[navan49]

HI friends,
It is true that our Police and RTO's are so lenient on the rules. I saw the trucks and the Government buses were going with out tail lamp. You hardly notice with in the breaking range. So the High way Patrol Party should make them to realize the drive with out tail lamps are dangerous. Simply we say that the driver can't see the vehicle in front and banged him. The fact is that it is very difficult to see a vehicle in front of you if that doesn;t have the tail lamp. When I was a boy the police was catching thecyclists with out tail lamp and lamp in the nights.

[wildsdi5530]

Pramod, The fact that they come on the wrong side is not bad in itself. It's that they come bang in the overtaking lane (where vehicles would be at the highest speed).
And Navan, what to do? Government buses own the road. they can do what they want. Same with lorries. They are above the law. At least in India.

[swarooppatil]

Hi friends

there is one interesting thing about all of us. We all are ready to discuss if it is right or wrong to flout some rules or the other. I would agree that driving on the wrong side of the median is wrong, but then even over-speeding is and both the offenders should be heavily fined.

In India we dare to argue on these lines as to which offence is worse. Do we dare to do the same thing when we land up in the US?

I take care to ensure that I follow all the regulations and not get on the wrong side of the law there, then why not here. The reason is enforcement. In the US I am worried about paying hefty fines. In India I can get away with a tip to the cop (I agree not all cops are like that). But even they heftiest of fines are not too high to deter our fellow Indians on the road.

Had the enforcement been better, one would not dare to drive on the wrong side of the median, nor would one attempt his hands at over-speeding. The best way as of now is to sensibly understand what is the safest for ourselves and bear it in mind that if the other person is an idiot then it's us who need to play safe for our own good. You may look a moron but end up staying alive and keeping your car free from damage

[wildsdi5530]

Are there any speed limits in Indian highways?? The boards are put up but the limits are ridiculous. I've seen 20 KPH board on a straight 4 lane road with service lanes which stretches for ~2 km before a fine curve. And I've also seen 120 KPH limit on a gutted stretch which is a diversion for an overbridge. The boards are put up only to stick to the BOOTs recommendations. Only the minimum number of warning signs are put up. I've asked in Toll booths and have been told to ignore all except the take diversion signs.

[DieselFan]

Highway speed limits,if not already specified using speed limiting display boards, in India are -

80 KMPH for cars
60 KMPH for trucks/ busses/two wheelers
40 KMPH for Autos

[kkr2k2]

Originally Posted by PatchyBoy

That my friend, is the problem. We expect cops to do something about it, while all those bikers know what they are doing is wrong and still choose to do it

And we blame the cops

Rajan

What??? Expecting the cops do their job is wrong???
If people are breaking rules that too infront of the cops and they do nothing to stop it then I would say, "those cops are not fit for serving public and they should be DISMISSED from their service" or if they are willing to change, they should be sent to training again! this time to keep in mind that they repeat the mistake again, they lose their jobs. PERIOD.

BTW, cops - did you mean to say we should not blame law & order maintaining COPs(constable on patrol??) since they are different from traffic cops??

[wildsdi5530]

Dieselfan, Where did you get your info from?
Is the info current?
I've seen Govt. Volvo buses at 130 Kph.

[scywaulcher]

80 kmph is the usual speed limit on the highways. however some states do not have a speed limit on express ways.

I have rarely seen speed traps on highways in India. However I decide on my speed limit depending on

- Time of the day, At nights it's good to stick within speeds of 80kmph. Also dusk and dawn are bad times to drive

- Condition of my tyres, I stopped crossing 100kmph after my tyres touched 40K kms.

- Road visiblity, too many curves , trees and fog - reduce speed. The banking on older roads is designed for slow traffic, you have a good chance of overshooting such curves.

I know the truck drivers on wrong lanes without tail lamps is irritating, but I am happy to note that this has reduced to a great extent in recent times.

[DieselFan]

Originally Posted by wildsdi5530

Dieselfan, Where did you get your info from?
Is the info current?
I've seen Govt. Volvo buses at 130 Kph.

Yes the info is current. You will find these limits clearly displayed in most modern highways.

[prince_pervez]

When I did BLR - HYD last to last month, after Chickbalapur, it doesn't matter if you are on the wrong side of the 4 laned highway. As long as you are on the left side of the road you are always right and have a greater chance to see your young-uns grow up.
Someone travelling to HYD from BLR will vouch for this.
All this just to save that extra few kms or minutes to go forward and take a 'U'
turn. I'm sure these people will not care if someone brakes hard, loses control, crashes due to the sudden impact on driving physche after seeing someone on the wrong side especially at decent speeds. Zilch concern for humanity.
Allah save us all.

[Spitfire]

So I was driving down to Kerala on New Year Eve.

Stopped at a small tea stall for a small break.

Saw a moron in his tractor happily come down the right lane on the opposite side.

He parks his tractor right next to my Bolero, gets off and sits next to me to have his cuppa.

I couldn't resist and asked him "why you come wrong side?"

He, duh what? wrong side?

Yes you should come opposite side of the road.

No no he explains.

This is 2 roads, that side for that side of village. This side this side of village. Before one road now 2 road.

I heard some popping sounds in my head, that must be some grey cells suiciding listening to the logic.

So now I think we have solved the mystery as to why they drive on the wrong lane.

[shazikon]

@spitfire, thats the best logic i have heard!!

[sbraj]

Originally Posted by Spitfire

This is 2 roads, that side for that side of village. This side this side of village. Before one road now 2 road.

Most of the expressways do collect tolls. Isn't it fair to expect the agency maintaining the toll road to educate the villagers on proper usage of expressways and the dangers involved in not following the rules?

[wildsdi5530]

Bravo spitfire! you've solved that puzzle for me.
We should put it up to the authorities. Such a concept will be welcome in Bangalore. Imagine 2 MG roads one for people shopping in Brigade road and another for those going to Commercial road.
I'm sorry to hear that environmental and fuel concerns are not on top of the tractor driver's list.

[ptushar]

Originally Posted by wildsdi5530

Thankfully due to the NHAI rules, I wouldn't have to pay the poor bugger's family any compensation.

Can someone clarify this? Are there are any such specific rules? It will be good to know these as it will be useful if need
be.

Originally Posted by muralisk

Frankly, as a nation, there is very little respect for others and that's the main reason why there is no or very little respect for laws.

Couldn't agree more with you mate. We seem to forget the basic concept. Driving is a privilege and not a right.

Originally Posted by wildsdi5530

By the way, other than some glitches, I personally feel we have the best highways.

Whoa! I will agree if you say that we don't have the worst roads, but certainly no-where near the best. I have driven on highways in Europe and US and I can safely say that we have eons to go before we reach that level of maturity; both in infrastructure and driving. No point in glorifying something that we should ideally be improving. Highways in the west are an absolute dream drives. The whole country adopts a way of driving and follows it to the full stop. The implementation of the law ensures that even those few daredevils who consider themselves to be descendants of Superman are also kept in check.
Indian highways are improving but no-where near international standards. We probably have a few sections coming close like the MPE or the DGE, but even these have shortcomings.

Our highways are not at all designed for high speeds. And before people jump on me for this statement, let me clarify that a highways’ design is not just a quality of the tarmac, but also everything else around it like the median, the access control, the gradient, the lane markings, provision for an extra access and exit lanes, marked exits with proper indications about distance to exit, proper markings on distance to cities / towns / villages, consistent pattern of markings across the highways and last but certainly not the least, a well thought of, consistent and appropriate nature of driving education and licensing process.
We have nothing of this sort. What we seem to have in the last 10 years are
(1) Good quality tarmac
(2) Cars which do high speeds
Sorry so say, but that is not enough. Therefore exercise caution and avoid speed.

BTW... while we are on this topic, have you noticed the sign on the MPE (Just after teh first toll plaza on the Mumbai side towards Pune and before the exit to the service area / food joints). It actually warns you of 'Beware of wrong entrants'.