Drive in your lane
By H. Kishie Singh

LANE driving is sane driving, the saying goes. If this is the case a large number of not-so-sane persons have been given driving licences and let loose on the roads.

Lane driving or sticking to your lane is one of the easiest ways to drive and promises a smooth flow of traffic. It is the one important aspect of good driving that the Indian drivers are either not aware of or simply choose to ignore. So much for sane driving.

The Delhi Traffic Police has launched a "zero tolerance" scheme for traffic law -breakers. You are advised to drive in your lane to avoid prosecution. Does an intelligent driver need to be told this? For reasons of personal safety and to show that you love and care for your family — stick to your lane.

Many times drivers overtake another vehicle 20-30 metres from an intersection then cut across three lanes of traffic to swerve and zoom to the extreme left lane to exit from a slip road. A highly dangerous move.

A sensible action is to move to the left lane a good 100-metre before the junction. The left lane is the exit lane. Agreed, the traffic in the left lane is slow because of cycle rickshaws and animal-drawn carts but it is easier to overtake a slow moving vehicle because the chance of getting hit from the rear by a rickshaw or donkey cart are remote. And

remember if there is a collision it is the motorist who is at fault. Slow moving traffic cannot hit a fast moving car. A careless driver has cut into the slow lane and caused a collision.

The move becomes all the more dangerous when you overtake from the fast lane-extreme right lane — which is for vehicles going straight or right, then cut across the centre lane, for vehicles going straight and the left lane, for going left. This is where you should have been in the first place. But no, you zigzagged through traffic, driving dangerously, disrupting traffic and making a nuisance of yourself.

Lane driving is an absolute necessity on a hill road. Most roads are demarcated by a centre line or cats-eyes. However, sometimes when the road is re-carpeted the centre line can be obliterated. You should still be able to tell which side of the road you should be on.

Buses and trucks on a hill road are generally the worst offenders. They are usually too fast, especially when going downhill, and negotiating bends.

They tend to cut across to the right. This could mean a head-on collision with a vehicle going uphill.

The accompanying photograph shows the result. The bus has taken up the oncoming lane and left no place for the passenger vehicle. If rules of law were applied this would be a criminal act. The bus driver would have pay a heavy penalty and his licence would be impounded.

On Indian roads more than anywhere else, the driver has to be on the defensive at all times. Take it for granted that the driver of the other vehicle is loony, that he does not know how to drive that he has no road sense and no respect for you or the law. Remember hill driving is skill driving.

You should stick to your lane. Lane driving is not only sane driving but safe driving and that is the corner-stone of good motoring.

Happy motoring!

This feature was published on August 21, 1999