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Old 14th January 2016, 09:43   #8026
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Re: Bad Drivers - How do you spot 'em

MH-12-*Z-**11 (I guess it was MH-12-JZ-7611) A silver coloured Ecosport. He came in from a lane in Model Colony (the Jain Boarding lane opp RBI) and turned left onto Ganeshkhind Road.

I was on my bicycle on Ganeshkhind Road and I was riding steadily in the left lane with 1-2 feet of shoulder (I was completely visible to the guy coming out of the lane).

That idiot just merged on the main road without even bothering to look !! I had to brake hard and by that time I was next to his driver side window. I yelled at him to look before merging. But the guy had his windows rolled up and didnt even notice me :(
He was smiling and was busy chatting on handsfree. One good things is he was not driving fast, but the guy didn't bother braking (forget a dead stop) before coming onto the Trunk road.

Just 3 days back a lady died "on the spot" 100 m from this place. A bus knocked her down. No one wants to learn from our mistakes.


I have experienced first hand that some drivers show a lot of respect for cyclists (probably more than they do for pedestrians). A large majority are neutral and some idiots just think cyclists have no right to be on the road.

Last edited by freedom : 14th January 2016 at 09:50.
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Old 14th January 2016, 14:27   #8027
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Re: Bad Drivers - How do you spot 'em

Among all the rants of bad driver training and the joke called Driver License issuance, here's a refreshing instance of one man who insists on doing his job right.

I was chatting to my office cabbie a couple days ago, who happened to be a pretty good driver. Spanking clean and fresh-smelling car (a rarity), well-mannered, relaxed driving style (no honking, swerving, abusing, et al). He happened to mention he started his career a few years ago as a light truck driver, and had a pretty interesting anectode to relate about a certain licensing officer at the Hubli RTO, where this guy went on a family member's advice to get an 'easy' license.

As it turned out, among other test scenarios, the officer in question would apparently take all applicants to an isolated stretch with a steep incline and ask them to brake to a stop mid-way, then get going without rolling back/stalling/over-revving/burning the clutch. My cabbie failed the test several times, and the officer calmly insisted that he demonstrate an incline stop/start smoothly before his application is approved.

Took him multiple rounds and lots of practice over several days, but my cabbie says he's better off for it. Statistically insignificant probably, but the RTO man deserves a salute.

Last edited by Chetan_Rao : 14th January 2016 at 14:28.
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Old 15th January 2016, 03:05   #8028
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Re: Bad Drivers - How do you spot 'em

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Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao View Post
to brake to a stop mid-way, then get going without rolling back/stalling/over-revving/burning the clutch.:
without handbrake engaged momentarily for assist too?
Curious to know what was the way the officer expected (to be perfect)
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Old 15th January 2016, 06:56   #8029
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Re: Bad Drivers - How do you spot 'em

In Kolkata bikers have some endearing characteristics

1. When you are in the extreme left lane, doing a left turn, a bike will try to squeeze through between you and the pavement. If you are lucky, he will also be turning left. But more often than not, he is going straight !!

2. They will squeeze past you when you have stopped at a traffic light and knock your side mirror. If it is the left side mirror, you have to undo your seat belt, wind down the window and reach out to get the mirror back in place.

3. They will squeeze through to stop in front of you at a traffic light and switch off the engine to save fuel. When the light turns green the bike won't start. He will keep kicking and fiddling with this and that while you wait in frustration. When the light turns red his bike will start and he will zoom off leaving you waiting for another round of lights and, if you are unlucky, another batch of bikers in front of you.

4. Racing on the fly-overs at night. The police are paid off, and bets are taken. Frequently bikers crash, get injured or even die.
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Old 15th January 2016, 07:48   #8030
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Re: Bad Drivers - How do you spot 'em

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Racing on the fly-overs at night. The police are paid off, and bets are taken. Frequently bikers crash, get injured or even die.
I may sound sadistic, but as long as this exercise helps natural selection running, I'm all for letting these pests loose - their count going down is only helping the saner motorists. Pray they don't hit and kill or maim someone who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time
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Old 15th January 2016, 08:02   #8031
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Re: Bad Drivers - How do you spot 'em

A dear friend of mine was knocked down by a speeding bike when he was crossing the road after a gym session. This was in Delhi. He died. The biker was not traced.

I rode a bike for 5 years in Bombay, fell once (diesel patch on road) but didn't hurt anyone. Once CAN ride bikes responsibly. But far too many bikers don't
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Old 15th January 2016, 10:05   #8032
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Re: Bad Drivers - How do you spot 'em

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao View Post
Among all the rants of bad driver training and the joke called Driver License issuance, here's a refreshing instance of one man who insists on doing his job right.

I was chatting to my office cabbie a couple days ago, who happened to be a pretty good driver. Spanking clean and fresh-smelling car (a rarity), well-mannered, relaxed driving style (no honking, swerving, abusing, et al). He happened to mention he started his career a few years ago as a light truck driver, and had a pretty interesting anectode to relate about a certain licensing officer at the Hubli RTO, where this guy went on a family member's advice to get an 'easy' license.

As it turned out, among other test scenarios, the officer in question would apparently take all applicants to an isolated stretch with a steep incline and ask them to brake to a stop mid-way, then get going without rolling back/stalling/over-revving/burning the clutch. My cabbie failed the test several times, and the officer calmly insisted that he demonstrate an incline stop/start smoothly before his application is approved.

Took him multiple rounds and lots of practice over several days, but my cabbie says he's better off for it. Statistically insignificant probably, but the RTO man deserves a salute.
During my time in Ooty, we had an RTO officer named Rajnikanth. I'm not kidding you, yes, Rajnikanth.
During his tenure, he always insisted in this technique. Whether it was a two wheeler, or a bus, everyone getting a license had to stop half way on a slope, and start again without letting the vehicle go back. He was famous for this technique of testing, and the driving schools made it a part of their training.

Handbrake usage was allowed, but if it's more than momentary, and he feels the vehicle straining to get ahead with the handbrake holding it back for long, he'd fail the candidate.

Yes, also, he never took a bribe.
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Old 15th January 2016, 11:29   #8033
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Re: Bad Drivers - How do you spot 'em

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Originally Posted by ThePunter View Post
without handbrake engaged momentarily for assist too?
Curious to know what was the way the officer expected (to be perfect)
The "standard" hill start, as taught in UK, certainly involves the use of handbrake. A vehicle without a working handbrake is not a roadworthy vehicle! But... stuff fails, and I guess we should be prepared for it.

This is the kind of thing that my parents were far more skilled at that I will ever be, because they lived with stuff that failed more often. My late mother handled full brake failure, one day, going down a steep, narrow lane, with a sharp one-vehicle-width curve where cars travelling down would certainly be expected to give way to cars coming up. She handled it without fuss or mishap. I think I only knew because she told me about it afterwards --- but I associate the event with that street, and really, really hope that such a thing never happens to me!
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Old 15th January 2016, 12:49   #8034
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Re: Bad Drivers - How do you spot 'em

Spotted and encountered a bad bike rider today morning. As usual the location was the road under the Dhayari fly over bridge where vehicles converge. Interestingly, the concrete road under the bridge has been dug up for the past week and hence it has become a bottleneck.

I was driving from Dhayari towards Sinhagad Road and I was stuck in the middle with a tempo on my left and a school van on my right (Omni), both trying to squeeze me. In the midst of all this, this bike rider is trying to squeeze himself between me and the tempo on my left.

As soon as I moved a little, he tried to squeeze in further and my front bumper touched his bike. He started waving his hands and muttering something. I rolled down the left window and asked him to at least wait a little till he got some space. After that I moved ahead but this fellow then proceeded to move around me and came up to the right side, muttering all the time and then tried to squeeze in between the van and my car !!

This time he was successful and he went off with a vrooom. A minor scratch to my car and a spoiled mood for 10 minutes for me.
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Old 15th January 2016, 13:53   #8035
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Re: Bad Drivers - How do you spot 'em

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someone who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time
Unfortunately, your kind and my kind get into wrong place at the wrong time most often. Don't forget the recent incident of yours! You did loose your peace of mind for at the least a day or two. But yeah, let's hope that the kind of people you are mentioning don't screw others up and go their way peacefully. Even I'm sadistic when it comes to such people.., which is quite unfortunate but inevitable. But still, as long as there's no drastic change in the system which issues licences to drive/ride, there are opportunities for a new breed or even advanced pests to enter the roads to make other people's life miserable.
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Old 15th January 2016, 14:03   #8036
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Re: Bad Drivers - How do you spot 'em

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Originally Posted by ThePunter View Post
without handbrake engaged momentarily for assist too?
Curious to know what was the way the officer expected (to be perfect)
Hand-brakes in a passenger car, sure, but I don't believe CVs and heavy vehicles have their hand (or foot) parking brakes as handy as passenger cars, if present/functional at all esp. in India. Most of them learn to brake & then move off half-clutch on inclines and have it down to a craft. May fall foul of the rule-book though.

The most proficient incline movers I've seen in Bangalore are BMTC drivers, I'm yet to see a bus stall or roll-back on an incline due to an incompetent driver unable to get moving.

Last edited by Chetan_Rao : 15th January 2016 at 14:17.
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Old 15th January 2016, 14:15   #8037
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Re: Bad Drivers - How do you spot 'em

There are heel'n'toe techniques which, again, both my parents were expert in.

I noticed, recently, while reading a manufacturer's blurb, that a safety device would always favour brake over accelerator if both pedals were pressed at the same time. Probably screws up some of those old techniques. Actually, I had forgotten about heel'n'toe until someonoe reminded me recently: still in use on the track, it seems.
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Old 16th January 2016, 09:32   #8038
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Very easy if we have morons like this
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Bad Drivers - How do you spot 'em-1452916924688.jpg  

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Old 16th January 2016, 10:14   #8039
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Re: Bad Drivers - How do you spot 'em

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Very easy if we have morons like this
What, exactly, is going on here?
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Old 16th January 2016, 10:18   #8040
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A police vehicle overtaking the trucks with loads of vehicles coming opposite. He is not bothered about the lane.
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