Traffic behaviour and character

Today’s cover story of Mumbai Mirror The Good Vs The Bad, is about an experiment. Two drivers started from Bandra and went upto Nariman Point in south Mumbai. The good driver obeyed all the traffic rules and the bad one broke all of them. The bad driver reached in 70 minutes and the good driver took 79 minutes. So by risking his and other’s lives, the bad driver saved only 9 minutes.

Interesting experiment and a very valid point. But the real question is, what makes the real life “bad” drivers the way they are. I think it’s part of their personality.

One of my hobbies is to observe how a vehicle is being driven and make guesses about a driver’s character.

The driver who habitually drives the car in a single lane, doesn’t honk, doesn’t overtake is a god fearing, straight forward man. May be a little boring.

Some people constantly keep changing lanes, inching forward at every lane change. They would rush into any small gap, denying others their legitimate space. I think these people are opportunistic trying to go ahead even at the cost of others.

There are drivers who would start changing lane suddenly and will go back in their own lane when the driver in the other lane honks. These are action oriented people who do not think before they act.

On the other hand there are drivers who would notice the gap on the side, will contemplate changing the lane, will start changing so late, that by then the gap doesn’t exist. They suffer from analysis-paralysis.

Some two wheeler drivers zig-zag at high speed, change lanes through very narrow lanes, break signals and overtake everyone. These young boys (all of them ARE young boys) are so confident, they think that they own the world and nothing can ever go wrong in their lives.

Few drivers drive in the middle of the lane and move their vehicle such that people from both the lanes cannot move ahead. In real life these people hate other people’s progress. If he is your boss, you will never get a promotion.

I reserve a special hatred for people who try to get ahead in a queue at the toll booth by overtaking everyone who has been patiently waiting their turn. In my opinion, these people think that they are the centre of the universe. Everyone else is insignificant and don’t deserve any respect. In real life, these people are likely to be very arrogant.

And then there are those drivers who keep the rules most of the times, but when they spot a good opportunity to advance, without inconveniencing others, they will change lanes. These people will speed when the traffic is thin but will stop the car to let a child cross the road.  These are interesting, fun loving, humane people like me.

Do you agree with my stereotypes? What are your observations? Please share.