Incident:
Observations of Driving in India [The India Trip - 4 of 6]
Debrief:

  • Horn honking is a vital driving skill.
  • Lanes are more like guidelines rather than rules.
  • A motorcycle is a family conveyance. On the drive from the airport alone, I spotted several motorcycles burdened with families of four and even one with a family of five.
  • The bigger the vehicle the more right of way it possesses. Buses rule the road.
  • Women do not seem to drive the motorcycles or mopeds. They do ride them, but all of them sit side-saddle.
  • A guide to driving through an intersection in Delhi:
    1. Enter the intersection.
    2. Spare a glance to see if this maneuver is about to lead to a catastrophic event with someone coming from another direction.
    3. If so, apply horn and continue on in the desired direction.
    4. If the horn blasts did not alleviate the problem, adjust your vehicle’s direction to avoid the impending impact, but continue moving forward (feel free to use the oncoming lane as necessary)
    5. Brake only if vehicles from the side direction are more successful in completing the above steps than you
  • The above does not apply if the intersection you’re crossing is dense with traffic. In this case, slowly edge your way into the intersection until the oncoming side traffic is forced to stop to avoid plowing into you. Then you can complete your maneuver. The bigger your vehicle, the better this works.
  • Crossing an intersection as a pedestrian works much the same except you don’t have a horn. Instead, you must rely on your greater agility to avoid collisions.

Categories:
. india2004 .
Asset Added:
2009.05.26 12:34:24