[locusjag]

Last Friday's The Grand Tour episode had something relevant to this thread.

To those who didn't watch it - James May designed a segment within the broader theme about Grand Touring cars; he asked the (really pretty!) resident driver on the show, Abbie Eaton, to drive a ramshackle Peugeot sedan. She got a 2 minute headstart. May, Hammond and Clarkson would try to beat her in their high-end GT cars - a BMW, an Aston and was it a Bentley?

The end result was as May had predicted - in real world conditions, it doesn't matter if you drive a really fast pedigreed car. A ramshackle Peugeot will beat you. It is really futile to drive fast!

[am1m]

Originally Posted by ashwinprakas

From where I see things I was sticking to the rules all the way, but still this happened and it does bother me as I'm not a driver by default and if I were on 2 wheels then I'd be a goner for sure.

Ah don't overthink it, you drive x km a year, something like this will happen. Very few people know or even follow the rules and there are way too many vehicles on the roads these days. These things are bound to happen. Defensive driving all the way.

Originally Posted by H_Dogg72

On most highways anything above 120 means a lot of braking because of idiots on the road. Too stressful.

+1. Saw that last week on our driving trip. Kept it much below max most of the time and went steady. Got overtaken by everyone who was obviously at their limit and chasing after each other, braking, swerving, suddenly accelerating and then braking again. Ended up catching/passing most of the same set of cars at tolls or when they had to stop/slow down because of traffic, or because it probably took too much effort to keep driving in that crazy way. Futile to drive at max all the time when covering long distances, besides being dangerous of course.

[boniver]

About a couple of hours ago, I was driving on an unlit two-laned state highway. I was maintaining a speed of 40-50kmph since I'm not exactly comfortable driving on these roads in the dark. At some point a white Xylo must have appeared behind me. I didn't notice it at all, because the car didn't have it's headlights on I was blissfully unaware as it started overtaking me, and only when it was just beside my car, the driver honked continuously, and switched on a set of 4 fog lamps. I was extremely startled, to say the least. I slowed down, and let the car go past me. Dude switched off all his lights and continued in the dark.

As I was approaching the traffic signal at the beginning of my town, I spotted the Xylo, waiting at the signal. I casually rolled up beside him and looked into the car. There were approximately 6-7 men in the car, and all of them looked like office-goers (dressed in formals and tired). The signal turned green, and by the time I engaged the first gear, this dude had floored the pedal and was zooming away. Nevertheless, I continued. Now anyone who's new to my town would obviously follow the main road to get to wherever he wants to. But I knew the roads like the back of my hand. I took another road, because I didn't want to get caught in the signal at this busy junction. In a minute I was back on the main road (post the junction), and was happily sauntering along. 5 minutes later, guess who I spot in the mirror? Yes, it was the same car, honking and flashing like crazy. I was actually finding this entire thing quite funny, so I gave way. No clue what my mistake was, because the dude started brake-checking me. However, I was in a good mood and didn't want to engage in any altercation, so I slowed down and maintained considerable distance. The Xylo had again disappeared.

Now, I reach the junction I am to take the right turn from. Approaching the signal, I again find my dear friend waiting. The signal for the right turn was green, so I pass him at the signal, and continue on my way.

This entire incident, although really funny, really opened my eyes to the futility of hasty driving. Imagine the stress the Xylo driver must have been under, since driving at such high speeds in the city isn't an easy job. On the other hand, I was happily listening to music and cruising along, thinking about the food I'd be having at the restaurant I was on my way to

[BenjiRoss]

After noting many such people at toll booths and railway crossings, I wonder how much time do they usually save. These are people who 'break' the waiting queue and barge into line a few cars in front.

Take this case of the Innova driver barging in when the railway crossing gates open. has he saved time. He probably thinks he has. But the truth is that he has caused a jam for a few seconds and probably negated any potential benefit of this uncivilised, rash move.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyt2Pdf1ugc

Take this driver barging into the queue at a toll booth on the fastag lane. To be honest, he has definitely saved a couple of minutes as he jumped about 4-5 cars. If he does this 5 times, he saves about 15 minutes on a Chennai-Bangalore trip. For him this probably is the driving force to keep doing it - 15 minutes of 'added' lifespan to enjoy! This is a typical, arrogant attitude of 'I need to get to the top, even if it means I trample on you and push you down'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KNns-43Y6U

I feel that such instances of hasty driving are more of an attitude to life issue than a simple time-saving attitude.

[adisan]

By driving in an unhurried manner:

• The driver is more relaxed, the drive is sans sudden picking up or dropping of speeds . Much less fatigue for all after the drive.
• Steady driving is better for the car as well.
• FE goes up, makes a good difference considering that the fuel prices crossed Rs 100.
• The extra time take on a 250-300 km trip usually is like 10-15 minutes only.

[chaitanyakrish]

Resurrecting an old thread.

This video is from 1964, but very useful and talks about the topics mentioned in this thread.

Defensive Driving Tactics (1964) - YouTube

This video is posted 10 years ago and has only 12k views, that tells a story as well.

[shankar.balan]

Its a very good topic.

I have driven multiple times to various places on the highways and byways of India in these last 20 odd years.

Ive always found that by leaving early one can comfortably exit the city environs before the traffic wakes up. And this helps in maintaining a higher average speed than otherwise. Simply because of the lesser number of vehicles than at a later point in time.

Now if one takes the example of the highway drives. One can cruise comfortably at 90-100 or one can zoom at about 120 or higher (Ive seen many more of the latter type than the former).

Thing is, irrespective of everything, we experience the following circumstances;

1. One is only as fast as the slowest vehicle on the road.
2. One’s speed is levelled out by the absolute lack of lane discipline in our country, even on the highways.
3. The Toll Booths are great levellers.
4. The exit from and entry to any city in India, ensures a that one averages little more than a crawl speed.

By the above we clearly see that driving a powerful and fast car doesnt automatically mean you reach your destination any faster.

Hence it is best to drive smartly and enjoy the drive.
Keep to the limits always. Give the car the beans occasionally when the road is clear. But overall just stay cool and sedate.

This will ensure less stress and more fun.
Its worth stopping now and then to smell the flowers on this journey called life.

[Ice]

Great writing!
I stand testament to this. I drive an OG Fortuner every weekend to Bangalore and back to chennai. I have noticed the benefits of smooth driving :
1. I arrive less tired , sometimes even rejuvenated.
2. My avg journey time has marginally increased / by 20 minutes. Which is by some 6-7%.
3. The car thanks me.
4. Far fewer near-misses.

[Kuldeep31]

https://aninews.in/news/national/gen...0220720215515/

ANI


Horrible accident involving an ambulance at a toll booth in Shiroor, Karnataka. Already three tragic death and four persons were injured. Is there any way IMA can intervene to rein these rogue drivers? At the least, ambulances should also be forced to use speed limiters. Clearly a case of hydroplaning aided by a tall vehicle height. Such ghastly driving and that too in an ambulance need immediate intervention. I have seen this trend (of ambulance drivers getting besieged with Formula 1 spirit) in other parts of the country including Kolkata, Delhi, and Gurgaon.
Prayers for the deceased and the injured.

[vj_torqueaddict]

Originally Posted by Malyaj

I am no sedate driver myself. But I don’t drive rash or endanger safety and I respect traffic rules. Here was a lesson nevertheless. Driving fast only gets you faster up to a point. With all the bottlenecks that we have, we eventually reach the destination more or less at the same time as everyone else. In a 6 hour journey the difference could be as little as 30 mins, and on many occasions, as Coorg Boy proved, not even that much. What is that 30 mins worth
.

Absolutely true. I noticed this early on in my highway drives. Have been regular on highways for more than a decade now. I instantly recognise another regular by their pacing, which is relaxed, sedate and predictable.
I guess eventually who are regular on highways realise this. Not to mention I have seen numerous accidents, been through numerous close calls due to others mistakes. In the end it's hardly a matter of 30-40mins.

[ninjatalli]

Haven't gone through the entire thread but I find this aspect very relevant for in-city driving through chocked up traffic roads, especially during office runs. Trying to maneuver and be "fast" not only makes it a tense and stressful drive for one, eventually you hardly make any gain in the longer run as the small gains you would have made by speeding at one point would be negated at the next choke point ahead. Instead driving sedately and without worry works best for me.