[RajaTaurus]

Originally Posted by straightdrive

Another indicator. Drivers/riders who cut corners while turning right, usually on undivided roads. .

I think this is another very valid point, probably not touched upon by any here. This is a big menace in single roads,especially on rural roads. One has to be extremely careful. I still remember the Lancer that rammed into a truck on one of the posts in 'Accident Pics' thread. A clear result of this kind of driving.

[f1head]

Originally Posted by sbraj

May be they are trying to imitate Formula One drivers.

Even when there are no dividers and there are no markings to separate the lanes, a good driver would mentally draw a dividing line and stick to his side of this imaginary line. Someone who does not honor the division of lanes is a bad driver, IMHO.

Lane driving is so difficult these days, for the past month or so (fuelled by Autocar's contest), I have been trying to follow lane driving. But its so difficult, no one follows any rules, its like a jungle out there. If you drive in a lane , its taken to be a sign of weakness or amateurism. Also morons who drive at 20kmph in the rightmost lane and dont give way, further make lane driving impossible.

[SPIKE ARRESTOR]

By observing the way a person is seated in the drivers seat you get some idea of his driving skills, good seating position is a characteristic property of skilled drivers.

Spike

[IronH4WK]

Originally Posted by soumyadeep

Our vacation during the extended Ugadi weekend would have been the best we’ve had, but for an incident on our return trip home that left a sour taste in the mouth...

with all due respect, if it had been me my wheel spanner would have made contact with his skull. nobody puts my family in harms way and gets away with it! all the more better if i had a hummer - could just reverse on their car and crush them both inside it! "oh, didn't you see - i tried to warn you. didn't you see the reverse lights? sorry, next time i'll be more careful"

[don't mind my rantings. this is the angry me]

point to ponder: God forbid had there been a fatality, would your reaction be the same? also, i agree 200% with Thad - you shouldn't have an unsecured child in the front seat! what were you thinking?

[Thad E Ginathom]

^^ In any seat!

Yes, I have some sympathy with the rant. How often does one wish to be driving one of those big heavy solid vehicles with which one could bend a panel or two without a scratch to oneself! But's that's just the angry me

[sbraj]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

--- it is safer to be behind a bad driver, rather than in front of them

Well said.

In fact, it is safer to be as far away as possible from a bad driver. If his speed is simialr to mine, I will never overtake him. Instead let him go ahead as far as possible. If he stops by and then I see him again on my rear view mirror, I will make sure he overtakes me.

Remember thought waves. When one is in the vicinity of bad drivers, there are chances that one may end up being part of the negative energy. So, get as far away as possible.

[thefuturist]

Originally Posted by RajaTaurus

^^If I were in your place, At least I would have taken a snap of the bloks and their car in my cell phone and walked back to the car. That would have been enough to make them to be careful there onwards. Anyways, in such a situation, I always slow down, if required pull over, to let them pass and go beyond vision, to be safe. But here, you just didn't have enough time even to do that. Terrible but, expectable.

I totally agree with you... it occurred to me only in hindsight, what with 2 cameras I had on board. At the moment I was too shaken to be thinking rationally, and disgusted at the same time at the thought of a damaged bumper - one that I had managed to protect from maniacal 2, 3 and 4 wheelers for the last 2 years.

[thefuturist]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Couple of thoughts...

--- it is safer to be behind a bad driver, rather than in front of them

@Thad, you run the risk of frontal impact if you are trailing a bad driver - I guess you really meant stopping for a break and let him pass out of sight.

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

--- wear seat belts always, and never drive with an unbelted child, or a child on someone's lap.

Agree, as a rule me and my wife always buckle up before starting the car, even if I am driving for only a couple of blocks. As for the child seat, I guess I have committed sin that way. The trouble is that almost everyone I know drive with the child on their mother's lap, and I never felt the need for going for one. Now it's on the top of my list and I would urge all my friends to follow suit.

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

As to being under the influence: the guy was probably just under the influence of his normal driving style!

Not unlikely! I just hope I never encounter him or his ilk in Bangalore traffic.

[thefuturist]

Originally Posted by IronH4WK

with all due respect, if it had been me my wheel spanner would have made contact with his skull. nobody puts my family in harms way and gets away with it!

Well, the damage was minimal so it did not warrant the services of my toolbox. As RajaTaurus pointed out, I believe the best way to tackle such a situation is take a couple of snaps the first thing as you get out of your car.

Originally Posted by IronH4WK

point to ponder: God forbid had there been a fatality, would your reaction be the same? also, i agree 200% with Thad - you shouldn't have an unsecured child in the front seat! what were you thinking?

Yes, as I said earlier it's lesson learnt for me (and fortunately not the hard way). I am going to urge all my known acquaintances now who don't use a child seat for their kids into using one - it's as essential as a helmet is to two-wheeler riders.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by soumyadeep

@Thad, you run the risk of frontal impact if you are trailing a bad driver - I guess you really meant stopping for a break and let him pass out of sight.

Well, just keep a safe distance. Out of sight would, of course, be safest . If you run in to them, generally, it is your fault, however stupid they are being.

I hate overtaking an obviously unpredictable and crazy (possibly drunk) driver, even with a whole spare lane between us.

[Nutboltu]

Nobody mentioned zombie drivers? It's the same as drivers who are sleeping but zombie drivers tend to bite you after accidents.

[Thad E Ginathom]

I thought that was vampire drivers!

[RajaTaurus]

This happened yesterday. Place: Adayar Opposite to Sangeetha Bhavan hotel. Time: around 4 pm. As Sount-Chennaites know this road is one way and its always scrambles in front of this hotel to park. I was on the left end of the road, waiting for a car to pull out from the front of the hotel so I can park there. There comes teo guys in a Silver Verna, blaring their horn for few minutes continously,right behind me. There was ample space and even a Honda City passed me easily. I looked back to see why this guy was honking his lungs out, he too pulls over just next to me and says (in usual most indecent chennai style), "You Don't Stop In The Middle Of The Road and Don't Show Your Hands. OK", in Tamil and drives away. There were 2 boys in their mid-twenties. (Thank God those clowns were not part of Team-bhp, if they were, they would have spotted my car easily). I was awestuck, not knowing what was my mistake there, looking at those boys silently. Few seconds later told myself, This Is Chennai.!
These guys first of all dind't have any road manners, i.e., when some car is backing up or parking, wait few seconds to let him do so. They either squeeze through the gap, scaring you to death or honk their lungs out. Signs of Bad Drivers?

[bbkp]

My rules are simple and these are in the descending order of danger level -

1. Yellow Plates - Vehicle doesn't matter - If it's got one, I keep a distance.

2. Tempos / Mini-Trucks - These are often driven by trainee drivers who post apprentice, take up the bigger truck jobs. On Road, they cause more damage than the normal trucks.

3. Modified high-end luxury cars - More often, these are driven by the teenage sons / daughters of effluent businessmen. Often, such cars look to have aged more than what they actually are because of lack of proper maintenance - I have seen a teenage bloke sitting on the bonnet of a Nissan X-trail with a ciggi in his hand and happily having a chat with his friends. Imagine what the poor X-trail might have gone through having a 60 Kg bloke sitting on it's bonnet.

4. Reversing Trucks - well - Trucks have a poor rear visibility - especially when loaded. I try to keep a clear distance from any truck that is reversing and avoid being close to it - especially on the Left Hand side.

5. Autos - All the minor scratches / dents that are there on my car are blessings of autowallahs - It seems as if they like to penalise everyone for buying a car instead of relying on their auto as the mode of transport(though the damage is restricted to small dents and scratches on the car)

6. Bikes - somehow I perceive lesser threat from them when compared to some of my colleagues - Maybe, my biking experience comes to the fore and I kind of know what to expect from other bikers . I find them to be a lesser threat than the autos.

7. Traffic Police - You never know where they will start appearing, when they will appear, how they will appear, why they appear. They just appear, challan you for nothing - if you pay up it's fine - else they will threaten you to appear in court - Atleast half of them don't know how to drive, the other half don't follow the rules themselves (like wearing helmets etc) and all of them ride vehicles that are not properly maintained. I have seen a traffic Constable over here riding a bullet that was of pre-independence era, would surely fail a pollution test stopping a brand new Yamaha FZ15 and asking him for all kind of documents - No wonder that the cops are scary !!

[sbraj]

Originally Posted by RajaTaurus

These guys first of all dind't have any road manners, i.e., when some car is backing up or parking, wait few seconds to let him do so. They either squeeze through the gap, scaring you to death or honk their lungs out. Signs of Bad Drivers?

Definitely, I would say.

I think those guys are under the impression that once they are on the roads, roads should all be cleared of other vehicles. They just cannot stand the sight of another vehicle in front of them?