Today while driving back from Koramangala to Electronic City I was mocked by a friend of mine for driving slow (For the record, I was driving at above 80 kmph on a road which had a speed limit of 80kmph, and by the way no one cares about the speed limit in India ). I was amazed by the fact that it was so difficult for him to understand the fact that there’s a line between being a good driver and being a stupid driver. It saddens me how I have been mocked so many times for lecturing people regarding road safety. In India, we are taught to neglect road safety everyday.
Sadly, driving fast and taking close sharp turns gives a few people a macho feeling. It makes them feel like they are doing some great justice to the society. I won’t blame my friend for this attitude of his, it’s the system which has made us this way. For example, another friend of mine boasts of driving for last 7 years, he’s barely 21 and he has been driving for past 7 years and he’s proud of it (In India, the legal age for driving a Car is 18). 😀 That’s how our system is and we can’t change it. By the way Indian roads account for the largest number of road accidents in the world[ref]Times of India [/ref], it is partly because of this careless attitude that our people have and sadly the same attitude is being forwarded to the new generation of drivers.
I used to think that when the new generation of drivers come, things will get better because of education but it’s the system which is corrupting everyone’s mind and there’s hardly anything that we can do about it.
You maybe a great driver but if you take pride in driving fast on the city roads and you love boasting about it then you are being plain stupid. You might not have an accident because you are “awesome” (awesome=lucky here) but someone else might mess things up when you try to take those sharp turns which according to you is a great thing to do. There are countless example of this kind on youtube which show how mistake of one person costs life of another on the road.
So learn to be responsible and Spread the word.