How Not to Die on Indian Roads!
One thing I’ve heard again and again growing up is that experience is the best teacher. I’ve been driving for nearly 3 years now and I’ve lost count of the number of times I nearly died on the road.
Be it my tire exploding or narrowly dodging the KSRTC who doesn’t give a shit, I’ve had my share of close calls.
So this article is going to be a survivor’s guide to Indian roads or maybe roads in general!
1. Drive at an optimum speed
Most Indian roads are narrow, poorly maintained and congested. So unless you’re an idiot or suicidal, speeding is not a great idea.
The easiest thing you can do to improve your safety on the road is to drive at an optimum speed.
Don’t drive too slow either. Nearly a third of motorists have had a ‘near miss’ caused by someone travelling slowly.
2. Check your Tire Pressure.
Newsflash! Tires blowout. And only a handful of drivers regularly check their tire pressure. An underinflated and overloaded tire during hot weather increases the amount of internal heat that builds leading to the tire failing.
When a tire is about to fail the car starts wobbling. If your car does this, STOP IMMEDIATELY.
But if it is too late for you and the tire does fail, keep calm and keep driving straight your lane.
DO NOT slam the brakes and DO NOT jerk the steering wheel. Doing the above could lead to your car spinning out of control.
A blown out tire produces a natural drag, take your foot off the gas and gently apply the brakes till you car slows down, then just steer it to the side.
3. Beware of buses, bikes, cars, pedestrians and cows.
Protip: Look both sides of an one-way road before you merge with the road.
Buses have places to be and are not going to hesitate speeding. Bikes? well, watch out for them on the footpath.
Indian bus drivers are unbelievably rash and a honking is so common that they practically don’t really mean anything anymore.
India has nearly a billion smartphones and with internet access being dirt cheap, pedestrians on their phones with headphones on are more common than ever.
So keep your eyes peeled. Buying a dash cam would be a great investment, they really aren’t that expensive and you will have proof in case something unfortunate does happen.
4. Seat Belts
Indian cars are some of the cheapest cars in the world. They provide great economy and have fantastic mileage. Indian cars are also notoriously unsafe.
Seat Belts are on of the few safety mechanisms found in our cars.
Seat Belts are uncomfortable and annoying, but they could also potentially save your life.
To top it all of it takes like 2 seconds to do it.
5. Indicators and Hazard lights lie worse than your ex.
Most Indian drivers don’t use indicators to begin with.
So be ready for idiots turning left or right with no warning.
The ones that do turn them on either do it a mile away, or ridiculously close to where they want to turn. Both unbelievably frustrating and the latter quiet dangerous.
The cherry on the pie are those who drive with the hazard lights on while driving dead straight.
As a rule of thumb be wary of Indicators and Hazard lights.
Keep a safe distance with your eyes peeled.
6. Your car could catch on fire.
This is in all probability this is highly unlikely. But it did happen to me.
I was flagged down by my mechanic and asked to open my Indica's bonnet. Lo and Behold the car was on fire.
Luckily people rushed to put it out and it all ended well. So what do you do if your car catches fire?
Simple, steer your car to the side, turn off the engine, get everyone out and call the fire department.
DO NOT let anyone back into the car to retrieve anything. A car goes from “on fire” to “engulfed” pretty quickly.
Shutting off the engine is crucial as this will stop the flow of fuel, which can prevent a full-blown fire from occurring.
It’s usually not a good idea to try to put it out yourself as opening the hood or car doors would increase the air supply and accelerate the fire.
7. When your brakes fail
This actually occurs much more often than people think. Again much of it can be attributed to non existent maintenance.
As for my Indica its brake fluid pipe had rusted to the point of failure leaving me with a brake pedal that went all the way to the floor.
Luckily for me, I was driving painfully slow and using my hand brakes I managed to bring the car to a halt.
If it does happen to you, first shift to a lower gear. Second pump the breaks, this is done to build up brake fluid pressure if nothing happens after 3 to 4 pumps , use the parking brake. Gradually apply the parking brake and be prepared for the car to skid.
If none of these work, shift the car into a lower gear and steer in a safe direction until the car comes to a stop.
He who lives in a glass house must not throw stones…
We’ve all had bad days on the road, there have been days when we’ve knowingly violated a traffic rule or just forgot to use the turn signal. The single most important thing you can do while driving on Indian Roads is to keep a level head and keep driving ;).
Disclaimer: All of the above situations I’ve explained actually did happen to me and I’m not making this up so people would stop asking me for rides (But that does sound like a really good idea though!)
Although I would understand it if you preferred walking now.
