Driving License – A Privilege. Or, is it?

Road rage is becoming a common issue nowadays. Being trained at words and actions to be used against a person on a road is a “skill” few can master! 😛 Being stuck up in a jam is a nightmare. Add to it bearing with fights between vehicle users, OMG! It is another issue of major concern. I sometimes feel that driving through city traffic feels like being a soldier at war. Not like the present-day soldier who zip-zap-zooms with SM-Gs and bazookas, but like the olden-day soldier who wrestles his opponents down with nothing but a sword or a spear, albeit with a shield for extra aid. (Its more dramatic that way 😉 )

Ever wondered about a solution for all these dramatic tales? Following lane discipline? Traffic education? Speed monitoring? Heavy fines for offenses? … Naah! Of course, all these are viable options, but are not optimum solutions. Where then has the Lord kept the key to this mystery? Can you hear him say it? No? Read the title of the post again! 🙂

Yes! It is the driving license which holds the key in the making of quality drivers. That is because, it is the gate pass through the gateway to heaven (or hell! Whatever! Read : ROAD) for a driver. The pride with which a driver boards his drive is significantly enhanced when the officer in khaki attests his ability to take the traffic by its horns. How truthfully this is done is an open secret though!

Once, a highly placed police officer, in an interview to a news paper, said this – “Having a driving license in India is considered to be right, where as, it should have been a privilege!” I thought about this statement for quite a few days. I sorta analyzed the traffic situation and was reminded about my Optic Fibre Comm Prof saying that “Traffic should flow like axial rays inside an optic fibre. But, we have only traffic which goes like skew rays 😛 ” How true it is, I take the liberty of leaving it to the esteemed reader’s imagination. 😉

If only we, as citizens, could suggest strongly to the Govt, the first and the most stringent process of screening drivers should be at the licensing stage itself. It may be quite difficult to check whether a driver is following the rules properly during the test, which is usually done on a short track. But, observe his(/her) habits through a 2-3 km course through traffic, and you’ll know all the finer aspects of his driving skill.

Unfortunately, many complications are present. There are a flood of license applications everyday. The formalities to complete, like application filling etc., take an awful amount of time and confusion. We do not have enough examining officers to take interest in every person’s driving. By sheer luck if we had the number, then the officers would either be in a bad mood because of continuous tests, or on leave due to side-effects of pollution (can also be read as ‘corruption’) 😛 . Lastly, it is the slack nature of the general public who want things to happen in a painless way. Ever heard someone saying “No pain, No gain” ? Well, I guess the someone is absconding 😀 .

We shall see how the coming times will be. After all, we are supposed to be the watch dogs of the Govt in a democracy. And remain only watch dogs. Never Bark!