows, with the Daddy at the top:
- Cows
- TATA Trucks
- Slightly shorter lorries
- Buses
- Cars
- Bullock carts
- Petrol rickshaws
- Motorcycles/scooters
- Cycle rickshaws/bicycles
- People
This is the order of things and this is maintained.
For example, on a NH only yesterday I saw a Mahindra 4WD reduced to Coke-can proportions after trying unsuccessfully to take on a TATA truck (TATA are the engineering conglomerate who make them, they are large and not articulated to you can imagine they gain the sort of inertia that would rival an oil tanker). The Mahindra was totaled and the truck had a tiny dink on its front driver's side wing. This is why the order is maintained.
As a sobering thought, though this may not come as a surprise, over 1200 people are killed on India's roads every day. All for the want of a driving test.