Sometimes I tell my friends “If you need to evaluate your driving skills you got to ride in Hyderabad”! Believe me! Driving in Hyderabad is not a easy task. You’ll come across many “awkward” situations which you wouldn’t have dreamt of!

After riding for few minutes, you’ll come to know that drivers (many if not all) here doesn’t know that there is something called “Traffic Rules”. Or may be they just think that it’s not for them! In junctions, they drive as if they cannot make out if it is green or red! They just keep moving!

Two-wheelers are really crazy people. They zip in every space available on the road. They don’t mind occupying footpaths and putting pedestrian in difficult situation. Once, I came across a situation where-in a bike rider had almost crossed the end of the road and it had made pedestrian very difficult to walk in the footpath. I asked him “Man! If you come to footpath, how do you expect me to walk”? His instant reply was “It’s Hyderabad!” He was not even apologetic! He behaved like I’ve done the mistake by walking on the footpath! This happened in front of Cyber Tower in Hitech City! Unfortunately, footpath is not elevated here. So, bikers and even 3 / 4 wheelers occupy pedestrian space.

Often Pedestrians are on the receiving end. One thing I noticed is in many junctions, there is no traffic light installed for pedestrians! How do police expect pedestrian to cross the road? Or is it prohibited for pedestrian to cross the road?! And in many junctions, pedestrian signal light stay Green for less than 5 seconds. Man! How do they expect poor pedestrian to cross the road in that time! That is the reason it is common scene to see people crossing the road even if vehicles are running. Life is really bad for Elders, Children and others who cannot quickly cross the road!

There is another class of drivers called “Shared auto drivers”. 3-seater auto is shared by 6 people and sometimes this count crosses 10! 4-5 people sit in the front (including driver)! You got to see how driver manages to sit and drive! It reminds me one of the creative ads from Fevicol which was shot in Rajasthan desert. Shared-auto has the ability to come down from 40Kms/hr to 0 in less than 2 seconds and that too right in the middle of the road! It is in the race for most traffic disrupters’ title! A word of caution. Never ever follow the shared auto. If you don’t have any other choice, make sure that you keep a distance from it. Shared-auto driver’s eyes will not be on the road ahead but on the sides. If any pedestrian waves hand (to signal that he/she wants to board the auto), auto comes to stand-still suddenly.

I’ve experienced it as a bike driver. It is really pain to drive in the city. You got to keep your eyes open all the time and your bike condition should be really good. Make sure that your brakes are in good condition, mirrors (both sides) are in place and you can see the backside in both sides. Also, your horn is quite audible! Always wear helmet.

(On the positive side of it, I learnt how to cope up with frustration, how to concentrate while driving, how to control emotions and how to get along with crazy drivers!)

I hope things get changed. Police has to really do something more. They should impose strict rules and penalize the rule-breakers heavily. They should also educate drivers (especially auto-drivers) on traffic rules and their responsibilities. They should also put traffic lights for pedestrian in all junctions and give sufficient time to cross the road.

Mr. ACP-Traffic, can you please look into this?