[drsingh]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

responding "off the cuff" to your post, and wondering if there are assertions that more safety devices make people less careful?

Sadly, it is true. (well, I suppose I should append an in my humble opinion!) I believe that one can find posts here that imply that, ABS, for example, allows a person to drive faster and/or with less concern for basic safety.

My thinking is this: I look for ABS when buying a car; after that, I forget it. If it functions at all, then some sort of emergency or problem has occurred. In normal driving, it is sitting there doing absolutely nothing, and I would be very happy if it was to do absolutely nothing through my driving life! Life (including my driving) being imperfect, that will probably not be the case, but, because I have ABS will never, ever actively influence, or be seen to be an enabling influence, in any driving manouvere that I make.

I've thought about this. And recently in a caffeine induced epiphany tried to recall the number of Alto /Auto rickshaws / kinetic scooters /Vespa /chetak scooters /A segment hatches I've come across in accidents.

I couldn't recall any. Not one from my days in Emergency Room as an intern for a year and then 2 years as an EMO.

Then I came to the conclusion that I can't recall them as I hadn't been looking for them.

Now I am more conscious of the cars I come across in Accident cases.


But personally, I ride a scooter around town and never go beyond 40-45, so I imagine it is hard to ride/drive these vehicles at speed as they have poor ergonomics /handling /braking.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the members of the forum who own these vehicles are reminded every time they log on about their 'unsafe' vehicles and probably think about safe defensive driving more than a guy with a zippy TSI or something.

[nmenon]

Originally Posted by Vigkey

I agree that the licensing system in India is not anything to be proud of. But, I must say, it is improving. At least from the part of the country I got my licenses from - Trivandrum, Kerala. License test is 2 step process on the test day.

1. Drive in a H pattern track which involves driving in forward and reverse including turning right and left while on reverse. Engine getting off or going off the track (touching the metal rods marking the boundary) will disqualify you immediately. This step is video-graphed to prevent any sort of corruption. It is another matter that the driving schools train you well enough to tackle this track - but the attempt from RTO is honest IMO.

2. Drive on the open road and here the car has to be driven in all the forward gears. I was told that the evaluation is based on various parameters including adjusting driving position, adjustment and usage of ORVM and IRVM, usage of indicators, usage of hand signals, following speed restrictions and other traffic signals, following lanes, overtaking, regard for pedestrians, etc. Engine getting off in the course of driving will also lead to disqualification. However, the total time on the road will be ~ 5-7 mins only.

This was around 2 years back..

I got my license back in 2005 in Ernakulam, specifically under the Aluva RTO. They had this procedure then. And the AMVI who sat in the passenger seat even looked at how we adjusted the seat, mirrors etc. and whether we checked the instruments and made sure the handbrake was off. The road used for the test had a slope on the way back and he would specifically ask us to suddenly stop by the side of the road, when driving in the fast lane (you had to change lanes properly and get into the fast lane at least once).
He observed whether the driver switched on the indicators and showed necessary hand signals including the slowing down and stop ones. He would then ask the person driving to start off on the upward slope. He didn't mind whether you used the hand brake or half clutch method but if you rolled back, you would get disqualified.

Stark contrast to what I saw when I accompanied a friend of mine in Chennai just last year, where they just asked the driver to drive forward a hundred metres or so and reverse without stalling.
Two wheelers was a bigger joke, 2 stones placed in the middle of a road, a scooty to ride and a mandate to drive a figure of 8 around the stones at any radius of your choice, as long as you managed without putting a foot down or just putting your foot down once you got your license.

[4x4addict]

The problem is that Motor Vehicle/RTO comes under the purview of the state. The act maybe a central govt act, but complete control to give Driving License, registration, take road tax etc is in the states power. Hence, the way to get a Driving License will vary from state to state.

The only way to overcome this is for the central govt to directly take over the testing procedure or outsource it to a reputed private agency.

If you have applied for a passport lately you will find that most of the document verification, initial interview, etc has been outsourced to TCS. The passport officer only does the last and final interview after all the formalities are complete. This essentially reduces corruption to a large extent.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by drsingh

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the members of the forum who own these vehicles are reminded every time they log on about their 'unsafe' vehicles and probably think about safe defensive driving more than a guy with a zippy TSI or something.

I used to be a hobby sailor, and have always been a guy who just loves messing around in boats --- but I can't swim. Now, I can, and do, say that I never forget that I can't swim and makes me, in some ways, a safer sailor than one who who underestimates the danger of the sea and overestimates their own capability. But, perhaps at times my safety relied on me remembering that, and I wonder how often we all forget just how unsafe our cars actually are, whether they are M800s or Mercedes. Me? Well, most days, I guess. I do try to remember that it is just a thin metal box, and my idea of its strength is mostly illusion.

So would I advise potential small-boat sailors not to learn to swim? Of course not! I'd advise all the safety measures.

[ckranjan]

The Cat is finally out of bag. Maybe there are more hidden cats in the bag?

https://www.rushlane.com/cars-to-get...-12279335.html

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by ckranjan

https://www.rushlane.com/cars-to-get...-12279335.html

Hmm, that kinda explains why my 10+ year old Grand Vitara is still holding up well.