[cpyder]

Ever observed? When the the signal turns green to yellow to caution you to slow down and stop, people actually floor the pedal try to beat the red light!! Exactly opposite of what was intended. If you are trying to take a U turn, or even trying to join in on a road, each one on that road just wants to beat you from doing it by, once again, speeding up. Especially true for two wheelers who would try to get past using maneuvers that would put an ace fighter pilot to shame.

[AMAN_SACHDEV]

Originally Posted by cpyder

Ever observed? When the the signal turns green to yellow to caution you to slow down and stop, people actually floor the pedal try to beat the red light!! Exactly opposite of what was intended.

Observed every time on a signal..

[johnniey]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

The apalling road sense and lack of etiquette is shown not just on the roads, but also in various social meetings and gatherings such as having no respect for queues, perennial need to be attended to first syndrome, etc.

When you come to think of it that way, there is a much larger issue at hand, and one cannot expect a reform in traffic etiquette till the same is also reflected in the general behaviour and mannerisms.

+1 to this. I totally agree with this statement. You can see people shoving and pushing others in queues. If one person is standing at a counter the other person will rest his elbow on one side and peek over the shoulder. We as Indians show least amount of respect towards others.

This behavior is also due to low education level in our society and education limited to just text books.

It is a much deeper rooted problem in the psyche of people and will need basic etiquette education at the primary level and imbibing these values in our children so that the future generations do not behave this way.

[kkr2k2]

Originally Posted by DKG

Lane discipline
..........

Originally Posted by bblost

A lot of people have no idea about the way they drive....

Imran, you are absolutely right. I was not aware of the lane discipline till I was 20 years, till an uncle of mine educated me on lane discipline(thats during the initial days of driving a car). It was only three lines of education. I saw few bikers overtaking the car we were in from the left. All he said was "since its a two lane road, the bikers can overtake from the left, provided you are not executing a left turn. The bigger vehicles must overtake from the right after letting know your intentions to the car preceding you" . I started riding a gear-less scoot from the age of 15, geared bike when I was 18 and car when I was 20. So for the first 5 or 6 years I was not aware of the lane discipline(though I got my learners license when I was 17 years old and permanent license at the age of 18).

The use of horns
......
Need I say anything on how its used here in India?

What i observed in this regard on the National Highway(NH9) is that,

1. In the earlier days, if you want to overtake a vehicle one used to honk the horn and wait for the guy to give a hand signal(no AC in majority of cars back then) and then overtake. (sometimes, instead of hand signal you also got a right indicator ON which was mostly by the truck drivers)

2. In today's scenario, you honk the horn and overtake even before the driver of the vehicle ahead of you gives you a signal to overtake. As if you are intimating the vehicle ahead that you are passing by and he should move off!! This kind of thing is also observed a lot in the city road. I see lot of vehicles inserting their noses in gaps they see and push the entire vehicles through while honking!!


SAFE DISTANCE:

I normally maitain a safe of distance of 2 to 3 seconds when I am driving in the city(speeds upto 40 or 50kmph) and 3 to 4 seconds when on highways(speeds upto 80 or 90kmph). This tip I got to know from team-bhp and it did work excellently for me. I used to maintain good distance earlier as well but never knew how to gauge that.

But unfortunately, when ever vehicle sees that gap in front of, he/she would try to sqeeze in to that gap. Arey baba this is not a race and you have moved from 4th position to 3rd and want to get to first position!!! When would they understand it. Sometimes I feel like challenging the top brass traffic officials to drive their personal cars in the traffic following the rules as per the book and with out using the horn for two weeks!!! I hope they will understand the stress the drivers undergo in the traffic.

raj.

[marlinspike]

IRR near Dell in Bangalore, Distance between U turns either way is 2 Kms. So what do bikers do, just get across the divider where there are speed breakers. I have seen a office cab a qualis @ that doing it and utos quite often. I dont know at least the bikers dont need to woory so much about mileage or travel time wasted. One good cam[paign would be to take pictures of these morons and post them on the lamp post ads on the airport road flyover with a message hopefully you are not one of these morons.

And driving on the platforms in 100 feet road while he rest wait @ the stop light. I guess the cabs can be better controlled and we need to make those phone calls to the "call if I'm driving rash".

[issigonis]

Lads,

My two pennies worth, analysing unpredictable-instinctive behaviour of drivers/riders in India :

1. An expert from one of the IITs had remarked in a published article ( don't have the reference now) that this behaviour is typical of less developed countries, especially relevant to South Asia. I think the reasoning went that due to centuries of poverty and want, people had become self centred and extremely short term in their behaviour pattern, which reflects in the way that we
i. never stop at a traffic signal, but inch our way forward
ii. never leave space between our car and the one ahead
iii. at turning points, never allow a car/vehicle to turn ( even if its been waiting patiently for a gap in the traffic to emerge), but speed up to deny the turn
iv. never have the patience to observe lane driving and switch lanes with no advance notice, forget about overtaking from the left
v. never allow a faster car to pass from the right, even if it has given notice of its intentions ( by sounding the horn and/or blinking its beam)

2. I think ( this is my personal opinion) that as a nation, we Indians lack civic sense, regardless of our socio-cultural-economic status, and that this serious lack is reflected not only in our execrable road manners but also in the way that we treat each other in private,in public, in our gender relations, in the casual way that we accept aberrant behaviour from our politicians-bureaucrats-powerful businessmen and crooks.

Unless we teach civic sense, right from the kindergarten level, our succeeding generations will continue to be boorish inhabitants of a great civilisation.

Regards

[vinaydas]

Originally Posted by cpyder

Ever observed? When the the signal turns green to yellow to caution you to slow down and stop, people actually floor the pedal try to beat the red light!! Exactly opposite of what was intended. If you are trying to take a U turn, or even trying to join in on a road, each one on that road just wants to beat you from doing it by, once again, speeding up. Especially true for two wheelers who would try to get past using maneuvers that would put an ace fighter pilot to shame.

most of the time you have to go with the flow . If you slow down or suddenly stop there is a high probability that you will get tailed by a cab or bus.
i always look in the RVM while approaching such situations if the guy behind me is too close i have no other go but to cross the signal while it is in orange.
Nowadays you get abuses from people behind you if you stop while the signal is orange.

[aerohit]

Originally Posted by johnniey

+1 to this. I totally agree with this statement. You can see people shoving and pushing others in queues. If one person is standing at a counter the other person will rest his elbow on one side and peek over the shoulder. We as Indians show least amount of respect towards others.

This behavior is also due to low education level in our society and education limited to just text books

I have to embarrassingly warn people to back off to a distance when i am dealing with the Bank Teller. I have had men stand next to me with leaning elbow on the counter. ^&$#!!! I am having a transaction here! Can you believe? The guy stood along with me, not behind me! And even when people are behind you, they come so close, that you can hear/smell them breathing! - These are same people who tailgate. They even beam you and honk you to drive fast, and push you to overtake that Bus ahead of you. Well, i understand that I should not slow down entire traffic behind me, or else i would be driving on the slow left side, but who is them to tell me that I should speed up if i dont feel safe!

Originally Posted by vinaydas

most of the time you have to go with the flow . If you slow down or suddenly stop there is a high probability that you will get tailed by a cab or bus.
i always look in the RVM while approaching such situations if the guy behind me is too close i have no other go but to cross the signal while it is in orange.
Nowadays you get abuses from people behind you if you stop while the signal is orange.

Look guys, if it is orange already, you better stop. If someone is bothering you, please show the finger, or signal them to pass you.

The reason is - if it is Orange/Red for you, it means it is Green for other side, and they will not hesitate to cross the road ASAP. This can lead to a disaster. Also it is green for pedestrians at the zebra crossing.

ALSO - during heavy traffic situations, people tend to create gridlock by sticking behind the car ahead of them while the signal has already turned Red , like a train!! The creates further problems for the adjacent side for whom it is already Green signal. They get blocked too! so dumb

[ZBlue]

A somewhat recent trend I have observed relates to people driving on the wrong side of the road in Gurgaon.. they will have their high beam , fog lamp hazard lights and maybe even their cabin lights [] on and flashing .. just to make sure everybody is aware of their presence

[theMAG]

This is not just due to lack of road etiquette by users so much as it is lack of a system. The fundamental requirement of any traffic system is to take away all guess-work from road users and to funnel them into well-designed channels.

Unfortunately, the Indian government doesnt recognize that traffic hygiene is a vital component in this country's growth to make it a must-do (like paying tax). Look at China.

[vinaydas]

another thing which i think needs stressing upon is speed.
driving fast is not a bad thing but driving fast on the expense of others safety and your own is not at all good.

I admit i Rip My car when ever im driving some people wont like it but when im driving on the fast lane and see some geek driving around 20-30kmph i tend to honk him out of the way not to mention before honking i usually use dim and dip etc but most of these guys donnot understand the meaning of dimming and dipping.
coincidentally many of these IT professionals in their 20s-30s tend to drive in such manner.
If you want to drive at your own pace please do so in the slow lane. well again its not entirely their fault. Bus guys ,auto guys even people on two wheelers drive on the faster lane.

[Rock 'n' rollz]

Originally Posted by vinaydas

... but when im driving on the fast lane and see some geek driving around 20-30kmph i tend to honk him out of the way not to mention before honking i usually use dim and dip etc but most of these guys donnot understand the meaning of dimming and dipping.
coincidentally many of these IT professionals in their 20s-30s tend to drive in such manner...

Is it written on their forehead that they are geek IT professionals?

Thats a very uncalled for statement. A bad driver is a bad driver irrespective of his/her profession, age, sex, religion, caste blah blah blah.

[aerohit]

Originally Posted by theMAG

Look at China.

I did look at China.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...raffic_jam.JPG


I speak to Chinese people at work. They know how to respect their culture and country. They have their funda clear about their country - "We are chinese and we are what we are", they say. Damn proud of they country and culture!

In contrast - Indians are like - We are Indians, but we kinda like being foreigners. They tend to hide things. So brainwashed that they disrespect their our currency, by calling it "Buck". They like to use phrases that contain terms like "million dollar" but we hardly say "million rupee" - that too in our own country. They fail to realize that by giving credit to dollar they are hurting Indian economy. Thank God Brazil and China have woken up!

Indians like to wear "i Love Ny" - so why are they here, why not leave this country.

Chinese are proud of their language, but in India, if i speak in english, i get more respect, but if i speak in Indian language, i am made fun of. Why am i looked down when i speak in Indian language that too in my own country?

We really dont know what we are and what we want. We really dont have a Funda defined. I dont think so. We just want a job thats all. I am able to compare because i have lived abroad half my life, I feel that Indians just like to accept all the trash they can receive and bow infront of outsiders.

I think Chinese system though harsh, is working well. Curroption = Death in China. Good for China!

[garry.brant]

If you want to see traffic etiquettes anywhere in India, you have to be in Gurgaon.
YES I AM BEING SARCASTIC

[goswami.j]

Well put DKG.
These are my thoughts each time I step down into my country (specially after a long business trip from cities like Singapore)