Honk Loudly, Let Policymakers Wake Up to Crisis on Wheels

Among its many firsts, Kerala is the first state to have achieved 100 percent literacy. It also has the distinction of being the first to use electronic voting machines. One just hopes it would lead the way again. This time, in showing how to resolve chaotic traffic, especially the irresponsible variety.

- MADHAVAN NARAYANAN

Kerala's motor vehicles department data show that since the state tightened driving test norms, pass rates are down to 52 percent. That should not surprise people from Europe, where failures have at times been foisted upon would-be licencees just to caution them to drive responsibly. But in most parts of India, driving licences are easy to get, often for a bribe.

Something must be fundamentally wrong with a country where car sales and highway expansion are regularly in the news, but chaotic road traffic less so—unless you count drawing-room conversations. Road rage is the stuff of black humour in Delhi, made famous by the line associated with brash brats: You don't know who I am! Authorities often tinker at the margins, with no major progress. Experiences vary across cities, displaying their inherent culture—and in some cases, the lack of it.

Delhi is evidently at the bottom of the heap. Its infrastructure, built with abundant central funds, is far ahead, but its citizens do their best to undermine it. Things have moved back from the days of supercop Kiran Bedi, who was nicknamed 'Crane Bedi' for her penchant to order lifting of cars to punish violators. We could do with a reverse swing to those days.

Two contrasting bits of news last week showed huge administrative and regulatory gaps that need fixing.