I am currently in India on vacation. It has been a good break from my hectic work life. I was worried about my daughter but she is having a wonderful time with my parents. The roads are still dusty and life is still chaotic in my home town but I am not complaining. I wish things will change fast for the better. There is enough money these days to set things right it just requires some positive intent and hard work.
I keep hearing about “aggressive driving” a lot and I wish people would stop fooling themselves with this very dangerous word. I have heard it back in the US as well; New York drivers are apparently aggressive so they are more equipped to drive in NY. There is always this notion that folks driving in New York or LA somehow gain this aggressive attitude towards driving . I guess they have not driven in Chennai or Bangalore to even remotely understand the word “bad traffic or aggressive driving”. I think it comes with practice and experience and since I have driven in Bangalore a lot I am not a total stranger to the mayhem one can experience on Indian roads. I guess the folks in Chennai and Bangalore will die laughing if I were to tell them about how bad the New York traffic and drivers are. I think it is more of experience than anything else if you are used to people honking and cutting you off or come too close it is not going to bother you that much so I would attribute the tolerance of the sub-continent drivers to experience than capability.
Well in my dictionary there are good drivers and bad drivers. Aggressive driving is more of giving it back and as far as I am concerned when my family is in my 55,000$ car I don’t mind waiting a few extra minutes.
According to wikipedia
“Aggressive driving is a form of automobile operation in which an operator will deliberately behave with contempt towards other drivers and drive in such a manner as to increase the risk of an automobile accident.
Unlike drunk driving, aggressive driving is not usually the result of a drug or chemical, but rather the personality of the person operating the automobile. An aggressive driver may adopt a “King of the Road” attitude and become offended when other drivers engage in such activities as passing or “cutting off” the driver. The aggressive driver will then take the actions of the other driver personally, and seek to retaliate. This normally leads to unsafe driving acts such as reckless speeding or attempting to run someone off a highway.
Aggressive driving can also lead to much more serious crimes, such as manslaughter or murder. An aggressive driver may drive so recklessly as to injure or kill another driver or, in extreme cases, will “hunt another driver down” and then deliberately attempt to harm the person. This is often known as “road rage”.
Aggressive driving may, in rare cases, be caused by mental illness. Persons with mental diseases, who are driving, may become confused about where they are and who the drivers around them are. This could lead to fear, panic or other emotions causing the person to start driving aggressively.”
I did not have to read wikipedia to learn. There was a time when I used to drive at extreme speeds and compete with every vehicle on the road and in all honesty I enjoyed that. I was in Banglare and I was going back on the airport road to my house when a car went past me and nearly pushed me off the road. My aggressive instinct kicked in and I was furious. I did not think and slammed on the accelerator and within minutes I was near the other car. There was 5 minutes of racing and the other driver would not give up either. Finally in a very dangerous move I managed to push the other car off the road. I did not let him get back on the road and we were still going at high speeds. I was on top of the world till I watched the car windows come down and to my horror there was a whole family in the car. The driver was drunk and his wife was in the car along with two kids. His wife apparently realized I was retaliating and with folded hands she pointed to the kids in the back and that the driver was drunk. I had never felt smaller in my life. I slammed on the brakes and let the other car pass by. I took a pledge that I was never going to repeat that mistake ever again in my life. I could have potentially involved a whole family into an accident even if it were to be minor just to prove a point. My sister-in-law jen knew I used to be very hot tempered in the car and even asked me once when I was all calm and quiet when I was driving back with her in the US. I did not tell her the whole story but simply that I have a family and I don’t want any trouble. I still drive a little fast when I can but I really try hard not to anger anyone in the road and most importantly not retaliate (also known as being aggressive). I am not a saint and I still have a reasonably bad temper and react badly when provoked but I control it at least when I am in the car as I know that an angry driver can easily become a killer.
An aggressive driver is as mindless as an assassin with a gun except that the tools are different. So the next time you hit the road be safe and not aggressive. A bad driver will only behave worse when provoked so stay away from people who act like clowns on the road . If someone calls me an aggressive driver I would be offended.
