[IndigoXLGrandDi]

Originally Posted by ndp88

Why will Police keep the vehicle? Under what rule/sections of the law?

Conditions under which a vehicle can be legally impounded are very limited. The amount of paperwork required to take custody of property (car in this case) is huge. Impounding would’ve required FIR/registration of crime. These guys were not showing willingness for simple accident report. Perhaps because they themselves knew that this mishap was their fault. Police can seize vehicle only under few noted conditions under Motor Vehicles Act; or in case of serious Penal offence.

And just to add further, it’s okay if there was mistake on behalf of police vehicle. It’s called ‘accident’ for a reason. Any one of us can unknowingly commit mistake causing accident. That’s why there’s system of liability insurance. Most road-rage situations happen because people jump to fix the blame and take/avoid ‘payment’ as a first thing during mishap.

How was your wife to prove that the Police vehicle had damaged your vehicle? Any CCTV or Dashcam Footage?
Might be as it was a lady involved, they did not act harsh.

As I mentioned in previous post, Police Vehicles don't have Valid Insurance, have a look at this screenshot-


This is Police's Tata Sumo (Owner Name- CP/SP Solapur City) which is plying on Road without valid insurance.

So if this vehicle hit other vehicle, how would the other vehicle claim 3rd party insurance of Police Vehicle.

[Maky]

Thank you ndp that was informative. And finally, what do you mean by this?

Originally Posted by ndp88

God forbid if it’s discontinued model/OEM.

They will refuse to renew your insurance if the car suddenly gets discontinued?
What about the people buying their Skoda Octavia's and Superb's? which are now widely known to be sunset by March '23

Thanks.

[ndp88]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

For generations, in my native country, youngsters bought old, cheap cars for their first vehicles. That then became one of the most expensive categories to insure. Combination of youth, inexperience, vehicle likely to be driven with not too much care. That was not perception. That was hard data. Insurance companies know very well what they are paying out for.

Very true. Know for a fact that few Insurance companies absolutely do not insure vehicles from God's own country. Pattern of drunk-driving incidents cost them more than the premium collected. Similarly, large SUV proposals from certain North Indian states are rejected because of theft frauds

If such profiling becomes publicly acknowledged, it may create uproar for some kind of racial bias. Its better if personalised underwriting gets all regulatory nod soon in India.

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Accidentally, I found out that that there are exceptions. I added my girlfriend to my policy --- and the premium dropped! Why? Her profession: nurse. Heart-warming

This is such a pleasant luck!

Originally Posted by IndigoXLGrandDi

How was your wife to prove that the Police vehicle had damaged your vehicle? Any CCTV or Dashcam Footage?
Might be as it was a lady involved, they did not act harsh.

We are sharing anecdotal experiences in this thread. No compulsion to believe me.

Kindly re-read the original post. For anybody to prove anything, this incident would need registration of Investigation. It might be surprising for many but local Police cannot act as judge on road-traffic incidents (definitely not in case they themselves are involved). We are not a Police-State. Please know your rights.

If they had filed for investigation with their version (or contrary-truth according to you); we'd have challenged that in front of magistrate. And willing to pursue legal proceedings. That's what we were trying to do in the first place. That would have involved tracking CCTV footage, Speed monitoring logs, Parking rules etc. These public CCTV, Speed logs are in possession of civic authorities. Even if local Police want it, they have to make formal requisition (paperwork!). I wish I had ready-access to that and publish it right away here.

Since we were the ones asking for FIR because Police claimed high-speed angle, and despite that they did not register investigation; I am not sure what favour you think are extended here. Nor I am sure what are you implying really. Even if our vehicle was at fault, it is responsibility of Police to register incident. They cannot abscond duties.

And while we are debating who was at the fault, purpose of original post was to highlight what should be course of action if you meet with accident involving somebody from Govt. Even if other vehicle is at fault, or you are at fault or both parties are in wrong; the way ahead is not to in indulge heated rage. Put priority on your safety, pursue insurance for compensation. Don't run. For disputes, seek legal remedy.

Problem is that in India these things are not actively promoted. There's vagueness around entire issue; road transport ministry need to conduct campaigns and educate everyone. We are all humans, accidents can happen. If you're involved in one, look after safety of yourself & other parties first. Don't run away. Pinning blame right there in moment is imprudent.

Originally Posted by IndigoXLGrandDi

So if this vehicle hit other vehicle, how would the other vehicle claim 3rd party insurance of Police Vehicle.

So far no party has claimed that Police vehicle did not have insurance. In such case decision rests with Motor Claims Tribunal. But if you get hit by another vehicle on Indian roads, you are still entitled for damage compensation through your comprehensive insurance.

Originally Posted by Maky

They will refuse to renew your insurance if the car suddenly gets discontinued?
What about the people buying their Skoda Octavia's and Superb's? which are now widely known to be sunset by March '23

Thanks.

I meant the options reduce if model/manufacturer is discontinued. Companies are less willing to offer comprehensive (TP+OD) coverage. You rarely get zero depreciation cover. Most companies jack-up the premium. I think for Octavia/Superb, you'll still find options because Skoda is operational in India and their dealer network will push Insurance Cos to continue servicing customers. Dealer would want to retain customer by selling new Skoda car next year or so. Problem would be for something like Ford Ecosport (I have one ). This year's renewal was a pain. Maybe will get only TP cover next year.

Elaborating- Commercial private companies are not interested in offering just 3rd party cover (TP), they want to sell OD comprehensive (own damage) along with TP. Simple reason is they make money selling OD comprehensive, TP-only customers are not profitable. TP-rates are regulated by Govt, OD-rates are in control of companies. Premium collected for TP gets deposited to central govt pool. I am not aware of any company having viable business through just TP-offering. But these companies also don't like to cover older vehicles with OD due to probability of claims. So even if you get cover, they charge more premium.

However, Insurance companies outrightly cannot deny TP-only insurance coverage to prospective buyer. So what they do is make the process difficult if you're looking for TP-only cover. They will not offer it on their website. They will ask you to visit branch, say the forms are not available, come back next week. You've to really chase for it.

[TopLiveCentre]

Sir, one lakh Indian citizens repudiated their citizenship last year. Not for nothing. Safety, security and civil disobedience are a problem here. You have heard the last word somewhere else, haven't you...

[carboy]

Originally Posted by ndp88

Now car is at service centre, insurance survey underway. We won't get it back for another 15-20 days for sure. Yet to know how much we'll have to pay out of pocket despite insurance coverage.

As per the rules, shouldn't their 3rd party insurance pay for the repairs & not yours? Isn't that what 3rd party insurance is for?

Originally Posted by ndp88

This report is important because Insurance companies will find every reason to deny or reduce claim amount (especially for older vehicles).

Never faced this problem when getting it repaired from an authorised service center. They always have good relations with the surveyors & get it done. They even avoid the requirement of police reports by saying that the accident was a Hit-and-Run on a parked vehicle.

[revsperminute]

Ran into a very weird situation tonight while driving.

Around 30 minutes ago, I was out on a cruise on Palm Beach Road, Navi Mumbai. Just a normal chill drive, listening to music with the windows down. I wanted to turn right at an intersection and waited for my light to turn green. Out of nowhere, comes a Chevrolet Cruze trying to make a U-Turn where there is no provision to do so. Now, I am in the middle of an intersection with my light about to turn red and high speed traffic approaching me head-on. Meanwhile, the driver of the Cruze has managed to hit the kerb and is now out of the car inspecting the damage whilst blocking the entire road. I decide to flash my lights at him to get out of my way. Now all the five occupants of the Cruze are standing smack bang in the middle of the road staring at me like I’m an alien. Do note, I have no other path since I have committed to the turn. I blare my horn at them for 2 seconds and they start walking towards my car. I had my sunroof open and windows down and I gesture to them to get into their car as the situation was getting quite risky. Now I do not know what they assumed I said to them, but they lost it. The driver in the meantime had gotten back into his car and almost reversed it into me. They tried to block my way once I was done with the right-hander and were gesturing something to me. Common sense prevailed and I gunned it. I don’t know what their intentions were or if they were under the influence. This was definitely a first for me.



Green- My Path
Red- Cruze’s Path
Yellow- Cruze after colliding with the kerb.
Blue- Traffic Approaching @ 80Kmph

[CarNerd]

Road rage in Bengaluru: Man dragged behind a scooter for a kilometre, admitted to hospital.
Link: https://twitter.com/hraditya/status/...JQ7_Bn3gpba-SA

[Maxwell Arthur]

Good day everybody. I was driving my from Chennai to Tirunelveli last week. I drove past Madurai and I saw this Audi Q3 RS with a fancy number in Nardo grey doing crazy speeds. I let him pass. I was about 25 kilometres from Tirunelveli when I saw this guy on my rear view mirror. I was navigating a set of barricades behind a bus and this impatient guy was right behind me. I drive a Creta and I was overtaking the bus when this guy started honking as though it was his last day on earth. I immediately accelerated as much as I could and let this guy pass. He frowned and hurled abuses at me. I was pissed. I accelerated really hard and caught up with him and I started honking at him to move faster when he was overtaking a truck. He let me pass and I again began driving normally. He pulled up right beside me with a red bull can. I knew he was going to throw the can at me. He asked me what I wanted. I asked him to pass. He was very frustrated and threw the can at my car. I braked slightly for the can to miss the car. Luckily the can did not hit the car and I ran over it. Was very annoyed but was with my family and I had driven all night. I did not follow him post this incident.

Lesson learnt: If people honk when you are overtaking another vehicle, just ignore them. There are so many impatient drivers on the road who care less for their lives let alone others. We are not on the road to discipline others. Cheers.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by Maxwell Arthur

Good day everybody...

So you got into the road-rage game too --- until, in the end, you realised it simply wasn't worth it.

Better we realise that sooner than later.

Confession: if someone is driving with their nose up my backside, I do not always simply let them past. Especially if it is difficult. What I do do, is to slow down. This is partly passive-aggressive on my part, but it is also for safety, because I now need stopping distance for two. It is this 'where do you expect me to go?' thing. You were overtaking somebody else. I'm usually in city traffic, and the furthest the guy behind is going to get is to repeat his tricks on the car in front. And yes, this does annoy me.

Bottom line though, it is is always safer to have these people speeding away ahead than to have them behind us. As soon as is possible, let them go and wave them goodbye, good riddance. I've learned this much: I never chase. I used to, but not now: I realised that, to chase, one has to drive as dangerously as the other guy.

[Maxwell Arthur]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

So you got into the road-rage game too --- until, in the end, you realised it simply wasn't worth it.

Better we realise that sooner than later.

Confession: if someone is driving with their nose up my backside, I do not always simply let them past. Especially if it is difficult. What I do do, is to slow down. This is partly passive-aggressive on my part, but it is also for safety, because I now need stopping distance for two. It is this 'where do you expect me to go?' thing. You were overtaking somebody else. I'm usually in city traffic, and the furthest the guy behind is going to get is to repeat his tricks on the car in front. And yes, this does annoy me.

Bottom line though, it is is always safer to have these people speeding away ahead than to have them behind us. As soon as is possible, let them go and wave them goodbye, good riddance. I've learned this much: I never chase. I used to, but not now: I realised that, to chase, one has to drive as dangerously as the other guy.

I was for a second, frustrated but then I calmed down since I had family and he drove as if he had nothing to lose.

[darkfantasy]

Originally Posted by Maxwell Arthur

Good day everybody. I was driving my from Chennai to Tirunelveli last week.

I do that stretch quite often and there is no dearth of totally crazy idiots with zero sense of safety on these roads. Many people drive like they are driving on city roads. Even at 100+ kmph(the speed limit is 80) they ride on your tail, overtake with barely inches from your ORVM, cut in front of you then brake, and overtake from the extreme left when you are already on the left lane. Add to that the fortuners and innovas (no offense to anyone)that come behind you with their lights blazing and their horns blaring, trying to intimidate and force you off the road. They come at very high speeds behind you, then brake dangerously barely in time, keep their vehicles very close to yours, and then blare their definitely-illegal horns, startling you.

One needs to be extremely careful especially when slowing down for barricades as there are enough idiots who try to squeeze between the barricades and you at high speeds, forcing you to brake dangerously. I once had an Audi that was coming in the wrong side on the fast lane between Trichy and Madurai. I tried to move to the right lane to overtake a harvester and there he was -gave me one hell of a scare.

It's generally better to avoid making eye contact with these goons and move on. Of course - it sets one's blood to boil, but I suppose it's the price we have to pay if we want to drive on any of our roads. Reduce your pace, listen to a soothing song, or just stop and have some ice cream if you can find one in the vicinity (works for me!) and move on.

[TaahirH]

I encountered an incident of road rage today on 26th Jan 2023 while traveling from Pune to Goa with my wife and parents.

This took place on the road between Nippani and Amboli where there is a single lane road.

There was this guy in a Silver Honda City MH 12 FY 4576/4976 who simply refused to let me pass. He was driving behind a innova and when i was able to see a clear path in the oncoming lane and tried to overtake he pushed me off the road. This happened 2-3 times. I did not do it rashly nor was I trying to cut infront of him. I drive a swift and not sure what was causing him to behave like this on road with me. He was literally at halt but when i tried to overtake he took off so fast just to block me that I could hear his wheels spin.

Finally after few kms I did overtake him and the Innova. Now when he tried to pass me and cut in again I returned the favor and did not let him. He started honking continuously and my family got worried and asked me to slow down and let him go.

After overtaking me he stopped and his car infront of mine, I was around 60kmph and had to stop suddenly. I was about to get down and ask him what his problem was but my father told me not to get down and I stayed put. I saw that he undid his seat belt and was about to get down but did not. Maybe his female co-passenger(assuming wife) stopped him. I made eye contact with him in his rvm and kept a poker face. He waited for around 20 secs and then zoomed off driving in a rash manner, overtaking all cars.

There were only two of them in his car. He looked like a guy in his late 30s. I did not understand what triggered this behaviour of his towards me. Did not like that I was overtaking him?!?

Also, it could have escalated if he had come to argue or abuse or get in a physical scuffle. Dont know what changed his mind after stopping me but I am thankful to god that whole situation was avoided and it did not ruin my trip.

Read many posts in this thread and decided to share my experience here as well.

[MT_Hyderabad]

Originally Posted by TaahirH

I encountered an incident of road rage today...

Good that it ended without further escalation.

When you were trying to overtake repeatedly, you (co-passenger) should have started recording the events.

One thing that I want to ask you is, that before your first overtaking maneuver, did you honk unnecessarily?

It happens with me sometimes, that I am cruising and some drivers will honk unnecessarily before making any overtaking attempt. This honking is not needed when I am following someone and cruising at a distance from him.

I had at times overtaken such cars without honking to tell them how it is done, such that they don't disturb others. Whether they perceive the learning or not is debatable.

I have read it many times that it is a proven fact (with psychological experiments) that 'will power' can be developed like a muscle with training and as our muscles get tired, will power also reduces during the day.

It is quite possible, that we do not get provoked for the same event in the initial phase of our drive when our brain is not exhausted, but do so during the later phase.

I keep this in mind during my drives, it helps me in suppressing my reaction to such instigations by just thinking that the other guy has lost his will power and is exhausted. During early morning drives, I keep calm by thinking that the other guy has an emergency or did not sleep during the night or is driving drunk!

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by TaahirH

Finally after few kms I did overtake him and the Innova. Now when he tried to pass me and cut in again I returned the favor and did not let him.

One possible alternate reaction (and I’m well aware this is easier to preach and not always as easy to practice). When he tried to pass you, you might have considered immediately slowing down and moving to the left so he can comfortably overtake. A genuinely friendly smile perhaps while he’s overtaking. If you demonstrate, perhaps he might reciprocate the same way the next time the roles are reversed. Even if he doesn’t, its nothing lost nothing gained for you.

I’m not saying he deserves this civility but sometimes a gesture like this is enough to de-escalate a situation, even if its caused by only one person’s aggressiveness.

[TaahirH]

Mod note: Back to back posts, please use Multi Quote [Quote+] instead. Thanks.

Originally Posted by MT_Hyderabad

One thing that I want to ask you is, that before your first overtaking maneuver, did you honk unnecessarily?

No, I never do that. Infact, I have a habit of not honking.

But while driving on these single lane roads, I do give a "Small-I am at your side-Beep" horn. I gave a horn like this one which was half not more than half a second.

I am just starting to think he was the kind of guy who wanted to overtake everyone and had that "being ahead of everyone" attitude. Unfortunately, I had to encounter him yesterday.

Originally Posted by Axe77

When he tried to pass you, you might have considered immediately slowing down and moving to the left so he can comfortably overtake

Trying to inculcate this. Atleast I think I should have slowed down a little bit overall and let some distance build.

Lots of scenarios and their outcomes run through mind but I think the best is to avoid these people and not let them affect our mood for trip and safety.