[klassics45]

It is heartening to see a kid, showing interest in seeking advice. Kudos to you!

As many here, i learned a lot from highway drivings. I would say forget about all the numbers and calculation. Keep this theory - "drive to the rhythm of the vehicle", which should work.

when you drive, you would notice that the vehicle will settle to a rhythm depending on the road. For example, in an open road 80km/hr will look slow, without your knowledge and without any stress, the vehicle will be cruising at 120. but in the same road, if you drive at night, the vehicle will look comfortable at 90. The rhythm of the vehicle is purely connected to how relaxed you are. if you have traffic, the same day drive will be better at 80.

You might wonder, when 120 was comfortable then why it feels different in 90. this is because, your visibility was better in day and your mind was comfortable for 120 but the moment it gets dark, the comfort zone changes and it makes you feel the rhythm of the vehicle is 90. You can see lot will define the rhythm, the power of the vehicle, wind speed, time of the drive, road type, traffic etc. Your speed should be such that you shouldnt need to brake to slow down. say you are in little traffic, if you cruise in 100, the moment you see some trucks, all you have to do is take the foot from accelerator. By the time you get close to the trucks, your vehicle will be around 70 and you can move around and pick up the speed back to 100. But if you do, say 140 then you will do some braking, gear shift and come to 70 and then will push hard to get back to 140.

another example, is road type. The same vehicle will feel comfortable at 80 kmph when you drive in a 2 lane road. Anything more, you feel that you are really speeding up but the moment you enter 4 lane open highways, you will feel 80 is like standstill.

You can easily notice when you cross the rhythm of the vehicle, you will feel stiffness in your thighs, hands will hold the steering tightly, you will be more upright and you will find hard to have conversation with the fellow passengers, too much braking.

On a lighter note, i define how i drove based on how soon the passengers fall asleep and how long they sleep without waking up.

[CliffHanger]

Over the years I stopped looking at the speedo while on long drives.

I drive at a pace where I feel comfortable and relaxed, and I enjoy the chit chats with the people in the car, enjoy planning the next small break, enjoy the music that is being played and enjoy talking about the history of the place, the roads, that I'm driving too, etc.

Whenever I initiate a chat with my mother, she shares loads of things about her past, her childhood, etc., which I never knew. Likewise with every other family member and friends.

I realized that we have so much to know about the people around us like our family members, friends, etc. and what better place to do that than in a car in a empty highway.

So stop looking at the speedo, it doesn't matter what speed you are driving at. As long as you are comfortable, confident and relaxed on the speed you are doing, you can enjoy various other things on that long drives.

Believe me, long drives become so much more fun this way.

[carpacman]

Well, I would say the answer to drive at high speed in India depends on primarily three factors

1) The car: You can't push the car more than its limits (speed, stability, safety equipments, etc..). So know your car's limits

2) The Road (and time of the day): Roads need to be stable without much bumps and speed breakers, with more lanes, well marked. Night driving is always riskier than day driving. Driving in the rain is a risk, etc..

3) The Driver: The driver needs to know how to handle a car. It is not just about pushing the car but it is also about knowing how to react when something goes wrong, a.k.a a tyre burst or a cow on the highway etc.

So consider the above before hitting 100+

If it were a country which has highway speed rules enforced, then the answer is simple and straight forward.

Cheers

[ad3952n]

Well, I think that Indian Highways lack the adequate infrastructure like proper roads, signage et al. Hence, One should not think about touching the 3-figure mark or a 100 kmph mark under any circumstance. The Indian Highways have dense traffic with people of all types of mindsets driving on them. Hence, with due respect to them, we should drive up to a limit where in we are safe and so is the other person on the road.

I would like to share a small incident here that happened while I was traveling on NH-24 in April this year. I was going to Bareilly and as I was on the Hapur By-pass on NH 24, The driver touched 120 kmph. Being Honda City the car does really good in terms of speed on Highways. I was all buckled up and so was the driver. Suddenly at a curve on the flyover a Xylo cab applied brakes and to my shock my driver applied brakes to jam the car their itself. The car came to a dead stop in about 3-4 seconds and managed to avoid rear ending the Xylo by a couple of inches. All my over confidence of doing 100 kmph or more came crashing down.

On Indian highways the actual speed limit is just a number. At large the limits are seldom adhered to. I learnt my lesson that day. No matter how good is your car or how well skilled you are as a driver, One should not be controlled by his/ her car rather the car should be controlled by the driver.

That moment I thought even wearing seat belts would not have been able to save both of us if we had not applied the brakes on time.

The bottom line: Never drive beyond the limit of your driving and controlling skills.

Thanks

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[stormerider]

No one can ever give you a clear situation as to when you can hit a 100+ in our Country, It all comes with age and experience. But everyone would say a no citing lack of infrastructure(roads, dividers,fencing for stopping cattle etc.), or Lack of traffic sense(what lane, which side of road to drive, right of way, etc.) and many other reasons.

My reason would be the Legal aspect of an accident!

Supposedly you get into an accident where the other person is critically injured/ has died-

1. If you hit a 2 wheeler/pedestrian/cyclist - Its your fault. "You have the bigger vehicle"- this is the silly excuse!
2. Police will be helpful to the local or the influential guy!
3. An accident involving a death includes 3 cases - against the driver/owner, against the vehicle and a third claim case against the driver/owner.
4. The police files the FIR & FR based on the claims of the onlookers! Hence the MOB decides who is right or wrong. Forget investigation- this hold true for majority of the country.
5. The only way to measure your speed is the braking distance (line of rubber marking on the road) and what the onlookers assumed your speed! With ABS, in cars this distance might not be available.
6. A vague map is prepared by the police as per the account given by the MOB.
7. If you get out of all these formalities (That is if you survived the MOB which wanted to torch you and your car, and the claim has been settled by the insurance /the owner), the case against you continues for ages! and you keep paying the lawyer, the system and keep attending the dates leaving every important task at hand.
8. But wait a second, what was your fault? you were involved in an accident! and nobody's talking about what speed or any other logic here!

If after reading all this you still have the courage to go 100+ on our roads, Then god be with you!
Sorry for being a bit OT, but I guess you should know how bad the consequences can be. End of the day drive at a speed you are comfortable and in control!

[charanreddy]

At the risk of repeating some excellent advice given, let me just write what works for me.

"Remember you own the car, not the road".

Having said this, cruising speed is dependent on many things, most important being :

1. Condition of the vehicle and your confidence levels: If you are new to a vehicle or doubt its braking, play it very safe

2. Condition of the road and traffic : You are relatively better off cruising on a 4 lane highway than on a 2 lane state highway with out a divider.

3. Familiarity with the route and surroundings.

All being said, age doesn't matter so much as a sensible head on your shoulders. Just think of how much risk you are putting yourself / others into and whether it is worth the result. Also there is no point doing insane speeds as beyond a point it takes the fun out of driving

[nda992]

A few important rules for driving..

Larger vehicle should be given way. The reason is simple physics, momentum = mass x velocity, so a larger vehicle will take more time to stop.

Oncoming traffic has right of way. Again, any object moving straight will be moving faster than the one changing directions.

The issue is that these rules are not known, leave alone followed by Indian drivers.

Therefore, when traveling on the highway, remember that the faster you are moving, the greater would be the impact.

It's always prudent to drive sober, and for me it is 60 to 70 kmph. You will derive max mileage also and enjoy the ride as well.

[NitroSRT]

The biggest issue with high speed cruising is those bikers who have their rear view mirrors removed because it's cool (apparently). They have no idea who is coming behind them neither they stick to their lanes ever. You have no clue when a street racer on his splendor will get in his racing state of mind and ride like a moto gp driver cornering hard BUT on straight roads as he cuts through the traffic (Me and my friend call them "lehri"'). I never understood their bipolar behavior and why they think it's cool.

[DriveAddict]

Originally Posted by klassics45

It is heartening to see a kid, showing interest in seeking advice. Kudos to you!

As many here, i learned a lot from highway drivings. I would say forget about all the numbers and calculation. Keep this theory - "drive to the rhythm of the vehicle", which should work...

...You can easily notice when you cross the rhythm of the vehicle, you will feel stiffness in your thighs, hands will hold the steering tightly, you will be more upright and you will find hard to have conversation with the fellow passengers, too much braking.

On a lighter note, i define how i drove based on how soon the passengers fall asleep and how long they sleep without waking up.

Excellent, Some how @klassics45, I feel we both share the same views.

Being a regular driver of the Chennai - Erode stretch every month, I could clearly relate my experience with your words. Being a person who have driven 60K+ kms, I would like to add my 2 cents about safe highway driving,

> Never drive beyond a speed from which you will start loosing your confidence. You will definitely feel this, as beyond a speed, your body and muscles gets tight and you will not hear the other passengers speaking nor will you able to reply to their conversation.

> Don't ever feel annoyed when ever you see those two slow moving trucks occupying both the lanes at about 100 meters. Just relax, take your foot of the accelerator, let the poor trucker do his overtaking, drop a gear if required, overtake. Don't honk or flash your high beams unnecessarily. I personally know a truck owner cum driver who is really a responsible guy when it comes to road manners. Stay calm and let your mind and body relax for those 2 minutes until this is done. There is nothing these guys can help you, when their elephant needs to lug tonnes of cargo before they make you way.

> Be alert of those Volvos and intercity travel buses in your ORVM. To my knowledge, these guys are those whom you need to be very much watchful during night driving.

> Above all, I feel 80-90 KMPH is the safest speed for cruising and 100 KMPH for overtaking other vehicles.

> 100+ ? Yes, the roads are good, Modern cars are capable. But people in our country need many more years to learn about road safety and road manners. You have only one life and won't you feel happy if you make it a habit to drive at safe speeds (80 - 100 KMPH) and enjoy the drive with lesser risk.

[nda992]

Originally Posted by NitroSRT

You have no clue when a street racer on his splendor will get in his racing state of mind and ride like a moto gp driver cornering hard BUT on straight roads as he cuts through the traffic (Me and my friend call them "lehri"'). I never understood their bipolar behavior and why they think it's cool.

You know what, if you catch hold of these guys and ask them, 9/10 chances are that they'll tell you that they are inspired by the Bollywood movies. Flics like 'Dhoom' have served to do enough damage on the roads.

We need to promote sensible driving in a big way. Last year or so, Azharuddin lost his son in a similar accident.

The Govt should wake up to this menace and start an aggressive ad campaign (now that the actual campaign is over ) featuring Sportspersons and Film stars to make an impact.

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by DriveAddict

> Be alert of those Volvos and intercity travel buses in your ORVM. To my knowledge, these guys are those whom you need to be very much watchful during night driving.

> Above all, I feel 80-90 KMPH is the safest speed for cruising and 100 KMPH for overtaking other vehicles.

> 100+ ? Yes, the roads are good, Modern cars are capable. But people in our country need many more years to learn about road safety and road manners. You have only one life and won't you feel happy if you make it a habit to drive at safe speeds (80 - 100 KMPH) and enjoy the drive with lesser risk.

You are spot on with your observation. These volvo buses show a scant respect for other vehicles. I remember a situation when i was driving back to bangalore. Near Thoppur a volvo bus overtook me and the gap between the bus and my car was so less that i could feel a momentary shake of the car. I was going steady at 90 kmph. The road was dead straight.
After a minute or so, the volvo bus was not in sight.

[sridhar-v]

My 2 cents of experience:-

Have been driving long distances since 1989, when roads were 1 - 1.5 lane speedways. In those day we would calculate an average speed of 35 kmph taking into account biological breaks & refuelling stops. Negotiationg ghats was not guessable and we would be mentally prepared for long waits.

Nowadays I calculate an average speed of 45-55 kmph. Main reason for the seemingly small jump is that you have better driving speeds but waste a lot of time at Toll nakas. On empty roads, mostly on 4 lane highways, where I can see the sides all round clearly I will push till 100 but back off the moment even the smallest intersection or habitation is visible. Crossing of impediments is with foot off the accelerator & hovering over the brake pedal. That is a very important rule. Also extreme patience during overtaking, particularly on 2 lane roads. Slow down when u are tired or distracted.
I respect the difficulties of drivers of large vehicles & never hassle them. A courteous truck/bus driver giving proper signals is alwas thanked with a wave of the hand. And invariably they honk a "u r welcome" back.

But all said and done it has become more & more clear to me that I need ABS, ESP & all the aids I can get and am looking to accordingly upgrade our Fusion.

[madhav14]

Many experts have shared their excellent views here on different situations and consequences of high speed driving. Some of them have questioned the relevance of this topic as the speed limit in our country is 80km/hr.

With my little driving experience of around 14 years, having driven close to 2 lac kms mostly on southern highways, I would like to add my 2 cents and 3 reasons why you have to stick to 80km/hr.

> As many people said and agreed, driving with the rythm of the car is very much important.

> Given the chaos on our highways, better to follow safety first, speed next strategy and limit your speed to 80km/hr.

> Being a responsible citizen of our country, adhere to the speed limit of 80km/hr

Slightly OT, but I have a small doubt. Why isn't our Govt. taking strict measures on implementing the speed rules?Why can't they at least outsource this entire system of maintaining the speed cameras and violation ticketing thing? I think private players can do a lot better in operating this system than our stupid lazy government.

Your opinions please.

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by madhav14

Slightly OT, but I have a small doubt. Why isn't our Govt. taking strict measures on implementing the speed rules?Why can't they at least outsource this entire system of maintaining the speed cameras and violation ticketing thing? I think private players can do a lot better in operating this system than our stupid lazy government.

Your opinions please.

See the case of the national highways that are being operated on BOT. The govt has no say whenever the toll fares are hiked. Recently the toll fare on the road leading to Bangalore international airport was hiked 4 fold. There were lot of protests from the public. The govt expressed its inability to control the fare hike.
If everything is outsourced to private parties, they will loot the public. Even the govt loots money but atleast they are willing to reduce a bit in case the public protests. The private parties do not care for the public.

[ad3952n]

Originally Posted by madhav14

I have a small doubt. Why isn't our Govt. taking strict measures on implementing the speed rules?Why can't they at least outsource this entire system of maintaining the speed cameras and violation ticketing thing? I think private players can do a lot better in operating this system than our stupid lazy government.

Mate, I totally agree with your reasons and views on the speed limit. But I have my doubts about the above quoted statement by you. I don't think the measures by the Govt. can be useful because drivers in India take the rules for granted and plan a escape route to by-pass the rules (you know what I mean).

On the Highways, I have seen the helpless patrolling cars simply parked under shade and not even 1 is active enough to take charge. This type of situation arises when the drivers don't pay attention to patrolling vehicles.

Lastly, I feel that driving sensibilities should be first inculcated in the mindsets of the drivers not just for the fear of being fined for speeding but for the sake of safe driving right from the first day of their driving.

Over-speeding and dangerous driving is a cultural defect which no external agency can remove from one's mind. Most of the Indians who drive on highways with 3 figure speeds always learn their lesson the hard way.

Thanks

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