An Indian taxi driver, Harpreet Dev, is
defying odds in his hometown of Bhatinda,
Punjab with his amazing driving skills. The
30-year-old has been driving his cab in
reverse mode for the past 11 years. He is so
used to the act now that he cannot get
himself to drive forward anymore! Harpreet
even has a special government license that
allows him to drive backwards in any state
in the Northern part of India.
The 30-year-old's passion for reverse
driving started in 2003, when his faithful
Fiat Padmini got stuck in reverse gear late
one night.
"I was outside the city, I had no money, so
I thought of driving the car backwards until
I reached Bhatinda," he said. "Then I drove
backwards a few times and started to gain
confidence."
That's when he realised that he was really
on to something, so the next morning he
painted the words 'Back Gear Champion' on
the side of the car and redesigned its
gearbox to have four reverse gears and only
one forward.
After years of practice, Harpreet, according
to Reddit, can now comfortably drive
backwards at speeds of up to 50 miles per
hour. An ambulance siren attached to the
top of the car warns unsuspecting drivers
and pedestrians about his peculiar driving.
"I take all the care I can to protect the
other drivers on the road," he declared
proudly. "I always wanted to do something
different, something unique," he added. "In
simpler terms I reversed the complete gear
mechanism of the car so that I get maximum
speeds while driving backwards."
In 2005, Dev drove backwards all the way
from Rajasthan, India, to Lahore, in
Pakistan, to promote peace between the two
countries.
Harpreet's bizarre driving habit won him
fame in his home town, but has had some
negative effects as well – he now suffers
from severe back and neck problems. "I do
have pains in the neck – frequent pains in
the neck – and I have had severe vomiting in
the past," he admitted. "I have got a
severe backbone problem from driving so
fast in reverse, because my whole body gets
contorted."
But Harpreet believes that it has all been
worth the while. "Achieving something
special is never easy," he explained. "It is
not giving in that counts. I will never stop
doing this. It is a part of me now."
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