[kaushik_ak]

If we consider handling unexpected tough situations in general, I had a similar experience when the Clutch plate lost its play all of a sudden and I had nothing to do except to shift the car to neutral and I knew that the car wouldn't move after that. Add to that, the speed at which such things happen, makes things all the more complicated.

As per my knowledge, we can prepare ourselves by the having an awareness of things that might go wrong, two ways to get that, by reading/watching them and second, most importantly by experience.

Definitely, it makes a difference if I know how to handle a situation rather than just leaving it to plain luck and hope things will go well.

[superbad]

Assuming one is conscious after anything untoward happens :-
1) Gather your wits.
2) Don't panic, take in deep breaths.
3) Give yourself a quick physical check, wiggle all your limbs to judge extent of any injuries.
4) Take stock of the situation - what has happened, how it may have happened.
5) Check the people around you.

The most important things are Ser No 1 & 2. If one can do that, one can face & get out of any situation.

[speedmiester]

Have faced similar incident, not of windshield breaking up. But a truck tyre bursting violently just you over take it. This happened just past midnight on my drive back to Bangalore from Mysore. I had just entered NICE road near Kengeri.
The sound was quite loud and the pieces of rubber hit my car underside and windshield. Luckily no damage.

https://youtu.be/91cSU4y0ULk

[charanreddy]

Its not the same, but I had a near miss about a couple of years back.. On the way from Bellandur to Koramangala I lost my car brakes doing around 20 to 30 kmph in peak traffic.
Pumped the brakes but to no avail.. tried the hand brake and found it was working, but not as well as my main brakes. Slowly moved car to 1st gear and drove for around a KM before I could find a safe parking spot. Presence of mind is really important to manage a situation regardless of whether you are experienced or not in the same situation.

[Ravi Parwan]

Originally Posted by arjithin

...
My friend is in her late 30s, got her DL recently and still perfecting her driving skills. ....
I didnt have any strategy to tell her on how to keep cool and reduce her reflexes. Hoping to learn few from this thread

I had (still have) a similar experience with my mom. She will be braking with her feet, regardless where she is sitting in the car, and gripping the handholds, whenever another vehicle comes close, even in the next lane.
she used to drive a scooter till her 40s, and then started learning to drive a four wheeler. She got to a point where she could tackle normal lanes, but never got the composure for busy roads. She would get flustered and hand over to me.
We persisted for about 3-4 years, trying to get her behind the wheel, but gave up eventually. Now sometimes, when she reacts too strongly, I just ask her to take off her spectacles...

[shankha007]

I believe, a strong sense of anticipation coupled with a tiny bit of fear, helps in avoiding mishaps to a certain extent, where a third party makes a mistake knowingly, or unknowingly! "The streets are filled with idiots" advertisements by Ceat are very relatable.

Based on my not so good experience, i always ensure the following:

1. Check if all turn indicators are actually working or not. In India, where abrupt lane changing is an art, we should ensure that at least our vehicles are not contributing to any inconvenience. We often do not get to know about a fused bulb and happily keep driving.

2. Check the brake lights when parking the vehicle at night! Checking the point of actuation is also a good practice. Late actuation is trouble.

3. Check the windshield washer fluid level. It might not sound like a big deal, but the moment you run out of it, you might end up with a deadly muddy windshield.

4. Floor mats should not slide under the accelerator pedal.

5. Getting the tyre pressure checked.

6. It has already been mentioned here that we should take a quick look around the vehicle to ensure that everything is in place. We were taught about this during a session of defensive driving training.


Situation based reactions, which might work for some in my opinion:

1. Sudden loss of visibility, like during windshield shattering cases: Holding the steering wheel the way the driver was holding before the problem occurred, especially important if it happens while negotiating a turn.

2. During a brake failure, pump the brake pedal repeatedly in order to build up some pressure. Put the foot off of the accelerator and shift to the first gear and dump the clutch all at once to reduce a good amount of speed. Disengage the clutch and dump it again, and see if that helps. Engine braking and handbrake should be the driver's best buddies. Under no circumstances should the driver turn off the engine and end up with a hard steering!


Regarding the windshield shattering cases, local bus and truck body builders use substandard design and material. They dare to play with safety since homologation is all about money!

[Ranabegins]

I am not so composed when I'm not behind the wheel but I think I'm a composed driver, I have been in multiple scary situations due to my own mistakes. A couple of times I over-steered at good speeds but I still remained composed and was able to stabilize the car quickly. Apart from this I have also experienced aquaplaning at high speed but still remained calm.

[mpshah68]

IMHO it is best not to exceed speeds of 70 to 80 kmph. I have realized at controllable speeds managing an event or a catastrophe is better than at higher speeds. There are certain situations wherein at higher speeds to reign in the vehicle takes longer and harder resulting in injuries. Usually I do not exceed speeds of 80 kmph and drive between 70 and 80 kmph. I have had a single incident of brake failure in an Ambassador we had and was able to get the car to a complete stop without any injuries to the occupants.

[yogeshsom29]

Having interest & also a formal certification in NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming), let me lend my 2 cents from that angle, the angle that scratches below the obvious.

In any danger event, first thing our mind (thought) triggers the brain (organ) is an evasive action which is part of hardwiring. Get out of the way of danger

Everything that follows after that is also mostly involuntary & stems out from our other key hardwiring at fetus level, yes, in the womb & genetic level – Fight or Flight response. While both are hardwired but one will always dominate over other & can change with the conditioning & environment we grow in over the years.

In any such scenario, your subconscious takeovers your conscious mind & will quickly (fractions of milliseconds) search for last available reference point in our hard-disk (brain) to make the limbs react to the stimuli.

While experience helps but only slightly as we may react very differently for a very similar or even exactly similar situations depending on 2 key variables as below

•Our emotional state (Mood in laymen language) – Happy, angry, serious or anything depending on the conversations you are part of before that moment or the quality of back ground thoughts, if alone.
•Our Physical state – Basic health parameters, physically exhausted or tiredness, fever, alcohol in bloodstream, etc.

This applies in every scenario but more so when it is extreme or question of life & death.

On top of all this, I believe our stars in that moment decide whether we live to tell the tale or become the part of tale

As far as composure in all other scenarios (less trivial ones) in life, we can train our mind (meditation is one of them) & consciously choose the reaction for most day today scenarios.

On the surface level, one habit that has helped /saved me many times is the habit of anticipation while driving. At times, I over anticipate too but like to be safe than sorry (of course in the process, doing nothing idiotic to become danger to others)

[gadadhar]

4 instances I recollect are
- Ambassador bonnet coming off the lock, flipping back and coming on top of the windshield blinding me completely.
- Getting blinded with water splashed by other vehicles (had happened more than once)
- Elantra running over a stone while doing 3 digit speed breaking the front left alloy in to 2 pieces
- Loose speaker landing under the brake pedal, and this was Ambi again. This was the only occasion where car went out of control and landed in the nearby ditch

It would have been my experience that would have helped in above situations, and I could maintain my cool and do what was appropriate for the situation. As suggested by some members, precautions, awareness etc can help in some situation.