Traffic - Indian Style

Davis' Law of Traffic Density: The density of rush-hour traffic is directly proportional to 1.5 times the amount of extra time you allow to arrive on time.

[It's a holiday week here in the US. My favorite holiday, in fact. Thanksgiving. Two wonderful words brought together to share a glorious meal - thanks and giving. Readership tends to drop this time of year, so I use it as an opportunity to let escape some of the posts that are further down in the draft bin.]

For several weeks during the month of November, 2022, I was immersed in the chaotic and fascinating experience that is Hyderabad, India, road traffic. My rides ranged from tuk-tuks to super comfy Series 5 Beemers and an unpredictable mix of buggy's in between. I had heard for years from all my Indian friends how bad traffic was - not just in the big cities like Hyderabad and Bangalore, but in the outlying areas, too. In that respect, it did not disappoint. But buried beneath all the churning chaos and noise, I found something to inspire optimism.

The traffic was bad in the sense there was just so much of it. Everywhere. There are 1.5 Billion people in India and in four weeks it felt like I crossed paths with 1.4 Billion of them. The sheer scale of volume ought to be enough to convince even the most casual system thinker that man is having an adverse effect across the environmental spectrum. In fact, it's easy to become resigned to a growing opinion that we've reached and crossed the tipping point.

As is the nature of things exponential, perhaps we are at the threshold between slow change becoming "all of the sudden" change. It sure feels that way. Walking and riding around central and southern India - experiencing the 360 immersive experience of sights, smells, sounds, tastes, and feelings - made it exceptionally easy to understand the vicious cycle of connections between the 3rd world's activity and the 1st world's consumption.

So what's the good in all this?

I found toward the end of my visit a growing optimism for the adaptability of the human race. The practical application of adaptability was on full display and at many levels on the streets of Hyderabad. It wasn't just reflected in the traffic. The daily pulse of life, the co-mingling of work and leisure, urgency and calm, young and old was echoed in the flow of traffic. Given what the people have to work with across a broad spectrum of social standing, they make it work by cooperating within the bigger system.

This part of human nature is what I believe will get us past the rough patches, even though some of our unforced errors have, and will, lead us into some exceedingly rough times. Merging back into Hyderabad's traffic...

I think the three most important items on any motor vehicle in India, in order of importance are:

1. The horn

2. Steering

3. Brakes

After that, it's all just accessories and incremental upgrades.

The traffic volume is multi-dimensional. There's the volume in terms of numbers of vehicles. Include in the mix are buses, dump trucks, cars, tractors, more buses, motorbikes, peddle bikes, and pedestrians. Lots of pedestrians and rarely any sidewalks.

There's volume in terms of sound. It's a constant cacophony of horns and engines. Unlike the long blaring of horns in the US that are often precursors to road rage, the horns in India are quick taps and beeps. They're used to navigate, to announce to the other drivers "Hey, I'm here and I’m about to pass!" In fact most vehicles, especially trucks, have signs painted on the back that say "Sound horn!" The expectation is that you'll inform the other drivers when you think they need to know you're there.

This relationship is two way. When drivers hear the beep, they move out of the way as best they can. And if they can't, well that's where the creative steering comes into play. If the steering isn't going to keep things moving, it's time for a little brake action.

Brakes come in third because, in my opinion, the reason traffic continue to flow, for the most part, is because the number one rule seems to be: Keep Moving! There are few traffic lights, impossible to discern traffic signs, near zero street name signs, and road lane markers that serve no purpose other than decoration. The end result of this loose mix of rules is a highly improvisational approach to daily commuting.

And it works.

Several other factors I think important are 1) the 1:1 ratio of motorbikes to 3+ wheeled vehicles, 2) the fact it's impossible to build up a lot of speed, and 3) the shared familiarity with the situation among the commuters - motorized or not.

The motorbikes keep the traffic from compressing too tightly, which means it can keep moving. Granted, many times this forward motion is slower than I could walk, but I wasn't caught in many full on traffic jams and none that lasted more than perhaps 10 minutes. I'm sure they happen, but as much as I was moving about the city I would have expected to be caught in several jams a day. That didn't happen.

Without the excessive speed, which is a common factor in many of the accidents in the US, there is more time to react to someone moving in front of you or popping out into traffic without bothering to look for who might be coming. The several accidents we did come across were relatively minor fender benders. People were quick to push the involved vehicles out of the way so traffic can flow once again.

Lastly, the percentage of people on the road who had a shared understanding of the unwritten rules and expectations may be near 100%. It's easy to imagine if I had the naivety to drive a car around in Hyderabad, I would quickly get into trouble and be the cause of a significant jam. (For good reason, it's really difficult to rent a car in India.)

I did get hit by a motorcycle while walking in Kochi. It was more of an issue for the motorcyclist than it was for me. A young woman and her passenger hit my wrist with the motorbike's handlebars. My experience was as if someone gave my shoulder a firm push. I was unhurt. But the cyclist had to fight to regain control, which she did. Had there been any on-coming traffic, this story might have had a much different ending. We both got lucky.

If you're hitting the road this holiday, give yourself the gift of extra time to get where you're going. The more time you give yourself, the luckier you'll be.

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If you have any questions, need anything clarified, or have something else on your mind, please use the comments section or email me directly.

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Video credit: Gregory Engel