Honk and move on

Our chaotic road behaviour stems from automobile and traffic rules we have borrowed from another civilisation.

When we are behind the wheel, we behave terribly — let us admit. We break signals with impunity, freely drive on the wrong side, overtake from the wrong lane, saunter on the fast lane, over-speed on the slow lane, misuse the horn, overuse the high beam, regard indicators a useless invention, stop in the middle of the traffic to buy fruits and indulge in a host of other traffic ‘sins’ that have caused the mayhem that we face each day.

Here arises the million-dollar question: why don’t we follow traffic rules? While this could be the subject for extensive research, a logical answer could be that we as a nation do not believe in following rules in general, traffic rules being no exception.

But why don’t we believe in following rules? Perhaps because we (I mean many of us) have seen our leaders — and leaders also include our parents, elders and teachers — frequently breaking their self-professed principles and living a contradictory and yet contented life. And this might be an answer. But there can be other logical explanations for our road (mis) behaviour. The first of these alternative explanations can be encapsulated in the simple word, ‘ignorance’. I am sorry if I sound anticlimactic, but ignorance is also a cause of our chaotic behavior on road.

Just looks at the ‘mottos’ that we frequently come across, written on our public vehicles — trucks, buses, rickshaws and taxis. “Himmat hay tou paas kar, warna bardaasht kar” (overtake if you have got the guts, or show some patience), “Horn do, rasta lo” (honk and move on), “Overtake mera nakhra, speed meri jawani” (overtaking is my coquettishness, speeding is my youth). These bold verbalisations, apart from showing a defiant attitude, also reflect a blatant ignorance and lack of (traffic) sense.

However, there can be another deep-seated and seemingly far-fetched ‘cultural’ reason for our awkwardness — the fallouts of ‘diffusion of innovation’. Putting it simply, we can say that our chaotic road behaviour stems from the fact that we have borrowed both automobile and traffic rules ready-made from another civilisation. These inventions have made a place in our lives and are serving our needs but are still foreign to the inner patterns and demands of our collective psyche, making it difficult for us to adapt to the dynamics of their use.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 3^rd, 2013.