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“Stay in your lane asshole!”
“Lane? What lane?”
That’s crazy.
not quite sure how true this is, but someone told me that in Indida you can hit and kill up to 3 people a year while driving before it will affect your license. hit a cow even once and it is suspended or even taken away permanently.
When I was in Saigon a couple of years ago this was the way you crossed the street there too. You just took it on faith that people would go around you. I saw some old lady doing one mile an hour crossing the street just like the one shown. No problem.
Frogger, anyone?
I would say the camera man was an idiot he had tons of opportunities to keep moving but instead got transfixed on traffic coming at him and just stood there causing traffic congestion.
Having travelled to India several times I’ve noticed a couple of patterns that might pass as traffic rules:
1. give way to anything that’s bigger than you, no matter whether they’re in the right or wrong (eg. buses running through a red light, which happens a LOT)
2. give way to what you can see, and don’t ever ever look behind you (many cars have their mirrors removed or pointed at odd angles to prevent accidental rear traffic awareness!)
3. if someone behind you honks, pull over to let them past (pull over means “move 2 feet or so left”)
4. never ever ever EVER hit a cow, even lightly. And if you do (or are in a car that does) get the hell out of there as fast as you humanly can – and no, this isn’t a joke
5. provided they don’t want to make an example of you, the cops can be bought, but as a foreigner it’ll hurt (and no, I haven’t need to do this yet – I haven’t had the guts to drive in India yet)
Hmmmmmm, so these are the very same people who now design twenty-first century software. This is disturbing.
Question: How do you cross the street in India?
Answer: very, very carefully!
#2, I think you may be right. A friend of mine who’s just been to India witnessed someone being run over by a car. The occupants of the car just got out of the car, picked the unconscious victim by an arm and a leg, threw him off the road, got into the car again, and took off. No big deal!
Here in the UAE, the speed limit is 75 mph and often the roads are pretty congested.
Even so, these Indian guys do that crossing technique where they partially cross over and stand in the middle of the road.
As a driver, if you get distracted even for a second, you easily kill one of them.
My suspicion is that those Indian pedestrians have absolutely no idea how fast things happen at those speeds — many have probably never driven above 50 for any stretch (or driven at all).
Come on guys.. like MacBandit says.. the camera man went a bit over board.
How ever, this video sure has more thrill than the disappointing summer blockbusters , thus far 🙂
I was in Istanbul last week and was amazed to see people walk straight out into busy traffic. Even more amazingly, the traffic just stopped politely for them, no honking, fist waving or shooting. Even so, I tried to make a point of crossing at proper places, just in case…
#9 – Hey, Greg, since you’re in the UAE, care to comment on the “who’s at fault in a car accident” scale? I’ve spoken with someone who used to live there, and the way they determine who’s at fault in an accident is VERY different from Western culture. 🙂
This oughta jog your memory, Greg… http://tinyurl.com/39mfyg
That was pocket change for the guy who bought the five plate.
Are you sure this wasn’t shot in Montreal? Looks the same to me
why dont they just paint some goddamn lines
I have to say – being that all the drivers were able to deal with people in the road and navigate around them without jamming on the brakes and swerving all over the place like a driver her in the U.S. reacts to a piece of trash being in the road.
They are much better drivers than anyone here.
Italy is fairly similar, as is Morocco. Italy I’d say it’s even worse because they either don’t stop for you (and expect you to move) or slam on their brakes and come to a screeching halt just inches away from you.
Rather frightening to say the least, but it works.
Their tubes are clogged!!!
When i was a kid we lived in India from the time I was 12 until 15. When i returned to the states it was very hard to grasp why people waited at crossroads, and when I turned 16 and went for my drivers license i think i shocked my teacher a few times – I’m sure she should have failed me over the blatant disregard for any vehicle smaller that what I was driving!
the trick though in crossing is just to maintain the same speed – the cars will almost always go around, but when you change speeds, they can’t predict where you will be. takes some getting used to.
is that what inspired the 1981 video game Frogger?
Dot heads are so damn funny!
I can really see this, laughing now that I’m home. Lived in India twice and getting to Bombay, Mumbai I guess now, from the airport by cab was the most harrowing experience I’ve ever had and I’ve traveled a lot!. I was a nervous wreck after each trip but we made it without any deaths.
They say that golf and football can be a game of inches. These rides to town were the same but peoples’ lives were at stake, including mine! So, they knew full well what they were doing without telling me.
Whew…
I was happy to see that most of the motorcyclists were wearing helmets, at least.
That’s about the same as the traffic I’ve seen in Cairo, Malaysia, and Taiwan. It flows like water. Lines? Why waste the paint?
#12 Mac Man,
Sorry, I’m not sure what you’re talking about.
We foreigners do stay very clear from those low numbered license plate guys because we figure they are probably Sheiks and there is no way the police or a court would find them guilty and us innocent, if there was a collision between us.
But also, if we hit and killed a poor worker guy, we’d be expected to pay blood money, even if they were at fault!
I guess, like in many cultures, the middle class gets squeezed financially.