good motoring
Drivers beware!
H.Kishie Singh

Recently, an American University carried out a very interesting experiment to find out what they referred to as the "hypnotic and mesmeric" effect of the cell phone on the individual user.

There was a leisure area on the campus, about 30 m x 40 m that had benches for the students to sit, have lunch or just relax. Most students had a cell phone glued to their ear. They either sat or walked around aimlessly, chatting all the while on the cell phone.

A clown, dressed in a bright yellow jump suit with bright red polka dots drove a uni-cycle in this leisure area. A conical shaped cap with bells was on his head. The whole scene was videotaped for over an hour. At the end of the experiment, the students were interviewed and asked that they thought about the clown and what was the subject of their conversation on the phone.

Amazing conclusions emerged. Amazing at least, if not horrifying. Most students had not noticed the clown! Others admitted, "I was just saying hello to my friend!" Twenty minutes, walking around in circles to just say hello? All this while being oblivious to the world around them.

We all know that talking on the cell phone and driving is a dozen times more dangerous than drunken driving.

A cell phone-using pedestrian may be the ultimate jay-walker. A person crossing the road with a cell phone to the ear and not caring about his personal safety is the new breed of a jay-walker.

Compare the students to a lady stepping over a barbed wire on the Madhya Marg. She is straddling the barbed wire, with one hand she is releasing her flowing Patiala salwar from the barbs, dupatta flying in the wind, and holding a cell phone to her ear with the other hand. She is completely oblivious to the fast-flowing traffic in both directions.

At moments like this, and we see them every day, the responsibility lies squarely with the driver of the vehicle. But what if the driver of the car has a cell phone to his ear? An ideal recipe for disaster.

It has been estimated that there are about 40 categories of traffic on Indian roads. From high-speed cars, trucks, buses to Marutas. Hand carts, donkey carts, camel carts`85 the list is endless. Add to this distraction, dogs, cows, elderly men on crutches, women with large bundles of cattle fodder or firewood on their head. They wander at will on our national highways. There is never a moment of danger-free motoring on our roads.

To add to the existing confusion and danger, a new element has been introduced on our roads. The new batch of low-floor buses have moving L.E.D lights flashing their destinations above the front windscreen and also on the rear. Psychologically, these signs will attract a driver’s attention because they are bright and are moving. He will take his eyes off the road to see what the moving message is. He will want to read the entire message which flows for quiet some time. Enough time to have an accident!

Mothers know how well moving colours and lights work to attract, or in this case distract, attention. They hang a mobile above their baby’s crib. It is gaily coloured, has a different shape and constant motion. The baby keeps staring at this, it makes him happy and occupied. This is what will happen to a driver when he sees a low floor bus with moving L.E.D. lights above the bougainvillea hedge on the other side of the Madhya Marg.

There is another distraction which has been spawned by the running lights seen on BMWs and Audis. They are the eyebrows of the headlights. It is an array of many bright laser lights. The manufacturers believe in the "be-seen" philosophy.

In true Indian style, we have carried this to the extreme. Made in China decoration lights that come in transparent plastic tubes were a big hit at Divali a few years ago. The marriage palaces embraced them with wild abandon. The latest to abuse and misuse (we seldom use things properly) are car owners, especially taxis. The front of a car, the running board, the roof rack, the rear-view mirror and even below the floor boards and mudguards, these lights adorn the cars. So, here we have a moving Christmas tree running on our roads! For sure the drivers attention will be distracted.

Informatively, according to the motor vehicle rules, adding any lights to a vehicle, other than the originals supplied by the manufacturer are illegal.

According to the official figures, the number of casualties on Indian roads is about 1,25,000 a year. This is the reported dead. Unreported, hit- and-run cases, out of courts settlements are not counted. These fancy lights will help improve these figures.

One fact that emerges from these wanton acts is that the Indian driver, is forever in a playful mood and not mature enough to handle automotive responsibilities. Can the authorities do something before it becomes an epidemic?

Happy Motoring !