Bad Drivers - How do you spot 'em

[ajmat]

I find two ways of avoiding trouble are through evasion and anticipation of bad drivers. When it comes to the latter, I normally look for the following signs which shout that the driver although educated is totally illiterate when it comes to traffic and road sense.

I look at two things - the type of vehicle and the vehicle itself.

My top ten vehicles types to avoid are as follows:

1: Water tankers – rash, always going the wrong way at night, look at the condition of them
2: Autos – impulsive, if you get into trouble, they can gang up and turn a logical argument into an illogical one
3: Ambassadors – especially taxi/ yellow plates – they have nothing to lose – exception – polished black Ambys driven by respectable old men
4: Private Mofossil Buses – village anarchy comes to town
5: Tempo’s – more decrepit, more to avoid, especially if carrying vegetables
6: Indicar taxis – too much metal gives the driver a false sense of security
7: Ford Ikon taxi’s on the way to the airport – drivers enjoy them too much
8: Non owner driven Tata Sumo’s / Qualis – please see point 3
9: Old lorries carrying construction material – could not care less, cheaper to abandon ship in a crisis
10: Anything with a non standard spoiler in the back - ineffective appendage compensation, Anything with strips wider than my fist - unless it is a Ferrari, Mini Cooper etc – or with a Greddy sticker trying to break the sound barrier at 50km/h


Top Ten signs of a dangerous driver

1: All external mirrors folded – visually impaired
2: Driver wedged against the door pillar at an obtuse angle to the wheel in order to fit 4 people in front even when car is empty
3: More than one lamp / tail light/ headlight non operational - total neglect
4: Wheels - Tirupati tyre treads (bald for those up north) – one for a rainy day, wobbly wheels – driver has the sensitivity of a concrete block
5: People driving with kids on their lap or kids standing on the front seat – creating fatalities starts at home
6: Smoking when driving – getting that fix with one hand of the wheel, imagine the fun when the cigarette drops on the family jewels
7: Animated conversation with passenger whilst maintaining eye contact with the passenger
8: Lane creators – people who create a third lane on the extreme rights at the traffic lights - direct in the path of on coming traffic and expect you to let them in- fat chance! I drive past and thump the door with my fist – harmless, shocks them and the Vtec gets me away before they can catch up
9: Any car with a high no of side scrapes, frontal panel damage - pure neglect – possibly no insurance to repair the car - rear damage normally due to negligence of driver behind also cars with the directional alignment of a crab
10: People following too closely – I touch my brakes and accelerate and watch the fun as they panic

What else can you guys add ?

[lamborghini]

good man
keep it up
my nexia has a brake light problem and one rarely works so that doesnt mean im a reckless driver ..
and you forgot about the one where the guy keeps on honking at you when you are at a red light ..
oh and learners driving in peak traffic in crap cars

[amitoj]

Awesome writeup ajmat!
One thing though... i have found most of the amby taxi drivers to be too lazy to change their direction of motion... which kinda makes them predictable and easily avoidable.
A major category of vehicles to avoid : Two wheelers. Ever noticed that most of the times, its the ones without a helmet who are the most dangerous ? And the worst thing is, if a two wheeler hits a four wheeler, its the four wheeler that gets blamed no matter wot!
I think the call center cabbies also deserve a category of their own. The best way to spot a dangerous call center taxi is to see how many females are there in the taxi. The more the females, the more the cabbie tries to show off.

Cheers
Amitoj

[ajmat]

Underaged drivers who have no licence is another peeve that I forgot to add

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by lamborghini

good man
keep it up
my nexia has a brake light problem and one rarely works so that doesnt mean im a reckless driver ..

You are if you cannot be bothered to get a simple electrical problem fixed

[Dippy]

Another thing I hate is drivers of cars using hand indicators instead of using the car's indicator lights . Damn I have seen this in big fancy cars too. They just just put out their and cut the lane without looking behind to see if a car is coming from behind or not.. this seems to be a continuation of the point: both side mirrors being folded.

Dippy

[amitoj]

Originally Posted by Dippy

Another thing I hate is drivers of cars using hand indicators instead of using the car's indicator lights .
Dippy

At least here in Bangalore, its the auto drivers who employ this technique... and since an auto driver sits in the center of the auto, all you manage to see from behind the auto are three fingers poking out.

[Rudra Sen]

Originally Posted by ajmat

Underaged drivers who have no licence is another peeve that I forgot to add

Aren't there far too many in the sight nowadays???

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by Rudra Sen

Aren't there far too many in the sight nowadays???

You mean site, I think

[satish_appasani]

Though they are not a hazard, old people driving Premier Padminis that are as old as the drivers in the center of the road at 20 KMPH thinking they are the safest drivers on the road.

[Jaggu]

lane discipline !!!!!! if anybody has the b***s to impliment this one single thing, our roads would become, faster, safer and better for life in general !!!

[DCEite]

Originally Posted by ajmat

6: Indicar taxis – too much metal gives the driver a false sense of security


8: Non owner driven Tata Sumo’s / Qualis – please see point 3

Those Indica/Qualis Walas.... donno what they think of their piece of metal crap.. drive like maniacs...
but read city dailies like mid-day etc., ull find most highway accidents involving Indicas/Sumos etc.

I have always maintained this point, the heavier the car, doesnt mean the safest it is...


a great great writeup by Mr. Ajmat... for Delhi traffic i would even add those motorbikes and scooter guys, who take priviledge in overtaking from left...not knowing that left side vision of car wallas is deterred by pillars...

[gkrishn]

As far owner driven vehicles, only major problem i found was the pace at which some of them move around. Other than that, generally all the non-owner driven vehicles are something you got to avoid.
Also was on a team outing once, some where on the mysore road. Was on that volvo bus. Man, that driver was one pro... Guess its due to the training given by volvo as some one mentioned else where.


Off topic!!!

Originally Posted by ajmat

polished black Ambys driven by respectable old men

Once on a saturday noon I spotted(!?!?) one such polished balck amby at brigade road... got to say that the driver was not that old really...

[Dippy]

all you manage to see from behind the auto are three fingers poking out.

Leave alone the fingers , here in Mumbai the auto guys drive with their right leg out as as an indicator at all times :P

Dippy

[heavy_foot]

Also the best buses and st buses on the highways coming from the wrong side..