The Road to Pune

The Road to Pune, originally uploaded by timbu.

I ran into this in the latest print copy of wired. I haven't seen it online yet, so I had to take a picture. I was shocked that they reported speeds of 170 MPH on the road between Mumbai and Pune India. The road is quite nice compared to other roads in India, but very windy. steep and mountainous. If that weren't enough by itself you sometimes overtake huge Tata trucks 2 & 3 abreast which meander around the road without regard for the lane markings going at roughly 20-40 KPH. Now my driver got our car up past 100 KPH at times, but I cannot imagine going 170 MPH on this road -- not without an ejection seat and a parachute.

Seriously, the rate of accidents in India is something like 7X the rate in the US. I still feel like I was bad for egging my driver to go faster on the straight aways or clapping when he slipped between two trucks with complete impunity.

I sent this off to my friends in Pune and they don't think it could be possible either. Everyone believes that the reporter mixed up KPH and MPH.

If you have evidence of going 150 MPH or faster on the road to Pune, I would love to shake your hand or at least meet your next of kin.