sO dAmn lUckY

I like this song... was listening to it while I typed this out.

Some of the most spectacular sequences ever filmed will almost inevitably involve our octane thirsty friends, and it is the speed, cinematography and special effects, crashes and sometimes heart stopping accidents that thrill us. but when you think of it happening in real life, it has inevitably ended in disaster with fatal consequences.
For some vague reasons traffic in most cities that I have visited have constantly troubled me. Now living in Chennai the traffic here scares the living daylights out of me so much that I prefer to travel only as a last resort. And I love travelling, I love seeing new hings and new places... but city traffic is crazy... never know when I might actually be complete with it.
My gym is really good, though it does not boast of anything that your regular city gym would have, but it sure has given me the best results any gym has in the past. I love my gym and I came by it by chance. I chose it  to the bigger and advanced gyms because it is across the road to where I stay, that means not having to be traffic. And yet every morning I get to cross the streets to get to gym and it frightens me. As a child we are taught to look left and then right and only when judging its safe to cross does one cross. Well I pride myself in being a very if not obsessively cautious crosser, I do not cross streets till I am satisfied that incoming traffic isn't half a mile away. And yet every morning i wonder if I am gonna find myself plastered to the tarmac. Some months ago i was witness to one such incident where a woman got plastered (literally plastered) to the road exactly where i cross the road to the gym. She got run over (actually run OVER) by a garbage disposal truck.
I don't know what caused the driver to do such a thing (I believe he didn't do it intentionally), how did the woman not see such a huge juggernaut coming down the road. The road is a fairly busy road which takes the most careless person a while and a double check before crossing. And yet it happened. The driver bolted.
There wasn't much to do once the cops arrived (which unlike the films were there in under 5 mins) but wait for the coroner's van to be there.
Today morning I read the Sunday Story of the Hindu - http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/driving-the-wrong-way-on-road-safety/article4038820.ece
On any normal day with data like that we would be declaring the country in a state of emergency. I guess at least that would be the least that can be done. i couldn't believe it that there were 1,42,485 fatalities in 2011 and 5,11,394 injured in road related mishaps across India. And I believe this would be the reported lot of incidences and we all know how many of such incidences are actually reported. Sometimes I think about what can be done about it and then I think is there really anything that can be done. Out of experience I know this about me crossing the street, as soon as I put my foot to the street i can see a car coming from far off gun his accelerator as if to go past before I can cross the road (and mind you, i make an effort to cross the street only when i see the nearest vehicle not less that 50 metres away). Its not only limited to crossing the street, but also when you seem to be chugging along and come across an intersection, it would seem like most of the drivers got a pregnant wife who's in labour.
I really don't know what to make of it. Is this found everywhere... are people becoming so inconsiderate of others or is this something that is only limited to Chennai? I know someone who is right now, without speech, without movement and is confined to a room and a wheel chair because he got hit by a bike coming on the wrong side of the road. he had just seen the film that he put his sweat and long hours into with his family and they were just heading back home to celebrate... he's been in hospital for more than a month now and all he responds to is "Hi".
Are we really becoming like this? Listen to the song, slow down and love yourself and others around... we need to smell the flowers next spring.