This story revolves around Harpreet Dev, who is a taxi driver. Yes, his work is not unusual but his way of driving is surely unbelievable. For, he owns reverse driving skills and doing it from last 11 years, we couldn’t resist ourselves from sharing this unusual story with you. This 30-year-old man so easy and usual with this skill that, he is not sure whether he wants to drive forward anymore. For this, he owns special government license and does it all legally.
It all started in 2003 when once his Fiat Padmini got stuck in reverse gear. He explains it like, “I was outside the city, I had no money, so I thought of driving the car backward until Bhatinda.” Further, he adds, “Then I drove backward and later on I gained confidence.”
After a while, he had enough guts to get this painted on the side of the car, “Back Gear Champion.” Also, he redesigned the car’s gearbox, so that he can have 4 reverse gears and 2 forward gears.
Now, after lots of practice, Harpreet can now conveniently drive backward at speeds of up to 50 miles per hour. There is an ambulance siren attached to the top of the car to warn unsuspecting drivers and street walkers about his driving. He says, “I take all the care I can to protect the other drivers on the road.”
“I always wanted to do something different, something unique,” he further added. “In simpler terms, I reversed the complete gear mechanism of the car so that I get maximum speeds while driving backward.” In 2005, Dev drove his car backward all the way from Rajasthan, India, to Lahore, in Pakistan, to promote peace between both the countries.
Harpreet was all intended and set to make his name in Guinness Book of World Records but failed to achieve that. Because, a person named John Smith, from the UK, had already done it. So, to violate that previous record he had to produce a non-stop video recording of his reverse driving, which he failed in doing.
However, Harpreet’s unconventional driving flair won him recognition in his hometown, but he equally faced some negative effects. He now suffers from severe back and neck problems. He explains it like, “I do have pains in the neck – frequent pains in the neck – and I have had severe vomiting in the past.” “I have got a severe backbone problem from driving so fast in reverse because my whole body gets contorted,” he elaborated further.
But Harpreet spares it all in return for his unusual talent. He says, “achieving something special is never easy.” And added a remarkable saying, “It is not giving in that counts.”