[lsp]

Originally Posted by SDP

...
In US, there is no compromise on the basics during the testing. If you fail to look over your shoulder while doing a lane change, it is considered as a "unsafe lane change" which is a "critical error". A single "critical error" means you fail the test and need to reappear after at least a week's additional practice. Encroach on the cross-walk/zebra-crossing and its a critical error. Forgot to turn and look backwards while reversing the car? Its "critical error". What this ensures is that only people with good basic skills get on to the road. People who forget/ignore these skills after getting the license eventually accumulate enough points on their record where the license gets revoked (and are thus taken off the road).
...

Absolutely right SDP.

Would like to share about another critical error.

As part of my driving test the last thing the inspector asked me to do was parallel park. Uptil then I had taken him around for a 3-4 km spin during which he asked me to do a few things like lane change etc. 4 orange cones were kept near a curb, above a rectangle in white, and the inspector said one thing "If any of the cones gets knocked down, I will fail you!".

I was using a rental car and imagine which car it was - Dodge Charger. In hindsight, I think Toyota Corolla/Yaris would have a piece of cake.

[SDP]

Originally Posted by opendro

Great compilation. Just a minor mistake. You seemed to have copied the following line from US (right hand drive). For Indian driving, if you are turning right, you wait for oncoming traffic going straight (so far good), but you don't wait for a vehicle which is going to turn left to enter the same road you will enter after your right turn. Instead, the other person should yield.

http://www.chandigarhtrafficpolice.org/right_of_way.php
Driver turning left using a slip lane must give way to any vehicles on the road. He should give way to a vehicle that is coming straight or turning right into the road the driver is about to enter.

Their flashes used to work long ago. Many of them don't work now.

[Edit:] You seem to be right. The above rule is for slip lanes. I referred another right hand driving country: http://www.tmr.qld.gov.au/Safety/Que...iving-way.aspx (Giving way when turning right)

Thank you for reading carefully!
That actually helps to make the information more accurate and complete.

Although I had taken care to flip all images and swap all left-right text references from the US reference material, I did check once again. Saw your edit as well. The information that I posted earlier is correct.

Right-Of-Way is a decently complex concept when you consider all permutation-combinations. In order to avoid confusion, I have listed only the major scenarios at an "uncontrolled intersection". When there are traffic signals and/or yield/stop signs at an intersecttion, "who should yield" is sort of obvious. So excluded those. In US, as you know, there is a "free right turn" at many places and at an uncontrolled intersection, the car taking that right turn has a right of way over the one turning left from opposite direction. In Indian context, it would be the free-left-turn car having the right of way.

I have updated the image to show the scenario more completely:

BTW, thanks for the "slip lane". I did not know that those are called as "slip lanes". I leant something new today!

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by SDP

Yes, I meant 1-1.5 feet off the vertical-axis of the car in front. Sorry for the confusion!

I would recommend that your cousin, when coming to a stop at a traffic light, stick to the centre of the lane he wishes to follow subsequently, rather than aligning his car dead-centre with the car in front, who might in turn be straddling lanes and/or trying to squeeze through a gap between cars that's about 1" less wide than his car is.

Originally Posted by Nonstop-driver

The idea came up from a company advisory on drivng in foggy conditions:

I protested to it, to no avail. People simply don't listen!

Team-BHP advisory on driving safely in foggy conditions coming up in a day or two. Tells you about exactly why blinking hazard lights are not to be used in fog. Hang on for a while, then you can forward the thread to others in your office!

[proton]

A good rule of thumb for any combination of circumstances is give way to traffic approaching toward driver side.

In California, we had to answer 50 percenth of the given questions.

Nice reminder of the look ovet shoulder rule for lane change and reversing manoeuvres.

Would that some corporate house with a sense of social responsibility sponsor a seies of tv shorts with this information.

Great job. Thanks for giving to the forum.

[anekho]

Really, really, really comprehensive thread SDP. Well laid out and easy to follow. Thank you for sharing.

[ecenandu]

Originally Posted by SDP

8. There are multiple ways of steering. e.g. Pull-Push method and Hand-Over method. The Pull-Push method is recommended.

Thank you for this wonderful thread SDP.

Just wondering how many of you guys use the Pull - Push method. After reading this thread, I tried the Pull Push method, it was slow(obviously, with practice it will come more naturally) but just wondering whether I am the only one not using this technique.

BTW I am not using the hand- over method as well, but when I turn, its always my right hand that does the turning, left hand will be always at 10 O'clock position.

[naut]

SDP,

Thanks a lot for the effort bud! Great initiative. Rated the thread a well deserved 5 stars.


Mods,

Wouldn't it be good to have a dedicated section on driving skills and park the threads such as this and a few others from the Mods like "Safe Highway driving, Night Driving" etc high up there?

Pardon me, if I have not noticed one already. May be we should have a team-bhp driving test/quiz that people can take at their own pace after going through all the material - GRE style . A good way for us to check if we have assimilated the content correctly.

Naut

[mkpiyengar]

@ SDP
Great compilation and Kudos to your effort to type out all the details from the Driving Manuals.

It took me few months to get used to driving in India after returning from US.
Few e.g:
1. No Honking in US. In India always Honk. At least that is what the truck says. Also, In pune you need to grab attention of bikers speaking on phone in one hand, balancing bike in another with rear view mirror closed.

2. High Beam Pass. No one understands. They must be thinking the light switch is broken. May end up fusing by light bulbs.

3. Driving with lights during day. I've been waved multiple times by bikers telling me " Light Chalu Hai "

4. Look behind while reversing. There is an interesting bit here, once in my colony when I was reversing looking behind, one gentlemen was coming from front of the vehicle and since i was trying to parallel park was going diagonal across. Now, this uncle comes beside the driver side and asks me where are you looking ?

You should look in front and drive, wondering how i got my license. I was left amused.

5. Lastly, In Pune city, people switch on indicators just before turning and turn immediately. If you do not keep safe distance they will say, "Indicator dikhta nahin hai kya"

Cheers
MKP

[carzone]

Thats a very informative thread and I love TeamBHP for this! GTO's informative threads on driving and now this covering all the basics.
I know that you have worked very hard on compiling this thread and I salute you for this.

The pictures and the videos are a great composition and serve the purpose to the core.

All that you have mentioned, if followed in India, no doubt that India will be a pleasure to drive. I hope that Indian driving schools not only give proper driving lessons, but also some audio visual stuff like these videos that might embed the Pictures/videos in the drivers mind. This might be of great help IMO. Some kind of version of this thread would be great!

Thanks once more SDP for this wonderful compilation. This is indeed going to be of great help to those who want to learn PROPER driving.

[SDP]

Originally Posted by anekho

Really, really, really comprehensive thread SDP. Well laid out and easy to follow. Thank you for sharing.

Thanks anekho! I have bookmarked your Swedish license thread. Pretty sure its going to be a good read. Keeping it for the weekend so that I can read it in a single seating!

Originally Posted by ecenandu

Thank you for this wonderful thread SDP.

Just wondering how many of you guys use the Pull - Push method. After reading this thread, I tried the Pull Push method, it was slow(obviously, with practice it will come more naturally) but just wondering whether I am the only one not using this technique.

BTW I am not using the hand- over method as well, but when I turn, its always my right hand that does the turning, left hand will be always at 10 O'clock position.

You are right. The pull-push method is for regular use and hand-over-hand is for quick turning. We are so used to having one hand permanently engaged in the gear-shift that we steer with one hand. Even I steer as if there is a virtual knob on the steering. I also let the wheel slip through the hands, but need to get out of that habit. Have been surprised by sudden jerking a couple of times.

Originally Posted by naut

SDP,

Thanks a lot for the effort bud! Great initiative. Rated the thread a well deserved 5 stars.


Mods,

Wouldn't it be good to have a dedicated section on driving skills and park the threads such as this and a few others from the Mods like "Safe Highway driving, Night Driving" etc high up there?

Pardon me, if I have not noticed one already. May be we should have a team-bhp driving test/quiz that people can take at their own pace after going through all the material - GRE style . A good way for us to check if we have assimilated the content correctly.

Naut

Thanks for the rating Naut! Interesting suggestion there in terms of having a quiz/test! Most Indian drivers are so confident about their knowledge as well as their skill that I am pretty sure very few people are even going to read this material. Many would most likely be offended by the suggestion of taking a test/quiz! :-)

I have seen that in US as well. A room-mate said "I have been driving in India since last 5 years, I don't need to read that driver's manual". Ended up failing the written test!

Originally Posted by mkpiyengar

@ SDP
Great compilation and Kudos to your effort to type out all the details from the Driving Manuals.

It took me few months to get used to driving in India after returning from US.
Few e.g:
1. No Honking in US. In India always Honk. ...
Cheers
MKP

Thanks for sharing the experiences AFTER returning to India. Many of us have such interesting stories. When I do a shoulder check over my left shoulder, I have seen the conversation on the back-seat suddenly stopping and they looking at me confused. Once a cousin seating in the back actually asked me - why do you keep looking back every now and then. Do you need something?

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by mkpiyengar

...people switch on indicators just before turning and turn immediately. If you do not keep safe distance they will say, "Indicator dikhta nahin hai kya"

LOL - the opposite happened to me 2 days ago. I had my left turn indicator on about 300m before the turn, and positioned in the left lane, with some space left from the footpath because there was a lot of sand there. A biker without helmet, carrying a male pillion without helmet (remember, this is Delhi, and helmet rule is enforced quite well here), decided to overtake me from the left, completely ignoring my indicator.

I was about to turn in when I noticed him, aborted the turn, and stopped. The biker lost control in the sand and crashed. Gets up and comes to me, and says, "Chalana nahin ata hai kya?" (Don't you know how to drive?) Fellow looked like one of those rustic louts who have nothing better to do than pick a fight. I started to wave to a traffic cop across the road, and the fellow disappeared rather quickly.

I have a small scratch on the side cladding to show for the encounter. The location, for those who know Delhi, was at Andheria Mor, travelling from Ghitorni and taking a left into Vasant Kunj. You know how big the crossing is there.

[naut]

Originally Posted by SDP

Thanks anekho! I have bookmarked your Swedish license thread. Pretty sure its going to be a good read. Keeping it for the weekend so that I can read it in a single seating!

You are right. The pull-push method is for regular use and hand-over-hand is for quick turning. We are so used to having one hand permanently engaged in the gear-shift that we steer with one hand. Even I steer as if there is a virtual knob on the steering. I also let the wheel slip through the hands, but need to get out of that habit. Have been surprised by sudden jerking a couple of times.

Thanks for the rating Naut! Interesting suggestion there in terms of having a quiz/test! Most Indian drivers are so confident about their knowledge as well as their skill that I am pretty sure very few people are even going to read this material. Many would most likely be offended by the suggestion of taking a test/quiz! :-)

I have seen that in US as well. A room-mate said "I have been driving in India since last 5 years, I don't need to read that driver's manual". Ended up failing the written test!

Thanks for sharing the experiences AFTER returning to India. Many of us have such interesting stories. When I do a shoulder check over my left shoulder, I have seen the conversation on the back-seat suddenly stopping and they looking at me confused. Once a cousin seating in the back actually asked me - why do you keep looking back every now and then. Do you need something?

Careful bud!

You've got three smiley's I the post.

BTW, agree that not many people might take the test. However, having a section with such invaluable threads parked for everyone to learn might help users.

Naut

[Kwanza]

Amazing post indeed.

I recently moved to India from Kenya and was struck by a little thing.

Back in Kenya, if I stop the car and give way to someone else (either car or pedestrian) to pass, they wave to me. The same is reciprocated when it I get way. Something great; makes you wanna be courteous the next time.

In India, the guy you gave way to wouldn't give a rat's *** about you.

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by Nonstop-driver

...usage of indicators and hazard lights in rain/fog. The idea came up from a company advisory on drivng in foggy conditions:

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

Team-BHP advisory on driving safely in foggy conditions...
...you can forward the thread to others in your office!

So here's the link: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/owning...iving-fog.html.

[roy_libran]

The concept of "Right of Way" that was described on the first page, and the consequent simple rules like - Preference to vehicle on your right, Preference to Pedestrians, and Courtesy, just DO NOT work for our country.
Every time I have come back to India, after any extended stint in Europe, I have tried to practice this but within a few hours, have ended up feeling like a fool. Initially I thought that people take advantage of you (in such situations), because very few other people would reciprocate that courtesy to you. However, increasingly, I have come to realize that the real problem is not Only due to the general attitude of the people, rather, the number of them!
I have slowed down and stopped at pedestrian crossings which are not controlled by Red Lights, to allow a bunch of 15-20 people to pass safely. However, it becomes an endless river of people, who just would not give you your way. Plus, the traffic piles up behind you and are continuously honking and gesticulating. So, what do you do? You start punching a way through the crowd.
Same thing happens when giving preference to vehicles on your right!

I really don't think that the right of way concept can be extended to this country, especially in the metros and big cities. This problem needs a solution unique to India.