IN LINE : BETTER GUY

Road and In-car manners that will remind you on being the better guy not only out on the highway but also inside your own car.

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This month on be the better guy we talk about the importance of understanding the syntax of lane driving, how to enter and exit lanes and what lanes mean what. That aside, we also touch upon passenger etiquette and what it takes to be a responsible passenger, ensuring not only your own safety but the safety of others around you.

LANE DRIVING

Driving safely on the highway is a matter of great discipline. Compared to driving within city limits, the speeds, the density of heavy vehicles and the risk are all exponentially higher. In India, our aggregate road manners persisting, the factor of risk is all that much higher. Even then, somehow our knowledge and more importantly application of lane discipline is perhaps the worst throughout the world. As road users, it is our duty to not only have knowledge of the laws of lane-use, but also put them to use while we are on roadways. In this case, being the better guy not only keeps you safe but also ensures the safety of other road users as well.

DRIVING IN THE RIGHT LANE

In India on most three laned highways, the right-most lane is for overtaking, the middle-lane is for cruising and the third lane is for smaller vehicles like motorcycles and other vulnerable road users. Before we jump into the details of this, some of you might brush this off with the very type-cast response-- “arrey, India doesn’t have the infrastructure only!!”. Sure there might be some modicum of truth to this, but while the laws are open to interpretation in cases where the infrastructure may not exist. The fundamentals of this law requires to be adhered to at all costs.

OVERTAKING