[ajaypjayaraj]

Originally Posted by Shanksta

Even I stop when I see people waiting but once when I stopped on a pretty busy road since the pedestrians were signalling for vehicles to stop for them to cross, I saw at least 10+ vehicles passing me and not giving two hoots to the people crossing. That day my dad was riding shotgun with me and he told me "see it is a good gesture on your part to stop but still the morons on the road will not stop and hence you are actually putting the people crossing the road at the risk of being knocked down." So ever since I've been way more cautious while stopping to let people cross and also if I feel that the person behind me in the adjacent lane will not stop I just continue driving on!! Unfortunately India is not a place for the sensible & polite drivers.
P.S. I only stop if I see a zebra crossing and generally don't encourage jaywalkers.

Sadly that is true. Even pedestrians in most cases stop and wait for you to pass as they are not used to most cars stopping for them. You really need to show them hand signal to go ahead and pass. The irony is that when you are slow and stop peacefully they would just stand and wait and when you are speeding some moron would try gambling with his life running past you. Here, the driving style has to be somewhere between being courteous and inconsiderate, but as alert as you possibly could, as if you are expecting to be bombed anytime, when driving! But then if you wanna be courteous, you'll get frustrated doing that. Lately I am quite inconsiderate to those inconsiderate motorists and let them get frustrated. Atleast some have to behave themselves if not all. Though many fail to stop even after you stop at a zebra crossing, I've noticed some people do stop seeing you stopped.

That said, pedestrians are no saints either. How stupid is it to try darting between speeding cars to cross the road? Or say trying to pass ahead seeing a speeding car and knowing that the driver needs to really brake hard to be stopped for letting him pass clear safely! Courteousness is not expected from motorists alone but from every one. Pedestrians get priority but that does not allow them to jump in front of a speeding automobile and expect magic to be done. That would be dumb and that is very commonly seen too!

It all boils down to basic attitude of the people. Driving a car or walking on the road, he would show only that level of courteousness that he believes is enough as per his attitude. And from experiences, that level here in general is very very low and has a lot of room for improvement. I think the only person most people are courteous to is oneself. I need to go, I should pass before you, Why should I stop, Let me see how you pass now that I've blocked your way This is the attitude seen commonly. But surprisingly the same crowd would behave with all consideration and politeness while driving in US or EU or any such country where civic sense prevails. Bad drivers are so capable and also would form the majority here that they can influence the few good drivers until frustrated to behave bad just like them. Consciously I would never wanna be a bad driver, but I won't say that I've never been one, out of such influences at times. Anyways I don't give up trying to avoid such instances. Like my uncle said, Never let anyone else decide your speed or the way you drive.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by KiloAlpha

I would say your father is very very correct. In fact, in countries (like in Europe) where drivers are more courteous, it is taught that you would be "in the wrong" (and hence culpable in case of a mishap) to give way like this without first determining that other motorists around you would also follow your suit.

I think this is not quite right. This is how I understand the situation from UK, my mother country.

First, it was a Thad's Dad's Driving Wisdom doctrine never to indicate to pedestrians to cross. Stop for them, but leave the decision to them. It is their responsibility to look around them to see what other drivers are doing. However, I don't think one one incur any legal liability for doing this.

Now, as I remember the law and/or practice...

1. You should stop for pedestrians to cross at a not-controlled-by-signals pedestrian crossing. If they are on the crossing already, you must stop.

2. If pedestrians are crossing an entrance or side road that you are turning into, they have right of way. You must let them cross.

Then there is another piece of Thad's Dad practical wisdom, from my teens...

Dad... When do pedestrians have right of way?

Me... <Trots out all the Highway Code stuff I had learned back then.>

Dad... No.

Me... <Puzzled, tries Highway code again>

Dad... No.

Me... <gives up>

Dad... Always! You are never allowed to run them over.

[ani_meher]

Originally Posted by arunphilip

The correct way of taking a right turn: Turn right only after reaching the lane that you want to be in (i.e. the lane that you will be in after a successful turn).

Attachment 1308605

People generally don't understand that you need to maintain the same lane that you were in, after joining the road after the turn. They take a w-i-d-e turn and end up getting into leftmost lane of the connecting road. This really bugs me a lot, as I have to stop for idiots crossing over lanes while taking a simple left/right turn.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Turn right only after reaching the lane that you want to be in

Not quite right.

you need to maintain the same lane that you were in

Yes!

[gabrielthomas]

I encountered a bad driver today in my work campus. All the cars that enter into the campus have to undergo a security check. Today, as soon as my car was checked, i proceeded to the car park by passing an stationary M800 that was before me. In fact I was passing by the right side of the M800 to turn into the car park when all of a sudden this gentleman without checking his mirror, starts the car and swerves into the right side. He would have rammed into my front passenger door, If I hadn't braked. I was looking at him if he would at least acknowledge, but no, MR.Cool just crosses me and goes into the car park as if nothing happened in a great hurry. As i go behind him at a steady pace at very decent distance, he races to get the best parking slot in the entire area

After he gets down, his co-passenger gives me cold stare as if I did something wrong, I in turn did not put my eyes down and stared at them thinking how on earth educated people could be like this. No wonder, our dear Yellow board co-drivers behave so "gently" on the road if people of such elite society could behave like this.

[sachinpk]

^^^ You should have given a ear-ful to that idiot then and there. At least this is one thing which I do in my office parking area. An advantage in such areas is that you and him are pretty much equals .

[gabrielthomas]

Originally Posted by sachinpk

^^^ You should have given a ear-ful to that idiot then and there. At least this is one thing which I do in my office parking area. An advantage in such areas is that you and him are pretty much equals .

Yeah I could have - but you know..I did not want to spoil his morning nor mine and moreover, at that time he might be just embarassed or he might have retaliated that I should have watched or something...The ego inside him will never make him accept his mistake..so the end result is waste of precious time!!

[KiloAlpha]

Q: Bad Drivers - How do you spot 'em?
A: Size of ego inversely proportional to size of brain!

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

You know it's the ultimate supercar when it doesn't need any registration plate other than what the manufacturer provides...

...and I know for a fact that this particular vehicle also has a rather hoarse-sounding low-intensity horn that the owner-driver likes to use for fairly long durations at a time.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by KiloAlpha

A: Size of ego inversely proportional to size of brain!

It's a sliding scale: Happens to all of us sometimes!

[ILTDrive]

Originally Posted by aravindr

Another common site at least in Bangalore is that in a sharp corner, when you take a left turn with your indicators on, a biker or a cyclist takes the gap between the car and the edge of the foot path, many times knowing fully well that the gap is not enough.

Tell me about this. I have seen this in so many cases that now a days when I have to take a left turn, I block off that area and my indicators are on much in advance. However, I still see some people trying to sneak in, that is when I just stop the car, do not take the turn and wait for the other person to back off and come to the right side and then take a turn. How idiotic can people be, and all this for a 5 second advantage?

[dark.knight]

Boy have I spotted one.

Just today I had some work which took almost mid-day to complete. As I hadn't had breakfast I spotted a government marked parking space in front of an eatery. The other side is No Parking so usually that place is crowded. I parked exactly in the centre of the drawn marking and went in. As I came out I came across a rather impatient boor desperately trying to squeeze most of his European make sedan almost within 2 inches of mine to prevent his boot from sticking out into the road.

At this point I had to make a request that he not come so close as I'm removing it anyway and I need a little more than a foot up front to get going without much manoeuvres. Though I too get the usual feelings of irritation I try to control them as it may not reflect much about myself. What followed next did anger me but I didn't feel much surprise. Apparently since I possess a hatchback, I should've moved it to within an inch of the next car to provide room to such "big cars" instead of following the government allotted parking space, and please note by inch I'm saying literally inch. Now I'm not going into what brand of car that he drove as its not the fault of the vehicle, the only question I asked was how do I take it out with an inch gap, and bang came the answer.. "you cant drive"? I had nothing more to say at that point. I just bitterly managed to pull out and drive away.

Its not even that the allotted marking is big, it may just about fit a sedan and leave about a foot each end for cars like mine.

Apparently now, certain drivers in B'lore think that hatches have no right to be parked on the roads. My question is now to Bhpians as I think we're a logical lot. Lets leave the fact that I failed to predict that a sedan would be wandering for parking 10 mins after I parked, lets leave the fact that the government itself gave the right for only 1 car to be parked in that space & also that a 5.5 feet wide car cannot in anyway ease out of a 2 inch gap when its parallel behind an equally wide vehicle. Even if 1 Bhpian thinks that my equidistant between the lines parking is wrong, I shall use parking only where I hope to still have them, at my home & office. Let the big cars have all the fun elsewhere. P.s I also know that the insane views of 1 insane person do not a public, reflect but I'm still irritated and hope a few here can rant on my behalf.

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by dark.knight

Boy have I spotted one.

...............

Have suffered this almost every time I've parked on a street (which I almost never do now unless absolutely unavoidable). One would assume common sense dictating leaving reasonable space (at least a foot front & back) to manoeuvre in/out of a parallel parking spot, but most 'expert' drivers on our roads seem to think parking spots are driving tests where the more pointed turn you make getting in/out, the better you are.

I've had drivers parking bumper to bumper ahead of/behind my car even on inclined parking spots, and on being asked to leave a gap so I don't accidentally hit their vehicle while moving out, I get the 'can't you drive?' derisive snort followed by an obliging few inches.

I don't think it's got anything to do with driving education either. Most drivers around us genuinely seem to believe cars/SUVs/trucks/buses can be manoeuvred within inches, while parking or in traffic.

[Thad E Ginathom]

It's usually bikes, with me. The riders have no conception that one can't just move a car out sideways. Or, more likely, they just don't care enough to even notice.

[KiloAlpha]

Nowadays, when I park on the street, I look for a spot adjacent to a gate/driveway. That way, I can be sure of at least 3-4 feet maneuvering space so I can drive off peacefully.