I wrote this a while ago, but didn't feel like posting. Now I am in a blogging mood, so publishing it finally.
One of the maddening things about India is of course how the roads are and how we all drive on them. It is my 8th year since my return and this is one of the things that still irks me. I used to find Hyderabadis' road manners especially bad, perhaps because Hyderabad roads still seemed to have some space (compared to say Bangalore and Chennai) for people to misbehave. That is changing in the last 7 years, as Hyderabad roads have become more and more congested. I am not as bothered by my fellow drivers on the roads these days, and I am wondering if this is because my driving has deteriorated to that level. I have had my share of accidents; with god's grace no injuries to body, but my cars have taken a lot of punishment; and I have inflicted some as well. Recently I seem to be going through a stretch of bad luck with three fender benders in the last four months or so.
In the US, after an accident, there is a fairly organized process of blame assignment and financial recovery through insurance.What happens after a fender bender in India can be quite chaotic. At least so it would appear for the lay observer. I routinely see altercations which at times escalate to fisticuffs. Once my driver got into one of these with an auto driver; it was a blur, but I remember forcibly removing him from the melee. In the more civilized encounters (as I can attest to based on personal experience ) there is a certain kind of spontaneous street justice. Things are happening fast with all the people involved clearly worked up and witnesses gather to weigh in on the matter. If you're a participant, you have to make some split second decisions factoring in all of this.
The first two accidents were on my commute returning home. In the first one, a cyclist with a pillion rider came very fast on an intersection and hit me on the side. In intersections, everyone assumes they have full right of way and come full speed and this happens millions of times every day miraculously without incident. On this occasion it didn't. I believe I was right to assume I was on the "major" road and the other was a smaller street. The bicyclist had fallen down just ahead of me and I motioned to him that I am going to cross the intersection but will stop after that. I pulled up and got down. The driver of an SUV behind me came up, rolled down his window and helpfully pointed out that it was clearly not my fault and I didn't need to stop. I stopped anyway. The cyclist and his rider were not injured but his front wheel was a bit bent out of shape. The cyclist who seemed not older than 18 made some vague complaining noises but I thought his heart was not in it. Another pedestrian started scolding the bicyclist (in Telugu if I remember right) that I couldn't entirely follow. I decided I was clearly not at fault, said something to the cyclist to that effect and bailed.
In the second one, I received a call on my way home which caused me to change my plans and make a U-turn. I swung a bit left to turn right so that I could make the U-turn within the narrow street. As I was turning I noticed a bike on my side mirror; I thought he would be able to swerve away and continued through my turn. He clearly was coming too fast. He barely avoided contact with my car but fell down. Again I stopped and walked over. He seemed shaken up with his helmet at an odd angle, but thankfully unhurt. He seemed unsure whether to be aggressive with me. Again things were a blur, but I remember him pointing to his brake wire which had come off. A bystander joined him and made sympathetic noises. I decided I was at least partially at fault in making a sudden U-turn. My slight left turn before the right turn might have confused him even though I had the right indicator on. I told him he was coming fast, but I will pay for his brake wire damage and gave him Rs. 1000. The guy actually thanked me! I turned around and left.
A few days later on the day of Holi, we heard a crash outside our house, bud didn't think much of it until someone knocked on our door. Someone had backed in and crashed into my trusty old Honda Civic. My neighbors told me they saw who did it (another neighbor); he was drunk and will pay for it. He later stopped by and apologized profusely and agreed to pay up and he did after I showed him the receipts from the Honda body shop.
A few things that stood out for me in all this - the collective fairness of the street justice; for the most part the impressions of the bystanders actually helped me decide (or confirm my instinct) as to my course of action. The innocence and integrity of the victim of the last one with the brake wire damage. And most of all this is clearly an example of order in chaos that people mention when they talk about India.
Balaji
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