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

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Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom (Post 4593407)

Lunatic biker. No need of astrology to predict a short life! Defensive anti-idiot driving would suggest keeping further to left to increase one's view around the curve, but maybe you were about to take a right turn.

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Originally Posted by padmrajravi (Post 4593409)

That was clear suicidal . The speed with which he is coming on to you is scary. And if something happens , the crowd will be all over you. Defensive drivers will tell you to keep left. But not always practical.

My defense was that it was a one-way! Guess that was not defense enough. stupid:Thankfully that person did not panic the wrong way into my car's front and had space enough to pass me by.

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Originally Posted by padmrajravi (Post 4593409)

Defensive drivers will tell you to keep left. But not always practical.

Defensive drivers will tell you to take the line with the maximum vision.

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Originally Posted by deathwalkr (Post 4593415)

My defense was that it was a one-way!

lol:

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Guess that was not defense enough. ...

Well, of course, it should be. But, even when driving in a more law-respecting country, I consider the possibility that someone might have not realised --- because I've done that once or twice.

There is a one-way stretch on my regular route. 2-wheelers frequently ignore the restriction, autos sometimes, and the other day, I even met a car face-to-face :Frustrati

Quote:

Originally Posted by paragsachania (Post 4592071)

A similar but a more confident (pun intended) specimen on a high speed corridor:

Saw your Video multiple times (0:28 to 0:32) to come to a conclusion. Ola driver tried to be over-smart by flashing his indicators only after realizing that you two were on collision course due to his maneuvers . Indicator started blinking only when he was just ahead of you instead of well in advance. :Frustrati

Hats off to you to maintain your vehicle on the slower lanes (middle & extreme left) even on longer drives. clap:

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Originally Posted by BenjiRoss (Post 4593688)

In India when someone indicates, what they mean is, "it's my right of way now. You'd better brake hard and let me change lanes now and forevermore for the next million kilometres". This is a common statement I've heard after close shaves. "You idiot. Didn't you see I had my indicator on. Why didn't you stop immediately?".

Thanks, Exactly what I wanted to communicate. And definitely the intent of the OLA driver.

With indicators the usual guideline is that it indicates an intent to turn when the next lane is free. It does not give right of way.
In India when someone indicates, what they mean is, "it's my right of way now. You'd better brake hard and let me change lanes now and forevermore for the next million kilometres". This is a common statement I've heard after close shaves. "You idiot. Didn't you see I had my indicator on. Why didn't you stop immediately?".

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Originally Posted by BenjiRoss (Post 4593688)

The converse is equally true - there have been plenty of instances (always?) when there is a gap in the adjacent lane and I have switched on the indicator to let the guy behind know that I am moving into that gap. He (almost always it is a he!) immediately accelerates & closes the gap.

It is like it is a game!

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Originally Posted by sridhu (Post 4593737)

The converse is equally true -

It is like it is a game!

Very well said.
On my short commute to work I have to take a right turn to get into the gate on a medianless road. The lazy 2 wheelers who have been behind me for a while suddenly get charged when I switch on the indicator and race to overtake me from the right!! They would have probably slowed if I hadn't turned my indicator on.
As someone said, driving in India is like a war game. You never give the opponent an advantage by turning on the indicator and letting them know of your plans. That's the reason we don't use indicators!!

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Originally Posted by BenjiRoss (Post 4593996)

Very well said.
On my short commute to work I have to take a right turn to get into the gate on a medianless road. The lazy 2 wheelers who have been behind me for a while suddenly get charged when I switch on the indicator and race to overtake me from the right!! They would have probably slowed if I hadn't turned my indicator on. As someone said, driving in India is like a war game. You never give the opponent an advantage by turning on the indicator and letting them know of your plans. That's the reason we don't use indicators!!

This is something that I too have seen, I am in process for a right turn with no reciprocal traffic and my indicator on, when I see all of a sudden the two wheeler who has been tailgating me, swerve and decide to overtake me from the right side, even though the left is clear. What can one do but let the joker go. I suppose the driving habits don’t change anywhere.

I wasn't too sure where to share this, near misses / accidents / or here. I chose to share it here since I believe that bad drivers are the primary cause for accidents and near misses.

I was following a Audi Q5 on a two lane street in the Kodambakkam area of Chennai. I had about 10-15 feet to the Q5 and we were moving at around 30-35kmph. The Q5 turned on his right indicator and I slowed down. There was this WagonR behind me who started to honk. The Q5 turned into an apartment building. The gates of the building was open. I started to pass the Q5 in a straight line (did not veer to any side). Just as I was passing the Q5, he started to reverse!!!! I was only about a third of the way through when I saw it being close to me. I did not turn, but instead shifted down and accelerated out of that spot just in time.

Now, the WagonR who was behind me, wanted to pass me on the left (at the time I was braking when the Q5 was turning). Since there was another car parked ahead on the left, he had to move to the right. Just a this time, the Q5 who was reversing T-boned into the WagonR in reverse. I saw the both the drivers almost coming to blows in my rear view mirror (since I had to stop a little ahead for traffic).

I must say that I was lucky. Little did I know that the Q5 was going to reverse. My choice of shifting down and accelerating out of that spot was spontaneous. The WagonR's impatience caused him avoidable damage. If he had followed me at a safe distance, he would have realised that the Q5 was reversing and could have stopped, considering he would have been doing only about 25-30 Kmph. The Q5 could have been a little more patient to look for traffic around before he started to backup to make a U-Turn at that spot.

All in all, additional learning for the day. A vehicle that has a right indicator on and has turned right and cleared your lane, could reverse back into your lane.

Agree completely on the above post. Audi driver is the one responsible to reverse safely but the impatience exhibited by fellow vehicles on our roads and attitude of not giving even an inch to someone who is parking or reversing is prevalent.

Drivers like those in Wagon R are dime a dozen. I routinely cross a spot in my commute where MTC buses and lorries have to take a U-turn at an uncontrolled intersection and then take left in the next intersection instead of taking right turn in the original intersection itself as traffic police has blocked that intersection.

With the bigger vehicles, they have to do 3-point turn to do a U-turn due to lack of space. 99% of vehicles don’t allow them to complete their 3-point turn on both sides of the road. In the first phase of the turn, traffic on their side overtakes them from behind without waiting and in the 2nd phase of the turn, traffic on the opposite side of the road passes through the gap created by their reversing. No one has patience to wait for these vehicles to complete their turn, barely takes 5-10 seconds most of the time.

I make it a point to wait for them to complete the turn and the honking from my behind to make me move is always crazy. If I’m in my bike, some cars try to squeeze through a small gap to get past me waiting but I always stand my ground in these situations and never allow them an inch to get through and some people even get abusive. I just shake my head and leave once the intersection clears. I lost faith in humanity because of these people.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sparky@home (Post 4595768)

I was a witness to this crazy lady who suddenly decided to cut in front of an I10, who was in the process of overtaking the two wheeler. The car was going very slow, so much so that he could stop without an incident.

Number of two wheeler riders in this country who are only alive because drivers of bigger vehicles being attentive or considerate could populate an entirely new country. :)

I’m saying that as a frequent rider myself. Not saying that cars and other vehicles don’t do these things but riders are on a different stratosphere compared to others.