Are Delhi's drivers living on the edge?

Three judges being beaten in South Delhi this week was just another in a series of road rage incidents in the national capital. If attitude of a city is reflected by its drivers, then Delhi is brash, restless and aggressive. Psychologists say that increasing number of road rage incidents in Delhi makes it a fit case for a ’city on the edge’ - people of which - have less control of hostility and anger, less tolerance of tension, more difficulty with authority and a tendency to take risks. In terms of infrastructure, Delhi has undergone tremendous changes in the last decade especially in the wake of Commonwealth Games 2010. There are new and wider roads, flyovers and better connectivity to many parts of the city, which were earlier considered remote. Ideally, it would mean a relaxed and hassle free drive. But that hasn’t happened. Experts see increasing urbanisation in Delhi as the prime reason for increasing road rage incidents. [caption id=“attachment_314599” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Three judges were attacked in Delhi on Thursday in an incident of road rage. PTI”]  [/caption] “Delhi is witnessing urbanization which leads to increased stress levels, especially in youth. A fair bit of everything that leads to this stress, is to be blamed for road rage incidents,” says Dr Nimesh Desai, director, Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences, Delhi. “More and more youngsters are becoming independent. They are always on the go. They are multitasking even while driving. And lack of emotional support does not help," he said. A study by Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) shows that maximum aggressive response on road is shown by 19- 25 years age group. “This is followed by the below 18 years age groups whose parents have provided them their vehicles to drive and some respondents had motorbikes. These age groups were observed as most vulnerable groups involved in road rage cases resulting to fatalities and accidents," the study stated . Dr Desai adds that urbanization has given rise to a culture of insecurity in Delhi. “Road rage involves a perceived threat of invasion into one’s space, and thus, one’s identity. The mentality of a driver in Delhi is that I assert my need and my space. But there is no respect for the need and space of a fellow commuter. The city is lacking an attitude that promotes peaceful coexistence," he said. Equally responsible for high incidents of road rage is the ‘I will walk free attitude,’ say experts. When there is no fear of law, the probability of taking risks increase manifold. “The justice delivery system is very weak. So, at a subconscious level (of the culprit), there is a perception that the case will either drag on or I will walk away. And in cases in which there is conviction, the time gap between action and conviction is so huge that people often forget about it. For example, we remember many road incidents that happened in Delhi this year. But we don’t know in how many of those cases, culprits were brought to book,” says Dr Samir Parikh, director, mental health department, Fortis Heathcare. Dr Parikh points point out to another worrying trend which does not trigger road rage but certainly plays a significant role. “The man beating the other person knows that none of the bystanders will react. We have this tendency to act as mute spectators. Imagine, it is daylight and the road is bustling with commuters and pedestrians. One can beat a fellow driver to death, sit back in his car and drives away. No one moves. There is something erroneously wrong here,” he says. Vijaya Raghavan, associate professor, criminology and justice at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, divides his time between Delhi and Mumbai. He believes that a feudal/ patriarchal attitude is more prevalent in North Indian cities of Delhi and Haryana than in Mumbai and South India. The ‘have power, will flaunt it’ culture, says Dr Ragahavan, which could  be a reason for road rage incidents. A deeper analysis, says Dr Samir Malhotra, director, mental health department, Medanta Medicity, reveals that the gap between aspirations and real life is to be blamed for such accidents. “By and large, these people are always racing to achieve that ideal life. The struggle is always on and lot of times the frustration results in road rage,”  he said. This coupled with the fact that most of urbanites don’t do enough to unwind themselves, only adds to the stress, said Dr Malhotra.