Not a day goes by on Twitter (or in the "real" world) without somebody complaining about the deteriorating traffic situation in <insert city name>. Mumbai is no exception; it is not just that getting from one place to another takes much longer but it has become rather unsafe to drive around. When we are busy e-mailing or tweeting in the backseat of our cars, we don't really realize the latter issue. It's only when you are at the wheel (like I have been in the last 12 months) that you see how blatantly traffic rules and safe driving norms are being violated.
Often, we tend to blame the cab / auto / bus / truck drivers for rash driving, in a classic "us vs them" argument. However, just look around and you will see that drivers of luxury cars / SUVs are as much to blame for the situation as 'those' guys. I must admit, I was also part of that problem till recently - how does it matter if you jump a traffic light when there are no other vehicles around. One morning while dropping my kids to school, I stopped at a red signal wondering if I should just go ahead; it was still early and traffic was yet to build up. My daughter exclaimed, "Why are we waiting, let's go!" I was taken aback; it was only a year ago she was reciting, "Green means Go, Yellow means Slow, Red means Stop" and today she wanted me to break that rule. What lessons was she taking from my behavior?
The question that has since vexed me was, why did I / we break the rule? There are two major reasons, I believe.
Ego
Essentially - "My work is very important and I need to get to my destination quickly. That is more important than following the rules or giving way to the other vehicles on the road."
It starts as a trickle but slowly, competitive spirit catches up and everyone's trying to get ahead. This ego is usually accompanied by disdain. "I pay so much in taxes but look at the condition of the roads. Bah! Why should I follow their rules?"
Fearlessness
It might sound cynical but I have come to believe that most of us follow rules / social norms only because of the fear of opprobrium. When society fails to punish you for your "illegalities" then you have no fear of committing them.
Take the traffic light violation. What is the penalty for jumping a signal - I don't know what the official fine is but I would imagine that a Rs 100 payment would be sufficient to let you off. But that's not the real penalty, because the chances of getting penalized are quite low, right? Only once in a while do you notice cops pulling aside violaters. The probability of getting caught are low, I'd say, no more than one in ten lights jumped. So, if you assign the probability factor, your daily penalty for committing an illegality is Rs 10. Compared to your daily fuel expenses of Rs 100 - 200, this penalty is a very small addition to your cost of travel.
What if the chances of getting caught increased dramatically, perhaps by the use of technology / traffic cameras, to 50% or even 100%? And the fine is now Rs 200 because you cannot bribe your way out. The cost of the illegality is now Rs 100 or even Rs 200 per day, a significant number that might deter many from jumping the light.
While ego causes some people to violate rules, it is this fearlessness that prompts almost everyone to commit illegalities. And it does not just stop with traffic lights. Once we start getting away with our small 'crimes', what's stopping us from moving to the next bigger one? Our importance and our invincibility keeps getting reinforced till, of course, we are brought to the ground with a great thud!
Finally, we must, yes, speak about all the scams, corruption and crime out there, but the next time when the traffic light turns red, also think of the crime we are about to commit.
PS. It is not a valid excuse that your driver jumped the traffic light while you were busy reading this blog-post. It is your car; take responsibility.