Often, the advice you dole out generously to others is what you ignore the most yourself. There are friends who have heard me advise them against driving long on the highways. The other week, I woke up to the fact that I need a generous helping of that advice myself. I have been hitting the highways more often than I realised, and lingering there longer than I would advise my friends to. I am, however, not to be blamed for this. I have not gone to the highways; they have come to my doorsteps.
Earlier, one took the highway while heading out of a metro, on a long-distance journey. Now, with the metros sprawling in an almost unwieldy manner, highways—especially state highways with fast-moving traffic, on the outer rims of metropolitan areas—have become a part of people’s regular commute. To get to their workplaces, many have to drive down sections of fast highways, national or state. Drawing upon my own experience, as a journalist dealing with the concerns of certain geographically-defined groups within the Chennai metropolitan area, I now find myself frequenting localities such as Paranur, considered a far-flung space not too long ago, which I cannot reach by road without taking NH32 (also known as Chennai-Nagapattinam Highway).
With Indian metros quickly outgrowing outer ring roads (ORRs), the metropolitan development authorities there look for additional rings of connectivity. So, we hear of peripheral and regional roads beyond ORRs. Hyderabad has a 158-km-long ORR, and beyond that, it is going to have what is called a regional ring road. Reportedly, Bengaluru is likely to have three more orbital roads beyond its ORR.
Given the development of our metros, highway travel will be an indispensable aspect of many urbanites’ workaday lives. So, it becomes all the more significant that people know how to drive on the highway. Unfortunately, situations and challenges on highways, especially in India, don’t fit into thin, quick and easy primers. For this reason, I think the metaphor of a VUCA world, where everything is “volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous”, applies to the highways. So, it’s down to following the common and inviolable rules of the road, adjusting one’s driving to the obvious demands of the highway and, from there, letting alertness, quick-wittedness, patience and character—yes, you heard me right—seeing you through the journey.
1. Look wider
In a VUCA world, there could be too many variables, more than you can hope to control. They often enter the scene, unexpectedly. Focussing on these variables is a sure-fire way of losing your perspective. But, you should be aware of them. Similarly, during busy hours on the highway, there would be heavy vehicles, including intimidating centipede-long trailer lorries, trundling all around you. You have to keep your eyes steadily on the road ahead, but at the same time develop a sense of the vehicles around and behind you. In other words, you have to look back without actually doing so. You achieve this seemingly impossible feat by keeping your rear-view mirrors—the one in the centre and those on the sides—in place. When they are in alignment—which includes ensuring the side-view mirrors show only a small rear portion of your car—they serve as an invaluable band of vision. When I bought my last car brand-new, it came without a left side-view mirror. It still remains a mystery to me how a left side-view mirror was not considerable as a basic feature, especially in India where motorists overtake on the left without an iota of guilt. Not having a side-view mirror is a huge handicap on the highway.
2. Show character
As I said, the basic rule that one should not overtake on the left is almost always broken on Indian roads. On highways, it is broken with impunity. But, you should keep this one, and all the other basic rules in the book. Rules always have their place, even in a VUCA world that keeps throwing up new challenges all the time. When there are three lanes, stick to the middle as much as possible, and use only the one on the right to overtake other vehicles. Keep to the speed limit at any cost.
3. Maintain a distance
In a VUCA world, you have to process considerable amounts of information quickly. Being unduly attached to any processes can come in the way of quick learning. On the highway, one should not stay too close to a heavy vehicle, especially a trailer-lorry; they can block your view of overhead instructions, especially those at junctions, where you may need directions to take an appropriate turn.
4. Use the slow lane
When you want to take in the scenery by the side of the road, you have no business hogging the fast lane. Often, I notice motorists making this mistake on the scenic East Coast Road from Chennai to Kanyakumari—a state highway, often with fast-moving traffic (When there are just two lanes for vehicles moving in one direction, the lane closer to the centre of the roadway is the fast lane). On the highway, as well as in a VUCA world and larger life, there is always a slow lane for those who want to take it easy for a bit. And the wise ones use it.
