[Ruchir031]

Originally Posted by Shanksta

Your act of trying to help him is !!

But IMHO you should not have honked( I'm assuming a lot), flashed and tailed him.

I honked only twice, actually. That too in a decent manner that one might at least notice I'm trying to tell something. (Saying from past experience where the guy totally understood my signals) I didn't flash like a maniac either, I flashed in a pattern which I believe any decent driver should understand because if I wanted to pick on him and get ahead, I'd flash non-stop and easily manage to overtake him from either side. Yes, the tailing wasn't the best thing but I couldn't do any better other than trying.
Needless to mention, he was already over-speeding way over the limit and driving rashly, I was the one who had to be one of those bad drivers this thread is meant for. (driving at nearly 100kmph with A/C on and Delhi's heat with no coolant and god knows what else had gone kaput inside the engine bay) I had to try my best to help him.

Originally Posted by Shanksta

Clearly the Verna driver got angered and scared which is why he tried speeding away. Once he realised you were keeping up with him alongside he started hurling abuses (which is wrong on his part).

Maybe. I waived my hand politely in as a friendly way as I could when I got next to his car, I understand some others drivers can scare you off especially when you're returning from West Delhi. Happened to me a couple times when some guys wanted to street-race me, full harass mode.

Originally Posted by Shanksta

The best way to get their attention in these cases is to calmly drive alongside and honk once or twice to get thier attention.

Will keep all of this in mind next time!

Originally Posted by Shanksta

Also you should've stopped when you saw him later and told him this is what you were trying to convey and that he could've have avoided this had he just been a bit more patient to listen to you.

The abuses he used were on to my family and pretty darn bad, it was in my conscience when I saw him and that one bit of the ego we Indians have on the road got the best of me, I guess. He could have just tried to listen to me before using the swears.

Just a few days ago a 19-20-year-old on a 2 wheeler started maniacally honking and flashing at me, when I see him pass by he started waving towards me, initially I thought it could be a BHPian who noticed the stickers, I waved back when he started asking me to roll down my windows so I pulled over. He wasn't a BHPian nor trying to say anything important. All he said was that I have a really nice ride. We shook hands and went our ways.
Don't understand why the Verna guy mistook my friendly gestures so badly to use such bad words.

Originally Posted by Shanksta

Hope you don't take this post in the wrong way!

Absolutely not! Those are some useful tips for the future, thanks!

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by Ruchir031

Don't understand why the Verna guy mistook my friendly gestures so badly to use such bad words.

I guess he must have thought back and realised you were trying to help. Probably felt embarrassed afterwards.

[gkveda]

Originally Posted by Ruchir031

Don't understand why the Verna guy mistook my friendly gestures so badly to use such bad words.

My suggestion is just to ignore these things then and there. Else, they will haunt you for ever and prevent you from showing your wisdom in future to other eligible and deserving drive mates.

Just because of such 1% ignorant people, we should not lose our wisdom. we should continue to extend help to people who are in need.

I even appreciate your act of not getting down to help him when his vehicle was down. What you did was really right. His bad words were still in your mind and hence, you just drove away(Listening to your mind)

In my opinion, even if you had got down to help and inform him that you signaled earlier warning to him, it would have looked more of ego satisfaction (Not to anyone else, but to your self, later in life)

[mayd85]

Has anyone noticed the trend of two-wheeler riders joining the main roads from bylanes without even looking at the oncoming traffic, especially when they are making a left turn and joining the traffic on the same side of the road ? I hail from Pune, where two wheeler population is already very high. But the reason I say it's 'recent' is that it wasn't like this 2-3 years ago. It's scary even when you are driving relatively slowly and suddenly a two wheeler jumps from a lane, directly in front of you, at speeds higher than yours, without even bothering to check for oncoming traffic. It's as if the onus of slowing down at every intersection is on the person driving on the main road.

Another annoying habit of these riders is that if they want to join traffic on the opposite side of the road and if the way is not clear to cross over, they keep on driving on the wrong side till they find a gap. No amount of honking, flashing, waiving is of any use and this practice blatantly continues. And worse, it is spreading fast.

[lordvader]

Originally Posted by Ruchir031

The vehicle ahead of you can never be at fault no matter whatever erratic maneuver the driver ahead of you makes, it's upon the vehicle behind to maintain the distance so it can stop accordingly in such scenarios.

Something related to this happened today morning with me at the infamous kalindi kunj bridge. There is a slightly upward sloped turn that one has to take to get on the bridge. Since it was office time, the traffic was slow, almost bumper to bumper. I was creeping forward in my polo when I saw a creta in my RVM, driven a little too impatiently by a young guy, in his early twenties maybe. He was trying to break lanes and moving in and out in the process to get forward.

So, right when I was about to take the slope, he happened to be behind me. I normally drive up the slope cautiously, keeping an eye all around me. But this time, despite seeing this guy, I for some strange reason, accelerated a bit while climbing the slope and since the traffic was moving slowly, I applied break accordingly. And all this while a faint voice in my head telling me that it was an idiotic move, especially with a fairly erratic driver behind me. And the moment I braked, I heard the dreaded thud sound and felt a jolt. Fearing the worst, I moved the car to the side and jumped out to check the damage. Thankfully, there was minimal damage, no dent whatsoever, probably due to impact happening when both vehicles were at an angle. It could have been worse if we were on plain road, at the same level. Nonetheless, polo took it well and lived up to its name.

This young guy tried to match pace with me and in the process forgot to account for the traffic ahead. Since the damage was not much, I gave him a piece of my mind and walked away. And all that time, he kept on harping that I braked suddenly and which is why the collision happened.

I was not planning to pen this down here at TBHP, but after reading your post I thought I should. Of late, I have been giving into this dark side of Delhi driving to traverse the mad roads of NCR. But its obi-wan Kenobis like you @tbhp that give hope to the skywalkers to stay with the force. After reading your posts, I’d say people like you are a rarity on Delhi roads. Look forward to catching up at some tbhp meet.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by mayd85

Has anyone noticed the trend of two-wheeler riders joining the main roads from bylanes without even looking at the oncoming traffic, especially when they are making a left turn and joining the traffic on the same side of the road ? ... ... ...

It has been noticed and commented upon. Bikers with locked necks: they look straight ahead and only straight ahead. A potentially lethal self-imposed disability!

Of course, it is not unknown among four-wheelers, but has not yet become so common.

[Ruchir031]

Originally Posted by gkveda

My suggestion is just to ignore these things then and there. Else, they will haunt you for ever and prevent you from showing your wisdom in future to other eligible and deserving drive mates.

Just because of such 1% ignorant people, we should not lose our wisdom. we should continue to extend help to people who are in need.

Absolutely! I never will let this get in my head! Not every person is the same.

Originally Posted by lordvader

Something related to this happened today morning with me at the infamous kalindi kunj bridge. There is a slightly upward sloped turn that one has to take to get on the bridge. Since it was office time, the traffic was slow, almost bumper to bumper. I was creeping forward in my polo when I saw a creta in my RVM, driven a little too impatiently by a young guy, in his early twenties maybe. He was trying to break lanes and moving in and out in the process to get forward.

The best thing you can, or I do, in bumper-bumper traffic, is to never exceed the speeds of 3-4kmph and always have my foot slightly pressed on the brake (for the brake lights) so the guy behind me knows I can come to a halt anytime.
Now no matter how close a vehicle behind me is getting, I always ignore them because that is something I can do nothing about other than getting nervous. It's best if you maintain the distance from the vehicle ahead of you and be rather than focusing on your rear.

This young guy tried to match pace with me and in the process forgot to account for the traffic ahead. Since the damage was not much, I gave him a piece of my mind and walked away. And all that time, he kept on harping that I braked suddenly and which is why the collision happened.

Not one such instance I have seen where the rear-ender will apologize. According to them the car ahead is always at fault for sudden braking, unless it happens to them.

I was not planning to pen this down here at TBHP, but after reading your post I thought I should.

It's great you did! And thanks a lot for your kind words!
Driving in Delhi has been one of my worst nightmares. Every two out of five drivers turn out to be street-racing and rashly driving.
Now I am no perfect driver (nobody can be) neither a completely sane one. But I make sure to -
- follow rules
- stay calm
- reach from point A to point B as safely as I can.

My dad taught me one of the best and the greatest lessons of driving -

"Every single person in a vehicle, on a public road, is an idiot. Every single one, including me, and he himself. It's up to us to be the smartest and overcome our own dumbness for ours, and others safety. Follow this, be that smart and sensible guy, analyze everything from vehicles ahead of other vehicles to leafs falling on the road and you will most likely never be anywhere near danger."

[deathwalkr]

Originally Posted by mayd85

Has anyone noticed the trend of two-wheeler riders joining the main roads from bylanes without even looking at the oncoming traffic, especially when they are making a left turn and joining the traffic on the same side of the road ? I hail from Pune, where two wheeler population is already very high. But the reason I say it's 'recent' is that it wasn't like this 2-3 years ago. It's scary even when you are driving relatively slowly and suddenly a two wheeler jumps from a lane, directly in front of you, at speeds higher than yours, without even bothering to check for oncoming traffic. It's as if the onus of slowing down at every intersection is on the person driving on the main road.

Why stop with two wheelers? It has affected three and four wheelers as well

What is even more idiotic is that when you slowly come to a stop at an intersection, looking for safe gaps to merge onto the main road, an impatient imbecile from behind will either get on your right side and then turn directly in front of you making you wait for his highness to pass or they would squeeze into your left side leaving you no space to complete the turn.

[swissknife]

Originally Posted by deathwalkr

Why stop with two wheelers? It has affected three and four wheelers as well

What is even more idiotic is that when you slowly come to a stop at an intersection, looking for safe gaps to merge onto the main road, an impatient imbecile from behind will either get on your right side and then turn directly in front of you making you wait for his highness to pass or they would squeeze into your left side leaving you no space to complete the turn.

Have faced this and also vehicles turning right and squeeze between your left and the pavement! I have dashcam videos of such. Will share them when I find the time to upload them.

[arun_josie]

A dangerous move by this driver, he missed the service lane to enter Dindigul. So, he decides to reverse for 50m on this fast moving highway, the traffic came to a standstill as well. What an idiot?!

[Nohonking]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

A dangerous move by this driver, he missed the service lane to enter Dindigul. So, he decides to reverse for 50m on this fast moving highway, the traffic came to a standstill as well. What an idiot?!

Well, I refer such drivers with below names or adjectives:

1. Absent minded: Day dreaming to miss that entry to service lane
2. Selfish: They think only of themselves.
3. Inconsiderate: They do not think a bit how much inconvenience they are causing to others.
4. Mean: Their thinking indeed. What to say?
5. Sick minded: The mindset is still riding a tricycle in that narrow street down their apartment.
6. Foolish: Not to mention sitting inside and reversing 50m on this busy highway, letting others to a standstill, he must be feeling heroic and on seventh heaven in his own meager world.

Honestly, you let him reverse, I might have attempted to insist him go along the traffic stream and take the next U. But then, its good to be safe from such strangers as who knows, the anger might be sitting on the nose and you falling to its pray. Thanks.

PS: Notice the black tint on his car.

Cheers,
Simmi

[esoticoreventon]

Parking is also an area where you are most likely to find bad drivers! A person who can't park a car properly isn't going to be any better on the road, with the poor spacial awareness and sheer laziness! Attaching a few pictures from my office parking lot, where you find people who are well educated and hold a higher place in society.

[Nohonking]

Originally Posted by esoticoreventon

Parking is also an area where you are most likely to find bad drivers! A person who can't park a car properly isn't going to be any better on the road, with the poor spacial awareness and sheer laziness!

Rightly said! While in my office basement parking, we have fixed number of allocated slots for each company in the building above, so people are careful enough to ensure they slot in precisely, I have a lot many times noticed people unmindfully parking out of the designated parking box. At times, the parking is done in such a manner that 1 car takes the space of 2. At other times, someone will unmindfully park so close to your car to hardly leave any space for ingress through the driver's door.

What I have been doing with such unmindful people over the past few years is, I keep a pen and yellow post-it slips handy in my car. Whenever I notice any such miss-parked vehicle, I put a note to stick on that car (driver side window pane, just above the door handle) in below standard format:

"Hi, would have appreciated had you respected the box markings to park your XX00 xxxx inside it. Thanks & wishing you a safe drive!"

The thing is, if the responsible citizens like us are not going to make any attempt in correcting others, then who?

Cheers,
Simmi

[imuluvshaz]

Mod Note : Please do NOT post messages that add little or no informational value to the thread. We need your co-operation to maintain the quality of this forum.

We advise you to read the Forum Rules before proceeding any further. Request to post ONLY when you have something substantial to add to a discussion.

[IshaanIan]

Originally Posted by mayd85

Has anyone noticed the trend of two-wheeler riders joining the main roads from bylanes without even looking at the oncoming traffic, especially when they are making a left turn and joining the traffic on the same side of the road ?

trend? I think it's just poverty, illiteracy and ignorance at play here. You can see this happen in cars as well. People complain so much and generalize about bikes, but the truth is one can observe even educated rich folk do the same in their cars because they are so relaxed that they either want to text or they think their car is so well built that they are indestructible. I ride a bike and trust me having a 1-3 tonne vehicle pull out in front of you is no joke. They displace more space and are way more lethal to come close to crashing into.

Originally Posted by mayd85

Another annoying habit of these riders is that if they want to join traffic on the opposite side of the road and if the way is not clear to cross over, they keep on driving on the wrong side till they find a gap. No amount of honking, flashing, waiving is of any use and this practice blatantly continues. And worse, it is spreading fast.

Again, it is far worse with 4 wheelers and with the upsurge in OLA/Uber employment where every tom dick and harry from nearby villages gets to own and drive a car, the 'trend' you speak of isn't absent amongst drivers of cars too. A small bike coming at me on the wrong side of the road is actually something that doesn't faze me one bit. BUT a cab with misalligned, far more powerful headlights, that keep flashing their highbeams at you in the night, is a lot more disconcerting.