[Abhineet Singh]

In Noida, most of the auto rickshaws do not have any brake light or indicator signals. I tried raising this issue with the local traffic police via Twitter, but nothing happened. During winters, this is a potential hazard for other drivers.

If we can only educate the auto rickshaws in following road manners, a lot of trafffic will start running smoothly. Due to poor enforcement of rules by the police and the lack of training/tests while obtaining a driver's license, coupled with the urgency to max out the number of passengers/trips, the auto rickshaws have come to develop their own rules.

[sramanat]

1. Motorcycles passing a car from the left - In Bangalore, for extra fun, the car would be flashing the left turn indicator which somehow invites motorcyclists from the neighboring pin codes to overtake the car from the left.

2. 4 lane roads (two lanes on either side) in Bangalore are like subway surfer video games. The left lane will be used for parking and the right for making U turns. In either case turn lights will hardly be used. When used it will be because the driver forgot to turn it off from about 20 minutes ago.

3. Half the drivers have fundamental misunderstanding of how lane markings work. One half thinks the lane marking should run through the middle of the car between the left and right wheels. Most BMTC drivers think this way. The other half thinks you should align the car between two lane markings. I am not sure which group is correct

4. Treating motorcycles as an extension of self. It is very common to see the rider shrink his/her shoulders, legs etc. to squeeze in (at speed, nevertheless). As if the motorcycle would shrink as well! As a corollary, women riders extend their legs to increase balance like tightrope walkers using a horizontal pole

5. General fluidic driving... When a car is making a 3 point turn, it is considered super smart driving if you can squeeze in on either end of the car. Bonus points if you could pull this move against a multi axle truck/bus. Waiting is for <insert expletive of your choice here>. Once while I was making a U turn, the traffic into which I was merging slowed down to let me in. I could see a family in an activa progressively go from the median to the left end of the road, trying to squeeze in. The idiot finally crashed into my car's wheel, and flew onto my bonet. His wife held on to the child though. He smiled, raised his hands as if it was no big deal and went on his way. He lives to die another day, I suppose...

[Cessna182]

Availability of dash screens which play videos while the car is moving is a big threat to safety. There should be a regulation to ban such android units and enforce this. A lot of drivers especially in cabs can be seen watching shows on their dashboard screens while driving. If the police banned mobiles while driving, how can such android units be allowed?

[ais]

I'm shocked that at least in the initial posts, the biggest pain in the (bonnet), talking on mobile phone while driving, has not been mentioned.

[PunkX 75]

This is an absolute brilliant thread!

So, in no particular order:

- Uncle Good Driver in the slow lane at 50 KMPH. Uncle Better driver in the middle lane at 50 KMPH. Uncle Best Driver in the fast lane at 50 KMPH. ALL AT THE SAME TIME

- High Beams like they're the light of the Lord to ward off all evil

- Activa riders giving ants a run for their money by squeezing through impossible spaces

- Autos taking off with 3 seconds left on the red light, only to be overtaken 2 second later

- Bus driver - "I'm the king of these roads"
Activa Rider - "Hold my sandwich"

[nikhilarni]

Originally Posted by ABHI_1512

Over the years, car owners and their behavioural patterns over the usage has come a long way.

I am jotting down some points which can go a long way in avoiding accidents and yet these go unhindered. Here, I want to know the valuable inputs of members regarding some of the traits of the vehicle owners and which I have been seeing with great impunity in the recent times.

Hi Abhi,

Nice thread. I have been going through the comments from fellow T-Bhpians and agree with all.

Adding to the list

1. Keeping children / toddlers / pets in the lap while driving. This is so unsafe

2. The concept of using the indicators to signal for the car behind to overtake. I found that so misleading. Who ever came up with that!

3. Bikers generally trying to weave in and out of traffic, cutting lanes with rapid acceleration and sudden braking. Especially true with students crowd in Pune and Bangalore. I hope they realize the car(s) behind them cannot react so suddenly and definitely have greater momentum before stopping.

4. The attitude that every signal is a grand prix starting line.

[akash_v12]

Adding a few irritants I've seen in Pune & Mumbai:-

1. Coming speeding down the last lane and then cutting across the 3 lanes to make a direction change.

2. Honking at every traffic signal as soon as the light becomes green.

3. Closed/No/One Mirror(s) on both cars and vehicles.

4. Use of high-beam & Fogs on well-lit city roads.

[TAHR]

More than unsafe practices, this has become the way of life on Indian roads. It's tough to figure out where to begin, but here goes.

• Two-wheeler riders insisting on overtaking from the left of your car just as you are taking a tight left turn.
  
• Variation of the above, two-wheeler riders overtaking from the left when you are trying to pull over at the kerb or turning into a building, even after the indicators have been switched on 30 mt prior.
  
• Honking loudly from behind you at the traffic intersection when there's still 10 secs to go on the timer.
  
• Honking loudly from behind when you've stopped for a red light, forcing you to wilfully commit a traffic offence.
  
• Cab drivers opening their doors mid-drive to spit out paan.
  
• The random, illogical way indicators are used, especially on the highways, to signal a right turn or asking you to overtake. Why don't they get it that they only need to tell others what they are doing, not tell others what they need to do.
  
• High beams, even on well-lit city streets. And no one has the courtesy to dip the lights when they see oncoming traffic.
  
• Toddlers seated in between the driver and the steering wheel.
  
• Young kids standing in between the two front seats when the vehicle is at high speed, even on highways.
  
• Parents dropping off two of their kids and two of the neighbour's kids on a single Activa while they themselves don't wear a helmet.
  
• Keeping both the ORVMs closed, even on highways. And Pulsar riders keeping them turned inwards and upwards like the antlers of a deer.
  
• Going at a leisurely pace when the signal is seconds away from changing, thereby effectively blocking you from crossing over and then themselves nonchalantly jumping the signal while you are left stranded.
  
• Going into the left most lane to bypass all the vehicles waiting to turn in the right lane and when the signal turns green, taking a right turn by cutting off the vehicles going straight.
  
• With solid road medians on most roads these days, the instances of people riding and even driving down the wrong side have increased exponentially. To rub salt on the wound, they will also blind you with the high beam.
  
• By far the most bizarre scene I have noticed was when once, on the insanely busy Bannerghatta Road in Bengaluru during peak hour traffic, a sedan driver stopped his vehicle on the right lane alongside the median, got out of the vehicle, climbed the tall median, zigzagged through the heavy traffic on the opposite side to reach a small kiosk selling cigarettes. He then came back, got in and drove off like that was the most normal thing in the world, oblivious to the traffic snarl caused by his action.
  
• One last observation, if there's someone committing a traffic offence, invariably he would be committing some others too for good measure. For instance, if a two-wheeler rider is coming down the wrong side, he will also be talking on the phone and not wearing a helmet. Or if a car driver is entering a one-way from the wrong side, he will also be going fast with a blinding high beam.

[VijayAnand1]

What's really unsafe is parked cars without proper hazard lights, time and again this proves to be a gruesome reminder. Not only for cars, the hazard quadruples with motorbikes. And there are geniuses who park right in a blind corner, dead in the middle. Oh, I can go on and on.

Cheers!
VJ

[ABHI_1512]

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

Exactly. Even if they have DRL's, cant the manufacturers make it more subtle. I know that defeats the purpose but anyhow DRL's are the new gen chrome in India- Just for bling.


I also find the LED tail lights of some cars (Baleno, Swift, Jazz to name a few) very bright and can be distracting especially during rains. If I see one at night, I tend to keep a distance whenever possible .

Originally Posted by deetjohn

Most idiots don't realize that the front indicators, if one is using that is, too get drowned out by the high beam in most cars!

Agree with both of you with absolute clarity. Bright DRL’s are the biggest menace on Indian roads these days. Be it cars or bikes, blinding DRL’s are something that the authorities should seriously look into.

Another more appalling thing that I noticed is that the driver’s of cars equipped with bright DRL’s fail to switch on the headlights in the cities because of the combination of DRL and street lights. I have seen people drive with DRL’s only for prolonged distances and have also seen some of them involved in accidents as well when some two wheeler swerving from an obscure small lane onto the main road coming in front and meeting with the car which is being driven without headlights !!

Two wheelers who set up bright white lights on the crash guards are on another trip altogether and should be severely fined. They are one of the biggest menaces on the Indian roads during nights. That said, here is another of dangerous practises and which is quite random these days :


Some people drive like this as well

[vsbabu]

I drive a lot on highways, often at night. Biggest issues I've faced:

1. Highbeams all the time. Even during rains. I rarely keep highbeam on because I find the low beam much for focused; and use it only when I suspect road is taking a curve or something is there at a distance.
2. Hazard lights on while driving in the rain. This is especially distracting and people assume they can turn to either lane - may be because both lights are blinking! From what I know, you park the car and put hazard lights on.
3. To save some 200m detour, coming in the opposite direction. Often at times on the fast lane too; at times without headlights on at night.
4. Suddenly stopping/slowing on the middle/right lane to double check if they went past an exit.
5. Water bottle rolling on the floor behind the driver's feet. Most drivers I go with seem to have this habit and it takes some argument to educate that it can roll under the brake pedal.

[asingh1977]

I can pardon all: except people standing out of sun roofs. Specially kids. Literally killing the future. Some companies show this in their marketing—Creta does. It should be prohibited.

[PradoGdr88]

Tailing Ambulance in action to save time in rush hour traffic. It was appalling to say the least. I have observed this with mostly bikers and autorickshaws.

[RedPhobos]

I think most of the unsafe practices of modern car and bike owners have already been listed by the other members of this forum but there are two more that I would like to add, which really get my goat and they are: 1) two-wheelers zig-zagging through standing traffic (at a red light or a traffic jam) to reach the front of the queue and carelessly hitting and damaging vehicles in the process. God knows how many times my poor car has been hit by a careless two-wheeler rider (especially scooters with their passenger side step hanging out in the wind waiting to rip into an unsuspecting car bumper or door) and for no fault of mine! I mean traffic lights are for everyone and time is precious for everybody on the road; why can’t two-wheeler owners understand this? We four-wheeler owners also want to reach home as early as possible and are not just standing around blocking the road at a red light/traffic jam. You can’t even keep a minimum safe distance between your vehicle and the car in front while you are standing at a traffic light because some two-wheeler will try and get through and invariably damage your vehicle. 2) The second unsafe and equally infuriating practice that I have noticed (both two-wheelers and four-wheelers are equally to blame) is not staying in lane while taking a turn. What I mean by this is, if for example one is taking a right turn and while taking the turn the vehicle on the left lane forces its way into your lane and effectively cuts you off! I see this happen everyday and when this happens to me I get really mad. Let me know if you have also faced these issues on the road and how they make you feel.

[GreyNomad]

Pet peeves, in no particular order, among the cities I’ve driven extensively in:

1. Pune - activa rider weaves through the tightest spaces at a signal. Moves right to the front to the middle of the waiting pack of vehicles. When the signal turns green, will keep riding at 20-25kmph.
2. Mumbai - IMO, comparatively the city with the best road manners. All issues mentioned in the thread exist here but kinda dialled down a wee bit. Comparatively, mind you.
3. Kolkata - the goddam buses take their stops in the middle of the road even if there’s space on the left! And the incessant honking.
4. Delhi - well well well... I spent a year in delhi and everyday was irritated, outraged, stumped at some violation or the other. From drinking while driving to extreme lane cutting to bike racing in crowded traffic, the lesser said the better.