Full throttle acrobatics bikers, high-speeding motorist, and a race course... It may sound like a movie’s set’s description, but unfortunately, these are the Indian roads where every pedestrian feels a great sense of relief once he reaches safely to his destination. With the kind of reckless and aggressive driving which is witnessed in most of the roads in Indian metros, it seems that Indian roads are the best podium ever, for a motorist or a biker to unleash his fury with full throttle speed. There is always a constant fear of being hit by a speeding vehicle while out on the Indian roads. Along with the ‘rape capital’ tag, the capital city of Delhi is also adorned with ‘road rage capital’ tag, where statistics show that hit-and-run cases continue to claim the maximum number of lives on Delhi’s roads. What is ironical is that even though it is very clear that the phenomenon of road rage is definitely on the rise, there is neither data on the occurrence of road rage, nor effective law implementation to tackle the culprit. It is estimated that every other day, an average of 500 vehicles are being added on to the Delhi streets, worsening the traffic conditions. Everyone is racing at an average speed of 60-70 km/hour and is not willing to let anyone pass by. Each wants to take the opportunity to get in between the gap, even though it is a very small space. The behavior of motorist and bikers on the roads also reflects the mindset of society where high levels of stress, ego and passion are the first ones to rule. This mental state of high tension sparks immediate anger, and apparently, the smallest disagreement can lead to murderous violence on small issues. A recent case of road rage in Delhi justifies it, where a cricket coach shot bullets at the three teenager bikers. There were also cases where even the police men were attacked by aggressive and reckless drivers who let loose their fury on the streets. With increasingly high instances of road rage cases, shouldn’t there be stricter laws and more intensive implementation of the law? In India, the road rage cases which sometimes lead to minor accidents, or major ones, or homicide itself, is not treated in a serious fashion. The culprit either gets away with a hefty fine amount or with the help of bribery. Road rage is also on a rise due to the negligence of rash drivers and the over-zealous teenagers whose adrenaline is pumped up high for silly issues. So, the next time, while you hand over the vehicle keys to your teenager son or gift your son a motorbike, make him understand that road is a public property, and both the motorists and the pedestrians have equal right on it.
