Team-BHP > Road Safety


Reply
  Search this Thread
212,027 views
Old 31st May 2014, 23:24   #136
Newbie
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Chennai
Posts: 2
Thanked: 0 Times
Re: Things they don’t teach you at an Indian driving school

Hello everyone,

I have a query about large engined petrol cars ( Indian context ). 1500cc +

I currently drive a 2006 Maruti Alto 800 with about 85000 kms on the odometer.

To me, driving the Alto 800 in start stop traffic is a pain as we have to simultaneously release the clutch while giving a little acceleration in first gear to move smoothly in first gear. And my car, being pretty old and a second hand at that has a very vague shifting gear box and there is a lot of clutch vibration at slow speeds. The car jerks and lunges at slow speeds. There is a need to ride the clutch a bit to make things smooth.

I am about to get a Toyota Corolla 1.8 Petrol manual, I was wondering if, generally, larger engined petrol cars can move off from a stop without acceleration in first gear. ( Much like diesels which have more low end torque )
sk2689 is offline  
Old 4th January 2015, 12:52   #137
BHPian
 
sunilyk's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Pune
Posts: 28
Thanked: 16 Times
Re: Things they don’t teach you at an Indian driving school

Brilliant compilation. The mirror adjustment is just fantastic. I already had seen these videos on you tube and recently have done changes in mirrors adjustments. Initially it was difficult to accustom with but after one to two days I got used to with it. One thing is very important to note that as soon as the bike / car disappears from the rear view mirror, it should appear in your right or left side view mirror. Mirrors are not there to view how your car looks like at the back corner :-). So adjusting them as suggested in the videos will really help. I have found it useful in spotting the bikers going closely from both the sides. And it also helps while you are merging into the highway to spot the incoming car in that lane.
sunilyk is offline  
Old 3rd February 2015, 17:31   #138
BHPian
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Thane
Posts: 26
Thanked: 16 Times
Re: Things they don’t teach you at an Indian driving school

Folks, need some guidance on a particular issue that I've been facing of late. I have a April 2014 i20(1.2 P) Asta. Often while up shifting from 2nd to 3rd gear often there's a violent jerk (as if the car is being thrown forward) & the RPMs go through the roof (around 3 - 4K).
I try to up-shift only 1500+RPM in 2nd gear or as suggest by the gear shift indicator, but even then I've experienced this.
I'm trying to avoid this by up-shifting to 3rd gear only when the speed is around 32+ km/hr.

Just wanted some advice on whether it's on account of my driving style (up-shifting at too low a speed/ rpm), I'm suspecting it to be a problem with my throttle & clutch coordination. To overcome this I usually give it a little more gas than required take the rpm to around 2K (speed 32+ Km/hr).

Also, is it possible that I may have damaged the car (clutch) on account of accidentally up-shifting at a low speed ?
DasAuto is offline  
Old 5th February 2015, 14:19   #139
BHPian
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 182
Thanked: 90 Times
Re: Things they don’t teach you at an Indian driving school

Quote:
Originally Posted by sk2689 View Post
I was wondering if, generally, larger engined petrol cars can move off from a stop without acceleration in first gear. ( Much like diesels which have more low end torque )
In my experience, answer is yes they can, unless there is a steep incline. However, I dont think this is related only to engine size/capacity. My old Ikon Flair (1.3 L engine) would move off without touching the accelerator too. Same for my wife's petrol Vento. I'm not sure, but this could have something to do with engine tuning by the different manufacturers, rather than just engine cc related.
floyd is offline  
Old 14th February 2015, 23:50   #140
BHPian
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Gudalur, Nilgir
Posts: 49
Thanked: 155 Times
Re: Things they don’t teach you at an Indian driving school

After having experienced Indian Traffic movement for the past three months, I can unequivocally say that the big burden is to enable half a billion people to understand the concept of " right of way" ; once they get this concept, queues will be straight lines with FIFO , traffic will flow smoothly, there will be all round peace and joy in driving from Point A to Point B without it taking two hours to traverse a meager distance of 10 miles! But the 500 million strong question is : who will bell this cat (of right of way) when every joker who cuts in front of me thinks that there must be something wrong with my testosterone levels if I insist on driving within a lane, or in a straight line and giving way to straight through traffic
epijay is offline   (3) Thanks
Old 16th February 2015, 11:21   #141
BHPian
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Pune
Posts: 375
Thanked: 846 Times
Re: Things they don’t teach you at an Indian driving school

Apart from right of way, driving within your lane is also something that I think many driving schools give a pass. On curves, driving within your lane requires skill, practice, patience and of course, recognizing the fact that the other driver who is calmly driving in his / her lane has an equal right to be on the road.

I think one of the ways to achieve keeping to your lane (specially on curves) is to keep an eye on the lane marker lines (white lines ) or the edge of the road and turn the steering as an when the road curves. Keep a good leash on the speed and you should be fine.

Nowadays I totally expect the other person to come very close me while turning since only a select few can keep to their lane. Sometimes even on straight roads I see cars drifting / oscillating between the marker lines.
luvDriving is offline   (2) Thanks
Old 9th March 2015, 13:05   #142
BHPian
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: KA03
Posts: 809
Thanked: 2,850 Times
Driving Instructor parallel braking (and other dirty tricks)

Warn people who are about to join a driving school about these:

I don't know if you've come across this - the driving instructor surreptitiously applies brakes for the student driver. I don't think this is done intentionally, but does mess up the learner's judgement and later on the real instructor (you, dear reader) has to do the "de-instruction" and re-instruction.

And as part of the above, instructor also seems to be pressing the clutch to prevent stalling!

I've also noticed that the idle is set too high so just releasing the clutch will move the driving-school-car easily and the student will stall the actual car as pressing the accelerator was not part of the instructions.

Guys tend to have a better insight into the mechanical workings of a car, but the fairer sex generally doesn't have a clue. I wish experience riding a geared bicycle (or even a geared tricycle) would be a considered a prerequisite to driving school admission.
mvadg is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 10th April 2015, 16:35   #143
BHPian
 
g_saunak's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Kolkata
Posts: 55
Thanked: 64 Times
Re: Things they don’t teach you at an Indian driving school

I really am spellbound after reading this amazing thread. Mods, please put this article's link at the Home Page of Team-BHP. I am a newbie driver and have been driving around for only about a year now. I truely believe I could really turn myself into a much better driver in the coming days after reading this. I have been doing so many things wrong and so many misconceptions were there. It also, teaches a very hard core truth that I can't expect everyone to follow all of these. But who cares, I will follow these with my heart. This is really inspirational Team-BHP and a special kudos to SDP.

I am still wondering why I did not come across this earlier....but better late than never....
g_saunak is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 28th December 2015, 05:07   #144
Newbie
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Jorethang
Posts: 6
Thanked: 3 Times
Re: Things they don’t teach you at an Indian driving school

Quote:
Originally Posted by SDP View Post
Background:
I learnt driving through a neighborhood driving-school in 1997 - 20-21 sessions - 15-20 minutes of actual driving each session. About 15 minutes spent on day-1 for explaining basics of a car, basics of driving and traffic rules.........
That was very informative. Thanks a lot for sharing it on the forum. Must have taken a lot of time for you to compile and put up. Much appreciation. A lot of Indian drivers wouldn't know a fraction of these.. Luckily, I was aware of all the tips mentioned owing to my desire of being a safe driver. I actually watch a lot of those Russian dashcam accident videos on youtube and imagine myself in such scenarios and think of what would I have done to prevent those accidents. Anyways wanted to add a few more:
1. On an inclined road, always give way to the vehicle going up the slope.
2. If slowing down but not coming to a complete halt, do not depress the clutch. It puts a lot less strain on the brakes and the engine compression helps on the braking too.
3. Again, on a downward incline, use the same gear you would use to go up the same incline. Again, helps with the braking.
Just a few things that popped in mind.

Lastly, the following link is very detailed too:
https://delhitrafficpolice.nic.in/wp...y-Chapters.pdf
iconicskies is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 20th January 2016, 11:08   #145
BHPian
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Hyderabad
Posts: 74
Thanked: 67 Times
How to overcome fear of knocking down people while driving

Hello Team-BHPians,

Glad I can resort to you folks for tough questions.

A female friend of mine has been driving for a couple of years. She has a driving license too. But she has this strange fear of knocking people down and that is curtailing her confidence. I gave her the following tips to build her confidence:
1. Play your favorite music
2. Drive alone, so you dont feel self conscious

Any other tips from driving experts?
chevyman is offline  
Old 20th January 2016, 11:16   #146
Team-BHP Support
 
Jaggu's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 20,207
Thanked: 15,848 Times
Re: How to overcome fear of knocking down people while driving

It is good to have that fear just kidding.

Best way to gain confidence is to learn the right style of driving, give her inputs for safe defensive drive, which will automatically give her the confidence to survive and preempt idiots on our chaotic streets. Music for me is distracting and create more confusion in her already confused senses.
Jaggu is offline  
Old 20th January 2016, 11:35   #147
BHPian
 
asingh1977's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Gurgaon
Posts: 420
Thanked: 607 Times
Re: How to overcome fear of knocking down people while driving

Even I had asked my trainer a similar question: How can I judge that my car will be able to make it through a narrow gap --- cars on both sides, or something coming from the front. Same applies to people walking. This is aggravated more, if one cannot see the car bonnet. So has to purely rely on instinct and distance sense. You can probably stand outside her car with her inside, and tell her to slowly bring the car near to you**. When the distance is slightly close you can hold up your hand. Do this for both left/right sides of her car. This way she will have a judgement how close is close. In the same fashion, how does one judge that their bonnet is close enough, when bumper-bumper. I usually follow the rule of: once the front cars back tires start to get hidden, I stop. If not dense traffic, I stop before that. But yea, people from behind egg you, and it can get annoying.





**Stand perpendicular to the car, just in case the clutch slips and the car jumps forward.
asingh1977 is offline  
Old 20th January 2016, 11:44   #148
Senior - BHPian
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Pune
Posts: 1,155
Thanked: 1,956 Times
Re: How to overcome fear of knocking down people while driving

Since this is psychological, she can train her mind to look for the gaps (between the people) and not the people.

This is like batsmen are trained to focus on the gaps between the fielders and not on the location of the fielders. This suggestion had come from psychologist (or psychiatrist) Mr. Bheeshmaraj Bam.

This is not complicated and instills confidence.
Rahul Bhalgat is offline  
Old 20th January 2016, 12:05   #149
BHPian
 
praveen_v's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Chennai
Posts: 506
Thanked: 210 Times
Re: How to overcome fear of knocking down people while driving

Knowing exactly what needs to be done, what are your legal rights etc and having a clear plan in mind on things to be done should it unfortunately happen will also help to ease out a bit and take the mind off it. Most of the fear stems from not knowing what to do if an unfortunate event happens as the mind starts to think of its worst fears like getting beat up or going to jail etc.
praveen_v is offline  
Old 20th January 2016, 12:11   #150
Senior - BHPian
 
sammyboy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Ggn/Dehradun
Posts: 1,842
Thanked: 521 Times
Re: How to overcome fear of knocking down people while driving

I think we are looking at this issue from the wrong side. We need to see what we can do to build the fear in people that they CAN get knocked down and can get hurt.
Too many jay walkers and two - three wheelers feel they are invincible and can barge in anywhere without fear into traffic, knowing someone will save them

To answer your questions, keep scanning the horizon for any chance of ppl jumping in, keep an eye on the orvms, dont fold them and drive, slow down if you are overtaking a standing bus or any obstruction which isnt allowing you to see whats coming, do not allow yourself to get distracted by phonecalls etc, take a deep breath and pray.
sammyboy is offline  
Reply

Most Viewed
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Team-BHP.com
Proudly powered by E2E Networks