DWS Extra

As if one has to re-state this. You would think everyone would agree. But the current state of media reporting of car or motorcycle accidents, and the attitude of society, and possibly the judgements compel me to write about this.

I am not a Delhiite - but I have been here for two years, and been driving here for eight months now. Before that, I was in Mumbai (Bombay) where I dare not drive or ride, and before that, in Kerala where I lived on two wheels.

There are accidents every day in Delhi. Speeding buses, speeding cars, trucks and tractor trailers parked on the wrong side of the road at night, drunken driving, ignoring traffic signals. Pedestrians and two wheeler riders are in serious danger on Delhi’s roads, and even traveling in an autorickshaw or car is not safe.

But.

From my experience, two wheeler accidents are more than often the fault of the motorcycle or scooter rider in Delhi. I am truly sorry for those who lost their loved ones in such accidents, but I am here talking to those of you who ARE going to lose your family or friends in accidents.

Or you yourself, the delhi two-wheeler rider. You are a danger to others, even even more, you are a danger to yourself. You, the average motorcycle or scooter rider of Delhi, is an idiot, retard, fool who endangers everyone else’s life the moment you are on the street.

Traffic rules? They don’t apply to anyone. in Delhi And even less so to a motorcycle rider.

Blind spots behind cars

Do you know that a car or SUV has a blind spot? There is a particular position behind a car or SUV where we cannot see you at all. If you follow a car staying exactly within that spot, despite all my rear view mirrors, I cannot see you. If I take a sudden turn thinking there is no one there, you are going to crash headfirst into my car.

Do not dare accuse me of being elitist, being a car guy. I was riding a motorcycle before a lot of you ever saw one - and guess what? I knew about the blind spot when I was riding. Booya. You are an idiot, sirjee.

Turn signals: They are there for a reason

Have you ever noticed those bring yellow lights that blink before a car takes a turn? If the yellow turn indicator lights blink on the left, you retard, that is not an invitation for you to accelerate to the speed of light and overtake me on the left before my car turns left.

I switch them on when I am going to take a left turn, and to warn you that I am going to take a left. Once I know that you have seen them blinking, I feel SAFE to turn, as now you would not be an asshole and try to make an omelet out of your brain against my left side door. But you do.

It is shameful that one has to educate a Delhi motorcyclist or scooter rider about such things.

Four wheels are more stable that two

Somehow, your little brain does not seem to notice this. Do not come within inches of a much larger vehicle. Sure, we are both going forward, and the 5 inch gap remains so - but if you skid towards me after riding over a slippery stone, you crash into me and very likely bounce off under a bus or truck which is following you.

Junctions with no signals

If there are no signals, do not think you can blast past the junction at 70 or 80. LOOK. If there are no signals, I can blast past too and in all likelihood, 1 tonne meeting 150 kg ends up bad for the guy on the 150 kg vehicle. I may end up in jail, but you are dead - and a dead persons don’t have much fun. Not to mention, in 6 months’ time, your girlfriend would be getting laid by your best friend.

This is such a common sight on Delhi roads - cars and motorcyclists crossing a signal-less junction without a care. It is criminal of Delhi government to allow any junction without signals.

The moving roadblock - the slow rider in Delhi

Yes, you guys are the ones - usually middle aged or above - who decide to ride in the middle of a three lane road at 40 kmph. You know, your motorcycle or scooter would be in fourth gear at that speed, probably going at the optimum speed for fuel efficiency. Not cars or SUVs. They usually are in fourth gear around 50, and often the engine turns smoothly only at 50-60 - for large cars, its even higher. So, cars and SUVs tend to drive some 30-30 kmph faster than you on an empty road.

now lets say we suddenly see you there. We approach you much faster than we expect - as most people on the road now drive at 50-60 kmph, and for someone in a car at 60 or 70, a motorcyclist at 30 or 40 looks, well, stationary! You are bloody not moving, relatively speaking. It makes us panic, miscalculate the distances, step on brakes, swerve - often driving into someone who is riding 5 inches from my left side in my blind spot. Thank you, you have just deleted his leg. Or head, if you are lucky.

Burst into traffic at high speed from a lane

Yes. You do that. And you are splattered on the road.

Recent motorcycle - car- bus accidents in Delhi

Cars, especially BMWs, have been driving into people on two wheelers often these days. Riders are often killed in the accidents, and the guys in the cars get thrashed, and put behind bars.

First, no one really knows if the motorcycle rider or the car driver is at fault. At least 50 % of the time, the motorcycle rider is, I think. And what happens?

First, there is you - the accident victim - lying on the road. Instead of helping you, a crowd gathers and beats up the driver. Instead of getting the driver to take you to a hospital in his car, they trash the car. Then, after a long time, as you are breathing your last, someone remembers to call the police. By the time you read the hospital, you are dead. The driver is in jail, sometimes bailed out, sometimes not.

Now, imagine that there is an accident - if a driver is scared of a mob beating him up and trashing his car, he is not going to stick around. He is gonna hightail it out of there, and fuck your sorry ass. If he knows that he can do something - remember he is also in shock - he would try to take you to a hospital. After he does not want you to die. But remember that he does not partcicularly want himself to die either - and if it comes to a choice of putting his life on the line, he would flee.

So, people of Delhi, cut that habit of beating up drivers. You are not helping anyone. I read so much about road accidents and people dying and drivers getting thrashed, sometimes lynched - and let me assure you, if I get into an accident, I would help you only if I am sure I won’t be thrashed. Thanks to all of you who are happy to beat up drivers, I won’t be taking the risk. Make it safe for drivers who may or may not be guilty, and you may have a few more saved from death.

To the courts, on road accident victims and culprits

You know there is often no way there is any conclusive proof of who was at fault considering our cops’ investigative skills. I mean, if they even bother. Recently you put a BMW driver behind bars, after he crashed into a motorcycle. Two riders were killed. The judge himself expressed the opinion that the left front side of the car was damaged, so it was likely the motorcycle crashed into the car there. Still, he was sent to jail.

Why?

Most likely, there is no way it could be proven that he was at fault. He was not drunk, a separate offence. he escaped from the scene - I think it was because of that hero who ran to him and whispered, “Aap ne toh inhe maar diye”. Very nice. Considering that drivers are beaten up for much smaller crimes, telling a shocked driver that he just killed someone would reaaallyy make him want to stick around and take the victims to a hospital.

Be logical. If it really is his fault, send him to jail after its proven. Putting someone in jail when there has been almost no investigation is not justice. Maybe that is how our justice system works - jail first, and investigation later.