The Expressway to Hell

[theMAG]

India has proven itself as a country where passive measures explicitly dont work. Besides in our country speed alone isnt the killer. Its the deadly mix of lawless pedestrians, insane motorists and speed that kills. Not to mention the so-called infrastructure.

This is a problem where the rot has started from the roots. Unless that issue is recognized and then addressed with a heavy hand, expect some population control via motoring to thrive.

[benbsb29]

I got my Learners licence converted to a permanent one (4 wheeler, Hyderabad) through my driving school agent, making me poorer by 1K. Would have given the test, but was tied up with my training at Infy. Hence, couldnt afford a day's leave for teh same. Got the permanent licence nicely laminated from the driving school instructor a few days later. Where did i actually learn to drive, u ask? I did my training lessons on the indica from the institute, and the remaining on test drive vehicles which included many from the likes of Swift, Ikon, Scorpio, and so on.
When i felt confident enough, bought my own car.

2 wheeler licence for a geared vehicle i obtained riding a TVS 50 (yup, u read that rite!!) from the RTO in Tamil Nadu.

[rks]

Originally Posted by Samurai

I guess it helped that for a change you weren't doing your usual speed, the 140...

Sure did help. Actually the driving school instructor warned me not to be over-smart and make overtakes during the test as that might piss off the inspector. All that was required to impress him was to be confident, and do the basics correctly (show signals, shift gears at right speed, get into 4th gear and drive around a little at about 40 kmph). Apparently one of the common mistakes made by the candidates is that they either do not shift to 4th (due to lack of confidence to move in traffic at 40 kmph) or else they shift too quickly and try to get to 4th at 20 kmph, with the car stalling and stopping. I am wondering how candidates trained by a driving school can even come close to such basic errors.

If you are wondering, I really learnt car driving in USA a year later under a proper tutor in a Chevy Beretta.

A US or UK driving test is non-trivial and requires serious effort to pass. Wonder when our people are going to understand the importance of passing only those who can demonstrate genuine driving skills; just getting the basics right should not be enough, given the crowded and dangerous conditions on our roads.

[madhav]

Driving schools and proper driving tests teach and authorize one's driving skills respectively. Who should be teaching people to drive "Responsibly"?
How many driving schools teach people road manners like Right of Way and the likes?Where are people going to learn about thinking twice before doing anything while driving? I'm sure most people just drive blindly not thinking of consequences of their actions on road.
Either use force and make sure people are scared and think because they can be penalized or else change the attitude!
1st option is easier!!!

[rks]

Originally Posted by iraghava

Would you believe it if I told you that I went to get my license converted to a permanent one through a contact of mine in the RTO & all the Inspector asked me (It was January so he sitting outside and soaking in the sun!!) was what college I was in. No test, no questions nothing at all!!

That is very surprising. I would say that this Inspector is either very irresponsible or trusts your contact to the point of taking his word for it that you can drive. Normally an Inspector will go through the motions of conducting a test, if only to make sure that he is not issuing a license to an individual who has no clue about driving.

[vivekiny2k]

Originally Posted by iraghava

Would you believe it if I told you that I went to get my license converted to a permanent one through a contact of mine in the RTO & all the Inspector asked me (It was January so he sitting outside and soaking in the sun!!) was what college I was in. No test, no questions nothing at all!!

That's bad.
My inspector asked me where I worked, and if I knew how to drive.

[bugatti]

I went to mysore a few weeks back(went to mysore after 3 odd years) and the highway was very nice except for mandya(jesus, somebody needs to give them an A for road destruction). The amount of sundry traffic like bullock carts, slow tractors was annoying. Also, when a bus/truck overtakes another bus/truck, these drivers don't understand that there are 4 other vehicles behind them that don't care for their overtaking a 65km/hr vehicle at 67km/hr. We had to slow down numerous times from 80, 100, 120 to 30-40 because of such retards.
The minibus met with misfortune(rearended a bus, which was now parked on the side of the road with barely any damage to it) just a min or so before we passed that spot.

[satish_appasani]

In 1994, the RTA officer at my town asked me what car i drive. I answered Maruti and thats it, i got the license. Actually i learnt driving 2 years after getting my license.

[iraghava]

Originally Posted by rks

That is very surprising. I would say that this Inspector is either very irresponsible or trusts your contact to the point of taking his word for it that you can drive. Normally an Inspector will go through the motions of conducting a test, if only to make sure that he is not issuing a license to an individual who has no clue about driving.

He should but in UP they don't bother. I have 2 licenses & have never been asked to give a Driving Test in all my life.

[Surprise]

Originally Posted by theMAG

Its the deadly mix of lawless pedestrians, insane motorists and speed that kills. Not to mention the so-called infrastructure.

One thing that is in our control is driving within controlled speeds with giving importance to those unexpected scenes. Driving at 80 kmph instead of 120 kmph gives you extra room to tackle third party disturbances for sure.

[sajo]

Originally Posted by vivekiny2k

That's bad.
My inspector asked me where I worked, and if I knew how to drive.

Uhh ohh...mine made jokes about my last name. And didnt even bother to sit in the vehicle. Just told me to go on a longish round of an EMPTY ground. And that was it.

[Hyundai.Lover]

In context to this thread.. http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shifti...xpressway.html (Another Racing Death on Noida Expressway...)

Today i got this.....
Santro guy was fully loaded with family and was having a turn at approx 120 kmph @ as per police and slipped off the road and had a head on collision with the railing bar and then rolled off. Nobody died on the spot acc. to the police but were rushed to the hospital. Children were also there.

Press people were all over the place way from delhi to great noida side and making videos of all the vehicals.
Expected that they will Hype up all the news now and will make a good compilation all the vehicals moving above 100 kmph with their numbers.

This is the 4th major accident i had seen on express way.

Whom should we blame for this?
Govt. or the Janta or the companies?

Govt. - for not providing good roads and one good road like experss way and not giving instructions to the people how to drive carefully. Taxes are so much that companies can't sell their products acc. to the international norms here because of the high taxes and companies downgrades their cars. No Securty norms adopted by the govt.

Janta - They don't even care to know how to drive at high speeds. They are pretty happy to save even 10k bucks but they will not buy cars with good security like ABS, airbags etc. I had seen many fools driving their bikes on the extreme right lane (made for very high speeds) and few of them running their cars and bikes on the wrong side on the same high speed lane. These type of people should be in bars.

Companies - Downgrading the products for their profit and if someone gives quality products then the product fails miserably here in india due to high price.

BHPians - Show some light please.

Thanx.

[vnabhi]

Gosh, that is one hell of an smash up! I hope they recover soon!
I could not make out it is a Santro.
Govt should put caution boards at most bends on such roads. My experience shows that most highway bends are dangerous to approach at speeds above 100, as the centrifugal force is just too much for the car to bear.

[tsk1979]

Hope everybody involved recovers. This is indeed a very bad accident!
but its a straight road with very gently curves. Where exactly did this happen?

[maddy42]

i blame it on the people. We dont follow rules on the highways and this will become a regular feature unless we learn to drive properly wit a strict lookout for the rules