[srinih75]

To spot more what if and how can it be situations search for road rage in you tube. Folks in Greece and Russia even modern economies if US have very violent behaviors. Thank God I am not there and hope it wont reach that stage here.

[blackwasp]

Originally Posted by srinih75

To spot more what if and how can it be situations search for road rage in you tube. Folks in Greece and Russia even modern economies if US have very violent behaviors. Thank God I am not there and hope it wont reach that stage here.

While road rage is an exception there, its a norm here. No amount of education, etc is going to change it. In fact slowly its the increasing no of bad 'educated' drivers that is of concern.

The only thing that can save us is humungous amount of fines for seemingly small offenses. Eg 10k for stopping after stop line, parking fines to tune of % of car's value etc.

I remember reading how crime was eradicated from NY city and subway by focusing more on minor offenses rather than big ones. Slowly but surely the crime rate reduced.

On similar lines, our cities should start first implementing all traffic rules on one street and then gradually spread out. Eventually the high fines will deter even the well to do folks.

[Soumyajit9]

Found something interesting while browsing News. Source: TOI

Dangerous driving cost most of the lives in the city: 626 of the 729 deaths. However, Bengaluru was among the top three of cities of the country with maximum number of accidents, behind New Delhi and Chennai.

We know where we are heading.

There were more accidents due to bad weather (43 with seven deaths) than driving under the influence of liquor (13 cases with 10 deaths).

Errrr, so it means foggy weather caused more accidents than DUI accidents !!

[harryputtar]

Originally Posted by srinih75

One day on Nice road I was cruising may be at 100 one (inappropriate word) started acting funny and kept trying to cut me off.

So you were in the right lane, and the "one" came from the left and tried to get into your lane?

Originally Posted by srinih75

Even at 150kmph he was relentless and wanted to pass me.

Pardon me for saying this, but you went from 100 to 150 to prevent him from passing you, what were you thinking ?

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by srinih75

There are -----snip---- folks get ticked off rld.

But, both of you were bad drivers here, no?

[TwentyDeewar]

Originally Posted by Soumyajit9

Errrr, so it means foggy weather caused more accidents than DUI accidents !!

I'd take the stats with a pinch of salt. The rate at which the speeds of a vehicle involved in an accident gets splashed by the police in the media (Car was doing 120 kmph etc etc), I am not sure how they ascertain who was driving recklessly!

Another thing I don't get is, how can someone attribute "bad weather" to causing an accident? I mean, unless you were really unlucky and a hurricane dumped a tree on your car,its the driver's responsibility to drive according to the weather. If he can't see, he should stop somewhere safe until the weather clears. If his brakes are weak, he should maintain safe distance in the rains. Simple, no? In my books, most (if not all) of the accidents mentioned in this category should fall under "reckless driving" too.

[srinih75]

Originally Posted by harryputtar

So you were in the right lane, and the "one" came from the left and tried to get into your lane?

Pardon me for saying this, but you went from 100 to 150 to prevent him from passing you, what were you thinking ?

He came from the left right behind me as there were few others on my left. The way he merged I almost felt he was to rear end me. He could have again changed lanes and passed me but kept following me. I didnt want to make a sharp lane change so tried to shake him off my tail.

Anyway, I did find myself in a wrong spot and eventually figured I am being pulled into a mad speed rush - so called it a day.

Was I a bad driver - I see many thanking the posts so it is open to interpretations.

In that Audi vs Aria chase - who is at fault? Aria and/or Audi?

Should I have tried to shake him off or kept him boxed in to let him continue doing what he was doing behind me "what I call as his dance"?

[hserus]

I am re-reading this thread with great interest because I'm stateside for a few weeks and driving a car in the much more disciplined environment here. And subconsciously dreading the time when I have to come back to India, where obeying the "keep distance" sign on the back of a truck means that about a dozen two wheelers will move in front and park themselves within a quarter inch of your bumpers.

How do people adapt back to driving in Indian conditions after a few years living stateside? Here you'd have to re-learn a few bad (but not too bad) habits that are guaranteed to get you a ticket in the states before you can drive comfortably on our local roads.

[mazda4life]

Originally Posted by hserus

How do people adapt back to driving in Indian conditions after a few years living stateside? Here you'd have to re-learn a few bad (but not too bad) habits that are guaranteed to get you a ticket in the states before you can drive comfortably on our local roads.

Hi, I am one of those souls who do this type of switch pretty often, once I am back on Indian roads after a brief/long hiatus, I do not start driving on Highways almost immediately but start off with small errands and intra city commute on my 2 wheeler. After couple of days and after learning the local traffic 'etiquette' transition to long drives.

[sunishsamuel]

In a country with 125 crore people, losing about 125,000 every year seems a very small number. And that's what is maintaining the balance ? Its so unfortunate to see so many accidents every day. And the disfigured humans or vehicles does not seem to change anyone's mentality that we should drive safe - Its not me anyways attitude !

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by hserus

How do people adapt back to driving in Indian conditions after a few years living stateside?

Been there, done that. Many times. It's not as difficult as it's made to sound like. The philosophy that every other person on the road is an idiot holds good everywhere. Just that you won't have to resort to your plan-B that you've readied for an eventuality, while in some developed country, but you can improvise on your plan-B multiple times in a short span of time while you are in India

[Chetan_Rao]

Actually not a big deal at all, as most people presume it to be. If one's used to minding their own business on the road (instead of indulging in the monkey business of everyone around), they can pretty much survive driving anywhere in the world.

Remember: the level of crazy may differ, but common driving rules (and human idiocy) aren't so different no matter where you go.

[ku69rd]

Today was very amused to see what this superbiker did in the morning traffic at AXA Signal off BTM Layout. I lacked the presence of mind to take a video. However have taken a couple of shots which I have posted.



I was literally rolling with laughter seeing this.

Reminded me of Upendra's Dialogue

India is Great but Indians are not great

[harryputtar]

Originally Posted by srinih75

Should I have tried to shake him off or kept him boxed in to let him continue doing what he was doing behind me "what I call as his dance"?

A jump from 100-150 sounded extreme to me in any circumstance, I would probably have moved to the left lane and let him go.

I run into a lot of these tailgaters on city roads as well as highways, in fact I ran into a lot of them on the UK highways as well, and I have figured the best way is to just let them go. They are in such a mad rush that any other tactics just make things more and more dangerous.

Apologies if I offended you in any way.

On a lighter note, chanced upon this Renault Lodgy ad on youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxY5EzLNe2g

Notice

- a kid sitting in his grandfathers lap on the front passenger seat fiddling with the touchscreen central console (at 0:48)
- a baby trying to hang on to the front passenger seat from the back where she is clearly sitting in someone's lap (at 0:55)
- kids peeping out of the windows and throwing their hands around (at 1:21)
- the elder kid strapped in with the grandfather in the front passenger seat using the same seatbelt , looks extremely dangerous to me (at 1:34)
- the Lodgy swerves almost into oncoming traffic, driving bang on the road splitter (from 1:37-1:43).

Come on Renault you can do better than this in a country which is in dire need of increasing safety awareness!

[hserus]

It is exactly how most fully loaded or even overloaded SUVs are driven in India - by drivers as well as by family members. Kids will definitely act up, clown around, try to lean out of the window, play youtube videos or games at full volume to distract you etc etc.

It is beyond at least me to keep my two kids mum and silent on a long drive so I can concentrate fully on the road

Also - for silversteed / chetanrao / mazda4life - thanks! I mostly dont drive when I am stateside as my trips are generally to conferences and travel around is quite less, staying in the same hotel as the morning to late evening conference is, getting onto a bus with everybody else for social events etc. Visiting my office there now for an extended period, so this is the first time I've driven a LHD vehicle, or driven anywhere in the states. So, my questions.