Road Rage

This Sunday, I met up with a dear friend after a very long time. After a leisurely dinner, we were standing near Lokhandwala Circle, Andheri, where I was witness to a terrible case of road rage.

A red Quallis was in front of an autorickshaw and there was a decent gap between them. However, a silver Merc suddenly appeared in front of the Qualis and he had to brake suddenly. The auto driver did not have very sharp reflexes and was a bit slow in applying the brakes which caused him to bump into the Quallis. Tell me, how much damage could a puny auto cause to the mighty Quallis? But no, the driver of the Quallis was an Alpha male, who just had to prove the he was the “Road King” and would take no nonsense from anyone. He sped ahead, reversed his car and with full speed, backed it into the auto! The poor unsuspecting passenger sitting in the auto was thrown out of the auto by the impact!

I could not believe my eyes! How could anyone be so ruthless ? Luckily, before the matter could escalate into something more ugly, which I am sure it would have, the sudden  arrival of a police van made both drivers sit in their respective vehicles and speed away.

Road rage is becoming an epidemic. The blaring horns, the pock marked roads, the hawkers encroaching upon the roads, the ever increasing number of vehicles and the ever “under construction” pits and ditches are enough to try the patience of a saint..so where do mere mortals stand a chance? But giving vent to this irritation and frustration in such extreme ways is too dangerous.

I learnt driving a car about 4 years back. It was a big achievement for me at the age of 40 and I was mighty proud about it. Suddenly, I felt empowered. My little Maruti 800 could speed away on the pot-holed roads while the powerful Merc and Audi owners had to drive oh-so –carefully so as to not damage their super expensive set of wheels. Many a times, I have experienced the kick of driving speedily and over taking the big cars…and boasted about the same too. Now that my son is soon going to start driving himself, I am feeling the jitters. I curse myself for boasting about my driving thrills. I should have set an example to him but the ego of becoming a driver, that too at 40, was something I wanted to tom-tom about.

I have since become more conscientious about my driving. I keep noticing how more and more drivers are paying no heed to signals and other traffic rules. There seems to be no respect for the law and youngsters, especially, have become more brash and flash their parents’ money when caught by the traffic policemen. If each one of us takes a vow to respect the traffic rules, I think atleast half of the road rage will disappear and hopefully, the roads will become a little more sensible. I hope when my son takes to the road, he remembers the more ‘sober’ avatar of his mom.