[Vijay T]

It was a nice long debate, discussion on right of way on signal as well as what rules say & mean.

At the end of the day we shouldn't forget we live & drive in India.

Question of following rules is never on the minds of majority of drivers nor we rule followers have the ability to teach them so.

So as many have written,it is always better to be cautious & careful.
Even then there will be accidents due to maniacs & idiots.

Lessons learnt,if you want to save your life & bank balance,better to invest in dashcam

[true_sedan]

A lot of BHPians especially in this thread always advise a car driver should do this do that. I can’t possibly fathom everyone doing everything to avoid an accident. It’s because nobody follow rules in our country and it’s a complete shitshow on the roads. It’s time we admit that our roads are making us sick, increasing our stress levels to the point that it’s hurting the longevity of our lives and negatively impacting our mental health. The last time I took out my car and went on a relaxed drive was a long time ago when the traffic was less and hence the number of morons. My advice is to use your car sparingly and it might contribute to a year or two of added healthy life.

[Sandy2345]

Originally Posted by avaneesh.

Now things get even confusing.
Red -> STOP
Yellow -> cross if possible
Green -> STOP look for pedestrians cyclists cows signal breakers and then pass if there's nothing blocking you?

Have always cursed our education system due to the misleading lessons taught in our schools regarding the signal systems.

What they taught in school:

Red ---> Stop
Yellow ---> Ready (Was never taught what to get ready for. Hence, most of us understood that it's 'Ready to Go' since Green is the next one, at least in the text books.)
Green ---> Go.

How it actually functions in the real world / How it should have been taught in the schools:

Green ---> Go. You have the right of way.
Yellow ---> Get ready to stop.
Red ---> Stop.

This is how it should have been taught in our schools i.e. in the reverse order. Sad that the root cause starts right from our childhood where basic rules like these are not taught properly leading to massive road accidents in our country. Driving schools are a different story though!

P.S: When the signal for our lane is green, pedestrians do not come in the picture since they are entitled to cross the road only when pedestrians' signal is on green or when the particular lane is in red with the vehicles stopped.

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by Sandy2345

What they taught in school:

Red ---> Stop
Yellow ---> Ready (Was never taught what to get ready for. Hence, most of us understood that it's 'Ready to Go' since Green is the next one, at least in the text books.)
Green ---> Go.

For drivers, red (in India at least) is never followed by yellow. So not sure why or how this was taught in school. Also, to my recollection, at least for us, what school taught is traffic signals from a pedestrian standpoint so the emphasis was on things like crossing the road - and to that end - look right, left and right again and then cross; cross at zebra crossings; flashing green for pedestrian signal means its going to turn to red etc.

At best, if the above was taught, I can only guess it might have been reading car signals from a pedestrian standpoint - i.e. when its yellow, the cars’ light is going to turn red so the pedestrian may get ready to cross when the pedestrian signal turns green.

To the limited extent they did in fact touch on traffic signals for cars, what is written below is how I at least recollect it.

How it actually functions in the real world / How it should have been taught in the schools:

Green ---> Go. You have the right of way.
Yellow ---> Get ready to stop.
Red ---> Stop.

This is how it should have been taught in our schools i.e. in the reverse order.

[electric_eel]

Originally Posted by Axe77

For drivers, red (in India at least) is never followed by yellow. So not sure why or how this was taught in school.

I was reminded of the following "words of wisdom" from one of my taxi drivers on why he thinks UP traffic is the best (as opposed to the rest of India). "Sir rajasthan mai red light pe rukna padtha hai" where as it was never the case in Kanpur city

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by true_sedan

A lot of BHPians especially in this thread always advise a car driver should do this do that. I can’t possibly fathom everyone doing everything to avoid an accident. ...

It is what defensive driving is about: driving so as not to have an accident. Yes, all the time.

It is an ever-growing skill, and we are not perfect, and even those of us that profess the philosophy and practice will have lapses and make mistakes. I certainly don't find that it takes away from the pleasure of driving. I think it adds to it.

OK, sometimes the actions of another are so bad, stupid and dangerous (often to themselves more than me) I do get angry. Mostly, I have learned that the general stuff is what it is, and work with it, not against it is the way to not only reach one's destination, but do so with one's blood pressure normal. Is that obvious? I'd have to confess that it is only in the last couple of years that I have realised and adopted that philosophy.

[electric_eel]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

It is what defensive driving is about: driving so as not to have an accident. Yes, all the time. It is an ever-growing skill, and we are not perfect, and even those of us that profess the philosophy and practice will have lapses and make mistakes.

I am one of the later learners of driving (late 30's learner, first generation car owner) but I was always a "car" person (rather driving person) even before having any hope to owning one. Being some one who likes theory, I was naturally attracted to the concept of defensive driving and while taking driving lessons was some one who spent more time on the theory than getting the clutch control right . May be it has got to do with being
a late learner and/or my profession as a teacher.

I certainly don't find that it takes away from the pleasure of driving. I think it adds to it.

I completely agree. Driving rashly has a kick but let us admit any fool can drive rashly (there is indeed an inherent kick in doing risky and foolish things in life). However, once you are on the path of defensive driving, I feel the kick is far superior. I can recall (and mind you bore any listener/victim) with my exploits of anticipation like a retired army uncle can recall his exploits on the battle field. I feel defensive driving enhances the pleasure of driving much more with almost zero increase in driving time and infinite decrease in driving fatigue.

OK, sometimes the actions of another are so bad, stupid and dangerous (often to themselves more than me) I do get angry. Mostly, I have learned that the general stuff is what it is, and work with it, not against it is the way to not only reach one's destination, but do so with one's blood pressure normal. Is that obvious? I'd have to confess that it is only in the last couple of years that I have realised and adopted that philosophy.

Yes, among the defensive driving skills anger control is the most difficult (for me). But then I realised I do not get angry by the stupid things I anticipated correctly. After all a correct anticipation is a win for us in defensive driving worth boasting over in the next conversation. It is the stupid things that we did not anticipate that makes us angry. As our model of the MoR (moron on road) improves our anger reduces.

[abhishekjoshi84]

Another accident with truck parked on highway, Car driver speeding and not paying attention resulting in 6 lives lost.

https://youtu.be/x8DKCzyCdlE?si=hD2HRhKUoER9zH6p

[Arwin07]

Originally Posted by abhishekjoshi84

Another accident with truck parked on highway, Car driver speeding and not paying attention resulting in 6 lives lost.

https://Youtu.be/x8DKCzyCdlE?si=hD2HRhKUoER9zH6p

https://youtube.com/watch?v=6V-yXGUh...BNQrFTNX3lXLW9

The truck was parked on a busy highway- major culprit.
Carelessness on the part of Omni driver to avoid the truck- either the truck did not have reflective lighting and so appeared to the speeding Omni driver at the last minute or the Omni driver was not paying attention to the road ahead.

6 people died on the spot. RIP.

The truck did not have rear under-run bars. The Omni completely got buried under the over hang of the truck due to the collision leaving no chance of survival to the occupants.

Had the truck had a break down, a reflective triangle should have been placed well ahead. But that's not the case. The truck fled soon after the accident.

If the truck did not have reflective stickers, did not have rear under run bar, what is the duty of RTO and traffic police?
The truck driver must be punished for more than involuntary manslaughter (causing death by road traffic accident) but by culpable homicide.

[chaitanyakrish]

Originally Posted by Arwin07

https://Youtube.com/watch?v=6V-yXGUh...BNQrFTNX3lXLW9

The truck was parked on a busy highway- major culprit.

The truck is parked inside the road shoulder. It's the mistake by the Omni driver to drive on the road shoulder.



https://www.dinamani.com/tamilnadu/2...r-4068021.html

[Dhillon]

Happened somewhere in Delhi. The victim is lucky to have escaped with minor injuries and only loss of his mobile phone (completely his mistake and foolishness to use mobile while riding ).
I am also surprised by these innovative ways of stealing.

Skip to 57 seconds

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FlgCOf4qZk

[locusjag]

Originally Posted by chaitanyakrish

The truck is parked inside the road shoulder. It's the mistake by the Omni driver to drive on the road shoulder.

The news article (link placed by you) quotes the Collector as having said that trucks shouldn't be parked by the side of the highway. And I agree with what's been said.

It's human to err, which is why margins (or other safety provisions) are to be provided. As an example, we provide parapet walls on home terraces for this reason; we can't just say that it's the responsibility of people to avoid falling off the ledge.

In this case, the safety margin is the shoulder by the side of the highway. It is meant only for emergency stoppages, not for truckers to take a snooze over there. If the truck weren't there, the damage to the lives of the Omni's occupants would have been significantly lesser - even if the vehicles had completely veered off the highway.

and in the developed world, vehicles stopped in the shoulder get investigated by the cops for the same reason.

[srvm]

Originally Posted by locusjag

The news article (link placed by you) quotes the Collector as having said that trucks shouldn't be parked by the side of the highway. And I agree with what's been said.

It's human to err, which is why margins (or other safety provisions) are to be provided. As an example, we provide parapet walls on home terraces for this reason; we can't just say that it's the responsibility of people to avoid falling off the ledge.
......

I too read that article written in Tamil. I felt it is a ridiculous order by the collector. Our NHs have woefully inadequate spaces/laybys for trucks to park. There are too many trucks and too few laybys. Kindly see this order from the perspective of an overworked, underappreciated truck driver.

Issuing orders without providing alternatives is common among our netas and bureaucrats

And don't compare our roads, road manners, cops, highway patrol etc. with developed world. They are literally world apart.

What was the car driver doing in shoulder lane at those speeds?

[locusjag]

Originally Posted by srvm

And don't compare our roads, road manners, cops, highway patrol etc. with developed world. They are literally world apart.

I had the same thoughts myself - believe you me sir! Piecemeal solutions don't work, that's true. If truckers don't get safe rest stops, where else will they sleep? Assuming that this particular highway lacks rest areas, that's a valid point. A caveat here is that - even if rest areas are provided, many highway users (not just truckers) do not provide sufficient margins and just stop on the shoulder for frivolous reasons.

I'm guilty of having done that as well on multiple occasions. The shoulder is not at all a safe place to stop at, for those who park their 2 wheelers or cars there.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by locusjag

The shoulder is not at all a safe place to stop at, for those who park their 2 wheelers or cars there.

In Britain, it is illegal to stop on the hard shoulder of a motorway except in emergency. A friend of mine was fined for stopping to attend to a very desperate need to urinate! No, that wasn't considered an emergency.

Further, there is a standing advice/instruction, that when stopping is unavoidable due to breakdown, driver and passenger should get out of the car and move away from the road while they wait for help. It seems that accidents on the shoulder happen regularly and it is a really dangerous place to be.

(This was all new to me, and I have have heard it since I gave up being a British driver and became an Indian one. I have sat in broken-down car on the motorway shoulder two or three times)