[Guite]

It is my opinion that point #6 and #2 are related, in that order. A lot of time it is much faster to overtake from the left (I know it is wrong) than to wait for the slower driver to give you way to overtake from the right. Most of the time they don't give way at all, in spite of numerous honking or flashing headlight. I also believe the reason lies, to an extend, on the way driving schools train new drivers. They tell you to just drive on first lane and ignore the honking from behind, saying the person behind will find their own way.

Driving schools need to be regulated, the instructors need to be qualified not just in changing gears but more so on traffic rules and good road manners.

[devilwearsprada]

Originally Posted by MaxTorque

Another bad bikewala from Pune. Yesterday came across a Honda Dio with very powerful HID lamps. The time was around 07:30PM and his headlights are still OFF. This fellow was flashing his headlight (with HID lamps) while he passing every vehicle.

He crossed me as well and for some moments I was blind :-( I think HIDs are becoming a big menace on our roads. I am not against HIDs but against the usage like this one.

The problem is the flooding of cheap chinese HID's which are only bright to blind you but do not focus on the real purpose of increasing the brightness. And, this is exactly why there are strict overseas regulations on use of Projector's along with HID's to not only make the best use of it, but to also increase the safety on road!

[sinharishi]

Originally Posted by Guite

It is my opinion that point #6 and #2 are related, in that order. A lot of time it is much faster to overtake from the left (I know it is wrong) than to wait for the slower driver to give you way to overtake from the right.

I was driving in the Middle lane throughout the expressway. Despite of the right most lane being empty , most choose to overtake me from the wrong side. At night it is not safe as the extreme left is occupied by the trucks. These trucks like i mentioned do not have reflectors,proper functioning brake lights.
It can be fatal.
When there is a slow moving vehicle in the extreme right and not willing to give space,one has no option but to overtake from the wrong side which is very common in this part of the country.

[Blur]

This happened the past Saturday at the Marine Drive in Mumbai.

I come up to a signal that is Red. A right-turn isn't allowed there. There's just one vehicle waiting in the right lane. A Cruze. I pull up behind him. The signal goes green...but this guy doesn't move! I wait for 2 seconds before flashing him, followed by a polite honk. He stays put! Not wanting to get into a fight, I decide against getting down and inquiring what's his problem. I reverse and, checking the adjacent lane is clear, move out from behind him.

As I am moving ahead I glance to my right to check on the Cruze. There's a guy inside talking on his phone. He looks back at me. But I don't wait anymore and move ahead. Later I check on him in my IRVM. He is sitting there with his lights out. And I am thinking... This guy is sitting there with his lights out...in the fast lane...on a road known for people zipping at crazy speeds... I guess he was just suicidal.



This was followed by a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado zipping along in the leftmost lane on the Bandra-Worli Sealink, overtaking everyone. Followed by an ANHC doing the same, and nearly crashing into a broken-down Tata Indigo, who of course didn't care to put on his hazard lights or the breakdown warning triangle! All this while the right (overtaking) lane didn't even have a cat crossing it!

[invincible7]

Well I see dozens of examples everyday on my way back and forth to office which is between Noida and Greater Noida.

The not to care attitude is very much evident in the way the car is driven, parked on the road and squeezed in between the traffice to make way for oneself.

Dont get me wrong but believe me off all the cars I have seen flashing team-bhp stickers - most of them are driven very rashly as if there is no tomorrow. Last weekend on my way to Connaught Place on NH24 there was one Dzire Grey Color flashing team-bhp sticker on the rear bumper - the guy almost rammed into an autorickshaw trying to overtake in traffic and he was doing no less than a 100 km/hr where the average speed was 50-60 at the max. He didnt even stop at that - he was still continuing with his antics on the entire stretch caring a damn about the rest of the vehicles on the road. I dont see the point in flashing Love Cars Live Cars and then showcasing such immature and rash behaviour on the road - it brings bad name to the whole community I will say.

[Shiv_1984]

Currently I am in Germany.. My license is valid only for 6 months but my american colleagues license is valid all the way till he stays here.

If I have to extend the validity I will have to pay 1500 euro which is too high. IN any case, here in Stuttgart, a new license costs 2500 euro. I mean, its a damn huge amount, and i find it necessary only because the authorities here want to enforce the rules strictly and no compromise at all.

A Huge fees, a strict and uncompromising driving test and overall a flawless traffic sense makes these guys one of the best drivers in the world.

They have respect for each other unlike us, we all seem to be rushing towards hell with our driving style and general road sense. May be this could be one of the reason why our license is valid only for 6 months. May be they know how Indians drive.

Here this is the order of priority :

1. Walkers
2. Bicycles
3. cars
4. Trucks and Heavy vehicles
5. Motor cycles and Scooters.

And trust me guys, I have seen ppl following these rules like religion. It isnt followed so well even in US, atleast I felt so after being there for like 10 months. I just wish and pray that back home we get some sense and have respect for others and eventually make our roads a safer place to be.

Amen !

[noopster]

Stupid Driver of the Year nomination: a gold Toyota Innova taxi on the Pune Mumbai expressway this morning.

I first caught sight of him in the tunnel near Lonavala. He was trying to overtake a truck in the rightmost lane...from the hard shoulder on the right! I watched in horror as he almost took himself out against the tunnel wall. The poor trucker could not yield since the middle lane was also occupied by another vehicle. This infuriated the Innova guy who, once he got ahead of the truck, cut in front of it and hit his brakes HARD.

Jaw dropping stupid. It was on a downhill section and there was hardly 2 car lengths distance separating them. If the trucker hadn't been vigilant or had bad brakes the Innova would have been crushed.

I slowed down and gave a wide berth to the Innova after that. Hope he reached his destination without hurting anyone.

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by noopster

Was on the correct side (walking towards oncoming traffic) and still there were a couple of morons on a bright yellow mobike doing 80 or so who barely missed me from behind. A red i10 followed closely, almost pushing me off the road into some bushes.

Exact same thing happened a couple hours ago to me. Was walking in the neighborhood park, but since it closes at 9:30PM, I decided to continue walking on the road (towards oncoming traffic) in our gated community, where there are speedbreakers every 100-odd metres or those barricades to slow down traffic.
However these did not seem deterrent enough for bikers and cars - especially a Chevy Spark which passed close by me at high speed. Should stick to the park, if I need to avoid getting maimed.

Originally Posted by saadat1992

I saw this badly parked i20 in my street. It was parked in such a way that only small cars could squeeze through! I had a tough time driving through! So, i decided to send the message across. I hope this belongs in this thread!

It might work. There used to be a KL-regd A-Star in our office complex which would always be parked wrongly (straddling 2 spaces). A colleague traced down the owner's name from the KL-RTO website using the Regn-No and pasted a note similar to what you had written, addressing it to the owner by name. In all probability, the guy would have been surprised seeing his name. Anyway, his parking has considerably improved after that. BTW, which place in Choolaimedu is that ? Looks familiar, but could not place it from the snaps.

[saadat1992]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

BTW, which place in Choolaimedu is that ? Looks familiar, but could not place it from the snaps.

It's the DAV school road. One parallel to Gandhi road.

BTW, by Park you meant the Gill nagar park?

[nkrishnap]

There was one swift (silver) with registration number KA-04-MJ-5665 with love car and live cars sticker on the rear bumper (right side) chating away to somebody near the incline towards the yield near Windson Manor. Completely oblivious to the fact the was holding up the traffic behind. No amount of honking from the fellow road users brought some sense to this person.

If you are reading this, kindly do not hold up traffic like this that too near a junction.

[maddyg]

This happened few days back on the golf course road. I was coming from under the Windsor manor bridge and was about to take a u turn at the round about. There was quite a bit of on coming traffic at the roundabout so i slow down considerably. There was cabby just behind me in a Logan and started to show his impatience by honking. At the same time i hear wail of ambulance siren, quickly checked the mirrors and couldn't spot one. Assumed he is on the oncoming traffic, i came to a halt and soon ambulance appeared among the traffic as i expected. Meanwhile, the cabby got furious, honking continuously he managed to squeeze out and tried to complete the u-turn. I got tensed half expecting the cab's bonnet blocking the ambulance, but the ambulance managed to pass brushing the cab's bumper. I was relived to see the ambulance pass, but to my surprise it stopped after about 5 feet, lights flashing, siren on full blast, driver jumps out comes running to assess the damage to Logan . The cabby by this time starts shouting at the ambulance driver, the whole scene attracts attention of near by traffic cop who tries to negotiate his way to the cab. The ambulance driver seeing not much of damage replies something to the cabby, walks back and takes off. Cabby as though not getting enough respect from the ambulance driver, ignoring the the cop's wavering hands requesting to contain it, leaved a dark cloud of smoke behind and accelerated chasing the ambulance. I could see he tried to push the ambulance to stop in the distance but don't know what happened afterwords. Moved on feeling sorry for the person waiting for the ambulance .

[MaxTorque]

Last weekend came across two bad drivers in Pune.
No.1.

This guy was driving an old generation Hyundai Santro (the Zip Drive) variant bearing UP registration license plate. I was following him in a steady moving traffic in Aundh Road and all of sudden he stopped in the road (without any indicator) for talking to a bye stander (may be some query related to route). The other lane was already occupied so I chose to brake.

No.2

This guy was following me in his Pulsar and obviously he could not manage to stop without kissing my rear bumper. Now my rear bumper is bearing an ugly kiss mark.

[sajo]

Last week, I made it to this thread.
I was driving to work in Hinjewadi, and I suddenly remembered something that needed to be done before heading to office. At the turn near Advinus , I cut across a white Etios (low speed crawling) to get to my destination. Sorry dude, I usually plan my lanes , but it slipped this time.

[supremeBaleno]

^^^@sajo, that is commendable. While pointing out other's mistake is easy, admitting one's own mistake is a tough thing for most of us.

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

a Chevy Spark which passed close by me at high speed.

Today it was a Fortuner speeding by, driven by a youngster. When a resident requested him to drive slowly since there are kids walking/cycling + pedestrians around, his reply was, "Uncle, this is a 3.0 litre engine and thus the sound is high. I was not driving fast". LOL.

Originally Posted by saadat1992

It's the DAV school road. BTW, by Park you meant the Gill nagar park?

Thanks. No, not Gill Nagar park - this is off Sholinganallur.

[bullet-tooth]

Today on my way to office, I was driving in a single lane road behind a Red Swift. He was doing a decent 40-50KMPH and then all of a sudden he braked in the middle of the road and I managed to stop my vehicle and over took him only to see him offering prayers to a temple in the side.