Team-BHP - Bad Drivers - How do you spot 'em

Quote:

Originally Posted by Secretariat (Post 3617348)

[*]He never crossed 80 kmph, even on open stretches of NH2. His theory was that on an Indian road, anything could come from anywhere at anytime and therefore speeds over 80 kmph was suicidal

80kmph seems to be the favorite of full time drivers. I've met at least a couple of them limiting themselves to this figure, even where the legal limit is 100.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Secretariat (Post 3617348)

[*]He drove bang in the middle of the two lane side of the dual carriageway.

A lot of guys do that. And they irritate the hell out of other road users. Imagine this guy doing 80 kmph, bang in the middle of two lanes; a vehicle doing much higher speeds coming from behind can't figure out which lane he will change to, has to slow down, honk, wait for this guy take his sweet time to pick and change his lane, and then proceed, phew! They get to my nerves every time!:banghead:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Secretariat (Post 3617348)

He watched his mirrors all the time

+1. One should always do that so long as not to become paranoid about it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Secretariat (Post 3617348)

[*]He never wore his seatbelt despite my entreaties.

Seat belts and helmets(for bikers); nah, they are not for us immortals. When do we learn?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Secretariat (Post 3617348)

[*]He never got irritated at the idiots and morons on the road. Nothing disturbed his composure which was Buddha like

"I'm surrounded by my ilk, I'm in THE ZONE!" Or he actually is composed. Seriously, the art of Zen is difficult to practice than to preach!
+1

Quote:

Originally Posted by Secretariat (Post 3617348)

[*]He honked all the time; never overtaking without a vigorous honk, much to my irritation

+1. "Better be louder than sorry!"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Secretariat (Post 3617348)

"Indian highway mode"

This is so cynically humorous! Every thing that is wrong with our highways is branded "Indian highway mode". 'nuf said.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Secretariat (Post 3617348)

[*]He would not eat anything on the way on the logic that he was minimising his chances of drowsiness.

+1.

Why am I dissecting this? May be I'm thinking out loud.

IMO, all the positives about him are what experience has taught him; the rest, he is not trained or educated about!

Quote:

Originally Posted by hserus (Post 3617966)

I tend to lose concentration when I have someone to engage in conversation with - miss turnoffs and such. I prefer not to multitask.

And I generally play soothing carnatic music or "road anthems" (nat king cole's get your kicks on route 66) - saves my blood pressure from the subject of this thread. I have to be careful when driving with my 3 year old lest he pick up obscenities I mutter under my breath when I run into a more than usually dumb motorist.

Having someone to talk to always helps, the downside is if he starts sleeping, you may also feel sleepy.
Good music also helps to keep me calm.
One thing I do is to stop the car and take a break every 1 to 1.5 hours. I never drive more than 2 hours without a break (unless the whole drive is less than 3 hours). Just small small breaks - 5 to 10 min maximum. Have a coffee, wash face with cold water, walk and stretch a bit during the break. It gives the car also time to cool down.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnyBoy (Post 3618036)

Having someone to talk to always helps, the downside is if he starts sleeping, you may also feel sleepy.

Well, that's a personal preference. I don't like anyone chatting away on my left. Surprisingly I am not affected by all the folks sleeping around. I find the peaceful atmosphere better. On all my highway drives so far my better half and son would be asleep ( she is more interested in the destination than the journey while I am opposite) on the back seat while I would be happily munching miles and enjoying the drive.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rajivr1612 (Post 3618066)

I second your thoughts. In my case while driving i don't worry whether my co passenger is sleeping, awake, listening to music etc.. As long as he/she does not fall on me while sleeping (snoring is very much allowed. I turn a deaf ear to that), i am fine driving.

Quote:

Originally Posted by VintageSree (Post 3618035)

80kmph seems to be the favorite of full time drivers. I've met at least a couple of them limiting themselves to this figure, even where the legal limit is 100.

40..45 for city driving and 80 for highways is a personal rule that I don't break. And I have seen plenty of idiots who scream past you at much faster speeds, anyway to slow down and stop a bit ahead at a traffic signal, where I end up the very next car in line.

And this way I may arrive half an hour or so later but will most likely arrive in with me and my car in one piece.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hserus (Post 3618073)

.......I may arrive half an hour or so later but will most likely arrive in with me and my car in one piece.

Over longer distances, I've often found myself arriving at par or even before the reckless maniacs. My average speeds will probably be close to or better than theirs due to sedate constant cruising compared to their stop-start high-speed antics, plus I (and my car) will be less fatigued and need fewer rest stops than them and of course always have a better chance of arriving in one piecestupid:. Win-win whichever way I look at it!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao (Post 3618099)

Agreed completely, I have similar experiences. On a long drive my friend was doing what it looks like a fast drive (not reckless though) and the average speed he clocked was 68 kmph with a FE of 16.8 kmpl. On my return journey on the same car I was doing 40 kmph lesser than him, achieved a FE of 21 kmpl and an average speed of 73 kmph! It was a 600 km journey.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hserus (Post 3618073)

In city, I see no point in gunning down only to stop at the next Red. But, on four lane highways, 100 is my "personal limit". Having said that, the man, the machine and the road: these three are the variables in this equation.

Sure, some people prefer their coffee strong and others prefer it milder :)

For me, 4 lane highways do have their share of hazards (like I was driving down NH45 the other day - fairly close to chennai) and half a dozen cows were happily sitting close to the median, in the late evening. :Frustrati

If I wasn't going at around 70, I wouldn't have had time to move my car over to the shoulder of the road and pass them without converting my bonnet to scrap and one or more (doubtless expensive) cows into steak.