Why I’m Afraid to Drive in Delhi
The Delhi Traffic Police is on Twitter but has it really helped the city’s residents? No, says Ravina Raj Kohli.
The Delhi Traffic Police is on Twitter. I had an incident the other night when a large SUV with two drunk men rear-ended my stationary vehicle at a traffic light on Prithviraj Road. We were the only two cars on the road. I took a picture of the licence plate as well as the boors within and promptly tweeted to the cops. I actually got a response and they promised to investigate.
Wow. Are the traffic police getting civilised?
I don’t know what happened next, but what I do know is this. We need the traffic police in the National Capital Region (NCR) to lay down the law pronto. I don’t care which government they report to. As a resident, I really don’t want to risk my life every day anymore, while these people figure out who is more important – them or the common person. The Home Ministry and the AAP are both equally liable for creating the mess on our streets.
The process of getting a licence here is a joke. One of the questions in the ‘written test’ is about horse carriages and their speed limit. Good grief. How about reviewing that, Mr Traffic Commissioner? Or Mr Minister? Or whoever is currently God?
In a metropolis this size, we probably need to quadruple our trained police force. Before we licence them, we must teach all drivers how to behave. And penalise them when they don’t. Do we even have proper traffic rules? Or just some debatable Motor Vehicle Act that is highly redundant?
Whether maalik or hired chauffeur, everyone drives like it’s their baap ki road. Giant egos drive giant luxury cars, refusing to stop at pedestrian crossings and skipping traffic lights. Obvious mardaangi steers the saab ki gaadi, tailgating and scraping past every car in front. And aggression and ignorance create havoc behind the wheel in the cabs that make it their business to burst your eardrums and drive on the wrong side of the road. It’s a no-win situation. And then, of course, there are way too many bikes. I think they all genuinely believe they live in a video game.
So much for Tata Motors and other esteemed companies trying to train drivers by charging them a fee. They cock a snook at you and get their fake licences for free.
No respect for authority, the roads are overpopulated with people who are above the law. Most young drivers are always on their mobiles. The bigger the car, the more aggressive the person at the wheel. There’s no question of giving way to traffic on your right. Or stopping for pedestrians.
Maybe a private agency needs to take over traffic control. How about the ‘TBI’? With powers to suspend a driver on the spot? Throw a drunk-driving sod in jail immediately with a minimum lakh or so rupees fine for bail? Ban an errant vehicle from plying the streets, irrespective of who owns it.
Guts hain?
And best of all, fine the driver of any vehicle with a scratch or a dent on it. Singapore, Holland, Germany and many more did just that and it worked.
Many cabbies are young men from the outskirts of the NCR. And most are here without a clue about road manners or even how to live in a city where women are so visible and liquor isn’t so cheap.
It’s time to rethink why we’ve let this happen and what we can do about these reckless roadies. Yes, the metro will help the commuters, but it won’t change a driver’s mindset.
Dear Prime Minister,
This is my Mann ki Baat. While our government continues to put its might behind a flawed model of skilling India into making the youth of our great country more ‘employable’, there is one skill we have completely overlooked. The skill of coexisting in a civilised society. Teaching life skills has been omitted in the agenda totally.
A young cab driver who drives between Gurgaon and Delhi claims to have only banged into five cars and scratched around 25. Theek hai. Driving on the wrong side for him is a sign of power, a feeling of being invincible. In his village, no one gets stopped for breaking rules. There are no rules, he says.
I agree with him. Don’t you? The Delhi Traffic Police is on Twitter @dtptraffic. Tell them when you see something wrong on the road.
And if Mr Rudy is listening, get NSDC to put basic manners and life skills on the skilling agenda, please.
(The writer is a media professional.)
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