I have been noticing this often on our roads and hence thought of writing about it, with the hope that driving etiquette is followed.
Whenever you see flashing lights and hear the siren of an ambulance, it is necessary to pull over to your left in order to give them the right of way.
However I’ve often noticed motorists doing nothing of the sort or just reduce speed and stay in the lane. MOVE OVER PLEASE. It’s an emergency service and because of your high handedness, a patient can lose his/her life.
It’s even dumber to see how motorists chase behind the ambulance, in the hope of reaching their destination sooner. Under general circumstances you are supposed to maintain a safe distance from the vehicle in front. Imagine tailgating a vehicle at high speeds. A sure shot recipe for an accident.
Even at junctions or round-abouts, the vehicle already going around should be given preference. Instead we just pile on and create a traffic jam.
A bit OFF TOPIC, but important nevertheless. It’s common to read about bikers being caught for not wearing helmets. Helmets are supposed to save lives. In this scenario, read further to find out how a helmet actually missed causing an accident. It’s become a trend to hang helmets from the handle bars of bikes and scooters and use them only when you see the police. The helmet has thus become a fashion accessory for the bike so to speak. However, this fashion accessory once happened to slip and fall right on to the middle of the road, which happens to be a National Highway by the way. The biker moved to the side of the road, and waited for traffic to reduce in order to collect her fallen prized possession. In the meanwhile other road users had to swerve and use brakes at the last moment to avoid this obstacle.
In another incident, there are helmet-less bikers who are busy overtaking and all of a sudden come to a dead halt in the middle of the road, when they see traffic police ahead. Don’t be so naive and brainless, as in the quest of avoiding a fine, you are endangering other motorists with such reckless whilst using brakes and manoeuvring.
To my fellow Goans reading this, I implore you to at least follow the basic road safety protocol. I’ve written this before, driving is a privilege. So please drive and ride in a responsible way.
