[DieselAddikt]

According to me, serious thinking is needed for the thousands of driving schools that teach people to drive.

For them, driving is all about moving the car in all the gears. Some don't even care to teach how to reverse properly.
Few cars have rear view mirrors and students are seldom asked to check them at regular intervals.
Those instructors never ask people who learn to stop the car outside the broad white line (yeah, lets call it just a line now.) on the left side of the road. They allow students to park the car in a manner that more than half the car will be on the road blocking traffic.
And once I happened to be in a driving school's car whose instructor was teaching the other person the art of road rage. He was teaching that person how to "counter attack" in case he was provoked. What an awesome experience that was !!

Nothing is going to change unless govt brings out some strict rules that allow only good driving schools to function. Till then, this sorry state will continue !

[alpha1]

Originally Posted by DieselAddikt

According to me, serious thinking is needed for the thousands of driving schools that teach people to drive.

For them, driving is all about moving the car in all the gears. Some don't even care to teach how to reverse properly.
Few cars have rear view mirrors and students are seldom asked to check them at regular intervals.
Those instructors never ask people who learn to stop the car outside the broad white line (yeah, lets call it just a line now.) on the left side of the road. They allow students to park the car in a manner that more than half the car will be on the road blocking traffic.
And once I happened to be in a driving school's car whose instructor was teaching the other person the art of road rage. He was teaching that person how to "counter attack" in case he was provoked. What an awesome experience that was !!

Nothing is going to change unless govt brings out some strict rules that allow only good driving schools to function. Till then, this sorry state will continue !

You are mistaken in believing the ppl flock to driving schools for LEARNING to drive.
They flock there because of promise of EASY driving license.

[DieselAddikt]

You are right. Everybody wants license the EASY way. Nobody wants to learn to drive. But whatever it is, these driving schools must atleast try to instill some good driving sense into people who come there. :(

[kadanaJ]

Originally Posted by DieselAddikt

According to me, serious thinking is needed for the thousands of driving schools that teach people to drive.

For them, driving is all about moving the car in all the gears.

Nothing is going to change unless govt brings out some strict rules that allow only good driving schools to function. Till then, this sorry state will continue !

It isn't just the fault of the driving schools (although to a great degree it is).

People just aren't interested in learning about road rules or safety norms.

A friend of mine was learning at a school that had set aside a few sessions for theory, road manners and safety norms. Naturally she bunked all those classes.

What the government needs to do is make the testing procedure to get a license more strict, to ensure that driving schools HAVE to teach rules, and that people HAVE to know them, and drive in a civil manner, if they want a license.

I believe the US DMV has very strict testing procedures. If anyone could shed some light on those tests, and the testing procedures that could be applied in India, it might help.

[sam_sant2005]

After returning from an onsite to Europe, I used to stop when I see people crossing at zebra crossings. But on many occasions what I got is excessive honking and verbal abuse from the cars behind me. Those cars want to scare the hell outta people who have even 1% thought of crossing the road. Even a person who is half the way will be scared to run back! Absolutely no manners in India. People should learn.

[Macfreak7]

Originally Posted by kadanaJ

It isn't just the fault of the driving schools (although to a great degree it is).

People just aren't interested in learning about road rules or safety norms.

A friend of mine was learning at a school that had set aside a few sessions for theory, road manners and safety norms. Naturally she bunked all those classes.

What the government needs to do is make the testing procedure to get a license more strict, to ensure that driving schools HAVE to teach rules, and that people HAVE to know them, and drive in a civil manner, if they want a license.

I believe the US DMV has very strict testing procedures. If anyone could shed some light on those tests, and the testing procedures that could be applied in India, it might help.

The US DMV isn't at all strict about driving tests (at least in California). There are tons of rules and you end up being tested on only about 30% of those. Obtaining a license is a three step process. a- Driving test, b- Written test, c- Vision test. (not necessarily in that order)

The difference between the west or developed countries vs. third world countries is this mysterious concept called *law enforcement*. There are severe consequences for people that break the law, especially financially. This is what makes people interested in knowing about the rules AND following them. This is what drives the demand for good driving schools, and corrective programs to "take off points" from your license.

Anywhoo there's a long way to go and unfortunately I only see things becoming worse before they get better, if ever.

On a side note, if TBHP could organize a drive to educate groups of people/drivers on how to effectively navigate through traffic and be proactive in avoiding jams, it would be a priceless initiative and I'd GLADLY volunteer to help with the same.

[Zed]

Since we are on the topic of driving schools - Is there a training institute (anywhere in India) to train driving Instructors ? If not one can only assume that there is some kind of a training manual. Is there a certifying process for Driving Instructors ?

The fact is even people that want to learn properly are sometimes taught incorrectly as expressed in post # 109. My wife had a similar experience. Her instructor told her that she ought to honk whenever she felt someone was 'getting in her way, specially pedestrians'. She was never instructed on safe distances to maintain to the vehicle in front, how braking distances change with road \ climatic conditions, emergency braking techniques, right of way, yielding and so on. Basically it was all about pointing the car in the right direction, how to change directions, how to scare undesirable objects out of the way, and how to shift gears. And this driving school had uniformed staff, a meticulously maintained office and a driving simulator. I can imagine the sort of stuff thats dished out at the dozens of mom & pop driving schools that operate out of 2 x 2 meter offices that we often see in out towns and cities.
The point is - having a system to train and monitor driving instructors is certainly part of the solution.

[cjt2012]

Having stumbled upon this thread, I would present my 2 cents on this much needed topic.
Basic traffic rules ,if followed will benefit everyone.
1. Stopping the car at the stop line
2. Observing lane discipline on the roads and when at toll plazas( its very infuriating to see people just cut across and try to barge in rather than wait for their turn)
3. Observing speed limits
4. Extending courtesy to other road users
5. Avoiding the usage of horns except in emergency
6. Waiting for the traffic signal to turn green( not jumping the signal)

These are just a few basic rules that all of us can very easily follow if we just have a little patience.
What saddens me is when people who are educated and knowledgeable will break the rules and only obey it if a police constable is watching.
Why is it that we Indians need to be policed for everything, I feel that if we have to see any change in the situation, we have to educate the children in schools ,catch them young and educate them on road safety,that's the only way forward.Children when with their parents should insist that they follow traffic rule.
I don't think that we will see any change in our lifetime, but if the present generation of children are taught traffic safety religiously probably our children will see better results.
Corruption also plays a big role in people blatently breaking the rules, they know that even if they are caught breaking the rules they will get away by paying the cops a few Quid's.
I am of the opinion that traffic violations should have heavy penalty ( at least 2000 to 5000 rs fine)with possible suspension of license,this will have a little impact on road users .
The benefit of these forums is that common people like you and me get a platform to put their view across.
Again digressing from the topic have any of you noticed that many people use their hazard lamps when passing through tunnels , the car is NOT a hazard just because you are in a tunnel ,switch on your lights and this will illuminate your tail lamp as well to indicate your presence to vehicles coming behind you,keep your indicators free for when you want to change your lane for slow moving traffic.
These are my views and hope it spreads a little awareness as well.
Be patient and drive safe.

[nmenon]

This is one of most interesting threads I've come across on road safety, will add my 2 paise to this.

I prefer to follow the rules and since neither my car nor bike are designed to be run at high speeds, prefer to keep to the left lane and at a steady 60 Km/h as far as possible. I will move to the right lane only if

1. I have to take a right at the next intersection
2. I need to overtake the guy doing 30 in my lane.

Having ridden in Chennai and ridden and driven in Cochin, I see some differences.

Chennai, famously, is quoted by many people to be a place where if you stand with your legs even slightly apart, there will be a two wheeler guy trying to get through that gap.
And there are 6 lanes on a 4 lane road, One lane on the extreme left for the people going the wrong way.
(Not my quotes, this is from native Chennaiites)

There is a slight improvement in Cochin compared to Chennai where the percentage of sensible people you come across will be higher, but the problems still persist.

I had on a few occasions asked some people on two wheelers while waiting at a signal as to why are they honking at me, they say they want to go through, I ask them about the red signal, they respond that $%^& the signal, we need to go.

Now this is at signals where there are policemen. If you stop at a signal where there are none, you are done for.

Similarly I see idiots on the roads in Cochin who will make a big fuss of overtaking you and then slowing down in front of you. If you feel that they are going too slow and try to overtake they block you.

Now you may ask what is too slow.

From my point of view, I've seen that most roads except the NHs advertise a 50 -60 Km/h speed limit (I've seen 70 -80 on the NHs).
I prefer to keep to 60 KM/h which not only improves the mileage my car or bike give but also is quick enough to get me where I want to be without any undue risk.
Why I say undue risk is that at 60KM/h both my bike and car feel confident enough to stop quickly or manoeuvre quickly around any hazard that may come, which, come to think of it, are many.

Just my thoughts.
If anyone feels I'm not doing it right please suggest a better alternative.

[kippu]

i think the worse part about hyderabad traffic ,alongwith other usual traffic nonsense happening , is the random people walking across the road . It is so annoying , but I have a rule not to honk unnecessarily , so I usually give them way to walk, very annoying though

[ysak]

I don't know if it is bad traffic manners or not, but i use horn a little bit while overtaking any vehicle in NH at day time, so that the driver of that vehicle is aware of me overtaking him. It worked well every-time on two lane NH-47 which i use often.

[pganapathy]

They have a saying in Africa that it takes two generations to make a change. Your current generation are too steeped in their ways and even with education you can only change them about 10% or so. Your current kids can be taught but given that they will also learn from watching the current generation, will change 50%. The next generation who will be taught and learn from the generation who changed 50% can more or less be made to change 90 to 100%. I believe that is very true and applicable in the case of Indian driving manners as well