Highway driving etiquette and rules

[username]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

You should never be closer than comfortable stopping distance from the vehicle in front.

Well i was more than 200m behind the car. The car in the front moved left suddenly and i saw a truck very slow. it appeared as if the truck was stationary.

so, i thought the car in front moved left to avoid the truck and that, the car is going to maintain speed. then i saw the car also applying hard brakes and then i had to brake again, when the distance between me and that car was around 50m. too late it was. But, thankfully, there was space on the left.

[Perakath]

Originally Posted by theEnd

All this about signaling your intention to be overtaken is quite dumb.

The indicators should be used to indicate which direction your car will move. If you're the overtaker, go ahead and signal right before you pull out to overtake and then signal left when you've completed the move and want to pull back in.

If you're the overtakee, and I come up behind you, I dont care if you want to be overtaken or not. I will assess for myself if there's enough room to pass (its my life on the line after all) and I will make the move. I dont need your approval. So if you intend to continue driving in a straight line please dont indicate anything!

Very well said.

Indicators should be used ONLY for their true purpose-- to indicate that you are going to turn in the specified direction.

Please do not use them to give any other "instructions", as the person receiving may well not understand your intent and may take a totally different interpretation of your signal. In this thread alone see how many people have different understandings of what signallers are trying to say.

In any case no driver has any business signalling that it is clear to overtake (signalling by a heavy vehicle that the way is not clear, by hand, may be okay). There may be a hazard he is not aware of. That is also the reason one should never signal to pedestrians that they may cross the road-- there may be a hazard you are not aware of, and if the pedestrians trust your signal they may be hit. Not that people in India routinely stop for pedestrians to cross, anyway.

These are fundamental principles of driving. Although you'd never know it by looking at Indian drivers, there is more to driving than simply being able to control your vehicle. (In fact I'd hardly call that driving at all.) If ALL that people did before obtaining their driving licenses was to read the British Highway Code and Dept of Transport's Driving Manual, instead of going to "driving schools", our roads would have such better drivers.

And yes, I have driven on highways in India, many times, and I know that this incorrect signalling system exists. But that doesn't make it alright.

[sudev]

Today morning I drove from hometown to Ludhiana and back, 350kms each way. Going up took 4h30m and return 5h30m, which is kind of expected given I had to drive right across Delhi with day time traffic. The reason for this post is that while driving my mind kept coming back to all that I had read on this thread and comparing situation on road with advise here. I really appreciated a lot of comments and knowledge sharing that this thread has brought out.

One thing that I would again like to stress is that your driving horizon should increase with speed. What I mean is that faster you drive more further along the road (and periphery) you should be looking. Braking distance go up more than direct proportion of speed (say if it is 10 meter at 10kmph it is more like 30 meter at 20kmph).

Why I am stressing this? Because I saw end results of two separate incidents which could have been averted if driver was anticipating much ahead instead of blindly following the vehicle in front. End result was fortunately only the cars getting smashed while people were safe.

[achopraa]

A very good thread indeed.
I had a couple of doubts/experiences to share.
I now have around 15000KM of experience on driving on highways(mainly Delhi-Chandigarh)

What I Observe --> People driving at around 50km/hr in the right most(read Fast) lane.
They refuse to give way despite honking/dipper.
What I Do --> Honk/Dipper till I reach the safe distance and if the person is unwilling to give way, look for enough distance on the left, overtake giving a glance.

What I Observe --> There is no way a vehicle coming from behind can overtake me (due to slow traffic/jam or otherwise) but still is honking/giving dippers to me repeatedly to give him way.
What I Do --> Try conveying him through Hazard Indicators that I am unable to give way. Many a times (90%) I saw that people stop honking because THEY UNDERSTAND THEY CANT OVERTAKE.

What I Observe --> After Panipat(right from the Panipat Flyover) till Delhi after around 7PM, left lane is empty and the fast/slow/slowest vehichles move on the middle/right most lane. This is really FRUSTATING. People DON'T have sense of driving.

What I Do --> (I know its wrong but still). I drive in the leftmost lane.

[tortoise]

Originally Posted by karthik247

8. Follow a car doing a speed you are comfortable with and keep a very good distance away from him while you are trailing. This helps you know where all the potholes, humps and all are and gives you enough time to do whats needed

Bang on!. Especially, if someone is new to highway driving. I chose to do the same when I was taking baby steps in highway driving. It is just that you need to tail someone who is experienced!

[jaganm]

Originally Posted by highsteem

Yes. that's a big confusion on the highways. Even though logic says it should be other way, but we must be aware of the practices of different drivers. Hence it is good to look out for both the signals and then take a decision on your own

This is yet another case of us Indians taking a simple common sense practice and twisting it so that there is confusion all around. An indicator is meant to signal where you are going, not provide directions to other drivers.

We encounter similar practices while using lifts. Why is it so difficult for people to understand that you press the down arrow if you want to go down and the up arrow if you want to go up? Instead of launching into major calculations on whether the lift is above or below you and pressing the appropriate button?

[Blur]

About the signalling during an overtake bit... Here's what I do...


When being overtaken -
No signals on a regular overtake. Let the overtaking vehicle decide.

If it's at a blind corner, and I spot an oncoming vehicle, I flash the left indicator to warn the overtaking vehicle.


When overtaking -
Signals aside, I do all the judging.

Only exception is when overtaking a heavy vehicle when climbing a narrow ghat. Let off a couple of polite, enquiring beeps. Overtake when given the all clear.


Another bit that also applies to a narrow ghat road...
Be very careful when approaching a narrow curve that leads onto a climb. If you see a fast moving heavy vehicle (esp ST Bus) coming down the climb and into the curve, BACK OFF. DO NOT BARREL INTO THE CORNER thinking you have a clear lane. Chances are the bus will come in fast and sweep wide, well into your lane. Can get quite hairy. Best to give the descending vehicle the right of way in such cases.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by jaganm

... Instead of launching into major calculations on whether the lift is above or below you and pressing the appropriate button?

Peole actually do that?

Originally Posted by Blur

Another bit that also applies to a narrow ghat road...
Be very careful when approaching a narrow curve that leads onto a climb. If you see a fast moving heavy vehicle (esp ST Bus) coming down the climb and into the curve, BACK OFF. DO NOT BARREL INTO THE CORNER thinking you have a clear lane. Chances are the bus will come in fast and sweep wide, well into your lane. Can get quite hairy. Best to give the descending vehicle the right of way in such cases.

UK law has it that the climbing vehicle has right of way --- but your advice sounds right for India. There is no way that I'd want to argue with any large vehicle coming down a steep Indian road

[Roy.S]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

UK law has it that the climbing vehicle has right of way...

I have done about 12 trips to Ooty in my car, and on the 36 hairpin bends, this rule is quite strictly followed. The climbing vehicle is (mostly) always given right of way. Of course, there is the occasional ignorant plains dweller, but overall a fairly strict code.
Last year there was an incident with a bus. The driver drove off the cliff going down. I've heard that it was horrible. Friend of mine was driving a few hundred feet behind.
And Thad, you wouldn't believe the interpretations of the lift arrows I have heard. Once a guy told me that the up arrow calls the lift on the left and the down arrow the one on the right. I could not convince him otherwise.

[ACM]

Originally Posted by jaganm

We encounter similar practices while using lifts. Why is it so difficult for people to understand that you press the down arrow if you want to go down and the up arrow if you want to go up? Instead of launching into major calculations on whether the lift is above or below you and pressing the appropriate button?

Exactly, we face this issue every day and half or maybe even the majority of the world seems to be unaware of the right method.

The signalling system is equally simple, one idicates the direction one will go in to either turn or to give way to one behind us, but we figure out elaborate and incorrect interpretations of the same.

Originally Posted by Blur

About the signalling during an overtake bit... Here's what I do...


When being overtaken -
No signals on a regular overtake. Let the overtaking vehicle decide.

If it's at a blind corner, and I spot an oncoming vehicle, I flash the left indicator to warn the overtaking vehicle.

Thats an incorrect and misleading method. flashing the left indicator tell the overtaking vehicle that you are going left and that he can overtake. Its dangerous many follow this method, but it is incorrect, pls just indicate the direction that you would take to enable the overtaking or preven it. So if you were to signal right then it means that you may turn right, it will tell the guy behind that he should not overtable.

[highsteem]

Originally Posted by sudev

There is difference in Indicator and hazard (one at a time or both together). Hazard should be used when parked or or edge of road (breakdown or else).
Use of hazard while moving is extremely irritating to eyes of driver behind you (just as switching on the rear fog on a clear night is). Better purpose is served by switching on your lights with dip beam if mains are used.

Sudev, agree with you that one should not use hazard indicators while everything is clear. But for sure hazard indicators are a blessing when there is poor light and poor visibility. This friday I was going via Bangalore and was on the roads when it rained all of a sudden! Oh! man, what a rain! Even in the middle of the day, could not see what was just infront of me with wipers in the fast mode. Was trying to find a place to park for a while and then I saw two lights blinking infront of me. Even though I could not see the vehicle, I could easily see the indicators blinking! Even during winter, when we have fog, these are the lights that we can see first even before we see the head lights or the vehicles (because of the color?) So I consider them as as another safety option!!

[Perakath]

Originally Posted by jaganm

We encounter similar practices while using lifts. Why is it so difficult for people to understand that you press the down arrow if you want to go down and the up arrow if you want to go up? Instead of launching into major calculations on whether the lift is above or below you and pressing the appropriate button?

But you know, sometimes the buttons are positioned in such a way that I can't tell which is the 'up' button and which is the 'down' button!

[highsteem]

So shall we take a stand in Tem-BHP about indicators then? Let the truck drivers and others do what they want, but as an educated group (to avoid the confusions on the road)
=> We shall use the indicators only to indicate where we would like to go and definitely not to tell others where they SHOULD go [let them decide what they want to do]
=> When we want to go left, the left is on
=> When we want to go right, the right is on
=> Both of them on when we want to indicate hazard situations

That's it ... no more going left and turning right indicator ... and going right and turning on left indicator!!

Lets reduce the confusions on the road for the good

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Peole actually do that?

UK law has it that the climbing vehicle has right of way --- but your advice sounds right for India. There is no way that I'd want to argue with any large vehicle coming down a steep Indian road

I think the same rule applies to India also. I remember seeing boards in my childhood days saying 'Give way to up vehicles'

[pranava999]

I brought up the point in the first post about using indicators, to communicate whether to overtake or not. Just want to clear the air stating that it's not a rule by any measure , but it's a practice that I used to regularly witness on the highway by bus and especially trucks drivers since my school days.

The intention of stating the point is to bring about awareness of the practice if it's still prevalent on the highway, to the unaware.

Thanks.