Yesterday morning I had gone to Mahe by car and I thought I’ll make a note of the usual stupidities or lack of road sense by my fellow drivers. The confusing signals given by some drivers might be helpful for foreigners driving in India.
Here are the most common counter intuitive confusions and tips in surviving road traffic in India.
- Putting the indicator to the right, to indicate to the vehicle following that you can over take.
The worst part is if you wait for the vehicle in front to turn right, it will never happen, and if you decide to overtake and if the drive really meant to turn right, you are in for a crash. - Hazard warning indicator to go straight
I don’t know who started it, but I have seen this happening since the hazard warning indicators started to appear in Ambassador cars. If you try to teach someone he’ll never learn goes the old saying. Try convincing a driver about what it is and he’ll reply, you have right and left indicators and how can you indicate that you want to go straight in an A/C car. - Beware of bus drivers, they might stop anywhere
Buses are like friends, they come in various sizes and shapes. Some may just barge in, some may force you down the road, overtake you and then stop abruptly in front of you at the next stop.And where is the stop you might ask, its the place where the driver feels like stopping, it tends to be the middle of the road, ensuring that you can’t overtake. - Humps and bumps
Can appear anywhere, sometimes with a sign board and sometimes without. Those incredible roads do test to alertness while driving. - Road cuttings
These are found in most places, as the roads are re tarred the thickness increases and the sides end up having cuttings. Sometimes the difference can be so much that it can overturn your vehicle if you make a sudden turn. - Potholes, drainage, fountains
Potholes appear every year in most Indian roads. Kerala roads are well known for their deep holes that can damage your spine and drive you nuts. yes you might find fountains in the middle of the road when water pipes are broken. Be careful of the drainage, the slabs might fall off most of the time if you drive over it. - People, Cows, elephants and Tipper Lorries
Watch out for all these, night or day. In some places you’ll find people who’ll actually bend in such a way that the vehicle can pass without touching their butt, and without moving their feet. Honking makes no difference, they’ll just not move until the vehicle has passed.
That’s it for now, add your comments so that I can I add that to list of things to watchout while driving in India.
Hello webmaster , i was looking for websites similar to mine on about asia travel and i was directed to your post madness and stupidities in India | Sunish Issac’s thoughts on the Web , i must say that your post is informative – I shall bookmark and link back to you
hi sunish,
Another ticket to heaven issued free by the PWD—the dividers with out any signboards,,it will come in all forms and shapes..there are ones on which you can drive and test your suspension too. Last week wen i was rushing to mangalore from kochi i found those strut testers eagerly waiting for me at somewhere near Koilandy.It happened at night when my speedo was in 3 digits and was overtaking a bus,luckily i was able to keep it cool, and took the car to the opposite track.There are quite a lot of them on this stretch and guys who want the gps position of this suicide points can have it from me.