India, overtaking on the inside is routine!??

Often on wide roads it's routine in India to overtake on the left (that is the inside, since they drive on the left), especially when the slow moving vehicle is a bus, van or tractor overflowing with goods or packed with people etc; or when the roadside is rough or used by even slower vehicles (bicycles, tricycles or even animals) requiring that slow bus or van to keep moving over to the centre and back to the side. This way the burden of having to deal with those obstacles on the roadside is shifted, from the slow moving vehicle, to the one going faster, leaving the slower one quietly proceeding straight and slow.
In this case there is one more reason: the first van is loaded with stuff on the roof and the little lorry overtaking it and going to be overtaken by the car is extremely packed with people; this system avoids the passengers going through a bumpy ride (till possible...). In other cases it's a slow little cab, van, tractor or lorry literally overflowing with goods that look falling off at any time, so it's advisable to drive it steady anyway (...).
It's certainly a confusing way (especially for Westerners) thus can cause some problems at least in case of accident (it is hard to tell who is wrong and who is right when the routine differs from the written rule). But you can see their point in doing so.
The presence of a vehicle intending to overtake, when necessary (?...), is signalled by indicating and swerving in and out to be seen and/or blowing the horn so that the vehicle in front has the choice of either moving very soon to the inside, to allow the proper overtaking on the right, or (seen more often in practice over there) stay put on the right and allow it on the left, without moving over during the manouevre. Anyway, certainly once given that warning, the overtaking on the left is not seen as dangerous, bullying or trasgression. Nobody is annoyed by it, not the overtaking guy who is maybe in a hurry, nor the guy being overtaken on the wrong side. It's perceived as a normal practice, so nobody is any happier or more upset than before... . They feel it normal. It's a unique way... .

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• Overtaking on the inside
• India
• driving
• right hand driving
• driving on the left

[giammira]

@speedsatya I didn't realize I hadn't approved your post for ages. Yes, maybe there aren't many cars with ASB ASR ESP systems in India, but they used to lack here too. Still there were already less accidents than over there. True, India is overcrowded, implying that accident rate is still relatively low considering that. But also considering the lack of stricter and more enforced rules. So, some more rules would come in handy, balance out the overpopulation and poor condition of some roads...

[speedsatya]

You say there are more accidents ..but you also need to look at the population and the number of vehicles on the road :)..We also need to look at the vintage of the vehicles on the road.The West has a higher percentage of cars with modern technologies :)

[giammira]

I know exactly what you mean. I was there, drove shortly myself and was passenger on motorbike in traffic jams. However, even though I think Indians are good drivers in their system and also more, we can't deny there are more accidents over there than in Western countries. They are quickminded and flexible but they do apply some unspoken rules, which foreigners still need to know to get by there. Maybe some more formal respected rules would decrease accidents. And please those horns are madness

[PunjabiBall3r]

I came back a week ago and i love driving there. No rules no tension