Dear Bengaloorean (is that what you are called?),
This letteroo is addressed to all the people who live in, work in, drive in Bengalooru City or anywhere else for that matter. I'd like to call your attention to a bunch of monotonous white lines on the road that you drive on day in and day out. If you've noticed, they are (usually) evenly spaced and form apparent divisions or "lanes" on the road. How many lanes these helpful lines decide to split the road up into, depend on the width of the road.
Now that you know what I'm talking about, ever wondered why the authorities spend crores of Rupees every year putting them on our roads?
No, certainly not because it makes the road look good
No, certainly not because it give you a centering tool to stay right on it as you drive home after that wild night out.
No, certainly not for you to zig-zag through the gaps on your two wheeler.
No, certainly not for your dog to walk in a straight line on your morning walks.
No, certainly not for you to switch on your high beam and light up the reflectors.
And MOST IMPORTANTLY: NOT FOR YOU TO IGNORE!!
So then, why were these expensive dashes put on our roads in the first place? To create lanes.
Think of them as creating an exclusive space on the road for your car or vehicle. As long as you keep your car within those lines, you should be safe, you should be able to drive faster and you will not put anyone else in harm's way. So, if that sounds so good, you are wondering what the catch is? Well, the catch is that you need to go one behind the other in the "lane" and follow the vehicle in front of you at a safe distance. It's not that hard is it? Have you seen ants at work? They walk in one neat file one behind the other. That's exactly what you need to do.
What you don't do in the lanes is cut in and out in either direction as you please. To "Switch" lanes, you switch on your indicators (left for left, right for right), glance in the near view mirror, make sure you are not going to rub shoulders with another car and then smoothly switch lanes and then stay on the lane. Important: you switch only ONE lane at a time. What if you do see a car too close to you in your near view mirror? Let him pass and then follow his tail and enter the lane.
Really, it's pretty simple. But you are in a hurry right? SO IS EVERYONE ELSE!! But guess what? A little consideration, a little DISCIPLINE, (we're better than ants you know?) and calm driving will add more kilometers to your mileage, more money to your wallet, more peace in your mind and less stress on the road. You will also realize that if everyone starts doing this, traffic will flow much much faster and there will be far lesser accidents on our roads today. I urge you and implore you to please please try it out and make a difference.
If any of my other learned readers want to contribute to this article, please feel free to..
Happy Driving Bengalooru!
