[SID2997]

I apply the rule of no backpacks on the seats. I have enforced this rule since college friends have been travelling with me to and fro from the college. Bottoms of bag packs are generally dirty due to being kept on dirty floor, also sometimes zips/hooks tear through the seat covers

[raj_5004]

Till 2015, I had the below rules for the passengers in my car:

1. No smoking
2. No eating or drinking (water is fine)
3. No touching the AC controls
4. No slamming of the doors or boot
5. No sitting with legs folded on the seat, kicking of the seat or resting legs on centre armrest (rear passengers)
6. No opening of windows unless its really serene and free of dust outside
7. No playing with window controls (kids)

Then I got married....

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by raj_5004

Then I got married....

Actually this part is easy. Try implementing the rules with parents and relatives, it is beautiful

[TejasKinger]

Given that most of here are passionate petrol (or diesel) heads, we do have a large number of similar traits. Here is mine:

- No dirty/muddy shoes. Even though I have a set of rubber mats placed on the original floor mats, I carry a stack of old newspapers in the boot. Whenever I/my passengers have muddy footwear, I place these on the mats and discard them at the end of journeys.

- No food/drink. Water is fine. No smoking.

- No touching the windows. I hate fingerprints being left on them.

- Always belt up. This is a little difficult to enforce for rear passengers in the city, so I give in. But on highway drives, this is an absolute necessity.

- No backpacks/grocery bags/food bags/any kind of luggage/cartons on the seats. They tend to soil/rip the seats. These always go in the boot/on the floor. In case of oversized stuff, I carry a spare bedsheet to lay on the seat.

- No sleeping (especially in the passenger seat), rear seat is okay as long as you are belted in and sitting upright.

- No legs on the seat.

- Very rarely do I allow a fellow passenger to drive (only a small trusted circle).

- No religious trinkets.

- Open to music and conversation during drives, except backseat driving.

- Open to allowing passengers to adjust the AC controls as per their comfort levels.

[PrasunBannerjee]

Nothing major, only couple of things.

Prelude: Power window motors on all four have given up. Two won't move, two will slide down but it is a pain to get them up. carefully holding them and pulling them by hand while another person keeps the window up switch engaged. Since its a decent enough expense, its not being implemented since past one year due to either lack of availability of my own free time, or lack of availability of my FNG's time, or lack of availability of cash, or any two of them at a single time, or all three. The car is driven with me as sole occupant 98% times. Still, for every new person who sits in the car

- Do NOT attempt to even touch the power window controls or the person touching will be paying for repair bill. (You need to be rude here)
- No smoking unless you plan on killing others by asphyxiation. (I don't smoke anyway)

[theautoman]

The rules that I try to enforce in my Car,

1. No stepping on door sills.
2. No slamming of the door or the Boot lid, especially the Boot lid.
3. Always sit upright and use seatbelts.
4. Kids always in the Rear seat; I am quite insistent when it come to this.
5. No Perfumes in the car, even people wearing strong perfumes sitting in the car can give literally give me a headache, sometimes this rule is extended to restrictions on carrying strong smelling fruits in the car, a ripe Jackfruit in particular; such smells are hard to get rid of
6. No Smoking inside the car.
7. No Touching the Dashboard, I detail it frequently and touching it is going to leave spots, by extension, No touching the glass either, or the IVRM mirror to adjust it when someone else is driving.

[Col Mehta]

Awesome thread! Thank you for bringing this up.

During my active duty days, there was a time when not just my unit but the entire brigade knew how particular I was with maintaining my service Maruti Gypsy. Always had two rules - cleanliness and no food inside the vehicle, no matter what. These rules apply to our cars in the family too.

The new generation hates me for this (I'm sure they have numerous other reasons to hate me ) but that's the price I happily pay for a clean and sparkling ride.

[AirbusCapt]

No drinking, no eating, no food articles, no smoking, always belt up, no bringing in muddy footwear into the car. Don't like these? Walk..

[neo_narender]

Rules I try to enforce:

1. If you’re riding shotgun, do not take a nap at all costs.
I had a terrible experience once when my roommate took a nap even after repeatedly asking him to sit in the back if sleepy, that made me sleepy & had a shut eye too for may be 10 seconds. Luckily I didn’t turn the steering wheel but dropped the speed on a freeway in Cali. Was at 35 mph in a 70 zone. A car in my next lane went so fast by me, that the wind pushed my car as if it was standstill & woke me up. I count my blessings for that day. I don’t mind if you’re sleepy, backseat is all yours. Just don’t sleep in the front.

2. No loud music.
I don’t know if it’s just me, but I get heavily distracted with unnecessarily loud music while driving, more so if the tunes are unfamiliar. A particular group I hung out with do not seem to enjoy a drive without loud music & made me think that I was weird in this aspect.

3. Do not disturb my GPS.
Another bad experience a few years ago, I was new in the states & trying to drive using google maps on my phone mounted on the dashboard. Even with maps turned on & a tricky freeway intersection in Mountain View, California. I have been missing my turn for the second time already, a colleague of mine also had his maps turned on, which was confusing me as it had a delayed turn by turn voice response. To not be rude I asked him to turn off either of the device, he decided to turn off my device which was in my view safely mounted on to the dashboard. That gave me a panic so bad, it felt I was either blind or have no driving skill without navigation.

4. No eating food in the car.
I tried to enforce this when I had a brand new car, but had to give up when a senior colleague of mine was hungry & started eating. Funny enough he asked me if I mind while having his taco, I had to deny my rule.
I am so obsessed with this rule that I put take out food in the trunk. So that the cabin won’t smell.

5. Driving position / Steering column / IRVM ORVM adjustments / Ac blower airflow direction
Not a rule per se, but if you drive my car changing everything to your setup, at least give me enough time to set it back to where I need them before we start.

That’s it I guess.

Neo

[deadlifts26]

Since most of the times I am the sole occupant in the car, some things I am keen on when I have company:

- No keeping your feet up on the seats irrespective of whether one is wearing socks or anything.
- On my weekly market runs I ensure to place the bag with vegetables and fruits spread over a newspaper.
- The person sitting behind me has to adjust with my seat position.
- Nothing which would block the view to be kept on the rear parcel tray.
- Seatbelts are a must.

[Reinhard]

Its threads like this that turn a day from gloom (office induced) to sunshine! Thanks guys!

Here's my rule list. And for someone with an OCD, this list is fairly short!

1. If you have any of the following choices or conditions - you aren't allowed in the car at all - make own travel arrangements.
   • Motion sickness - I turn into a demon when I see Ghat sections or curvy roads. Its pure instinct, I cannot control it.
   • Arrogance to say rear passengers don't need a seat belt or excuses and reasons for not using a rear seat belt.
   • Anxiety with over-taking in ghat sections.
   • Objection to me driving faster in twisty ghats compared to straight lines.
   • If you have plans to stop at crowded densely populated places for some impromptu shopping in towns midway in the journey.
2. No eating in the car. Not even by kids. I'll stop 100 times in as many kilometers to let you eat. But not in the car.
3. No smoking.
4. My playlist. You might find some instrumental music odd. Its normal for us nerds. You can ignore it and enjoy the scenery outside. Each track has a story or reason associated with it, known just to me & it matters.
5. No changes to any settings in the car. Its my daily ride, I control everything, it stays as I like it.
6. If there is a kid in the car - the rear seats will have child-locks activated. Passengers have to show patience for me to politely get down & open the doors for them.
7. AC will not be switched off. Every 30-40 minutes I'll open the windows a bit to bring in fresh air for a few moments. Other than that - the AC stays ON. If you don't like AC, state transport buses get the job done, there is no need of a car!
8. No kids in laps for drives more than 3-4 kms within city confines.
9. My kid will not make any compromises on his travel habits and child seat. The child seat stays. No compromise.
10. No overloading. No matter how close the relative may be - 4 + 1 kid is the maximum load that my car will ever carry.
11. No kids in the front seat until they are tall and old enough to independently sit with the ELR seat belt fastened without a booster seat.
12. Unless I personally ask - please no suggestions about routes and "short-cuts". I choose the route I find the best for me. I trust Miss Google over the passengers if I don't know the route.
13. I don't like being ridiculed about my care for the car. I make no compromises about it. The car sits just after my kid in priorities unless there is a medical emergency.

[kamilharis]

Excellent thread!


Few of my arguments with co-passengers :

• Don't eat inside, and whenever they does I just switch off the AC and open the sunroof to convey my dislike.
  
• Don't play with the power window controls. If found unnecessary, I just put the Child lock ON for PW throughout the journey.
  
• Never touch the AC controls please, I will do it for you whenever required.
  
• DON'T BANGGG THE DOOR, PLEASE. I HATE THIS!!
  
• Whether I drive below 100kmph or above it, don't bother me by questioning.
  
• I will switch off the Ignition during refueling, whether you feel hot or cold inside. And I will take my own leasure time to reset the trip metres and enter the data to Fuelio app.
  
• Don't ask me to switch ON the AC and start moving soon after getting inside the car. I will wait until the engine warm-up is completed.

Sadly my parents and sisters keep breaching all the time.

[//M6]

Most of my rules are already mentioned but one which many may find stupid is no bottles in the seat back pockets. In my current car I have already filled both sides with a large envelope containing car papers as I like my glove box to be filled with different sunglasses since my college days.

[charanreddy]

Here are mine.

1. Only a trusted set of close family.. Actually only my brother is allowed to drive in addition to me. When friends, no matter how close ask, I make up excuses to get out of that situation.

2. No Overloading cargo area. There is a set limit to how much goes into the boot.

3. Seat Belts : Mandatory for all incl rear passengers on long drives.

4. No Back Seat Driving : If any one asks me to take it easy, I make it a point to go that much faster. You can belt up if you have any concern !

5. No messy food in the car. Light snacks carefully eaten with water is fine.

6. Permission before fiddling with the power window switches. In 95% of the cases they are always up with AC on.

7. No dirtying the car.

[Cooltronics]

These rules are not new to me - its part of the lineage (although they get bit diluted)
My Grand Father, who apparently was an Army Major, had a Pontiac (in sixties) and later Fiat 1100D (seventies - till he lived) - my father tells me the following stories of his childhood
a) No one was suppose to touch any panel unnecessarily - you just used to get a tight slap
b) Dare not to wind up or down the glasses - if you want to, he will do it once before the drive starts
c) Do not close the door hard - he will close the doors for all
d) Drive my car ?? on my grave ! first time my father drove his FIAT was 22 years since his ownership, after his demise
Apparently during his last days (he had long suffering), he use to keep seated on his sofa and watch his beautiful car till his last breath

Such was the love for car back then and why not, they were costlier than villas and carried a huge sense of pride and accomplishment in life !!