How safe do you feel?
There are a lot of small country roads that connect main areas. How safe is it to travel in these roads for women?
How safe are olas/autos generally for women here? Please share your experiences.
Yesterday I was in an ola auto from Kalapatti to Mettupalayam road at around 8pm, was shit scared because he insisted on going in all these shortcut small roads to avoid traffic. From Kalapatti to Saravanampatti he avoided the main road, this was extremely shady for like 1 km. I felt safe when we reached Saravanampatti main road. But then again from Thudiyalur to Mettupalayam road he took shady shortcuts. I told him to go via the main road itself, however he assured me that it was to avoid traffic and not to be scared (didn't help me feel better). In these shortcuts, he also almost crashed into 2 men walking in the road who he yelled at. It was not the auto driver's fault tho, because the people walking seemed like negligent rogues, just assumed the auto would stop and didn't bother moving despite the lights and honking. Auto was also going at a very slow pace, hence he didn't hit the men and was able to stop. He did drop me home safely and on time. One off incident, I don't usually travel long distances in auto, at night that too, but yesterday was unavoidable.
I can't help thinking though, if he had hit those men (maybe they were drunk) in a lonely shortcut near Thudiyalur, and they had a fight. What on earth would I have done! I am grateful to the auto driver who dropped me home safely, tho.