Mileage

The only question an Indian will ask you about your vehicle is "kitna deti hai ?", referring to the mileage that your vehicle affords you. It's also the primary concern that any Indian has while purchasing a vehicle. The reason is simple - we're a poor people and for most of us,  our vehicles are a means of transport and nothing more. We may pretend they are our pride and status symbols etc. but the way we skim on the air conditioning, turn off our vehicles at every opportunity that presents itself, monitor the fuel consumption by resetting our trip meter at every refuel and try to do a other million small things that we believe will improve the bang per buck we spend on fuel, begs to differ. 

But we continue to be disappointed. The reason is simple, but it is a catch 22 kind of situation in the sense that our self perceived poverty which makes us monitor our mileage in the first place keeps us from achieving the maximum mileage that our vehicles and infrastructure can afford us. It will also prevent most of us from grasping or at least implementing what I'm suggesting.

Presenting the logic before the advice. Our mileage is higher by about 40 percent on a highway than in the city. This isn't because the road is smoother or the distance is longer. This is because we rarely change gears or apply brakes. Well, not rarely on Indian highways but less frequently than in the city.

And what makes us brake or switch gears in the city? It's not the bad roads in general. They play a part but the main cause is the traffic. Why is the traffic a problem?  Because it doesn't move steadily in one direction. People stop, so people zig zag, so people stop. It's a vicious cycle. Right from thoughtless motorists who try to enter the mainstream at an intersection, right this instant at any cost,  to thoughtless pedestrians who must walk or cross where they're not meant to. Missing indicators and broken brake lights, not getting to a side to pick someone up and parking incorrectly all pile up,  choking the flow of the traffic. And then we realise we're running late and do some more brain dead things. Overtake from the wrong side, jump the lights drive above the speed limit for the few seconds that we can. All in all we choke ourselves up.

Selfishness. Stemming from a deep seated sense of poverty and insecurity. How can I let someone pass when I'm late for work? Why should I let someone pass, will that not be granting him a dominant status? Why should I look where I'm walking, isn't that the responsibility of the motorists?  I'm so cool, how could I follow any rules? Heck, why should I know any rules? Do they even apply to me once I've made it so far in life that I can actually afford a vehicle?

It's almost as if part of the down payment on the vehicle is a scoop of the owner's brain. The part that controls logic on the road.

Anyway. Back to the point. I'll keep it simple. One rule - 'I will never obstruct the path of a vehicle going faster than mine'.

Let it sink in. Explore the possible scenarios. Let your brain throw up the loopholes. Let your being revolt at the thought of giving. How can I give someone a right of passage? Doesn't that make me a lesser human being? Doesn't it being my motoring skills into question?

It's that simple really. If everyone is letting everyone else pass, someone will let you pass.
You will not cut lanes or into flowing traffic (and make vehicles slow down). You will not keep inching forward at signals effectively cutting off half the road (and make passing vehicles slow down). This will mean more vehicles get through each green light and hence fewer traffic jams. You will not pack your vehicles (bikes) like a can of sardines at a red light so you will not need to disentangle before you and the traffic behind you can move. Which will again mean more vehicles get through each green light. You will stop to let vehicles pass at a crossing where a signal is absent or powered off and hence avoid traffic jams. You will not go down into the lane meant for oncoming traffic when your lane is backed up, thereby avoiding a traffic jam. You will get to a side and turn on your harazard lights when you're parked so you don't obstruct traffic. The scenarios are innumerable, but if you want to, you will get the point.

Traffic flow smoothens. And voilà! Better mileage!  Unless you let your rotten core get the better of you and try to become the faster vehicle right before the moment of contention. It's not a race. It's not a competition. It's a matter of cooperation. Everyone wins.

While I couldn't care less about the pennies you'll save on fuel, we as a nation a 5 percent reduction in crude oil import would mean about $7 billion. That's money that could be spend feeding people instead of egos. Treating infection and ailments instead of accident victims. Building roads instead of regulating them.