Last night after finishing work, I was driving back home listening to music, windows rolled down, enjoying the empty roads. I had just crossed the National Park flyover and there was a stretch of road where there were no street lights. I saw a small crowd gathered around a rickshaw on the left side of the road, but I was in the right lane didnt really care much when all of a sudden a man with suitcase who was crossing the highway came in front of the car and this wasnt even an intersection. The time to react for me very less and I hit the brakes right away and car swerved and skidded and I avoided hitting that person. I was in complete daze for the next few moments trying to understand what had just happened. At the same time, I realized I was shaking head to toe  in sheer panic. Since all this happened so quickly, I was already near the Magathane flyover when I decided to stop the car for a few minutes to calm myself down.

I just started thinking what would have happened if I had hit that person. He would have probably died or atleast would have been in the hospital for a very long time and I could have been arrested by the police for reckless driving or involuntary manslaughter, even though it wasn’t my fault. The problem in India is anytime you have hit a person, and even though you are not fault, you are assumed guilty. Why? Just because you were driving the car and the “poor” man was just trying to cross the road. Even though there is a pedestrian bridges and subway built at various points on highway, people still choose to cross the road. Just a few meters ahead of the spot where this event happened, there was a footover bridge which was built so that people can safely cross. However, the man chose to cross the road. Still the police would have held me responsible saying I was speeding, or driving recklessly or in worst case scenario would say I was driving drunk.

The problem with us is that we dont tend to obey rules and I dont why. The same person who has been breaking all the traffic rules in India will obey all the rules whenever he/ she goes abroad. The part of the problem is that rules cant be implemented in India looking at number of people vs. the number of traffic policemen we have. Plus our cops are paid poorly so bribing them usually ensures that people get away with any type of traffic violation. Anyways, I am just venting right now on what could have happened etc. I am just hoping that the person who was crossing today realizes that he is very fortunate to be alive today and hopefully does not repeat the same thing again.