Five deadly sins of driving …
Five deadly sins of driving
Driving Sins
1) Multitasking – Texting, calling, fiddling with the car infotainment system.
Each one of us is a multitasker. In fact, we all encourage this trait..we need a jack of all trades, a chalta purza, someone who can do a plethora of tasks simultaneously. Consider cricket, we love all-rounders… Kapil Dev, Imran Khan, Ian Botham are a few Legends that still occupy our tiny memory, even after their retirement long ago. Consider the auto industry, earlier we had sedans that were comfortable. We also had SUVs which were king of bad roads… now, we love our Crossovers, which have the comfort of Sedans and the soul of SUVs.
In short, we love everything multi dexterous. Apparently, our cell phones are getting smarter and we’re getting dumber. The way we use our cell phones while driving confirms the same. We Indians already utilize every inch of space on roads while driving. This driving sanity of ours, coupled with multitasking habits, is surely a recipe for disaster. Leave aside cars or supercars, I have seen two-wheeler riders spraining their neck on one side to hold cell phones while they ride feverishly on already packed roads. Multitasking is the most deadly sin of driving. Unpardonable and unforgiving.
Source of pic: https://www.hindustantimes.com/jaipur/in-rajasthan-talking-while-driving-will-cost-you-your-license/story-GmA7UkwUqP7yIL697EN9DN.html
2) Drink and Drive
Despite checking, challans, orders by court to keep thekas away from highways, this menace is ever-growing. With stressful jobs and long working hours, boozing looks like an easy way to chill and forget the worries temporarily. Each one of us is mature enough to understand the repercussions of drink n drive. I don’t intend to be preachy. All I can say is the following: ‘Do both (dRINk, dRIVe…), but not together.
Source of pic: http://www.rediff.com/news/report/drink-and-drive-may-now-cost-you-rs-15000/20141208.htm
3) Not wearing safety gears – Safety Belt / Helmets
We wear safety belts and helmets to avoid getting a ticket from traffic cops. When the road is lonely without a sign of cops, we slowly unbuckle the safety belt or slide the helmet from head to shoulder. Accept it, we all have done it. We are all guilty. We all do it doesn’t mean it’s right. It takes a split second for a two-wheeler to topple. And one more second for the injury to be fatal. Don’t just get smarter with smartphones, get wiser and wear helmets & seat belts. It can save your life today so that you may live…It’s EVIL ain’t it? Depends on which way you read ‘LIVE’.
4) Flouting the rules – Jumping red light, wrong side driving, overspeeding, lane discipline.
This is the most disgusting sin of driving. If authorities confirm me Saat Khoon Maaf (7 killings pardonable) … my only question would be ‘Is it allowed daily?’. Trust me, Seven is less in my city on a daily basis…
Other sins endanger mostly you, but this one endangers fellow drivers, pedestrians, walkers and also chokes the traffic. Imagine a Monday morning rush hour in Bangalore or Delhi, or just pick your city. One fool decides to cut lanes from the left and stops the car on the left side, obstructing free left turn, and waits for lights to turn green. Next, once the light turns green, he decides to turn extreme right, thereby obstructing traffic going straight. Rush hour and one fool can choke a full chain of traffic to a grinding halt.
Instead of penalizing, traffic cops allow him to go first to clear the mess he created. Such cases bolster the offender’s confidence and he takes the system for a ride on each occasion. Red light jumping and wrong side driving is no different. Why can’t we have one-way spikes to prevent wrong side-driving menace? Naah, the local puncture shop guy will sabotage the spikes from both sides to ensure his business flows in from both directions.
In Gurgaon, on Golf Course Road underpasses, if a car enters the underpass by mistake, the driver doesn’t drive all the way till the end to take a U-turn. He will just stop in the middle, switch on his hazard lights and reverse all the way back up to the mouth of the underpass…this is not only wrong but could be fatal…recently, we had a fatal accident in Golf Course Road Underpass, Gurgaon on similar lines… the wrong side driving.
Alas, we never learn from other people’s mistakes.
Source of pic: http://teekhimirchi.in/2016/04/foreigner-thrashed-mob-following-traffic-rules-in-india/india-traffic-chaos/
5) Ignoring health of the car – bald tyres, ineffective brakes, low engine oil, battery issues, fused headlight, Non-functional wipers
‘Sab chalta hai’… If it’s running and working, don’t touch it seems to be the mantra for most of us. These overlooked mistakes are the main causes of near misses and on a disastrous unfortunate day, culminating in a fatality.
Source of pic: https://www.zigwheels.com/guide/oil-guide/how-to-check-for-engine-oil-leak/19614/