The driving holiday or road trip has long been imbued with feelings of liberty and adventurousness, inspired by a hundred Hollywood films and, quite possibly, ones own experiences. But the freedom of the open road really depends on which country's roads you are talking about.

Somewhere like Delhi, India, for example, might not fill you with care-free abandon if you are forced to negotiate its motorways and streets. As such a friendly, non confrontational people, it is hard for any foreigner to accept just how confrontational Indians can be when they are behind the wheel. The problem is that, unlike the British, Indians have only a passing interest in traffic regulations and regard the painted lines that identify which lane you're supposed to be in – as purely advisory.

Indians, you see, unlike us Brits, are not terribly enamoured with the notion of queuing. If a driver is waiting to turn right, for example, it is quite likely that a vehicle to the rear will pull up alongside that car and try and over take it – in order to turn right itself. In some cases, multiple cars may try this manoeuvre.

The fact that these drivers themselves must have been subjected to the same driving habits does not deter them. The horn is used with reckless abandon in India.

If you are unfortunate enough to breakdown on an India highway, your annual breakdown cover is likely to be limited use to you. If you, for example, rented a car in India and it came with breakdown cover, you could not expect the swift recovery times enjoyed by many UK motorists – the sheer amount of traffic would impede any recovery agent's progress a great deal.

Having said all this, many people have had a wonderful time driving (or motorcycle riding) in India. Once you're out of the cities, traffic levels reduce and you can relax enough to get a taste of the real India.