good motoring
If your car catches fire...
H.Kishie Singh

The next few months are the best time to be driving around the hills and finding new paths. Skies are blue and the weather in the hills will be cool. Himachal has an amazing network of roads. Did you know there are about six different routes to get to Kasauli? This means you can avoid the weekend rush on the National Highway. It also means you can avoid Kalka-Parwanoo traffic jams.

The drives are through dense pine forests and they do make an enjoyable and exciting drive.

There is, however, one constant danger. Pine needles. They cover the road and berms and they are loaded with turpentine oil which is highly inflammable. They are the reason for the forest fires that plague Kasauli and the Shivalik Hills each year. It is entirely possible that the road you are on is engulfed by fire and heavy smoke. The pine needles do not burn easily, They smoulder and give off acrid and pungent smoke. They reduce visibility, can choke you and could set your car on fire.

Last week on a drive on one of Himachal’s forest link roads, I came across a burnt car. The tyres were burnt, so was the interior. The windows had been broken. Nothing remained of the vehicle. The passengers had to flee for their lives. Fortunately, they all escaped unhurt.

It was simply a wrong and foolhardy decision to drive into a fire. The sensible move would have been to back off and avoid this road. So many things can go wrong. To begin with, there is no way of knowing the heat build-up. If the fire had been on for some time, the tar could have melted or would have been aflame as well. This will burn out the tyres. Without tyres a car will not get very far. So you could be sitting in an inferno, and immobile. The fire could melt the electric wires or the hose pipes and stall the engine. Again you would be immobile. So the only thing to do is get out and run.

This move could be hampered by poor visibility and again the heat build-up. The melted tarmac would not be easy to step on. Then, of course, there is that one emotion that makes everything go wrong. Panic. It is very hard to control panic unless you have been trained to deal with a situation. To drive into a fire shows a complete lack of ability to assess a situation. Panic would have overcome everyone in the car, especially if there were children. A woman wearing a synthetic fabric saree is in terrible danger. If she is wearing chappals it will be impossible to walk through ashes or over the melting tar. And how would you control the children? If you have two or three small children, they would be in a state of wild panic.

There are two problems a motorist faces that can be completely beyond his control. One is fire, and the second is water. If your car catches fire, abandon it. All around you is safe ground. Second, avoid water just like fire. Do not attempt to drive through a nullah or a river. You don’t know the depth or strength of the flowing water. Pay attention to one thing: If the water is brown and muddy, it means it is flowing fast. Avoid it. Safe driving is really a matter of common sense. Keep your wits about you.

Happy motoring!