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Old 18th January 2020, 07:35   #31
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Re: UK: Accidents caused by slow drivers on the rise

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Originally Posted by landcruiser123 View Post
First world traffic patterns are different compared to third world traffic patterns.

Slow drivers on a Motorway/Freeway cause other drivers to get agitated. This irritated state of mind leads to loss of concentration resulting them in driving faster and attempting risky maneuvers which in some cases leads to accidents. They are also more prone to getting involved in road rage.
What's so first/third world in this? Happens every time in India. Idiot drivers hog the right most lane, merrily driving at 20/30/40kmph. I need to weave around them to mantain my pace.
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Old 18th January 2020, 18:12   #32
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Re: UK: Accidents caused by slow drivers on the rise

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Originally Posted by AMG Power View Post
In the UK these people are referred to as "Sunday drivers". They take their cars out only on Sunday and drive very slowly.
With the Ola/ UBER/ Metro becoming more common/ connected. There are all sorts of weekend drivers in Delhi, with no sense of speed and traffic, they mostly hog the roads at low speeds, or some drive too dangerously with no lanes/ indicators/ speed limits etc.
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Old 18th January 2020, 22:43   #33
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Re: UK: Accidents caused by slow drivers on the rise

Anybody notice that the cheap British tabloid rag didn't even use a stock photo of British traffic? Take anything that British newspapers with names like sun, moon, star, sport, etc say with a huge pinch of salt. Even if it's right!

Yes, people fail British tests for driving too slowly. They are often really scared that they will exceed a speed limit, just for a moment, and be instantly failed, so they over-compensate --- and get failed for that! So Britain requires a driver to drive at a reasonable speed for the circumstance. Otherwise, it's called something like failing to make sufficient progress.

With decades of living and driving in Britain, I can say that the way it is is is that, if you get stuck behind something slow on a road where you can't overtake, be it a car, a truck, a herd of cows, a farm tractor, or even a bicycle, you put up with it. Sections of road between, say, London and Cornwall, at busy holiday times, have to be experienced to be believed. One can spend many miles at bumper-to-bumper stop-start speeds. Getting into 2nd gear warrants throwing a party.
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Old 19th January 2020, 12:54   #34
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Re: UK: Accidents caused by slow drivers on the rise

Probably slow driving is also to be partly blamed in recent mishap happened with veteran Bollywood actress. According to FIR filed by truck driver hit from back by the SUV, SUV tried to overtook another vehicle from left and rammed onto the truck from back side.

It seems that it will not be case of total rash driving because rightmost lane must had been occupied for long time by other vehicle or the vehicle which was being overtook.
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Old 19th January 2020, 16:11   #35
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Re: UK: Accidents caused by slow drivers on the rise

Slow driving is never the cause of an accident. Those who are impatient and drive rashly as a result must take all the blame for any accident that they cause.

However, that is not to say that slow driving cannot be selfish, anti-social, and, within the British context, even illegal under some general offence such as driving without due care and attention.
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Old 20th January 2020, 18:46   #36
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Re: UK: Accidents caused by slow drivers on the rise

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Originally Posted by --gKrish-- View Post
I have noticed this many times in our roads as well. Kerala has two lane highways portions where such slow drivers push even safe and patient drivers into attempting risky overtaking maneuvres that could potentially end up in a head on collision.
Even more annoying are the drivers who keep braking every now and then in this narrow 2 lane undivided roads. Sometimes I just wish if I could put train's horns in my cars.
I would put a ship's horn instead (please forgive me for causing potential noise pollution). I have endured getting stuck behind trucks/buses - a truck doing 30kmph being overtaken by a 40kmph one and blocking both lanes... we should bring in minimum speed limit and penalize over-weighing trucks. Over-weight ones aggravate the pot holes and bad roads worse. In addition, we should also need to have standardize the width of truck containers. I am not talking about the ones carry standard shipping containers - but the non-factory made container trucks with more width. ~ 2 fts extra on each side of the driver cabin... i am sure many of us would have encountered on our highways, they cause more pain than the slow moving ones... their width is more or less the width of a lane... but they can't drive in one lane alone and they often end up eating 1 1/2 lanes - they are ROYAL PAIN IN MY SEAT. (if not ours )
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Old 20th January 2020, 19:20   #37
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Re: UK: Accidents caused by slow drivers on the rise

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Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom View Post
Slow driving is never the cause of an accident. Those who are impatient and drive rashly as a result must take all the blame for any accident that they cause.
But, isn't it like saying 'it is not gravity that causes the apple to fall down, but its own mass'; if cause is what it means!

I honestly feel, driving slow on a fast lane is dangerous and is a cause of accidents. As I have seen on some driver's learning manual in the US, 'Slow is not always safe'.
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Old 20th January 2020, 23:10   #38
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Re: UK: Accidents caused by slow drivers on the rise

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But, isn't it like saying 'it is not gravity that causes the apple to fall down, but its own mass'; if cause is what it means!

I honestly feel, driving slow on a fast lane is dangerous and is a cause of accidents. As I have seen on some driver's learning manual in the US, 'Slow is not always safe'.
Yes, I do agree. Only an idiot drives slowly other than on the leftmost (India/UK) lane.

Britain still has many miles of single-carriageway, undivided main ("A") roads. Many of them are running through rural areas where farm vehicles can cause huge delays. And one cannot drive through cattle in UK. The speed limit may be 50 or 60 (MPH) and some may not want or feel able to drive at that speed. Not much can be done about that except expecting them to be reasonable and let people pass.

By the way, I was on such a road, driving at speed-limit 60MPH. On seeing the sign, I reduced speed to 50MPH --- and smashed into a guy who had stalled half way across the junction. That was a tough way to learn that the speed limit is not necessarily the safe speed. (No-one was hurt, although I don't think the old guy's car would have come out of it well. UK police exonerated me and "warned" him. No further action was taken. I had hired the car from a small place and knew the guys: GBP2,000 damage to a nice VW Passat)
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Old 21st January 2020, 05:21   #39
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Re: UK: Accidents caused by slow drivers on the rise

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Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom View Post
With decades of living and driving in Britain, I can say that the way it is is is that, if you get stuck behind something slow on a road where you can't overtake, be it a car, a truck, a herd of cows, a farm tractor, or even a bicycle, you put up with it.
I have seen this behaviour many times over the last 2 years of driving here in the UK. It is really commendable. Problem is that one tends to become less alert when one gets used to such disciplined driving. It happened with me and I almost got into a head-on collision a couple of days back. Sharing the dash cam video of this rash driver coming into my lane at breakneck speed. Thankfully my speed was not high and the car has excellent brakes.


Last edited by BlackPearl : 21st January 2020 at 13:48.
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Old 21st January 2020, 05:51   #40
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Re: UK: Accidents caused by slow drivers on the rise

This is something our traffic authorities should learn from. The fact is that the most dangerous drivers on the Expressway are overloaded trucks traveling at 40 kph or lower and hogging the middle or right lanes. The fact is that vehicles that are not capable of driving safely (and stopping in a reasonable distance) at the speed limit should not be allowed on expressways. (Our National Highways are a different story, since there very often is no alternate road). But our cops very often seem to think that the slowest vehicles are the safest ones and set speed limits based on what is good for such vehicles.

That is even more true in urban roads - hence the 50-80 kph limits on the Sea Link, 30 kph on the JJ flyover and other such pieces of insanity.
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Old 21st January 2020, 09:35   #41
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Re: UK: Accidents caused by slow drivers on the rise

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Originally Posted by Hayek View Post
This is something our traffic authorities should learn from.
Our traffic authorities qualify as traffic authorities because learning is not on the list of "essential" or "nice to have" capabilities for the job.
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Old 23rd January 2020, 15:21   #42
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Re: UK: Accidents caused by slow drivers on the rise

Speed is not necessarily a measure of safe driving. However our police force is always quick to blame 'high' speed for accidents, ignoring the lane hogging, slow driving cars, trucks and tractors on the first lane. Some don't even have working brake and tail lights. Tractors have none.

Within a certain speed limit it is not speed which cause accidents. It is rash driving. On good wide roads 80kmph can be quite safe. However some self appointed safe drivers still hog the first lane at 40kmph. The authorities deem it fit to fix 50kmph as speed limit on a 6 lane, 6km long flyover. We are not fully utilising the throughput capacity of the road.

We need reasonable upper speed limit and equally reasonable lower speed limit.
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Old 4th February 2020, 16:28   #43
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Re: UK: Accidents caused by slow drivers on the rise

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Originally Posted by BlackPearl View Post
... I almost got into a head-on collision a couple of days back. Sharing the dash cam video of this rash driver coming into my lane at breakneck speed. Thankfully my speed was not high and the car has excellent brakes. ...
This is, unfortunately, fairly common behaviour in Mumbai nowadays. It used to be better but the moment a lane slows down people start going in the opposite lane to gain an advantage.
Predominantly autos are a menace in this and they don't even realize why the car driver is honking his heart out.

I have had instances at low speeds (20-25kmph), when an auto overtaking me from the wrong side (in a small city road) suddenly sees a car coming in it's direction and without a signal or care for me, they thrust the auto in my lane.

Thus making me pull an emergency braking manoeuvre while checking my OVRM for vehicles behind me in fear.

When I confront them, they say, "Gap tha, daal diya!" (I saw a gap and put my vehicle there). The gap of course being the safe distance between cars. I used to get into a lot of arguments but not anymore.

Off late I have slowly accepted that I will have to compensate for other's, not only mistakes but selfish and rude behaviour, as the confrontation and arguments are just plain stupid.

Not to mention, I myself might be guilty of some wrong doings, unknowingly.

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Originally Posted by aryag1998 View Post
Earlier this January, I was returning from Pune to Mumbai at a speed of approximately 100km/h and i encounter two taxis (probably OLA outstation) driving next to each other, hogging the middle and the right most lane at approx 60-70km/h.
Aaah!! Tell me about it, same pain mate. I have trailed people flashing lights for more than two minutes, absolutely no response. When you overtake them from the left, they look at you in shock, like you are the trouble maker. The "What's you problem? look"



- Slick

Last edited by Slick : 4th February 2020 at 16:33.
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