[Assam] Driving in New Delhi - LA Times; India's Tom Sawyer's adventurous learning

Fri Aug 4 07:50:15 PDT 2006

Umesh,

That was pretty descriptive. My experience (as a passenger) was horrible in
Hyderabad, Mumbai, Guwahati, Kolkatta, Indore and in Delhi.  In Hyderabad, I
was amazed to see how the traffic flows. Basically it flows everywhere and
in all directions. Even though the roads are divided, it just doesn't matter
- it was like a huge chaotic blob moving nowhere. Compared to Hyderabad and
Indore, Guwahti is better, but Delhi and Mumbai are definitely better than
Guwahati.
I was pleasantly surprised to see cars being towed in Guwahati and released
only after paying a fine (with receipt) from the police - didn't see any
corruption there.

--Ram da


On 8/4/06, umesh sharma <jaipurschool at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>  Ram-da,
>
> Now that they mention it I recall that I never took a driving test to get
> a driving license in India - though did face a quiz for reading driving
> signs. My father's regular agent took care of everythig  - i just followed
> his instructions. Delhi Traffic police is much much better and harsher than
> in other cities and its  roads (not of Old Delhi) are a pleasure to drive on
> - if you compare with those of other Indian cities -such as those of non
> metros. While at college I drove my motorbike for over six months without
> even a license (now I wonder how my father allowed me take it to Delhi ) -
> to impress a girl and to seek info about going abroad for studies.
>
>
> I got caught twice - first time I had no papers on me -but also no money
> -- after much pleading the traffic policeman let me go. My father's advice
> about negotiating with traffic policemen seems to work even in US (as seen
> in cases of my NRI kid ex-roommate driving tickets last year - in the region
> of New York to Washington DC --only he was afraid of the Philadelphia
> police).
>
> Despite being highly aware of the traffic rules - I did not follow atleast
> two of them.
>
> One was -to follow the prescribed speed limits which are ridiculously low
> in city limits -generally 20 miles per hour - 30kms/hr - (nearly got caught
> many times by the traffic cop in my hometown even - sitting hidden - like in
> US - with the camera-enabled speed-reading gun) . Second, I did not drive in
> lanes (I drove a two-wheeler only -so like the bikers in US I did not drive
> in lanes-esp  in crowded traffic) . Sometimes the potholes on the road (due
> to corrupt contractors using substandard material -even on interstate
> highways) make you weave down the road - thus no lanes.
>
> Unlike me - most also do not care which side of the road they are driving
> (like in US ) unless there is a traffic cop likely to catch them. USA
> police spends too much time on checking traffic rules (in India regular
> police on the beat generly cannot give a ticket - its the job of the traffic
> police -some changes have taken lace however in some cities) and too less on
> catching criminals of serious crimes  like the case of my getting robbed at
> gun point last November near my home in DC area-and lost my work permit in
> my wallet. The police were busy chasing some traffic far away and took 20
> minutes to get there -hardly ever visit the area (a decent locality).
>
> However, I never jumped the redlight and always wore the full visor helmet
> (you might be surprised to note that even in smaller cities like Jaipur,
> Bhopal etc wearing helmet is compulsory (unlike some US states I believe)
> and people are expected to follow streetlights signs. The traffic police has
> had a tough job - initially they just educated the public about importance
> of wearing a helmet (incuding some school children at streetlight corners)
> and of following traffic rules -- and only later start giving out tickets .
>
> One of the reasons the Indian road traffic is chaotic compared to US is
> that unlike US its children and animals are not in chains ( I mean in US no
> 11 year old Tom Sawyer can hope to come up now -- till age 13 or 14 no child
> is allowed to roam free -thus a much larger number  end up watching TV at
> home and getting fat-neither is the dog [only cats]) thus I have jumped over
> piglets , scraped over dogs (many while barking and running after me)
> avoided bumping into calfs (and falling myself) and fighting bulls.
>
>  I have been driving in heavy city traffic since I was ten (in grade 5 I
> used to cycle to school - 5 miles each way -to downtown area-come hail,
> rain, sandstorm or hot winds). In US a child cannot do that adventurous
> thing-till s/he becomes a teenager -was Tom Sawyer a teenager? So much for
> "adventurous learning" in US as promoted by David Cohen and other
> "progressive" educators -when a child cannot leave for outdoors on his own
> (even outside the concrete jungle).
>
> Comments are welcome?
>
> Umesh
>
> PS: *Driving license not needed in US *Many vehicle drivers do not need a
> driving license even in US I think - such as bicycle riders (I rode one at
> Harvard without helmet -all around Boston), the new three wheeled
> non-motored rickshaw drivers, any two wheeler under 50 c.c.  , while
> drving bullock carts or horse driven chariots :-) --same as in India .
> Only lots more come from villages in India -illiterates -to drive without
> license. So the problem is more of ignornace, poverty and illiteracy than of
> mere corruption in traffic dept.
>
>
> *Ram Sarangapani <assamrs at gmail.com>* wrote:
>
> This is a real shame. Of course we have all known this for many
> years. Unfortunately, it is not just in Delhi. In Guwahati, at one time it
> was next to impossible to get a driver's license through legitimate avenues
> - greasing palms was a pre-requisite. I am sure the situation may be much
> different today, but then, am not holding my breath.
>
> --Ram
>
>
> *Corruption revs up perilous driving on New Delhi streets*
>
> *Up to 75 percent use payoffs to skip test and get their licenses anyway*
> **
> *By HENRY CHU*
> *Los Angeles Times*
>  NEW DELHI — It doesn't take a Harvard degree to figure out that driving
> here is hazardous to your health. Near-misses, reckless weaving and cars
> blithely going the wrong way are highlights of the daredevil derby known as
> New Delhi traffic.
>   ADVERTISEMENT
> But a recent study by economists from Harvard and other American
> universities suggests that, indeed, a majority of this city's drivers get
> their licenses without actually knowing how to operate a car. They ply the
> roads because of a simple fact: government corruption.
> As many as 75 percent of motorists in New Delhi obtain their permits by
> hiring agents whose palm-greasing intervention saves them time, energy and
> the hassle of learning the difference between the brake and the accelerator,
> the report says.
> Those with agents bypass long waits in dingy government offices and almost
> never have to submit to the road test that's required of all would-be
> drivers. In fact, when newly licensed motorists who participated in the
> study were given a surprise driving exam, more than 60 percent flunked.
> "We had five questions about how to start a car, how to change gears and
> how they worked, which are very basic questions," said Marianne Bertrand, a
> professor at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business and a
> co-author of the report. "They couldn't answer them."
> Evidence of such cluelessness is thick on the ground in India's capital,
> where getting from point A to point B is a white-knuckle exercise and
> traffic safety seems an oxymoron.
>  Law of the asphalt jungle Each day, more than 4 million vehicles jockey
> for position along narrow lanes that wind through ancient bazaars or
> boulevards originally designed for the horse-drawn carriages and stately
> cars of India's British colonial elite.
>  Rules of the road exist but mainly on paper. On the streets, it's the law
> of the jungle.
> Bus drivers cut off motorcyclists, truckers dodge cows, entire families
> squeeze onto a single scooter, three-wheel "auto rickshaws" zip in between
> everyone else, and those on foot utter prayers and curses in equal measure.
> It's a raucous free-for-all where the most important piece of advice is
> found painted on the backs of taxis and trucks: "Horn please."
> "They drive like they're pedestrians. If it's faster to go the wrong way
> up the street, they'll do it. They have no sense of danger," said one
> exasperated British executive who ventures out behind the wheel only on
> weekends. "You have to be vigilant all the time."
>  Extra danger in the dark In 2004, Delhi Traffic Police logged 9,083
> accidents, in which 1,832 people died. That's an average of five
> auto-related fatalities a day in a city that boasts 14 million people — but
> only 2.6 million licensed drivers, a Transportation Ministry official
> said.
>  Many accidents here occur at night, when some motorists drive with their
> lights off, in the belief that their car batteries will last longer.
> The chaos on New Delhi's streets is at least partly explained by the
> findings of the study published last month by economists from Harvard
> University, the University of Chicago, New York University and the
> International Finance Corp., an arm of the World Bank.
> The scholars were commissioned to look into the effects of government
> corruption. Their report, "Does Corruption Produce Unsafe Drivers?" (answer:
> yes), has cast an unflattering light not just on the menace lurking on New
> Delhi's streets but also on India's Kafkaesque bureaucracy and the
> dishonesty it has spawned.
> Clandestine payoffs or special favors smooth the way for buying property
> and acquiring government ration cards, among other things. They secure
> places in good schools for your children, ensure you prompt attention at the
> hospital, provide you access to bank loans, exempt you from local building
> codes.
> "The whole country is deep in corruption," said N.S. Venkataraman, an
> activist in the southern city of Chennai, formerly known as Madras.
> "Corruption is there from one end to the other."
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>
>
>
>
>
> Umesh Sharma
> 5121 Lackawanna ST
> College Park, MD 20740
>
> 1-202-215-4328 [Cell Phone]
>
> Ed.M. - International Education Policy
> Harvard Graduate School of Education,
> Harvard University,
> Class of 2005
>
> weblog: http://jaipurschool.bihu.in/
>
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