[fine69]

Taken from Delhi Traffic Police website

6. How to drive during fog?
Ans : It is the best not to drive in fog. Otherwise, you ought to take the following precautions:
1.Slow down. If you see headlights or tail-lights, slow down even more. A driver may be driving in the center of the road or may be stopped or barely moving.
2.Drive with your headlights set on dim, or use fog lights.
3.Do not overdrive your headlights. Stay within the limits of your vision. You may have to stop suddenly. If the fog is too dense, pull off the road and stop. Do not drive at 5 or 10 Km per hour.
4.Use your turn signal long before you turn and brake early when you approach a stop to warn other drivers.

7. Precautions during rain
Ans : When rain begins to fall lightly, water, dust, oil and leaves cause the road to become slippery. When this happens, increase your following distance. Take special care on curves and turns and while braking. Your headlights must be ON when operating your wipers. Parking lights should not be used because it creates illusion.

They mean Hazard Lights.

A lot has already been said on its usage/non-usage (both calmly & strongly ) so I don't want to say it again.

OT: If it was mandatory to know 100% of road/traffic rules and regulations before getting a license and their road test was followed by a theory test which covered every possible scenario that could occur on the road it would have been a whole different world. Doesn't sound feasible? I agree.

But what if team-bhp had an exhaustive evaluation of bhpian's road/traffic sense, knowledge of laws etc. before granting membership to anybody on the forum? Feasible or not, it would have at least ensured a lot less irrational and irresponsible posts.

[vina]

Originally Posted by honeybee

I think what he is referring to is if the guy behind me has his right turn indicator on, but he still is behind me and not crossing over into the adjoining lane, I know that he wants to overtake me, and so I shall respond accordingly. Many times when I want to drive leisurely I may trail a vehicle for a few kilometres, without trying to overtake even if there's a chance. When I do make up my mind, before executing the overtake I usually would want to either honk quickly or flash my lights a couple of times to let the driver in front know I am going to overtake. I almost always (even on empty roads) use the right turn indicator before changing lanes, so I am just making sure the driver in front is alert to the fact that I am now overtaking him.


Thanks. I understood that too - I was just pointing out that showing the indicator benefits not just the people behind the overtaking vehicle, but also the people in front of it.



Again, I think he meant when you can see an oncoming vehicle, but it's still quite some distance away and you can safely overtake. He was referring to the tendency of many of us when we see an oncoming vehicle overtaking, we try to become aggressive and block his path so we won't have to slow down.

I don't have the said tendency - I am a new car driver (pun intended) and care about my car, and when I used to drive my two wheeler I was quite aware of my precarious situation on the road (the other guy screws up, I die).

However if you really were some distance away when overtaking, why would the other guys have to slow down (in most cases)? I have seen another bad tendency in fact - many people try to overtake very dangerously without caring much about the oncoming traffic. In such a case the oncoming guy may really have no option (e.g. traffic following him at high speed, not enough tme to slow down, swerve) but to "somehow" make it clear "dude don't do that"

[honeybee]

Originally Posted by vina

... In such a case the oncoming guy may really have no option (e.g. traffic following him at high speed, not enough tme to slow down, swerve) but to "somehow" make it clear "dude don't do that"

Agreed fully. I have firsthand experience of facing some rash bus drivers who wouldn't think twice about ramming into the oncoming car in their bid to overtake another vehicle. This is a particular skill almost all bus drivers seem to have.

.

[Bullitt]

Originally Posted by vina

However if you really were some distance away when overtaking, why would the other guys have to slow down (in most cases)? I have seen another bad tendency in fact - many people try to overtake very dangerously without caring much about the oncoming traffic. In such a case the oncoming guy may really have no option (e.g. traffic following him at high speed, not enough tme to slow down, swerve) but to "somehow" make it clear "dude don't do that"

On a vast open and straight highway, it is in fact quite difficult to judge the distance and speed of an oncoming vehicle in the few milli-seconds that we take to reach a decision on overtaking the lead vehicle. More so if it is night time. Even in broad day-light, have you ever seen that mirage-like apparition on the road? (They use it in a lot of car adverts too on TV.) It really plays tricks with the mind and spoils judgment.

It so happens (and it has happened to me) that we see the oncoming vehicle to be quite far, therefore the mind perceives it to be a safe situation to overtake. However, the devil lies in the speed of the oncoming vehicle.

For example, it takes 40 seconds for an oncoming vehicle 1 km away and travelling at 90 kmph, to reach you, if you are stationary. But you are not. You are actually approaching him at an equivalent speed, so the actual time to contact is ~20 secs. And that vehicle is only visible as a speck on the horizon. But the mind naturally thinks "he's too far off, I can make it". Assuming that the oncoming vehicle doesn't reduce his speed at all, he will most likely reach you when you are about halfway through overtaking that container truck in front of you. And God help you if you are going uphill while he coming downhill.

If you flash, he will most likely reduce his speed to more manageable levels to allow you to finish. Even if he doesn't need to, it serves as a good warning of your presence in his lane.

This is why it is important to flash when you overtake, irrespective of how far the oncoming vehicle is.

I believe dangerous overtaking is one of the top reasons for highway fatalities in our country. The biggest culprits are those jeeps that ferry passengers between villages adjacent to the highway. Always overloaded with more than 20 people hanging all over the vehicle, they tailgate, swerve and overtake like there's no tomorrow, often taking lives in the process.

- Bullitt

[mmxylorider]

@Bullitt - very well put ^^^^^.

Other aspects to keep in mind while overtaking
1. Never ever overtake while approaching the crest of a slope. You don't know who is coming from the other side and if some overtaking manoeuvre is happening on the other side.
2. No overtaking while you are on a road winding left. Again you will not see incoming traffic till the very end. A road winding right will give you the maximum early warning for incoming traffic.

Needless to say, all indications of your intent to overtake have to be given by default.

[vina]

Originally Posted by Bullitt

@ vina: You have confused 2 different things. honeybee has already clarified my post. To make things clearer:

Looking into the rearview mirror from time to time is a good driving practice which should be followed at all times, irrespective of whether one is being overtaken or not. We as human beings have been blessed with eyes only in the front of our heads. The 3 rear view mirrors together, in combination and with correct alignment, give us a very good idea about what is going on behind us.

A single warning honk by the "overtaking" vehicle is not a bad idea at all. You are referring to honking by the "overtaken" vehicle, which is useless. I haven't mentioned that in my post either.

Honking is an annoying practice followed by our uneducated (not necessary illeterate, 2 entirely different things) drivers whenever they want to overtake the vehicle ahead. Most of them just keep their hand on the horn pad (and aggressively tailgate) till the leading vehicle has given way, not considering that the lead vehicle may not be in a situation to give way for a few seconds/minutes.

What I said was, the "overtaken" or lead vehicle's driver may use right hand or LEFT indicator if he feels pestered due to the incessant honking/ flashing/ tailgating by the trailing vehicle. But, it is not mandatory to do so. He need not give any signal whatsoever to the vehicle trying to overtake, as long as he is continuing his straight course. In fact, it is in this exact situation that most Indian driver's turn on the RIGHT indicator to say "you may pass". THIS IS WRONG. In the same situation, what if he wants to turn right? He will do the exact same thing, i.e. turn on the RIGHT indicator!

Also, by oncoming vehicle in the opposite lane, I did not mean the lane is "blocked". If you see an oncoming vehicle "at a safe distance" while you are overtaking, you should flash your headlights to warn him that you are in his lane. Please not that all indicators should be OFF while the overtake is IN PROGRESS.

Use indicators only while switching lanes before overtaking and after overtaking, and not actually while overtaking.

Hope this clarifies.

- Bullitt

you got me all wrong man - I had understood your point and had agreed completely with you. Was just adding to it that if someone, while overtaking, signals, not just vehicles behind him but the vehicle in front of him (e.g. the guy being overtaken may be planning a turn, or an overtake or a lane change himself) will come to know about the maneuver.

I guess I hadn't made it clear that led to the confusion.

[mdsaab]

since we are on the topic of them Blinkers ~
When you are stopped on the side of the road for whatever reason, you definately should use the blinkers. Many people do this and it's great.
But what they forget to do is when joining the road again, they just take off without switching off the blinkers, even if they have pulled down on the indicator stalk, if you don't switch off your hazards then you will still have 4 blinkers on.
So when you decide to join the road again, indicate your right turn first, then switch off the hazards, look carefully in the rear view mirror, if no traffic is approaching and it's safe to get back on the road. do so.

[libranof1987]

So, heavy rains lashed Bangalore last night and then the circus began.

Everyone, right from cabs to private vehicles to each Volvos had their blinkers on. I bet the 2-wheelers were itching to do the same but couldn't.

Funniest part - it took them ages to switch the blinkers off.

Habits are picked up for no reason and then old habits die hard.

[mb_jg]

I remember one such trip to Kolhapur during the rains. It was pouring cats & dogs alongwith HAIL. 95% of the traffic on the expressway had their blinkers on!! However, the rain got so bad that mostly all of them stopped driving.
What this meant for me? Open clear roads with no traffic. I always take precautions like adding mist free solution to the windscreen washer. It makes a huge difference in the rains & fog too. Also putting on a coat of Collinite helps bigtime. It creates a layer & waters just beads off.
I have seen people switch on their cars blinkers in the tunnels, wonder how they would survive driving abroad at high speeds.

[sa_kiran]

It is a common practice to turn on the hazards in the tunnels on Mumbai-Pune Expressway! Every To, Dick and Harry does it, those who don't do it odd. Many cars, buses and trucks overtake with the hazards on, creating terrible confusion.

I was coming from Pune to Mumbai on last Friday on Expressway. There was a bunch of bikers, looked like on a suicide mission, as it was raining. One of them got much ahead of others and entered a tunnel around the same time as me. Guess what he did, pulled out mobile form his pocket and started calling, on the slippery road leading into the tunnel. I was more scared than him, since I was directly behind him!

[mdsaab]

Folks are getting weirder by the day. This time round there was just a small drizzle and yet some folks had their hazard lights on. WHY WHY WHY?
It was really confusing ~ and to top it all some of them who were stopped on the side of the road with their hazards on, Forgot to switch them off before joining the road again.

[sajo]

Okay , so I am driving on the highway at night, when it starts pouring cats and dogs. The traffic is sparse, but I still decide to take the slower lane and do between 35-40kmph because the visibility is very low.
So do I switch on my hazards so that moronic Sumos and Innova taxis who still drive at 120+ irrespective of the visibility dont run into my car trundling along at less than half their speeds ?

[mb_jg]

Originally Posted by sajo

Okay , so I am driving on the highway at night, when it starts pouring cats and dogs. The traffic is sparse, but I still decide to take the slower lane and do between 35-40kmph because the visibility is very low.
So do I switch on my hazards so that moronic Sumos and Innova taxis who still drive at 120+ irrespective of the visibility dont run into my car trundling along at less than half their speeds ?

You have answered your own question, if visibility is low enough for you to reduce speed to 35-40kmph on a highway, then it's a much saner option to just pull over & stop, till the time you are comfortable to drive again.

Why would you want to be on a road at 35-40kmph knowing that someone idiot may be running his vehicle at high speeds (120kmph+)?

I recall a trip to Goa in the rains, visibility was down to at the most 10feet approx, throw in a thick fog & you have a recipe for disaster. I did the sane thing & pulled over at a hotel & enjoyed chai & onion pakora's. Not too soon I heard a crash, it happened to be a cocky fellow who must've thought he had inbuilt night vision in his thick brain, rammed his Chevy Cruze into a truck.

[sajo]

Originally Posted by mb_jg

You have answered your own question, if visibility is low enough for you to reduce speed to 35-40kmph on a highway, then it's a much saner option to just pull over & stop, till the time you are comfortable to drive again.

I usually wait till the rains subside, but sometimes there is nowhere to stop (no shelters or uninhabited areas), so isnt it better to keep moving slowly but cautiously ?

[noopster]

The answer s still No. You need to have your LIGHTS on, preferably fog lamp as well if visibility is low. But hazards are a no-no unless you or someone else is in trouble and you have to come to a dead halt.