Organised chaos on Indian roads intrigues Vettel

Saturday, 29 October 2011 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

(Reuters) - Nothing Sebastian Vettel experiences on the track this weekend can match what the world champion has witnessed on India’s roads.

Speaking at the new Buddh International Circuit on Thursday, the 24-year-old German laughed when talking about the “organised chaos” of traffic in the world’s second most populous nation.

“It’s an interesting country, a lot of people obviously -- very different,” he said, relating how he had followed the tourist trail to the Taj Mahal some 200 km from Delhi.

“It was a long drive and I asked our Indian driver whether people do have a licence here and he said ‘You just buy it. Just pay and you get the licence’.

“The funny thing is that coming from Europe where we have so many traffic rules... Sometimes it’s complicated sticking to so many rules. Here, I would not say you have no rules, but you have very less,” Vettel said.

“But it works for you. We didn’t see a single crash happening. Even though we sometimes think it’s chaos, but it’s organised chaos.”

Motorists here are used to dealing with a range of hazards, from bullock carts to cows wandering across the roads and cars driving on the wrong side of the road on multi-lane highways.

The 24-year-old said the Taj Mahal trip had been an education.

“The drive to get there and come back teaches you about the country. It’s inspiring in many ways. People seemed very, very happy, always smiling even though living standard is quite low compared to Europe. But people are happy.

“It makes you understand a lot of things and appreciate things, that you take things for granted.”