[watashi75]

Originally Posted by rjvora_2000

All said and done. but what if you are standing on a signal and someone comes and dash you from behind.

At signals, keep the brakes pressed so that the brake lights are on. It helps to have a vehicle with high brake lights.

Also keep the gear lever in slot with clutch pressed so that you don't hit the vehicle in front even if your brake leg get displaced during the collision.

[Bubby]

Originally Posted by rjvora_2000

All said and done. but what if you are standing on a signal and someone comes and dash you from behind.

I had faced this and had to spend Rs. 35000 on my optra.

Sorry to hear that.

Incidents like this can't be avoided even i have faced such incidents, but i dont take myself as responsible for that, as the car was still, such things do happen in conjested parkings as well.

When you are standing still, your driving skill is not involved, its as good as a car without a driver.

I take responsibility of wheels only when the car is in motion and that is when i take all burden of responsibilities on myself and if then something happens to my car then i would myself be responsible for it.

Thoughts.

[rjvora_2000]

Originally Posted by watashi75

At signals, keep the brakes pressed so that the brake lights are on. It helps to have a vehicle with high brake lights.

Also keep the gear lever in slot with clutch pressed so that you don't hit the vehicle in front even if your brake leg get displaced during the collision.

This accident happened at 10.00 A.M. in bright sunny morning. The person who banged my car was a biker whose breaks got failed.

[zen91]

I would like to call it as your- Judgement skills- on overtaking a vehicle,letting the other vehicle overtake you,your keen observation on the oncoming vehicle,avoid overtaking on curved roads and above all keep a 360 degree view(with the help of rear view mirrors) on all that is happening while driving.

[watashi75]

Originally Posted by rjvora_2000

This accident happened at 10.00 A.M. in bright sunny morning. The person who banged my car was a biker whose breaks got failed.

Well, I guess in that case you could not have done anything! But I think this brake failure excuse is over used by people. Brakes do not fail but degrade progressively. There is always an indication beforehand.

[Anthym]

Originally Posted by Bubby

On 2 lanes highways, if you wish to travel faster then the most always opt to keep your car on the centre white strips on the road, as this would give you enough space on either sides to budge in case of an emergency.

So with this are you effectively saying we should be driving bang in the middle of the road.

Originally Posted by zen91

I would like to call it as your- Judgement skills- on overtaking a vehicle,letting the other vehicle overtake you,your keen observation on the oncoming vehicle,avoid overtaking on curved roads and above all keep a 360 degree view(with the help of rear view mirrors) on all that is happening while driving.

Good point about the 360 view.
Most of the times I have seen guys driving around with their left side rear view mirrors folded in. In fact a couple of cars didnt even have one, especially earlier version of Altos which had only the right side rear view in the base model.
I conciously avoid been anywhere near them since its shows that the driver utterly lacks driving sense.

[Bubby]

Originally Posted by Anthym

So with this are you effectively saying we should be driving bang in the middle of the road.

Hi there, i precisely mentioned only when you wish to travel faster/at higher speed as compared to others or else you will become a standing block and will have to face enjoy some real good music from drivers coming from behind in a faster moving car then yours.

So this is only when you are really on the move.

[harry2223]

i want to clarify with my friends who are pointing here others as bad drivers that
what if someone hits from backside while standing on redlights is its your fault if it is your than how??
what if you are overtaking some vehicle and it makes a sharp cut to avoid a pothole is it your fault ??
if some one hits your parked car while reversing his vehicle is it your fault??
if some idiot jumping red light hits your car over a crossing it is your fault??
what if a animal comes in front of your car when you are at 100kmph is it your fault??
what if a overloaded truck rolls in front of your car is it your fault??
there are thousands of such cases

the one who claims he/she is the safest driver and havent crashed in indian trafic should praise his/her luck not driving skills.

[suman]

Originally Posted by anujmishra

I am driving for past 15 years, never had touched any vehicle. I have driven in length and breadth of India.

Sharp your anticipation skills. It will good for you and others on road too.

Wow, must say you are really lucky. And a very good driver, obviously

About the anticipation bit, what happens if you are rear-ended (even if you can see it about to happen)?

Or, say, you're waiting at a signal & a two-wheeler tries to pass through a non-existent gap, taking out your ORVM in the process?

Or, say, you're cruising along within the speed limit, keeping your eyes & ears open - a car somewhere behind you, outside your normal field of vision, taps a two-wheeler who is going at a fair lick. The rider loses control completely & comes & slams into your left side front door at an angle, leaving a huge dent. Even when you see him slithering towards you, you know he's going to hit you but - you have nowhere to go (you are on the extreme right hand lane, he's coming too fast for it to make a difference whether you stop or floor the accelerator & try to get out of the way).

Sometimes, anticipation doesn't make any difference.

[amitoj]

Originally Posted by suman

Or, say, you're cruising along within the speed limit, keeping your eyes & ears open - a car somewhere behind you, outside your normal field of vision, taps a two-wheeler who is going at a fair lick. The rider loses control completely & comes & slams into your left side front door at an angle, leaving a huge dent.
Sometimes, anticipation doesn't make any difference.

Suman, i had asked something similar on another thread:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/1090938-post58.html

i was given all sorts of replies by the alleged gurus of accident free driving, except a satisfactory one. Its something akin to ostrich burying its head in the sand when such accident-free theories are questioned.

EDIT: Arent we a little OT here, by the way?

[anujmishra]

Originally Posted by suman

Wow, must say you are really lucky. And a very good driver, obviously

About the anticipation bit, what happens if you are rear-ended (even if you can see it about to happen)?

Or, say, you're waiting at a signal & a two-wheeler tries to pass through a non-existent gap, taking out your ORVM in the process?

Or, say, you're cruising along within the speed limit, keeping your eyes & ears open - a car somewhere behind you, outside your normal field of vision, taps a two-wheeler who is going at a fair lick. The rider loses control completely & comes & slams into your left side front door at an angle, leaving a huge dent. Even when you see him slithering towards you, you know he's going to hit you but - you have nowhere to go (you are on the extreme right hand lane, he's coming too fast for it to make a difference whether you stop or floor the accelerator & try to get out of the way).

Sometimes, anticipation doesn't make any difference.

I am a safe driver who drives car always inside limit and I stick to this principle and it helps me too much. Otherwise, I was one of the poster of this thread where "Several Times" or 7 or 8 times my vehicle being rammed by others.

I also said this can be possible for 1 or 2 times not several times.

Mr. harry2223 came up with long list of other's errors. I must add what if you are driving and suddenly Mars or Jupiter or anything fell from top. This kind of list only giving excuses and there is no end. Read all accidents reports in TeamBHP and let me know how much percentage of those accidents were actually caused by mistake of others.

Practice safe driving man, it is for your own interest and if you practice safe driving next time you would not be posting something like I had accidents "Several Times". It is not something which will earn you a reputation.

It seems this thread is moving towards OT. Hope we can stop here.

[phamilyman]

Anuj ji,

Now we're being pedantic here. Suman has valid points, over and above your excellent insight. Let's not push the discussion.

Let's post more accident pics.

[harry2223]

i want to clarify to mr. anujmishra that we are the controller of our vehicle on the road not of all the vehicles around a good driver can not control bad drivers around him . if someone met with accident due to others negligence than its his bad luck , should he stop driving because he met with accident due to someone others mistake.i agree if someone has not crashed up in trafic than its due to his good driving and it is his luck that he never had an encounter with any bad drivers

[akroy]

Originally Posted by anujmishra

Practice safe driving man, it is for your own interest and if you practice safe driving next time you would not be posting something like I had accidents "Several Times". It is not something which will earn you a reputation.

It seems this thread is moving towards OT. Hope we can stop here.

I think Anuj has a valid point. Even if you are careful a one-off incident might happen which is unfortunate which you as a driver will know that was unavoidable.
But these things dont get repeated as the person in the previous post said (7 times or 9 times). What I have seen in this thread about the accidents is that, more often the driver was at fault in some way or the other.

As Anuj said, we as drivers need to develop the art of anticipation to anticipate things that follow.

Way back in 2003, Same funda was given to me by 55 yr old man (a cab driver) with 35yrs of driving exp in South India when I asked him what kind of attitude I should cultivate to become a good driver (I didnot know driving then and I joined the driving class after that).

Abhi

[Dine]

Originally Posted by Bubby

I am driving for past 14 years, some 3.10 lakh of kms. with types of Vehicles on different highways of Northern India and obviously in Delhi city traffic.

Some...
85000kms on a Hero Honda Splendor ( Sold )
45000kms on a Maruti Van ( Sold )
80000kms on a Maruti Esteem ( Sold )
50000kms on a Wagon R ( Sold )
17500kms on a Aveo
17000kms on a Chevy Spark
2500kms on a Palio SDX

But till date i have not crashed into anybody, nor have i allowed anybody to crash on me ( many have tried to but failed ),as you said it not depends on only you, it depends on other drivers on the road as well.

The key is, in city or on a highway, have as many options as possible with yourself, as you never know what may happen.

On a single lane highway only overtake when you are like 200% sure that yes you will make it or else just dont even think about it.

On a 3 lane or more then 3 lane expressways never use the right lane, no matter what speed you are travelling at always stay in the middle lane, the reason you never know that a vehicle coming from the opposite side may loose control and jump the divider and come towards you.

On 2 lanes highways, if you wish to travel faster then the most always opt to keep your car on the centre white strips on the road, as this would give you enough space on either sides to budge in case of an emergency.

Hope these tips would help you all. These are just from my practical experiences and thats about it, so nothing against anybodies driving ability.

I wonder what made you to think like this after driving all these kilometers - "no matter what speed you are travelling at always stay in the middle lane ". I disagree with you on this
Its always best to take the lane based on the speed we drive. We need to be considerate while driving on the road.