I drove to Purasaiwalkam from Kottivakkam last evening and boy that was fun.
I am not sure why the twowheeler riders in Chennai are suicidal in nature especially commuting back to their homes after a hard day at office! They cleverly (!) weave in and out of lanes (!) and land up square in front of fourwheelers without any thought about their safety.
If one is not careful, it is easy to run over a twowheeler rider ending hopes and dreams of a family. When I started driving Chennai after emigrating to India about two years ago, this was the foremost thought that kept coming up in my mind. Two wheeler riders do run great risks with their own driving habits and from rash fourwheelers around them.
It will be great if someone famous such as cine stars etc. do a spot on TV about this menace. Repeated broadcasting of that spot on TV should convince some at least to drive safely.
I think if I start complaining about traffic in Chennai, there is plenty to go with for a full year. Some quick ones for your reading pleasure:
- Driving in the opposite direction of the traffic. Everyone does it including big lorries.
- Merging into a road from left side without a wee bit bothering about oncoming traffic. The drivers that see this are expected to suddenly break and allow this "merger" to go through.
- Turning right without a signal (mainly two wheelers) but constantly turning their faces halfway to the right indicating biologically that they are turning right. The extreme version of this is to not even turn their heads but still turn right leaving one to mindread the moves by the rider in front of you. Believe, this skill comes to one after a few months of driving in Chennai.
