Road System

The system here you could say is very chaotic at best and at worst very dangerous if you do not have your wits about you. It is probably as a result of the men usually doing all the driving but that is not substantiated!

Like the UK, Indians drive on the left however comparisons end there!

There are familiar lane markings but they are largely ignored and are therefore indications of the general direction of traffic.

There is no concept of give way. If you do, you will get nowhere as it’s each person for themselves. When you think about it, traffic should be able to go where and when it wants. Two cars in two lanes is far to sensible when you can fit four cars/riks/motorbikes there easily.

There now follows a version of the Indian Highway Code

1) Honk your horn at every opportunity to indicate your presence
2) When you come to a junction, you do not stop and wait, you now go and merge with the traffic going in your direction
3) If you go past your junction and should have turned, you should reverse back and correct yourself. It does not matter about oncoming traffic they just honk their horns and get out of the way.
4) You may bring traffic to a halt in the direction you’re going when turning right.
5) Cows are sacred and have free and unhindered access to the road. You must stop whilst the cow is on the road.
6) Lights are required but do not have to work or be on at night.
7) Overtaking can be done n any way which gets you ahead of the person in front of you.
8) You do not have to travel on the left hand side of the left side of the road (no matter what speed you can achieve)
9) You may overtake and force oncoming traffic to swerve to avoid you on a two way road.
10) If you approach a queue, say after an accident, it is acceptable to overtake the vehicle in front of you on the inside or outside if space permits.
11) Any number of people or amount of goods are acceptable to be carried for the journey.
12) For motorcyclists a helmet is advisable for the driver only. It is not necessary for passengers.

Possibly the best feature if traffic in India is the fact that at traffic light controlled junctions there is a countdown to when the lights change. It should be noted that it really spells the start of the race!