[prasathlr]

My rules are:

- No legs on the dash

- No smoking

- No eating (Only time this doesn't work is when my mom is travelling with me).

[Yakuza]

Great thread, few that I follow :

- Absolutely no eating in the car.
- Seatbelts for all passengers irrespective of a short or long journey.
- Very particular about no one else driving my cars.

[guyfrmblr]

• No Eating
• Seatbelts mandatory for all the passengers.
• No kid will be allowed to sit on elders lap in the front passenger seat.
• I never drive with windows rolled down as I'm very particular about dust entering the car. The same rule applies for passengers as well.

[NitinDev]

Originally Posted by Stribog

3) NO STICKERING - no cricket balls breaking into the fuel tank

Good one You forgot the famous dog/cat peeking.

[karavadi143]

Rule 1: No smoking or post-smoking travel unless the person uses a mouthwash, the lingering smell of smoke remains in the car for long with A/C on

Rule2: Have a full sized carpet to handle occasional dirt, but no greasy food for the kids. No ice creams as well, they really spoil the upholstery. Definite vacuum every week is the way to keep the car clean with spot clean using leather and interior cleaner for any accidental spots

Rule3. Definitely no beer in the car, even if it is parked. Beer stays in the trunk post shopping and stays out. The cooled glove box only has a couple protein bars and water

Rule4. Seat belts are a must for all passengers with child seat for the kids. No exceptions irrespective of the distance covered

Rule5. No screaming or loud music that distracts from driving. I am accommodating with the type of music but the volume needs to be below threshold to avoid distractions

Rule6. Clean windscreen: having the best view of the road is a must for me. Every stop at the gas station needs a cleaning routine for the windscreen

Rule7. No slamming the doors or parking in tight spots that often leave door marks from the car parked next door.

Rule9. Remind your passengers of rules 1 through 8, just like the safety briefing once we board the aircraft

[saisailendra]

Most of the above, plus the following :

No jumping around with music. This shakes the car !

Please watch your step ! Don't scuff the plastic trim medial to the door sills !

No back seat driving lessons for me !

[vharihar]

Hard rules:
- Car doesn't move until all passengers buckled.

- No eating or drinking in car.

Exceptions are made for sr citizen parents


Recommended but not enforced:
- No opening windows

[McLaren Rulez]

At one point, I required all interactions with me to be preceded by "Your Highness". For example, "Your Highness, can we stop for a snack?"

It stopped after my friends told me to go to hell.

[46TheDoctor]

A few strict rules that i try to follow which help towards safety and upkeep of the car:

1. No eating in the car especially the food which isnt dry; i will stop as many times as required by the roadside or at food outlets but no eating in the car.

2. Seatbelts absolutely mandatory in front row and also requested in the rows behind.

3. No seating beyond the prescribed limits as per the seating capacity of the car (we Indians tend to overload our cars sometimes, especially MUVs and SUVs).

4. No loose luggage and sliding objects in the seating area and places like dashboard. Luggage to be put in the boot or neatly placed in footwell or neatly tied with the seatbelt if placed on the seats.

5. No placing of legs especially with footwear above the seat height in the car interiors and on the dashboard, etc.

6. No windows open (as i am allergic to pollution and also to protect the car interiors from getting dirty) while traveling in highly polluted areas which most of our cities are.

[Stribog]

Originally Posted by a4anurag

The only rule I ask my passengers (whenever it is) to abide is, don't slam the doors during ingress/egress. Be gentle on them.

My dad used to have "close the door softly" stickers made and had them stuck on the doors of all his cars, nothing grinded his gears more than slamming it shut but then on a Premier Padmini or Standard 2000, what other choice did you even have?

Originally Posted by Raghu M

This is an interesting thread. My cardinal rules are:

1. Everyone in the car has to buckle up. Once a friend of mine argued and I had to let him out of the car without giving him the drop. This applies to the rear passengers as well. I always insist on wearing seat belts

2. DO NOT adjust my seating position: - I have been pretty blunt with the mechanics and service personnel not to alter my existing driving stance/position. It is a sweet spot and I do not like anyone tampering/changing it

3. No service center stickers please - I always insist that no service center folks be allowed to advertise through my windshield or the headlights. My windshield has just two stickers, one the FASTag and the other is the tiny company parking permit. The headlights do not have any stickers (I rarely use my high beam). I find it annoying to have multiple stickers of the wheel alignment, service centers displayed on my car

4. No coins in the car. I do not like the noise of any loose bolt or nut while driving. I am very allergic to any noise in the car. That could be rattles or anything else. Hence, I do not keep change/keys of my flat in the car. It is always in a bag that does not make any noise.

Originally Posted by GTO

- 1 medium-sized bag per passenger for a road-trip. Yeah, I know I myself don't travel light, but hey, it's my car!

Not sure about your marital status but my wife needs to pack 3 bags for a weekend at her mom's place! If only I could convince her to do even one large suitcase for a week type trip

Originally Posted by AMKAM

Some of my "guidelines" ( rules seems too strict a word) -
1) Front seat passenger cannot sleep. On long drives, particularly after lunch, everyone in the car tends to snooze. My co-passenger in front has to be the one who can stay awake..atleast till someone else has had his/her snooze and can be a replacement.
2) On long drives, the first song played on the music system HAS to be a favourite aarti of mine which I always keep on my phone or on my car usb drive.

2) yes same here, only for 15 mins but it has to be devotional songs.

1) am curious, does it really affect you? In fact I have heard this from many others, but personally I love to drive when everyone is sleeping, I feel like am a time machine pilot, transporting people through not just space but also time lol.

[BLACNWYTE]

Had many rules earlier, but over time I had to sacrifice some for peace of mind and reduce stress;

Seatbelts: Thankfully this rule is still valid and have no compromises even if I have to tell my wife and father umpteen times. After a couple of times my mother started buckling up on her own now.

Do not bang the door shut: No matter how many times I tell my father, the next time he bangs it shut. Can't blame him because he is used to the Ambys of yesteryear and there is only one way to properly shut those doors.

No eating inside the car: Once a strict rule, it got mellowed after my wife got pregnant and once our son was born this rule was almost thrown out of the window. Most of our journeys are to our in-law's place and its a 5-7 hr journey and you cannot take the baby unfed en-route. So regular spilling of milk, juices and other assorted food items is part of the trip. It takes better part of the next day for me to scrub, swipe and vacuum the interiors clean. Thankfully I have got vinyl carpeting done underneath the regular floor mats so it's super easy to clean even the wet food.

Be careful while opening the doors: I absolutely hate it when people are careless while opening the door and banging it against another parked car or a pillar or any such obstacle. There are minute paint chips which are not really observable but it disturbs me because I know they are there.

Backseat driving: My mother and wife are in a competition to see who can do it better. Many times I have pulled over and invited either one of them to take over (which definitely isn't going to happen) and that seems to slow them down a little but after 5 minutes they will be at it again.

My music: My music used to be my music earlier, then it changed to our music and its now His Highness' music. Try listening to the same nursery rhyme for 4-5 hours on a loop. Frayed nerve ends anyone? I get to listen to my music on my solo rides which are not that frequent.

No smoking: Being an ex smoker it brings cravings and also the smell of stale tobacco does linger.

No legs on the dash or seat: some people have this habit of crossing their legs and sitting on the seat and some even have the habit of resting their feet on the dash. I have to paint a pretty graphic picture of accidents involving airbag deployment and what it did to the person with legs over the dash to dissuade some. Some are stubborn even then

You shall not drive: I absolutely hate handing over the keys to someone else on a trip. Its very painful to hand over the keys to your FIL or BIL when they ask for driving till the next pit stop. My family has long since given up the hope of me handing over the keys and my in-laws are also warming up to the idea now

[Ithaca]

Only my brother & I drive our vehicles.

Rules we follow.

1. Whomever is the driver, sets the music to his tastes.
My brother loves Lou Reid, David Bowie, The Cure, Sinead, Radiohead (better taste in music) & I love trance, rock etc.
We realized early that if the person driving the vehicle is not listening to his kind of music, he tends to get irritated and cannot concentrate on the driving. Hence now the driver sets the playlist.

2. Absolutely no eating in the car. Even our mother prefers to stop frequently on long drives to stretch her legs so we stop every few hours for a tea / snacks break.

3. No drinking in the car - no hot beverages (tea or coffee) or cold drinks. Only water is allowed and that too we carry a couple of steel glasses with our water bottles and drink after halting at the side.

4. Fuel tank should never cross below 50%. On long drives, we always refuel every 250 kms.

5. Since the monsoons are here, we carry extra bottles of water to wash our legs before entering the car. And separate plastic bags to keep wet umbrellas.

6. I bought foldable Solimo brand organizer to keep all loose items in one place in the boot.

Source Solimo Fabric Foldable Storage Organiser

7. I do not drive my friends or relatives vehicles (however superb they may be) since I cannot afford to repair the vehicle in case of an incident and I expect my friends or relatives to never ask me to lend them my vehicle.

When we get in the vehicle for the first time in the day, except in monsoon, we roll down the windows and keep the blower running for first 10 minutes at least to clear out the stale air. Then windows are rolled up & AC started.

Originally Posted by petrolHead_1609

Strict rules :
I certainly don't lend the car to anyone but family or my inner circle who very well know how would I want the car to be treated. I don't like it, people driving my car over 3k rpm in city, there's no scope of spirited drive in city and then to slow down from such speeds, jerked braking.

Same pinch. Except my brother who finances 50% of the car purchase, no one is allowed to drive my vehicles.

[anantpoddar]

No-compromise rules:

1. No tapping any part of the car with your fingers in sync with the music. In fact, no rhythmic tapping/drumming inside any part of the car.

2. No smoking / drinking inside the car. Not even when the windows are down. That brings me to...

3. Windows will stay up at all times no matter the weather outside. A clean feel inside the car is more important than fresh(or dust/smoky, however you like it) air. An exception to this rule was made once when we were in hills with no vehicles around and it had just drizzled.

4. Sit comfortably and straight like a gentleman. No folding legs on the seat, especially for front passenger.

5. My engine will stall if the front seat passenger doesn't buckle up within 10 seconds of the car moving. Have been trying to implement the rear seat belt rule but best friends are the most resistant ones.

6. You shall not do anything or place any items that rattle or squeak. When the car is moving, I should be able to hear the sound of a random pebble stuck in the tyre.

7. You WILL NOT shut the door too hard. You WILL shut the door in one attempt.

8. IFF and that's a big IFF, you ever get the royal treatment of getting to drive my vehicle, you will keep the RPM below 2000 and speeds below 80 at all times!


Less strict rules:

No dozing off in the front seat trying to stay awake. If you are sleepy, recline your seat all the way back and snore away, I'll be more comfortable.

Prefer small soft bags over hard suitcases on any day. Prevents the squeaking in the boot. Also, tools will take preference over luggage.

Chips are allowed when the vehicle is moving. I'm ok with vacuuming the car after a long trip to pickup those bits that might have accidentally fallen. Avoid wet curries, milk-shakes, cold coffees especially in a moving vehicle.

[moncar]

I would get irritated with:
1. Eating, drinking, smoking and making the cabin a dustbin at the end of the journey.
2. Slamming the doors or boot.
3. Suddenly opening the doors without regard to adjacent persons/ vehicles coming from behind .
4. Scraping the door bottom against the pavement when alighting.
5. Anyone asking for the car.
6. Backseat driving and advising.
7. Someone alse driving the car with me as a passenger.
8. Opening the windows apart from essential reasons.
9. Very loud music playing.
10. Keeping the cabin lights on for a long time when travelling at night.
11. Changing the driver’s seat settings.

[DLC5005]

Here are the few things, which I follow myself and ask the passengers also to abide by these :

1. Everyone needs to be gentle with opening and closing of doors, using window controls, lights etc.

2. Wearing seat belt is compulsory for all the passengers.
(Rear passengers are exempted from wearing seatbelts, if its a short drive within city limits)

3. Noone is allowed to get in or out unless I turn off the engine completely.
(Earlier my mom used to open the door as soon as I stop and try to get down, when I still used to have second thoughts on whether to park or move the car a bit front or backwards)

4. No fiddling with the AC and music controls.
(Tell me and I will do it for you)

5. Consuming of food,snacks and drinks are not allowed inside car. Only water and chocolates (non melted) are allowed.
(Will be happy to give/take a snack break if required and eat outside the car)
Note : This rule was removed, when my wife got pregnant and now with the small baby around its highly impossible to abide by this rule.

6. Nothing to be placed on top of rear parcel tray and on dashboard.
(Only a tissue box and 2 pillows - functional and not the fancy ones are allowed on parcel tray and only a Ganesha idol and flowers are allowed on dashboard)

7. No brand and service stickers allowed anywhere on the car.
(Only team bhp and office/apartment stickers allowed)

8. No leaning/sitting on car exteriors whenever car is parked

9. Passengers to make sure, to keep things in their allotted/dedicated places after using like tissue box, pillows, water bottle etc.

10. No smoking inside car.
(I am ok to give frequent smoke breaks if required, when traveling with friends)