[amitwlele]

Folks please tell me if this is bad driving or am i being aggressive on road.

Imagine a 2 lane highway. On the left lane there is a very slow moving overloaded truck. So all the fast vehicles (read cars) are overtaking the truck from the right lane and following each other in a straight line with not much space between them. I am one amongst those. The whole lane behind the truck is empty.

Now one idiot thinks he can simply take the empty left lane and when he reaches the truck turn on the right indicator and try to squeeze in to overtake the truck thereby breaking the uniform speed that is being followed by all the vehicles in the right lane. He can very well see the truck from far away and understands that there is no chance to squeeze in. Yesterday one guy tried to do this and i did not allow him to come in the right lane.

Impatience is the primary cause of accidents and this i believe is being impatient and not following road manners. Was i right in not giving him the space to join the lane?

[rishie]

Originally Posted by amitwlele

Folks please tell me if this is bad driving or am i being aggressive on road.

Imagine a 2 lane highway. On the left lane there is a very slow moving overloaded truck. So all the fast vehicles (read cars) are overtaking the truck from the right lane and following each other in a straight line with not much space between them. I am one amongst those. The whole lane behind the truck is empty.

Now one idiot thinks he can simply take the empty left lane and when he reaches the truck turn on the right indicator and try to squeeze in to overtake the truck thereby breaking the uniform speed that is being followed by all the vehicles in the right lane. He can very well see the truck from far away and understands that there is no chance to squeeze in. Yesterday one guy tried to do this and i did not allow him to come in the right lane.

Impatience is the primary cause of accidents and this i believe is being impatient and not following road manners. Was i right in not giving him the space to join the lane?

I do that most of the times for the people, without any indicators, trying to squeeze into the lane where the other vehicles are going in a disciplined manner, but sometimes these idiot drivers get too impatient and block the whole other lane just for squeezing into the place they were trying to. but around 80% of the cases, they just wait and squeeze at the back of my car, just because the driver behind my car has given them enough place to squeeze in.

As per me, what ever we did is right, (being on the right lane, we get the right of way, and ), but we become the bad drivers for those who are ignorant of these rules and/or are impatient.

I don't think, what we do is going to change anything for those idiots on road, and if we make eye contact with those guys, they start a fight (atleast here in bangalore).

[noopster]

^^ Technically yes. An overtaking manouever needs to be complete before it even starts. Which means you have to factor in EVERYTHING conceivable before you attempt to overtake (including a guy who is legally in the right trying to overtake a vehicle ahead of him).

I think I know what stretch of road you're talking about. The most annoying idiots are those who, when traffic is blocked, take the right (oncoming) lane and then, when faced with oncoming traffic, want to squeeze back into my lane! I have been castigated by Tanveer for allowing one such loser back in somewhere up in this thread

[SDP]

Originally Posted by amitwlele

Folks please tell me if this is bad driving or am i being aggressive on road.

Imagine a 2 lane highway. On the left lane there is a very slow moving overloaded truck. So all the fast vehicles (read cars) are overtaking the truck from the right lane and following each other in a straight line with not much space between them. I am one amongst those. The whole lane behind the truck is empty.

Now one idiot thinks he can simply take the empty left lane and when he reaches the truck turn on the right indicator and try to squeeze in to overtake the truck thereby breaking the uniform speed that is being followed by all the vehicles in the right lane. He can very well see the truck from far away and understands that there is no chance to squeeze in. Yesterday one guy tried to do this and i did not allow him to come in the right lane.

Impatience is the primary cause of accidents and this i believe is being impatient and not following road manners. Was i right in not giving him the space to join the lane?

Interesting situation. I don't know the answer. But let me share another similar situation and how the traffic police handle it so that we can guess if this is right.

If you are travelling from North Mumbai to Central Mumbai using the Eastern Express highway, the place where the Express highway ends, there is the Sion flyover which bypasses the Sion Circle. This flyover was originally designed to be a one-way for motorist heading North. But later on, one lane has been reserved for people going south. As you approach this point while going towards central Mumbai, the cars who want to use that one lane on that flyover line up nicely in the rightmost lane and in morning hours the line could easily be 40-50 vehicles. The remaining lanes are not empty, but are typically flowing 3-4 times faster. People can see the line from a far off distance and the sincere ones join at the end. The oversmart ones remain in the 2nd lane, cross quite a few vehicles crawling in the rightmost lane and try to squeeze in at the last moment where the flyover starts.

I have seen the cops stopping such vehicles and forcing them to go from below the flyover. I have also seen a few instances when somebody muscled in and joined the rightmost lane, the cop who had a clear view of this stopped the vehicle from using the flyover.

Guessing by what the cops seem be doing, I guess you are not being a bad driver at all.

[noopster]

I know the flyover you're talking about, SDP, since I am one of those 50 who patiently line up only to see random taxis and SUVs muscle in at the last minute (most fail, thankfully!) But the situation amitwlele is talking about is different. Here the overtaking vehicles are (temporarily) on the wrong side and the guy who is trying to be smart ironically is legally in the right since he is directly behind the truck in his own lane!

Come to Hinjewadi sometime- we'll show you

[amitwlele]

Originally Posted by SDP

As you approach this point while going towards central Mumbai, the cars who want to use that one lane on that flyover line up nicely in the rightmost lane and in morning hours the line could easily be 40-50 vehicles. The remaining lanes are not empty, but are typically flowing 3-4 times faster. People can see the line from a far off distance and the sincere ones join at the end. The oversmart ones remain in the 2nd lane, cross quite a few vehicles crawling in the rightmost lane and try to squeeze in at the last moment where the flyover starts.

I have seen the cops stopping such vehicles and forcing them to go from below the flyover. I have also seen a few instances when somebody muscled in and joined the rightmost lane, the cop who had a clear view of this stopped the vehicle from using the flyover.

Oh yes i know that stretch and have encountered that situation. Thankfully my travails on that stretch have reduced.

But i am still ready to give some leeway on that stretch by assuming that the driver trying to squeeze in is new to that particular stretch of the road and is not aware of this single lane for the flyover. But i don't think my assumption is really valid and most of them are habitual offenders.

[amitwlele]

Originally Posted by noopster

I know the flyover you're talking about, SDP, since I am one of those 50 who patiently line up only to see random taxis and SUVs muscle in at the last minute (most fail, thankfully!) But the situation amitwlele is talking about is different. Here the overtaking vehicles are (temporarily) on the wrong side and the guy who is trying to be smart ironically is legally in the right since he is directly behind the truck in his own lane!

Come to Hinjewadi sometime- we'll show you

Noop - I was talking about the highway stretch. The scenario that you are mentioning is also observed in Hinjewadi as you rightly said.

[SDP]

While we are on the topic of 2 lanes, there is one confusion for which I never really got a straight answer.

While in US, I was told by friends that in a 2 lane (on each side) road, the left lane is meant exclusively for overtaking and you should NOT 'drive' on that lane. Stay in the right lane and switch to the left lane only for overtaking. I was made to believe that if you continue to hog the overtaking lane, you can get a ticket.

Any ideas, whether this is true or not?

If it is true, then in the Indian context, and the scenario that amitwlele has mentioned, the ones in the right lane are the ones who are wrong.

[noopster]

Well, yes and no!

Yes because OF COURSE it's wrong to hog the wrong side of the road when there is no traffic visible. What if a vehicle emerges on his correct side of the road and you go headlong into him when you're zooming in the wrong lane?

No, because in the situation outlined above, the vehicles in the 'wrong' lane ARE overtaking!

[Thad E Ginathom]

Any ideas, whether this is true or not?

UK law (iirc) says, of a two or three lane road...

Drive on the left. The right-hand lane[s] is for overtaking. Overtake and move back to the left. Do not overtake on the left, unless traffic is moving in lanes (ie when approaching a junction) and your lane is moving faster than the lane to your right.

Does this mean everyone forms one lane, nipping in and out of it as they overtake? No! It means that. in practice, you have lanes of traffic of different speed with "permanent" overtaking going on.

The only thing that can be said about the person that nips through on the left, in the lorry situation above, is that he is a queue jumper, but, he's probably a tailgater too, so better to have him in front rather than behind.

The multiple-vehicles-overtaking situation is one in which, invariably, everyone drives too close. Trying to physically block the queue-jumper, annoying though he is, means definitely being too close to the vehicle in front.

[SDP]

Originally Posted by noopster

Well, yes and no!

Yes because OF COURSE it's wrong to hog the wrong side of the road when there is no traffic visible. What if a vehicle emerges on his correct side of the road and you go headlong into him when you're zooming in the wrong lane?

No, because in the situation outlined above, the vehicles in the 'wrong' lane ARE overtaking!

More confusion!
I was not talking about using the lane which is meant for oncoming traffic. Its a 2+2 lane road and you are still on your side of the road. On your side, you have 2 lanes, out of which is one lane reserved ONLY for overtaking and emergency vehicles?

[noopster]

Thad, thanks for the clarification.

I've noticed that when the Fifth Gear or Top Gear folks do their country road runs, they often hog the wrong side of the road as they zip along. It always irritates me since I am more of a leftist/centrist (literally I mean )

Can you really get penalised for driving that way?

Edit: Just saw SDP's latest post. As far as I know there is no such law. On the Mum-Pune expressway, there is a law that states explicitly that the first (rightmost) lane is ONLY for overtaking. Says nothing about the middle lane which is where I stay put. Annoys me no end when vehicles come zipping out of nowhere and overtake me from the left.

[Thad E Ginathom]

when the Fifth Gear or Top Gear folks do their country road runs, they often hog the wrong side of the road as they zip along. It always irritates me since I am more of a leftist/centrist

Again, with an IIRC, "correct" driving technique is to straighten out the curves as far as possible. This assumes having full visibility without obstructions like fences, banks, hedges or even dips in the road. I cannot stress to much that even the thickest, most stupid British driver, with even half a brain, will never approach a bend (curve) on the wrong side of the road if they cannot fully see around it.

(Of course, that is not to say there are zero British, thick, stupid drivers with less than half brains: UK has traffic accidents too!)

Most British roads that are big enough for two vehicles to pass easily have a centre marking. If it is unbroken, it is illegal to cross it, and yes, you could be penalised if caught. Otherwise, simply being on the wrong side of the road is not, in itself, illegal, unless you crossed such a road marking, or some other factor makes it dangerous driving.

NB: I'm not a lawyer, and it is a long time since I read the British Highway code. In fact, it is revised fairly frequently.

[josejoseph]

Originally Posted by SDP

Any ideas, whether this is true or not?

Hi SDP, I recently got my US driving license and AFAIK there is no such rule.

There is nothing like an overtaking lane (called passing), what you do is if it is two lane (on one side) then you shift your lane and pass the car in front of you.

Hope I'm giving you the correct info.

Thanks,
Jose.

[SDP]

Originally Posted by SDP

While we are on the topic of 2 lanes, there is one confusion for which I never really got a straight answer.

While in US, I was told by friends that in a 2 lane (on each side) road, the left lane is meant exclusively for overtaking and you should NOT 'drive' on that lane. Stay in the right lane and switch to the left lane only for overtaking. I was made to believe that if you continue to hog the overtaking lane, you can get a ticket.

Any ideas, whether this is true or not?

If it is true, then in the Indian context, and the scenario that amitwlele has mentioned, the ones in the right lane are the ones who are wrong.

I think, I should have researched it a bit myself before posting. This is what I found on Wikipedia.

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

Common practice and most law on United States Highways is that the left lane is reserved for passing and faster moving traffic, and that traffic using the left lane must yield to traffic wishing to overtake.
.....

It is also illegal in many states in the U.S. to use the "far left" or passing lane on a major highway as a traveling lane (as opposed to passing), or to fail to yield to faster moving traffic that is attempting to overtake in that lane. For example, Colorado's "Left Lane Law" states:
A person shall not drive a motor vehicle in the passing lane of a highway if the speed-limit is sixty-five miles per hour or more unless such person is passing other motor-vehicles that are in a non-passing lane...[4]

Here's a link to the page:
Passing lane - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Another link that talks about state specific variations (The GREEN/Yes ones are the ones I was referring to):
http://www.mit.edu/~jfc/right.html