By BK Joshi
I am mortally afraid of two-wheelers on the road. In my view they are the most dangerous and undisciplined set of our road users. My dread of two-wheelers arises from my personal brush with them. I have had the misfortune of being knocked down twice while crossing the road. The first time was a few years ago. I was trying to cross the road when a motorcyclist came at high speed from my right and knocked me down. I went sprawling on the road with my glasses lying a few feet from me. The erring motorcyclist didn’t have the decency to stop, and sped away. Some good Samaritans helped me to my feet, picked up my glasses and guided me to a bench inside a shop nearby. Fortunately I got away with just a concussion as revealed by a scan and was advised rest for a few days. After this, I became extra careful while crossing the road.
The second time was more recent. I again fell victim to a speeding scooterist this year in February. This time it happened while crossing the road in front of my house. I could see him approach me at high speed but such was his speed that I didn’t get enough time to get out of his way. Moreover, at age 83, my reflexes are not all that sharp. So I again went sprawling on the road with my glasses lying some distance away. Since this mishap happened right in front of my gate I was immediately surrounded by local shopkeepers who knew me. They tried to get me on my feet but were unable to do so because of intense pain on my left leg that had borne the brunt of the strike. The scooterist had also fallen down but was up and about without any visible injury and soon went on his way. I was lifted and carried inside the house by one of our trusted helpers. This time I was not that lucky. It turned out I had suffered a compound fracture of the tibia. I was admitted to the hospital which first took care of the cut in the skin caused by the protruding bone. After four weeks when the wound had healed, they took care of the fracture, which necessitated surgery involving removal of a piece of bone from the right side above the groin and below the rib cage and grafting it on to the fractured bone. It has taken me four months after the surgery to be able to walk on my own two legs assisted by a walking stick. I am now really scared to cross the street, which I haven’t done since my accident. Even for going to the bank which is quite close to my house I ask to be driven there.
Coming back to the wayward manner in which two-wheelers drive, it seems that traffic rules don’t exist for them; they flout all rules of the road oblivious to the danger they pose to other road-users. During my rides through the city I often find them doing strange things. I may mention that I gave up driving about a decade ago as I felt I could do without the hypertension it was causing. Finding two-wheelers driving on the wrong side of the road, especially on a road with a divider, is by now a common sight in Dehradun. So is their annoying habit of zig-zagging through heavy traffic often causing other traffic to stop in order to avoid an accident. Then, at cross-roads with a traffic light, they can be found inching forward to turn right when faced with a red-light and in the process occupying half the carriageway that has the right of way and almost blocking its passage. But the worst and most dangerous habit can be seen at crossroads when the light turns green. They emerge at high speed from your left and take a right turn or a u-turn in front of your car which has the signal to go straight. It is only the quick reflexes of my driver that has prevented a nasty accident on many occasions when faced with such a situation. On a couple of occasions, when my driver remonstrated with the erring driver, instead of apologising, he started shouting at him. A perfect example of bad manners trying to cover up for bad driving!
Close on the heels of undisciplined two-wheelers are the ubiquitous three-wheeled monsters known as Vikrams, the saviour of Scooters India the public sector enterprise which failed to create a viable market for its two-wheeler scooters – the purpose for which it was established in the first place. Vikrams can suddenly come to a stop anywhere, even in the middle of a road, to pick up or drop a passenger. They don’t have any fixed stoppages. Hence, it is always a hazard driving behind them and one has to be extra vigilant and try to anticipate their intentions. It is a good practice to maintain a decent distance behind them; but the danger is that a two-wheeler or two may quickly come from any direction – from your left or right – and occupy that space leaving you vulnerable as before. It is not only nature that abhors empty spaces; two-wheelers on the road also do. I understand that the permit under which Vikrams ply does not permit them to pick-up or drop passengers on the way, which they all do as a matter of course. They are supposed to carry passengers from point to point. But who cares for the niceties of the law.
The solution to the wanton disregard for traffic rules by two and three wheelers is strict enforcement of the law. This however is easier said than done. It requires adequate number of traffic police with the means of patrolling the streets and armed with the power to book the transgressors on the spot. Sadly, we lack traffic police in sufficient numbers for the task at hand. Can we hope for an early solution?
(BK Joshi is former Vice Chancellor, Kumaon University and currently Honorary Director, Doon Library & Research Centre).
