Highway driving etiquette and rules

[bblost]

On the highway, stay hydrated.

Increase your water intake at least two day in advance. This way your body has adapted to the increase and that means lesser nature breaks.

If you are hungry, eat. When you are hungry your driving will also get aggressive.

Facilitate other people overtaking you. Make life comfortable for other users.

Go sit in the ditch long enough to appreciate what was here before the asphalt came by.
(copied this quote)

If you see cows flying its time you take a break to get off the hallucination.

If you see a beautiful girl asking for a lift, stop find an Internet kiosk and send me a PM.

[unni.ak]

Originally Posted by abhayshanu

No unni.ak,
In india everyone has a right hand drive car, and we drive on the left side of the road, also when we OVERTAKE we go from the right, so the sensible signal is the right, and when they are telling to stop, it is sensible to use the left signal, so as to indicate that do not go from my right.
But all truckers use their hands even if their lights are in working condition.

To each, his own.

[abhayshanu]

Originally Posted by neeld

One another request on the highway driving would be to keep the dip headlights on even in the day-time. It improves your car's visibility to other traffic (front & back) and pedestrians (even when you are far as the eyes see light first). I always drive with my low beams switched on even in daytime. Seat belts in rear help a lot even if there is hard braking therefore all occupants should be buckled up in their seats.

Also, whenever driving a vehicle on highways make sure you have a good experience on driving that particular vehicle i.e. know the limits of the vehicle and yourself (driver).

A good driver should use engine braking on highways rather than waiting till the end to brake hard near the other traffic in the front.

What you do is completely uneccessary during non-rainy days, this is very useful during rains. Also many people think that during rains or in tunnels you are suppose to turn on your hazard lights, which can be very hazardous, as these lights are made for only when your car is parked and is not moving, using these lights on a moving vehicle may cause people to think that the car is actually not moving or think that it is causing a accident. Please people, if you are driving in the rains do not use the hazard lights, turn on your normal lights, not high beam, low ones, it really helps other people see the vehicle and can in no way lead in any confusions

Originally Posted by loving_alaap

Well its a big confusion,

On Ahmedabad-Vadodara express highway, I have seen cars are giving permission for overtaking by either left or right indicators. So, its really a dilemma, if you wan to give permission, what light you have to blink. I usually blink right indicator to give permission to overtake by a car behind you.

Yes it truly is, but what i do is that i just slow down my car, give the right signal and move to the left so as to give him space and speed to overtake me, and when the window is rolled down, i go the truckers way, use my hands.

Unni.ak - no dude cant be 'To each his own' this is what causes problems, it should be universal, if my way then only my way, if your way then only your way, it is because it differs that the confusions arise

[Guna]

Originally Posted by unni.ak

And simillarly for right turns. We wouldn't look at overtaking a vehicle thru the right side if he puts on the right-indicator.

I've seen a lot of trucks on the highway use the wrong signalling system and have been left confused whether I should overtake or not.

Yes many highway (truck) drivers wrongly use right idicator to let you know you can pass.
I would say, even if they give signal using right methods, dont relay on them, use your own judgement. I have seen this so many times, a truck driver gives an indication that you can overtake and in the next second you see an oncoming vehicle emerging from a blind spot.

[pypkmsrikanth]

Originally Posted by bblost

If you see a beautiful girl asking for a lift, stop find an Internet kiosk and send me a PM.

These days who goes to the Internet kiosk..its done from Blackberrys & Nokias itself.

What I have realised over the last few years of driving 75% of which must have been on highways is,

1. In most cases the right indicators are used for a short span of time asking you to overtake.
2. Its better to maintain a reasonable speed and overtake comfortably rather than go at very high speeds and brake umpteen number of times unable to overtake on account of traffic conditions.
3. Anticipation is the key to highway driving whether you are overtaking or you are an unwilling participant in an overtaking move from the opposite side.
4. Slightly OT - The petrol pumps which have the highest concentration of long distance trucks are the ones where you can fill up without worries.

[unni.ak]

Originally Posted by Guna

Yes many highway (truck) drivers wrongly use right idicator to let you know you can pass.
I would say, even if they give signal using right methods, dont relay on them, use your own judgement. I have seen this so many times, a truck driver gives an indication that you can overtake and in the next second you see an oncoming vehicle emerging from a blind spot.

True that. Has happend to me as well. Own judgement and common sense is a must use!!!

[prince_pervez]

Don't stop for offering a lift on the highways at night!

[neeld]

Originally Posted by abhayshanu

What you do is completely uneccessary during non-rainy days, this is very useful during rains.

If headlamps in daytime are unnecessary then why are so many European countries going forward with the daytime running lights law.
As per my personal experience on Indian highways it does improve the visibility from far be it a rainy day or a non rainy one as I have seen so many pedestrians / vehicles stopping for crossing much before than they do when my headlamps were off.

[narayan]

Adding on - reg the ORVM

when you are on highways, ensure your ORVMs are set in a position so that you get the max view of traffic in your left and right from your driving position. meaning push the mirrors outwards

typically in the CITY we tend to have the mirrors placed a bit "inwards" so as to see a part of your car's body ( to keep an eye on vehicles-like 2 wheelers driving very close to you ).
but this is not required in the highways. so keep the mirrors away as much as possible. SO THAT YOU CAN SEE VEHICLES WHICH ARE TRYING TO OVERTAKE YOU BECOS HE MIGHT HAVE JUST MOVED AWAY FROM YOUR INSIDE REAR VIEW MIRROR'S FIELD OF VISION

[travelwriter]

Thanks Pranava and others for this thread. Much required and very informative

[morbidpriest]

Excellent post!

One important point the driver should remember when driving on a highway with 'talkative' people in the car is to practice something I call as 'Passive Listening'. Whenever I go on the highway, my 3 yr old son and my wifey-chatter-box find a lot of time to give me an update on whatever that has happened in the past few weeks. So I thought these points make sense too:

1. Never take you eyes from the road.
2. Never drive with one hand on the steering at high speed.
3. Let the people in your car chat and have fun. But you don't actively involve yourself in the fun. Occasionally nod with a grin. After all there are so many lives you need to safeguard apart from yours and you need to be responsible.
4. Don't let your wifey feed you when you drive. You can park somewhere and have all the food. (Trust me!)
5. Know your right-of-way. No ego. No pride. You need to live to drive again.

Maybe it is just me. May not be applicable for others.

[pras.oct25]

A few more points:
1) When using indicator to show that you are overtaking, remember that when you shift back to your original lane, you should use the indicator again. Lot of people use the indicator when overtaking, and dont bother shifting it the other way to indicate their return to the original lane.

2) When overtaking a heavy container/trailer etc. it would not do any harm to honk. I learnt this the hard way, when I thought I was performing a straightforward right side overtaking of a huge container, and he suddenly swerved onto the right for no reason, and I just managed to brake short of him.

3) When about to overtake, make sure that there isnt a faster car in your mirror that has already decided to overtake you and the car ahead of you already. You would think that you have left traffic behind, but a faster car might appear out of no where and attempt a double overtake.

4) Always slow down at junctions. These are dangerous zones and I have seen people drive at reckless speeds through these regions. Speed up only during proper highway stretches, and not at junctions.

5) It always pays to slow down a bit if you are seeing a bike or any other vehicle crossing at a distance ahead. You might think he is the only one, and right behind him you'll see another 2 or 3 guys crossing the highway, only to find that you are doing high speeds and need to urgently stop.

6) Avoid filling the tires up with excessive air. At high speeds you get lesser grip with high tire pressure and when you brake you will find the car pulling to one side.

[neeld]

One more very important thing, be aware of your blind spots. It is the area which you cannot see from your rear view mirrors or eyes. There can be vehicle(s) in the blind spot.

[theMAG]

The best mannered vehicles I've experienced on highways are the long-distance trucks. The worst - state/private transport buses. Accordingly adjust your highway etiquette towards these categories of highway users.

[tortoise]

Couple more I have observed while I drove in highways

1. on 4 lane tracks, If a slow moving truck is overtaking another slow (relatively) moving truck, it is usual that the truck who overtook will move to the left most lane after completing the manoeuvre. I have observed that some impatient ( or ignorant ) car drivers tailing the overtaking truck on the right lane and cutting to the left lane to overtake the truck in front of them. ( hope I have not confused anyone). The truck driver, ignorant of the car behind him will close to the left and the car driver will be forced to brake very hard. I have seen one driver losing control and veering off the road

2. on 2 lane highways, if you are tailing two heavy vehicles in a convoy and the one infront of you is trying to overtake another one, and he is almost committed by moving his vehicle to the right side, please do not push forward and close the gap with the vehicle that is being overtaken. Reason is that, in case, the vehicle on right lane reverses his decision, he will need a breathing space to join the convoy behind the heavy vehicle he was trying to overtake. He miay not be aware that you have closed in . This could lead to hard braking conditions or worst case, your car may me ejected from the road with disastrous consequences

-tortoise