Traffic Rules in India: Speed Limits, Overtaking and Parking

How do I keep left and use lanes?

• Keep as far to the left as possible and let oncoming traffic pass on your right (reg. 4(3)).
• Keep left when you are being overtaken, near a bend or the top of a hill, and wherever your view ahead is limited (reg. 4(4)).
• On a divided road, use the left carriageway unless directed otherwise (reg. 4(2)).
• On a multi-lane road, heavy and slow vehicles keep to the left lane except to overtake (reg. 4(5)).
• Never drive against the direction of a one-way road or the flow of traffic (reg. 4(6), 4(7)).
• Drive within your lane, signal before changing lanes, and stay out of lanes reserved for other vehicles, such as bus lanes (reg. 6).
• At a junction, stay in the lane meant for the direction you are going (reg. 6(5)).

U-turns and reversing

A U-turn is not allowed where a sign or signal forbids it, on a busy road with continuous traffic, on a major road, highway or expressway, or across a solid single or double line (reg. 8(3)). Where it is allowed, check your mirrors and blind spots and give way to all traffic, pedestrians and cyclists.

Reverse only as far as you need to turn around. Never reverse onto a public road from a side road or into a one-way road (reg. 18, 4(8)).

When can I overtake?

Overtake on the right. You may pass on the left only in three cases: on a multi-lane road where the left lane is marked for it, when the vehicle ahead is turning right or making a U-turn and has signalled, or when the vehicle is stationary (reg. 14(2)).

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Don't overtake (reg. 14(5)):

• when you can't see clearly that the road ahead is free;
• where a sign prohibits it, or across a solid line;
• at a bend, corner or anywhere with a poor view;
• at or near a junction, intersection or pedestrian crossing;
• where the road narrows, or on a narrow bridge or culvert;
• in a signed school, hospital or construction zone.

Don't use your right indicator to wave others past. Outside built-up areas you may give a short horn or headlight flash before overtaking (reg. 14(6)–(8)). When someone overtakes you, don't speed up or block their way back in (reg. 14(9)).

Who has the right of way?

A police officer's signal overrides all lights and signs (reg. 24). Practise these situations in the animated test.

What are the speed limits in India?

The central maximum limits were notified by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in S.O. 1522(E) of 6 April 2018. They are upper limits: obey any lower limit on a sign.

• The notice says no action is taken for overspeeding if the detected speed is within 5% of the limit.
• State governments can notify lower limits on their roads, shown by signs, but not higher ones (Motor Vehicles Act, section 112).
• Drive at 25 km/h or less at signed schools, hospitals and construction sites, and on roads without a footpath where people walk on the road (reg. 16(5)).
• In fog, rain or a storm, drive slowly enough to stop within the distance you can see (reg. 16(2)). Don't drive so slowly that you hold up traffic without reason (reg. 16(4)).

How far behind should I stay?

Far enough to stop safely if the vehicle ahead stops suddenly, and further in rain or on wet roads (reg. 17). The regulations don't give a number of seconds or metres. Don't brake suddenly without reason when someone is behind you.

Where can't I stop or park?

These places are banned under reg. 22 even when there is no sign.

What are the rules on horn, lights and phones?

Horn

Use the horn only when you foresee danger, and where a sign says to sound it. Don't sound it continuously or repeatedly in residential areas or signed silence zones, and don't fit air horns, multi-tone horns or exhaust cut-outs (reg. 23).

Lights

• Switch on your lights from nightfall to dawn and whenever visibility is poor. Two-wheelers use a dipped headlight in the daytime too (reg. 31).
• Don't drive on parking lights alone. Dip your headlights for oncoming traffic and when following another vehicle closely, and don't use high beam on well-lit roads.
• Use fog lamps only when fog, dust, rain or snow cuts visibility a lot, together with dipped headlights.
• Use dipped lights in a tunnel, and don't overtake, turn round or reverse there (reg. 20).

Phones, seat belts and helmets

• Don't use a hand-held mobile phone or other communication device while driving (reg. 37). Don't watch videos other than navigation or play loud music (reg. 5).
• The driver and every passenger wear seat belts where they are fitted. A child of 12 or under uses a child restraint where one is provided (reg. 5(7), 5(8)).
• On a two-wheeler, wear a helmet, keep both hands on the handlebar except to signal, and don't hold or push another vehicle (reg. 5).

On city roads with a limit of 40 km/h, motorcycles may filter between cars only where signs allow it and the speed difference is no more than 15 km/h (reg. 33).

What are the rules for towing, rail crossings and breakdowns?

Towing

• Two-wheelers must not tow or be towed.
• Drive at 25 km/h or less, with a gap of no more than 5 m and a clearly visible rope or chain.
• Show a reflective "ON TOW" sign at the front of the towing vehicle and the rear of the towed one, and use hazard lights at night or in bad weather (reg. 30).

Railway level crossings

• Trains always have priority. Slow down, keep left, and don't park or overtake between the barriers (reg. 19).
• At a guarded crossing, don't enter while the gates are closed or closing, or the signal is red.
• At an unguarded crossing, cross only after making sure no train is in sight.
• Buses, school buses, goods vehicles, tractor-trolleys and vehicles carrying dangerous goods must stop. The conductor or cleaner walks ahead to check both ways and guides the vehicle across; if there is none, the driver walks up to check (reg. 19(4); Motor Vehicles Act, section 131).

Breakdowns

Switch on your hazard lights. On highways and fast roads, a vehicle with more than two wheels places reflective warning triangles 50 m behind it, or before the bend if it has stopped on one (reg. 28). In a tunnel, stop only if you can't avoid it, and place triangles 20 m in front and behind (reg. 20).

Tractors must not carry passengers, and goods vehicles must not carry people for hire (reg. 32).

Which traffic rules do people often get wrong?

Signs, markings and lights are covered in road signs and road markings and signals. Test yourself with the mock test or the driving simulator.