A chilling ride on a roller coaster full of snakes and
scorpions while watching the scariest movie you’ve ever seen may be a walk in
the park compared to the horrors of driving in India. Poor roads, unsafe vehicles and untrained
drivers contribute to the highest automobile-related death rate in the
world. India has 1.3 million traffic
deaths each year. Thirteen people are
killed every hour in accidents.
Last year Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper made an
official visit to India. His staff
searched for local transportation. They
quickly had a Cadillac SUV flown in from Ottawa. The Canadians discovered almost immediately that the country had no safe vehicle options.
The problem is compounded by the institutional corruption inside the Indian
version of the local DMV that allows “drivers” (for lack of a better term) to
pay off--in the form of bribes--the officials who administer driving tests and
issue driver licenses. These same
administrators also, again for a small fee, look the other way when confronted with
vehicles that would not be suited to be a part of a clown parade in any proper fly-by-night
circus.
In simple terms: bike riders beware. Stay off the roads, the sidewalks and parking
lots. We offer the same advice to
pedestrians.
India’s nationwide fleet of commercial and private vehicles is rather
aged and thus most of the problem comes from overuse and advanced
maturity. Things aren’t much better for
India’s new vehicles. Take for example
the Tata-built Nano. Indian-owned auto
manufacturer Tata is the parent company of Jaguar and Land Rover. While those vehicles manage to get things
right, the Nano is all wrong.
The Nano
was dubbed the new “people’s car” when it was launched in 2008. What made it so was the price tag, about
$1,800 USD. What are people paying
for? Not much really. In order to save money the company sealed the
trunk shut. To access the trunk you will
have to climb behind the rear seat. Two
wipers are expensive so the Nano comes with one. Air bags?
No. Air Conditioning? No. When
one is in India one should embrace the soaring heat and withering
humidity. Radio? No.
The car does come with some free of charge options however. The ability to catch fire and then summarily
explode won’t cost you a dime. In fact,
if your Nano burns the company will replace it with another Nano or give you a
free refund. Nothing like a money-back
guarantee. Tata believes the Nano will
one day conquer Europe. Did you just
feel the collective shiver of fright come from Ingolstadt, the HQ of Audi? Neither did we. One auto industry analyst was recently quoted
saying, "On quality standards, Tata barely makes the cut.”
If you find yourself in India the SBT crew recommends a good
walk. Driving should be your last
option. The next to last option may be
the tuk-tuk taxi. Now you have heard the
line about keeping your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times. In a tuk-tuk that is the best advice you’ll
ever get. Let’s face it India is
congested, traffic is a fact of life 24 hours a day. The tuk-tuks plow through the smallest of
gaps with drivers determined to ignore all traffic laws, posted speeds, and
even direction. The only way forward is
very fast. Blaring the horn is the same as slowing or braking the tuk-tuk. With any good amusement park roller coaster
we know at some point the ride will end and we will cruise into the docking
station. No such calm realization comes
over the tuk-tuk passenger.
The SBT crew has written of bike rides and bike tours around
the globe. When it comes to India, bring
your sneakers. Please visit our website at www.stickybottleteam.net for videos, additional info and Amazon.com.
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| Tata Nano Before |
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| And After |
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