Road to Progress - 3

In my previous blog, I wrote about the autorickshaw (the three-wheeled vehicle used for transportation in India and some parts of Asia but referred by other names).  It is also referred to as Samosa (because an Indian stuffed snack food item is three cornered), a tempo, atuk-tuk, a trishaw, an autorick, a bajaj, a rick, a tricycle, a mototaxi, a baby taxi or lapa in popular parlance.  An auto rickshaw is a usually three-wheeled cabin cycle for private use and as a vehicle for hire.  These three wheeled vehicles are also used in the form of goods transport vehicle, optimal for ferrying goods in small quantities.

The autorickshaw is legendary in a sense.  It has featured not only in Bollywood, Tollywood, Kollywood and other Indian movies but has even been featured in the Bond Movie Octopussy.  In another movie shot in an another Asian country, the other form of tuk-tuk has been used.  In the UK it is quite a craze but the government will not allow it on safety reasons.  More of it later.

The autorickshaw is a very convenient and affordable means of transport and carry three people and the driver as per the transport authorities.  Three at the rear and one at the handle.  However, this get flouted in big way in cities and towns outside Mumbai where sometimes, you see five or even more than five adjusting themselves to be transported over dirt roads, rural roads an all types of terrain.  Even in some places in Mumbai, you can find the 3+1 rule being flouted right under the scanning eye of the policemen. 

The autorickshaw was perhaps introduced at a time when cars were expensive and personal transportation was way too expensive.  The reach of public transport was not as extensive and also it provided employment opportunities to the uneducated, unskilled youth, people who had to give away their horse driven carts because they were banned in the city and people who could find no other form of employment.  Some autorickshaw drivers have upgraded themselves, some have become owners, some are still driving, some own a fleet of rickshaws of their own, some are driving taxis, some have gone into petty business, others have retired and a new bunch of youngsters join the ranks of autorickshaw drivers.  Travelling in a group of two or more became more economical because the cost got distributed.  Travel time was reduced because you could go from point to point swiftly.  The autorickshaw could easily be meandered between tight lanes and narrow spaces.  Sometimes they were an irritant to the pedestrians as they would be dodged around.  Autorickshaw became a status symbol.  Along came the unions and some got spoilt, refusing fares, overcharging, fleecing passengers by taking longer routes, not carrying enough change and then fussing over the difference over the extra charge for post-midnight service.  Then came the point to point sharing which was pocket-friendly on the passengers, almost at the cost or a little extra than the public transportation fare.

While all this is routine stuff, what I want to bring out here today is something different and at the same time perhaps highlight how the law differentiates between two classes of people.

Until the era of Premier Padmini and Ambassador taxis, the law was lenient because the technology was new.  With the arrival of Maruti 800, the rules started changing.  The Maruti 800 model introduced bucket seats in the car, probably for the first time in India.  It also offered as a standard feature the driver side and the passenger side seat belt.  The transport authorities made it mandatory for all vehicle drivers to fasten the seat-belt while driving.  Initially, it was compulsory for the passenger at the front but now nobody remembers.  I remember, traffic police looking out desperately for drivers not wearing seat belts and they would be issued challans for whatever was the form of punishment.  Some people obliged while others saw it as a hindrance, not realising its importance.  The common argument was that seat belts are a nuisance, they hinder the driver’s movements, getting out and then getting in create a lot of difficult.  The best one was that a car in Mumbai (let’s for the moment be referenced only to Mumbai) hardly gets to go over say 60 and the seat belt would effectively function at high speed and a strong impact.  In Mumbai’s traffic, it was never going to be the case.  Gradually they learnt and adopted because people realised its importance and that it was in their safety and interest to wear the seat belt.  As of today, the policeman is on the look out for dark tinted windows, using cell phone while driving, not wearing seat belt, etc. but happily the incidence of violaters has reduced.

Now this brings us to the importance aspect of equality in the eyes of the law.  Even today, you will find, mini-tempo drivers not wearing seat belt.  Even the second best public transport system in the world, the BEST busses do not have seat belts for their drivers.  Their (driver’s) seats are also a sham in the name of comfort.  The best, the medium and heavy trucks may have standard feature on their products but none of them is seen wearing.  In Mumbai, trucks carrying heavy vehicles zoom across on the state express highways and many vehicles meet with severe accidents.

My concern is that why is the law stringent on four wheel private passenger cars (include the yellow and black and now the radio cabs) while it is completely lax on four-wheeled medium and heavy sized transport vehicles, schools and private busses, auto-vehicles?  Is their safety not a concern for the government?

Other aspects which I would like to touch upon about autorickshaws are its engine noise, not having doors to ensure safety of the passengers, be it rains or just being exposed to articles that can comine flinging right at you, how people squeeze in the small sized rear seat but require more and more space at the rear of the car and complain about how small the car is.  Seating in a passenger car is a status symbol but travelling in an autorickshaw is majboori (having been left with no choice, have to save money, travel quick to short distances, etc.) Is there a mindset problem or what is it? 

If India is a developing country, shouldn’t we have the same rules applicable to all?  Should not there be safer means of transportation for the citizens?