[sidindica]

Just now while coming back from a Honda showroom, I was driving at about 55-60 at the middle lane in NH-24 and almost twice escaped being hit by 2 different scooters.

Then comes a traffic signal, I wanted to take a right turn for my home and a person in karizma, coming at a high speed, screeches his bike to a halt, after badly hurting my right elbow and breaking my right OSRVM of my Santro (I was standing on extreme right signalling with my hand to take that turn and the biker came from nowhere, desperately in a hurry...), and hit me badly.

Thankfully, the policeman on duty came on time and challened the biker and of course, I took the full cost of the mirror from him. Thats OK, but my elbow is badly paining and I think it will take a few days to recover.

Seriously, how come these morons are allowed to ride in Delhi?

[amtak]

Hi all,

what is the point of this thread? are we trying to say only two wheeler riders are senseless? Why catagorize every two wheeler rider as senseless? I have both a 4 wheeler and a 2 wheeler and I am a safe rider/driver both ways.

Despite making the above statement, I have had my share of accidents. It is not that always a 2 wheeler rider falls for his mistakes.Till date I have fallen twice from my bike

1. While there was gravel + Oil on a flyover = Skid
2. Once when a passenger behind the driver opened the door of a Tavera fully without looking behind = Crash

Where as:

1. Sudden braking in the car due to some unforeseen situations = scratches from 2 wheelers/other vehicles
2. behing hit from behind due to unknown circumstances = minor dents

Remember, accidents happen. Whether its a 2 wheeler or 4 wheeler. Our problem is too many people on the road and hence too little road to ride/drive on. That doesnt mean someone over taking from left is senseless. He/she is a law breaker though but not senseless.

Being without any options is one thing, being labelled senseless is another.

[teknophobia]

Read your own post. You have clearly brought out one glaring fact that is ignored completely by two wheeler drivers, viz. when they are driving recklessly, they are putting their own lives at risk. That should be incentive for 2 wheeler drivers to take additional care while on the road, but no, what do they do? Drive recklessly, swerving all over the place, riding 2 inches from a car in front, suddenly swerving into oncoming traffic and scratching cars while trying to squeeze into narrow spaces.

Some incidents:

Utsav Chowk, Khargar, it's a traffic circle, the only two vehicles being a bike and my car. I, as is my habit, turn on the left turn indicator at least 20 seconds before the turn, when the bike moves up next to me on the left, I assume, like any rational human being, that he intends to turn left as well, but no, he intends to continue straight ahead, I manage to brake just in time.

Belapur CBD, I am doing an u turn, all of a sudden I hear a loud thunk and a screech. Stop the car and get out, I find that an old guy on a scooter has hit my car from behind and fallen on the road. The screech was from a Fiesta that nearly ran him over after he fell in front of it. I haven't repaired the dents yet. I have seen similar incidents several times, once I nearly ran over a rider when he hit the palio in front of me and fell off. I fail to understand what has to be done to each these riders that their brakes are nowhere near as good as a car and thus they should leave more than 2 inches in front of them.

Palm Beach road, Navi Mumbai, I have lost count of the number of mangled bodies I have seen that used to be 2 wheeler riders, they never seem to learn. I have no sympathy whatsoever any more.

Ahmedabad, on a busy road without a divider, suddenly a bike swerves out from behind an oncoming car, I just manage to avoid killing him, broke the cover of my right ORVM. Thankfully I didn't repair it, as 2 days later, while I am stuck at a rly crossing, another biker hits the same mirror while trying to squeeze past.

Ahmedabad, I am stationary, getting ready to turn into the ASE parking lot when a scooter hits me on my side, result scratched door. How blind do you have to be to not see a stationary car right in front of you?

Ahmedabad, colleague drives his brand new WagonR from Ajmer, just as he reaches the city, he gets hit by a motorcyclist who had found something on the side of the road to stare at.

What I don't understand is, why do motorcycles bring out this suicidal urge in so many people? I have never felt like committing suicide while riding a bike, ever.

[Takumi-san]

The next time some one asks me why I recommend a Safari / Scorpio to all and sundry , I will guide them to this thread. I will also send them here when they tell me that if I really loved driving then I would continue to do so in India as well.

Needless to say, the decision of a Scorpio (I used to hate SUVs) was taken after an idiotic auto crashed at full speed into my Matiz (experience has been posted elsewhere on this blog) and then had the audacity to ask me if I was deaf and couldnt hear his horn. This while I was stationary, giving way to vehicles who I had to let go before taking a turn. I thrashed him black n blue , following which he ran away before I could take him to the cops. I then turned my ire on his rickshaw and was helped by 4 guys in a Santro who had enough of auto drivers too.

However after 3 years of this incident, I realise that its certainly not the 'civilised' thing to do. I still cant promise to leave a person who harms me / my car and refuses to even understand the fault. Solution - get a driver and a SUV. let the city go to hell.

[sidindica]

Had to go to the doctor since the pain is worsening. Skin peeled off a bit, but thankfully no minor fracture (I got hit by a left handle of the karizma), but the area is bandaged and the doc has advised my against stressing on that area for at least one week.

Which means only left hand to be used while typing.This sucks

Moreover, on route to Ghaziabad, Don't be surprised when some 2 wheelers make unknown u-turns (the divider being broken), and you are caught by surprise. They pose hidden danger and you never know when you may crash on them.

[sidindica]

Today I had to go to gurgaon for some personal work. Departed at 10: 30 AM, traffic jammed at pragati maidan route, clears at India gate, I have a smooth drive towards the gurgaon toll booth then all of a sudden a pulsar from nowhere is on my extreme right side and he wants to take a quick left turn by changing lanes since two wheeler lane is on the extreme left, they are allowed free to pass the toll booth. I was driving at 80, and this moron without signalling all of a sudden shows up in front of my car, I had to brake hard and I pull the steering to the right, the car (santro) swerves a bit to the left, I could see smoke coming out of the left rear wheel but thankfully, nothing happened. That instance I thought that the car was going to topple and.... RIP..... I pay 20 bucks as toll and go. People behind me staring aghast.

Now, on coming back, at the outer circle around the India gate, there is a pedestrian traffic signal and the light turns red. I stop in time, and from nowhere two persons in another bike overtake from left side of my car, at the same time a DTC bus comes closer to my vehicle on the left. Luck played a major role as the biker almost got sandwitched between my car and the bus. I think the gap between the biker and my doors was less than an inch. They jump the red signal and run away.

NH 24, turn signal turns green as I have to take down right turn to get back to Mayur Vihar phase-2. I take a turn, just to watch another close shave as a biker, in a hurry driving an apache, overtakes me from left and takes a daring U-turn from the front of my car. I have to brake hard, again. otherwise, that accident was inevitable.

Today morning I left my house without carrying my mobile phone and stereo as my instances were telling me not to.

I still can't believe that I am typing this, so shaken and stirred...god save us from many of these "senseless" two wheeler riders.

[NFS2024]

Sid - what you have experienced has happened, is happening and will continue to happen unabated. It might take another century before we come close to having sanity on our roads.

[bornin70s]

Ah, Its a nice road rage check. I used to get pissed every time such things happen. The i realised that its of no use. All us four wheelers can do is to ride safe and keep an eye on the mirrors. I glance over at the mirrors every once in a while to check for crazies.

[gpa]

Originally Posted by teknophobia

I, as is my habit, turn on the left turn indicator at least 20 seconds before the turn, when the bike moves up next to me on the left, I assume, like any rational human being, that he intends to turn left as well, but no, he intends to continue straight ahead, I manage to brake just in time.

Happens umpteen number of times in B'lore, so i just don't give the guys space to squeeze in on the LHS of my vehicle now

[Johnny_]

Such awful souls on two wheelers cause a lot of anxiety, for no good reason. This morning out of nowhere a biker came in front of my pop's car, and he had to take a full left circle to avoid collision. The biker ran away. Had i been instead of my pop, I'd have followed that rogue and given him a piece of my mind(and fist too).

[CarCzar]

I agree with you, thou I too love biking but then it is really annoying when you are in a car and biker is dancing around.

Originally Posted by Technocrat

Though i am a biker but i totally agree on this, even i haev seen people riding like idiots on 2 wheelers, they think they can enter anywhere & are in a mess when they can not get thru.

basically it happens due to two things, One poor judgement(thats because of lack of technicalities of riding) & 2nd another important being the cars having shorter braking distance then most of the two wheelers, which adds up teh woes when the braking is sudden.

[scopriobharath]

I never leave sufficient place for a 2W rider to squueze past my car.

"I reached first, so i have the right of way to move first."

Even while i ride a 2W, I stop with enough gap between me an another vehicle and never overtake in-between vehicles as a safety reason. I use blinkers / hand signals while on my 2W to even change lanes.

I notice People shout and abuse when I do the above and also constantly honk at us to shoot a Red Signal or Stop ahead of the stop line.

I plan to Stop when the light is at Amber / 01-03 secs at countdown timer. People abuse me for that. I also raise my voice and tell them why the *** they are looking at my vehicle while driving and not at the Signal lights. They should plan to stop when the lights turn amber from green.

I tell them let me call the cops and let us find out who is right. People just Shrug away at this reply. Even if i called the cops i will them that at the prescribed Speed limit of 40 kmph in Chennai city at which i am driving, I cannot cross the signal before it turns red, so i stopped the Car. I will have to overspeed if i want to make it through and my car (Santro) is not a super sports car to accelerate to 80 in 2 secs. I am sure No policeman will ask me to cut the signal or Overspeed.

[A350XWB]

Happend to me in Bangalore once. I was waiting at a red signal and this biker with a girl sitting behind him, makes his way to the front and stops on my left side. As the signal turns green, he wants to zoom ahead, tries to do so, only to clip his rear footrest in my left front wheel well. He starts to wobble around in the middle of the road as other vehicles start to hurtle towards him. Luckily (for me and him), he managed to regain control and sped away.

[vinaydas]

few weeks ago, was driving on NH7 during the night around 7pm. It was raining and the road was slippery.
A bike guy with a pillion(male) was speeding on his pulsar. It was my turn to over take a bus . But he was impatient and tried to over take while i did(probably driving around 40 and the bus was at a stop and was stationary)
The bike guy braked hard , his brakes locked and he skid and banged into my rear bumper.
I stopped , went to the guys and see if they were alright(at that moment a crowd of 20+ gathered) the driver was fine but pillion had tumbled a few times on the road but he stood up immediately but was bleeding (not on vital areas like head ,face etc ) but on elbows and knees.
Gave him a piece of my mind(without the profanity of course) . People (not the bikers )demanded i pay compensation for their mistake.
I stood my ground and insisted it was their mistake and said i wont mind taking them to a hospital and paying the bills(for simple wounds which i could mend using the cars first aid kit) if they were willing to pay for my damages.
The crowd shut up, the bikers were considerate and Humbly accepted their mistake and i left the scene.
My Car had a big scratch + a dislocated rear bumper which was fixed at home.

[aargee]

@Sid - I've only one thing to ask you. Why's your Santro more vunerable to bikers? I remember that FZ16 licenseless guy banging you & you reporting a case & if I'm wrong that should've been sometimes in March; now this incident. Why?

OT - What happened to that FZ16 FIR? Any updates?