Graphic Reflections

At almost every traffic intersection and road in India, one can see traffic rules being violated, yet, most errant drivers are not caught owing to inadequate numbers of traffic policemen, and those few who do get caught often easily get out of it by paying insignificant fines or petty bribes. So on Indian roads, a driver is pretty much free to drive the way he wants to. The tremendously chaotic traffic situation (or ‘Traffic Anarchy’), at least in big cities like Delhi, is living proof of the absence of an effective and strict traffic management system.

This graphic attempts to depict the skewed equation between driving skills and road skills amongst a majority of drivers in India (I believe they are different skills). While most drivers may have good driving skills (which are also the main focus of driving schools across the country) to drive or ‘handle’ their respective vehicles well, when it comes to road skills (eg. being patient while driving, wearing helmets, stopping at red lights, negotiating roundabouts properly, parking the vehicle properly), most drivers in India would fare poorly (fail, I would say). With the traffic situation in Indian cities becoming worse by the day, its time the authorities and driving schools start laying stress on developing road skills of Indian drivers.

This typographical graphic attempts to portray the situation on urban India roads, where a variety of vehicles struggle, even jostle, for their share of the road. In many cases, the situation defies logic and one wonders if there can ever be a solution to streamline traffic on India’s roads.

This graphic tries to portray minuscule fines that traffic rule violators pay on Indian roads. Fines of Rs.200-500 (USD 5-12) for minor offences do not pinch people at all and degrade the status of traffic rules. If Indians can afford and drive the same kind of vehicles as people in the west, pay almost the same or more for fuel, why can’t they be fined as much? Traffic fines in India need to go up dramatically. Eg: Rs.1,000 for crossing the stop line at red lights, Rs.3,000 for jumping red lights, Rs.10,000 for driving on wrong side of the road and so on and so forth. Fines should really pinch people and make them think again before violating traffic rules.

A typographical pun on unmarked speed breakers, that are so common on Indian roads. There seems to be no standard for making speed breakers (or speed bumps) in India and a lot of them are constructed at will by colonies, villages, institutions, and even individual houses. Many of these (almost invisible speed breakers) pose danger especially to two wheelers at night and some even surprise people walking on the streets!