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| Saturday, March 11, 2000 |
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EVERY driver on our roads has the potential of being a killer and unfortunately we are exploiting that potential to the maximum. Why do we want to kill an innocent person, someone we don’t even know?
Indian drivers have a cussed mentality. A car approaches with lights on high beam, dips them and just as you are along side, the lights go back to high beam. This is a deliberate attempt to blind the other driver. Please wait and let the other car pass. Then, if necessary, put on your headlights to full beam. |
| The new breed of cars have the option of
extra lights, either fog or spots. Many car owners are
opting for these lights and driving around town with four
lights in the front of the car. The Motor Vehicles Act
does not allow this. The reason is that it is dangerous.
For your own safety and that of others, drive on low
beam. It really does help. The manufacturer has paid great attention to the headlights on your car. The beam is perfectly adequate to illuminate the stretch of the road you will be using. In the city after sunset your speed should not exceed 45-50 kmph. Chandigarh does allow up to 65 km ph. on certain roads. This is under ideal conditions i.e. during the day and with good visibility. In my opinion this is a very dangerous speed, especially after sundown. Your eyes are not fully adapted to the darkness. The human eyes are attracted to bright lights. Looking at a pair of headlights leads to temporary blindness. Ask your self: do you want to be blind even for a split second on Madhya Marg at 65 kmph in the dark? People jump over fences, dart out from behind the bushes and rush across the road. It is the driver’s responsibility to keep the car under control. Sundown is also the time when shoppers with children are bound homewards. They cross roads without any concern for their personal safety. It is time to be responsible and drive slowly. Take for instance what happened to Pritam who was coming off the Balongi Bridge, just the other side of Mohali. He was looking out for huge boulders on the left hand berm. He drives this road everyday and knows it well. A car from the opposite side approached with headlights on full beam and blinded Pritam for a micro-second. That’s all it took for him to crash into a parked truck at full speed. He did not get any reaction time, since he didn’t even see the truck. The car was a complete write-off and Pritam was very badly hurt. Today, two months after the accident, he can barely move his arms. The muscles, tendons and tissues in his arms were badly bruised. Pritam could have been partially paralysed. Pritam could also have been killed, through no fault of his own. This is just one example of what havoc bright lights can cause. Think. Be courteous, drive on low beam. Happy motoring. |
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The driver’s primary concern, on the
road, should be safety — his own, that of the
passengers in the car and that of every other road user.
To drive with headlights on high beam is to create a very
dangerous situation. You will definitely
"blind" the other driver, making him or her
crash into an object or a person or maybe even fall into
an open manhole.