Driving Lessons in...India

I am an avid listener of The Savvy Traveler, and while I always enjoy your show I sometimes find the subjects a bit pedestrian. Last week's Driving Lesson by Doug Lansky was interesting, but the Italian drivers have nothing over the Indians. I have lived and driven in India for the past four years and to drive there is really tempting fate. Since 1951 the number of motor vehicles has swollen from 0.3 million to 30.3 million. The network of roads are second only to the United States, but the number of paved roads is just about 30 percent, the remaining are unpaved or dusty paths -- or so it seems when you are driving on them.

India claims to have the highest accident and fatality rate in the world, but who would know, the majority of all accidents are never reported or recorded. Anyone can buy a drivers license if they have 500 rupees ( $16), or you can make several trips to the license office, stand in line for hours among crowds of men, be shuttled from one office to another (each officer telling you, "Madame, you must go here now. We can not help you.), and finally being assigned a day and time -- 8 am, but the officers won't arrive until 10 am -- to take your physical driving test. After jumping through all the hoops, no one paid any attention to my driving skills during the test and I was automatically awarded an Indian license.

I did all this so I could spend the next year riding a motorcycle alone around the coast of India. After all my driving experiences in India, a little drive in Italy has got to be like a trip to the candy store.

Connie

 

 

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