This refers to the article, “It's your karma, man! Face it, endure it” (May 3) by Padma Rao Sundarji. As things go in our country, if you know how to hold the steering wheel of a vehicle, you qualify for a driving licence.
And if you have the right connections, you can easily skip the crucial physical test of your driving skills and still have your licence home-delivered. Alas! The ‘chalta hai’ attitude of those entrusted with the responsibility of stringently testing the skills of those aspiring for a licence, is the bane of the transport system in our country.
The US has twice the number of vehicles on roads than we have in India. And yet, we top the list of road accidents and deaths. A majority of the drivers are either unable to read or, willfully ignore the road signs and traffic rules. We are thoughtless drivers and lack basic road etiquette; for instance, it is only in our country that we refuse to give way to an ambulance or a fire brigade. All this needs to change drastically.