[KiloAlpha]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

...
The answer is easy: never drive so close that you almost rear-end the vehicle in front if they do slow down suddenly, unexpectedly, and even without any good reason. That's your responsibility, and it would be your fault if you had hit him.

But I'd have shouted at the guy!

I shouted at the guy as well!

Just to clarify, I think I need to tone down on hyperbole here. I did not come anywhere close to rear ending that Santro. I had enough time and space to brake, look in my mirrors, swerve, go around that idiot Santro, and carry on. I certainly had to brake quite hard - because one car in a stream of smooth flowing traffic suddenly slowed down for no reason at all!

Which brings me to the subject of the perception of speed. This is something we all need to be aware of, lest it catch us napping and the unfortunate happens.
Say, you are in the middle lane of a 3-lane road, which has dense but smoothly flowing traffic at 50 kmph. Everyone in all 3 lanes is doing about the same speed - cars, buses, trucks, autos, etc.
Now, because the human brain perceives speed relative to the objects around, in the above scenario, the driver will not "feel" like they are driving at 50 kmph. All objects around him/her which are being used as a frame of reference are also moving at 50 kmph. From personal experience, in certain situations, I have felt like I am almost at standstill when my speedo was reading 80 kmph.
This can be very dangerous. If the driver, whose perception of speed is not that of the actual vehicle speed, can cause very serious accidents because this perception will lead to more reaction time, panic, etc. when he/she encounters another object whose speed is very different.

[hemanth.anand]

Today I spotted and also had to suffer a lot of pain because of a bad driver.
It was not on the public road but a parking area.
I was in Manipal hospital in Domlur, Bangalore.
The parking lot is around half a kilometre away from the entrance and as a value add, The hospital has a shuttle electric Buggy.
My wife and I started walking since that was not a huge distance.

Just then, We spotted a buggy coming down the ramp. The sun was also up; So, we thought we'll take it.
we stopped and as i was turning back, i saw the buggy coming straight at me.
He flashed the light of the buggy but didn't slow down one bit.
By the time i got away he had come and before I could move away completely, The driver ran over one of my feet.
I was not wearing a shoe but a sandal and the buggy is not lightweight by any stretch of imagination. It pained a lot!
My wife and I gave it a good mouthful and he told he thought i would cross in time.
So bad was his perception of speed and totally no value towards pedestrians. I told him that brakes are present in the vehicle for a reason and if he doesn't know how to use it, he should not be driving. I also told him that the buggy was in service to help people who walk and he should understand that.
I can imagine how he would drive if he drove a car on the road and i know he is not the only one.
my feet is still paining but luckily there doesn't seem to be any fracture or even swelling. there is a burning sensation because of friction between my sandal and the skin.
If it doesn't subside by tomorrow, I may have to go to the doctor.

[landcruiser123]

You can judge for yourself whether this is bad driving or not, but I thought this video deserves a place in this thread. I think after driving so many varieties of cars across various classes, she would know that starting up an incline requires the aid of a handbrake. See the video from 7:54 onwards.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajccHteVp7w

I know that AMTs have a problem without hill starts, but she should explain the use of the correct technique using handbrake while starting up the hill.

Not to mods: My aim isn't to malign the publication, but they could teach people basics about driving. Especially when they have a widespread reach.

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

If it doesn't subside by tomorrow, I may have to go to the doctor.

Sorry to hear about your incident. I've also had many close incidents of Autos rubbing the side of my shoe. People are always in a hurry in Bangalore.

Since a hospital staff that did this, you could have held them responsible and got a your foot examined by a doctor.

[Dry Ice]

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

You can judge for yourself whether this is bad driving or not,

She was just trying to highlight the problem with AMTs, I wouldn't call this bad driving. Plus this was shot on a private enclosed road, so she didn't really put anyone at risk with that slight rollback. If this were a public road/flyover and she had done the same, then maybe we could have labeled her a bad driver.

This is a car's review - I wouldn't want to see instructions on how to drive a car on inclines in the middle.

[Thad E Ginathom]

[b]

Originally Posted by KiloAlpha

I shouted at the guy as well!
Just to clarify, I think I need to tone down on hyperbole here. I did not come anywhere close to rear ending that Santro. I had enough time and space to brake, look in my mirrors, swerve, go around that idiot Santro, and carry on.

Great. You're welcome to a nice bit of hyperbole! Maybe I should have recognised it

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

I know that AMTs have a problem without hill starts, but she should explain the use of the correct technique using handbrake while starting up the hill.

I didn't have sound on. I couldn't work out what was going on in the video.

I've never driven an AMT, and don't really know what it is about, but I have done plenty of miles with auto gearboxes, as well as many more with manual.

An auto gearbox might hold the car on a slight incline, but, unless it has some serious hill-hold gadget (I've never experienced one of those either) then there is only one way to do a real hill start: use the handbrake.

Really, that goes for any car. Hill starts mean using the handbrake.

Having got that basic fact, then, with increasing skill and experience, one can do clever things with the pedals. A person is also perfectly free to wear out their own clutch. They paid for it, after all, and they will pay for the replacement.

But hill starts means handbrake. Is it suggested that there are people who don't know that?

[landcruiser123]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

A person is also perfectly free to wear out their own clutch. They paid for it, after all, and they will pay for the replacement.

That's all right with me as long as it's my car's clutch that's getting abused. I also have taught some people to use the handbrake to aid them in a hill start and a few have actually implemented it.

But hill starts means handbrake. Is it suggested that there are people who don't know that?

No where does she suggest that.

But I'm sure many don't know that (because they primarily drive MTs and they use the clutch to hold the car on an incline) and they wouldn't care to read the user manual before they drive.

As a publication with a wide reach, she could have easily demonstrated the technique. She should have left a link with a detailed description of how to start cars on an incline with AMTs without a roll back.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

But I'm sure many don't know that (because they primarily drive MTs and they use the clutch to hold the car on an incline) and they wouldn't care to read the user manual before they drive.

This is a matter for basic driving lessons, rather than any car's manual.

On the other hand, the guy who gave me driving lessons in Chennai (I needed them, even after so many years of driving in UK!) wanted to know that I could handle a car on a slope without using the handbrake, so that I would be able to do so in case of handbrake failure.

(Curiously, I seem to need to at the moment, as my handbrake has not worked properly since last week's service. They must have messed it up!)

[blackwasp]

Originally Posted by tharian

Not just 'on' the flyover, there are speed breakers at the beginning as well!

There's a flyover that goes over the Mumbai Pune expressway and has speed breakers bang in the middle. Leads to trucks slowing down to a crawl. The flyover is part of the old mum-Pune road and Panvel exit from expressway.

[landcruiser123]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

This is a matter for basic driving lessons, rather than any car's manual.

Yes sir. So long as you don't roll back while starting an incline, I don't care how you do it in your car. If you wear out your clutch, the service center profits.

But all AMTs seem to roll back while starting on an incline. It's a danger to others on the road. Hence, a special mention in the manual.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

But all AMTs seem to roll back while starting on an incline. It's a danger to others on the road. Hence, a special mention in the manual.

Yes, you are right.

The last auto-transmission I drove was built in about 1998, and I don't think the hill-hold gadgets and the like had been thought of then, at least not on my class of car.

Most without-gadget AT cars will roll forwards on a level road, which is part of what makes them so easy to drive in heavy, slow traffic. I guess there is a scale of gradients on which the roll-forward becomes a hold, and the hold becomes a roll-back. This is up to each driver to learn by experience with their own car, and even differs with the loading of the car.

If I remember rightly, I think I've seen warnings about the roll-forwards, or creep, but I don't recall anything about roll-back. If it is not there, then probably it should be.

All this is academic because there's only a few people that read the manual anyway!

[landcruiser123]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

If I remember rightly, I think I've seen warnings about the roll-forwards, or creep, but I don't recall anything about roll-back. If it is not there, then probably it should be.

From TBHP's official review:

http://www.team-bhp.com/carpics/Maru...celerio-09.jpg

This will show you what I mean to say. I expect something similar in the Mahindra Nuvosport. The AMT is programmed to use the clutch judiciously, not abuse it. Compared to a MT where the driver will hold the clutch at it's bite point, the AMT is programmed to avoid the same.

We're going OT, but I think people should be educated on how to drive AMTs without rollbacks on inclines so that they don't endanger the lives of others on the road.

Rest assured, every car can start without rollback on a hill using the handbrake as long as it's not overloaded.

[sachinpk]

Kannur-Karwar-Bengaluru Express collides with jeep near Ramanagaram
Surprised to find that this news was reported in this thread. If this is not bad driving then what else is. The jeep owner and party has been identified, and as usual he did try to make some cheap excuses. I hope the railways sue him to the maximum possible extent and get the compensations. And a few other charges for violating the Railway Act is any ways getting readied.

[shifu]

I encountered a red Chevy Beat (AP28XX1676) this morning. It didn't have a left OVRM, and its right OVRM was closed. The driver was on my left and wanted to come in my lane. Even though there was ample space for him to move, I gave him a sound honk - the one you give when there is no room for him to move. Since he was driving blind anyways, he couldn't figure out I was bluffing . He immediately swerved left to avoid coming in my lane. After few seconds flashed his indicator obediently to come in my lane. And I let him come in with a smirk on my face

[vnidta]

Had an experience with breaking someone's helmet yesterday (10th of April 2016). KA04HV8006 - Royal Enfield registered in the name of some Pushpa Raj. Wonder if these guys learned a lesson. They usually forget that the helmet comes with something called a "Strap". I had no option to stop since it was a very close call! I had to run over. You can see how the Indica swerved in order to avoid it. Check out this video (You may skip to the last 10 seconds to avoid the rest of the details)

Helmet Breaker

Now, I'm wondering what would have happened had that been a full-face helmet with a good build! I'd not be here writing this post for sure. Morons of the world do wear full-face helmets like caps, without straps

[alpha1]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

[b]

I've never driven an AMT, and don't really know what it is about, but I have done plenty of miles with auto gearboxes, as well as many more with manual.

An auto gearbox might hold the car on a slight incline, but, unless it has some serious hill-hold gadget (I've never experienced one of those either) then there is only one way to do a real hill start: use the handbrake.

AMT = manual transmission controlled automatically AND without any facility to slip the clutch.

You can imagine the mayhem when situation demands that you slip the clutch.

The conventional hydraulic based Auto Transmission can take high amount of slippage than the plate based clutches used in MT or AMT.