Thursday, January 21, 2010

Change the way you think about driving


Looking at the current traffic situation in Pune , my feeling is that there is a need to have some checks on how everyone is getiing the driving licences and if they really know the meaning of "driving a vehicle".
The way some motorist drive vehicles(Specially two wheelers, it looks more like racing/flying then plain simple driving)
Earlier I thought that overtaking from left is actually because the roads are really narrow and in case you are overtaking from right the vehicle from other side may hit you (Even I came across this situation many times...) Then came the real eye-opener... when driving on a wide (real wide) road and having plenty of space on my right, I was overtaken by some bikers, i knew its not a limitation but rules are slightly different here.... :-)
The incidences are many and it may feel comical but in the end there is really a need for education.

I am aware that these so called "educated adults" can not be tought for these lessons and even if you teach them "its difficult to improve a perfectionist" (as the saying goes..)

The real and one practical solution is to provide this education in schools (primary and secondary levels). By having a curriculam/subject/class for the driving/safe driving sessions. These may be conducted on periodical basis and tests could be taken just to make sure students take them seriously.

Some of us might feel that what is the need of providing an lecture on some topic for which a person is not even eligible (also this is not as debatable as sex education .... which for some of us is unacceptable at these ages) but I believe the real meaning of education is not just cramming the books and puking them on the answer sheets to get high scores, a person really needs to understand how can he improve or help the current system based on his knowledge.

An educated child can teach/correct his/her so called "uneducated" parents/relatives when they take them along on a drive. These students will grow up to be more responsible drivers and help us in spreading the correct message.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010