How To Beat The Traffic?

Bangalore, A sleepy town with a Hill station like weather and pace of life. A haven for retired couples, with friendly neighbors, beautiful lakes and awesome gardens strewn all over the town.

This was a reality some two decades earlier but as everyone knows and cribs, it's no more the same town. The IT Era has transformed this town incredibly. The town has transformed into a sprawling city, SEZs have poped up everywhere, flyovers are now the norm, also the gardens and lakes are disappearing day by day.

One entity which is bursting out on the seams and is discussed at every meeting, dinner table and reunions is the Great Bangalore Traffic. You can do whatever circus you want, you just cannot escape this phenomenon. It's a way of life and is a inescapable part of every Bangalorean's daily life.

As far as the numbers go two wheelers form the biggest part of Bangalore's traffic and they are driven in as many ways as the people who sit on them. I have been part of this two wheeler bandwagon for more than one and half decade. As a sales person riding on my bike was a major part of my daily routine and usually I loved it.

Like any human my biking style has gone through the phases of virgin enthusiasm to thrill seeking (resulted in bone breaking) to now a matured style of driving. Throughout this maturing up I have observed, learnt, tried and  practiced few tricks and methods which makes me beat the traffic most of the times. The trick is not to just reach the destination quicker and safer but also to enjoy the whole drive.

The tricks of the trade are:

1. Never follow a bigger vehicle in the center:

When we maintain a good 4 to 5 feet distance from a bigger vehicle we leave ourselves a chance to choose the direction to take when an opening in the traffic presents itself. I always stay at the side, behind the vehicle than following it at dead center of it's behind. In case the car in the front slows down I will always have the choice to move sideways and overtake it, this choice will not be there if I follow the vehicle in center.

2. Don't drive too fast:

Driving crazily in traffic will not take you anywhere, it will only lead to sore arms and a lot of F words from many of your traffic mates. The number of traffic signals, speed bumps and path-holes in Bangalore ensures that any amount fast acceleration will not take you far. It is wiser to maintain an above average speed, so that we can plan the traffic signals and reduce the stalling time at them. Maintaining a steady speed will give the driver to asses the traffic pattern better and will give him a better choice to maneuver around it.

3. Pace your journey:

Pacing the journey is very important. Driving the high density sections leisurely with less acceleration and sections with less traffic with better speeds will save time and a lot of frustration. Cribbing about or honking around in snail paced sections will only cause frustration to us and nothing else. It's far better to take it easy in these sections and then speed up in easy traffic conditions. Most of the time the bikers do it in reverse and sometimes create chaos around them.

4. Look far ahead:

The bumper of the vehicle ahead is not a pretty sight to look. It's better to scan the scenes in front and around us. Driving behind a huge bus with nothing else see than the ugly behind of it is the most frustrating way to spend time on a bike. In those time it is better to just back up a bit and take a look at what is ahead makes a lot of sense.We need to find out what how the herd is moving and to do that we need to look a lot further. We need to use various angles like through the windshields of the car ahead, under the heavy trailers which are much ahead of us, the way the driver in front is turning his head (this indicates the way he going to turn next) and all other means to know what is happening further up. This really helps in planning our next move intelligently.

5. Enjoy the ride:

This the most important aspect of riding our bike. We spend a considerable amount of time sitting on our bikes, if we can enjoy this time then no matter what the scenario, how good or bad the traffic is, we will have absolute pleasantness in our lives. The most frustrating and difficult time of day can be turned into the best time by just enjoying the ride.

How to do it?

There are no hows to enjoyment, just keep trying and one day the traffic will just disappear and enjoyment will envelope you.

Till you find that day, keep trying these tricks and methods.

Wishing you all safe and traffic free :-)  rides.

JKS