An Unnerving Account of a Road Rage Victim in Gurgaon

A victim in Gurgaon draws attention to the reality of road rage in India by tweeting her experience.

Rash driving on Indian streets has become an accepted reality, no longer considered an anomaly.

However, what Neha Garg experienced is sufficient to make people sit up and listen. She recounted the disconcerting road rash incident she had been in, on the evening of 20 April, in a series of tweets.

I was in an auto, and we were crossing a busy road. A car suddenly came in front of us from the sides, and reversed to block our way.

— Neha Garg (@gargneha) April 20, 2016

Turned out, he was the same guy. He was following us all this while. He got out of the car, hurling abuses at and threatening the auto guy.

— Neha Garg (@gargneha) April 20, 2016

In the two seconds it took me to get out of the auto, the auto-guy had been beaten black & blue. That guy was unstoppable.

— Neha Garg (@gargneha) April 20, 2016

A few men had gathered on the spot. I pleaded with them to make it stop. They didn't want to participate in the trouble. I was losing time.

— Neha Garg (@gargneha) April 20, 2016

I stepped in the physical space between the beater and the auto-guy. The beater hesitated for just a split second before pushing me away.

— Neha Garg (@gargneha) April 20, 2016

And that make the bystanders spring in action. They restrained the beater, making him leave the auto-guy. He kept threatening, but let go.

— Neha Garg (@gargneha) April 20, 2016

For me, that was the end of this story. But I still don't know if it was so for the auto-guy. I have no way of making sure that he's okay.

— Neha Garg (@gargneha) April 20, 2016

He took out his rage. But gave me mine. Which I don't know what to do with, or how to deal with. This helplessness is what will kill me.

— Neha Garg (@gargneha) April 20, 2016

In a poll conducted by Times of India in April 2016, a whopping 58.9 percent people admitted to having experienced road rage at least once. Only a meagre 13 percent said they have never experienced it.

Over 7,000 respondents had participated in the poll.