I had gone to the city center on a weekday to pick up some things. After I finished my work, I was waiting at the bus stop for bus no. 73 which takes me home. It takes just 7 minutes by bus to reach my stop and it was quite cold, I decided not to walk back, but take the bus. The city center is very busy. Many trams and S-Bahns stop at the city center and it is always busy with people and trams and buses and cyclists and cars. A tram was going its way towards the city center and a big goods truck came speeding next to it and wanted to take a left before the tram passed by. The truck was heavy and big tilted slightly to left and touched the driver's cabin of the tram. Everything came to a standstill. Everyone realized that an accident has taken place.
There was no commotion, no swearing, no fist fights. Both the drivers got down quietly. The tram driver asked everyone to get down as the tram couldn't go further and the stop was just a few feet away. The tram driver called up the headquarters and the rescue team. The truck driver dialed up someone and informed about the incident and everybody waited patiently for the rescue team. I really marveled at the way things were handled there. Cut to India. By this time, there would have been hoards of people gathering around the accident scene, drivers swearing and yelling at each other, blaming each other for the accident. The police would have arrived late and then the whole game of who has more money and power to settle the matter would have begun. But here the things were unassumingly simple and quiet. A few people took photos of the accident. I thought people are the same all over the world. Be it in India or Germany, the herd mentality is more or less the same.
The traffic behind the tram which was stuck with the truck started swelling up. Our bus also arrived in the meanwhile, but couldn't move as the truck and tram stood in its' way. Help arrived and a person instructed the bus lady driver to take a reverse till the end of the tram and then take the opposite road and continue our journey. She did a good job and though 10 minutes late, the bus started and we started our journey back home.
I thought to myself. How composed the people involved in the accident were! Insurance plays a great role in European countries and both the drivers knew that they won't have to shell out any money from their own pockets. Their respective companies and the insurance companies would settle the matter amicably. A German on an average 2-3 insurance policies, for a car, for health, for third-party damages etc. etc. I wondered when the accident scene was cleared and when was the traffic smooth again. Things were moving extremely slow and the other people in trams behind were in discomfort.
There was no commotion, no swearing, no fist fights. Both the drivers got down quietly. The tram driver asked everyone to get down as the tram couldn't go further and the stop was just a few feet away. The tram driver called up the headquarters and the rescue team. The truck driver dialed up someone and informed about the incident and everybody waited patiently for the rescue team. I really marveled at the way things were handled there. Cut to India. By this time, there would have been hoards of people gathering around the accident scene, drivers swearing and yelling at each other, blaming each other for the accident. The police would have arrived late and then the whole game of who has more money and power to settle the matter would have begun. But here the things were unassumingly simple and quiet. A few people took photos of the accident. I thought people are the same all over the world. Be it in India or Germany, the herd mentality is more or less the same.
The traffic behind the tram which was stuck with the truck started swelling up. Our bus also arrived in the meanwhile, but couldn't move as the truck and tram stood in its' way. Help arrived and a person instructed the bus lady driver to take a reverse till the end of the tram and then take the opposite road and continue our journey. She did a good job and though 10 minutes late, the bus started and we started our journey back home.
I thought to myself. How composed the people involved in the accident were! Insurance plays a great role in European countries and both the drivers knew that they won't have to shell out any money from their own pockets. Their respective companies and the insurance companies would settle the matter amicably. A German on an average 2-3 insurance policies, for a car, for health, for third-party damages etc. etc. I wondered when the accident scene was cleared and when was the traffic smooth again. Things were moving extremely slow and the other people in trams behind were in discomfort.
That's one thing I appreciate about the western world or the developed world to be precise. Most things are dealt with practically and with composure and proactive measures like insurances are always in place for untoward situations.
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