[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by gkveda

....but I restrict myself to tell that it is merely wrong judgement of the situation.

In some cases it may be wrong judgment... But in most cases, it's letting emotional thought override our rational thought!

The good news is that in both these cases, it is possible to learn from our past mistakes and help prevent something similar from happening again.

The essential first step however, is acknowledging that there was a mistake

Originally Posted by Yieldway17

It's self roasting time. I'm the bad driver in this instance.

[AltoLXI]

Originally Posted by harsh79

This one says "no issue" when told it's a oneway.

I do not know what is the human psychology behind letting people get away when they enter a one way traffic. In this case the auto driver allowed the car to get away. The same guys will not let you overtake legally and block your vehicle.

Even funny and ironical is these guys enter the wrong side with all the indicators flashing as if to show they are following the "rules" and which they would not when they were supposed to.

[deathwalkr]

A few videos from a trip to Madurai and back...

1) Bad U-Turner
does not bother to stop and wait for road to clear before taking the u turn. judging speed of oncoming vehicle is difficult and such cases can lead to accidents :(

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9fkvPQ4xxE

2) Missed by a whisker:
that was a close call for her. few more seconds and she would have ended up on the road in a bad way. such a bad place to try and overtake.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjqypLlMbQ4

3) Mobile phone distraction:
our man taking daughter to school when suddenly phone rings and he has to see who is calling or messaging and almost goes and bangs into the auto. split second bad choices can be fatal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Drl0t1L0agQ

4) Wrong side Tipper:
crawling truck on the right lane so i follow the other vehicle in front to cross the truck on the left when lo behold there comes a mighty tipper on the wrong lane! brrr!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5xIcPnWGOg

[Samir Taheer]

Had an unfortunate experience with the Safaris Owners Club this weekend - This is with the Pune Chapter!

We were at our farm which is about 45 Kms out of Pune for a few days. It had been raining heavily for a few days and the kids were getting irritable and cranky form staying indoors, so decided to take them to another property of ours, for a small hike and to have fun in the waterfall there.

On the way back we saw a whole que of cars coming the other way - they were not driving fast (the roads are narrow so there is no opportunity for that) but it was the lack of respect of other road users that surprised me.

There were two issues -

1) There were some cars parked on the side of the road (same side as the convoy) - Coming from my side there was an XUV (unknown to me) and my car. From the opposite side there were about 15 Safaris - Guys, general courtesy is you are travelling in a convey is to allow a couple of cars coming from the other side of the road to pass. Instead of trying to filter thru which yes i admit were parked inconveniently.

2)Move off the road - Two cars from the convey had left at least a foot of space on their LHS. After telling the drivers multiple times he had space, he very gingerly moved over a little, forcing the XUV and myself to go half a cars width off the road. The sides had been recently dug up before the monsoons to lay some cable and it was dicey to judge very exactly the soft mud lay.

The hilarious part is - after i told him he had enough space to his left and should learn to judge the proportions of his car properly, his reply to me is - Go get a licence!! That didn't even make sense! Guess it shows the mental capacity of the gents driving.

Guys the general courtesy if you are travelling in a convoy is to at least be aware and not be a pain to other road users. If you are a large convoy are there are couple of cars coming from the other side, allow them thru!

Also make room for others - the xuv and myself already had our LHS wheels off the road - don't sit in the middle of the road. Give others room.

Sadly its not only the Safaris owners club that I have seen driving without consideration for others.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by Samir Taheer

Guys, general courtesy is you are travelling in a convey is to allow a couple of cars coming from the other side of the road to pass. Instead of trying to filter thru which yes i admit were parked inconveniently.

2)Move off the road - Two cars from the convey had left at least a foot of space on their LHS. After telling the drivers multiple times he had space, he very gingerly moved over a little, forcing the XUV and myself to go half a cars width off the road. The sides had been recently dug up before the monsoons to lay some cable and it was dicey to judge very exactly the soft mud lay.

Easily turns me off when you are driving in a convoy and don't respect other road users. In the first place, by driving as a convoy itself you are almost an irritant to others if you don't follow some basic principles and then when you indulge in arguments, it can actually result in road rage.

Been driving in convoys quite regularly and we have set of rules to follow and we adhere to them even when our drives last 1000s of kilometers on both single and dual carriageways and not just a typical breakfast drive.

Originally Posted by paragsachania

The rules for a group drive:This wasn’t the first time when we have driven in groups but as always I always like to specify some of the most important guidelines whenever there is more than one car involved:
[*]No overspeeding – Although one easily hits some good speeds during such drives based on merits of roads and few interesting stretches, A drive that lasts 12 hours and 6 cars cannot be done in haste. A soothing 100-110 KMPH cruising range always sets the right rhythm and is often carefree, enjoyed the most and above all safest

Attachment 1538896

[*]If you want to drive fast - Wait for us at the next toll booth or a major turn from the main road

Attachment 1538895

[*]Stick to the left, always - Well, I am firm believer that sticking to the left lane is the safest for our roads. No wonder the whole convoy managed to follow this beautifully all through the drive. No right lane driving at all unless overtaking or other unavoidable situations:

Attachment 1538897

[*]No bullying or indulging in road rage- Respect the road and other road users. Ignore the bullies and move on. There is no point to get into a heated argument when you know you have a 12 hour journey and your heartbeats are faster at the 2nd hour and hands are sweaty. We have all been part of this during the yesteryears once or during many instances but those days are passe now. Reach your destination to talk about the drive and not about the other drivers around you!

Attachment 1538901

[*]Drive safe - Indicate a speedbreaker or a potential hazard ahead by switching on your Hazard lights – This is not “always” a good practice but remember that behind you, there are 5 or more cars tailing you and following your moves (and at times, they do that blindly too)

Attachment 1538902

[*]You are the decision maker - More often than not, we notice how drivers blindly follow you to overtake a slower vehicle on single carriageways. A wrong practice that can lead to disasters. The rule here is simple – If I overtake, you don’t till you have a clear view and the right momentum. If I turn at the median to get onto the other side, you assess and then take that turn than blindly follow

[*]Park it right - Always as much as possible, park the car to cause no inconvenience to other road users. Pull over to the extreme left and if there is no space, drive ahead and park elsewhere. 6 cars means at least 50 meters. So also remember to pull over at a location that can accommodate this length than expecting 2-3 cars to park elsewhere or hunt for space while the regular traffic gets irritated

[Samir Taheer]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Easily turns me off when you are driving in a convoy and don't respect other road users. In the first place, by driving as a convoy itself you are almost an irritant to others if you don't follow some basic principles and then when you indulge in arguments, it can actually result in road rage.

Been driving in convoys quite regularly and we have set of rules to follow and we adhere to them even when our drives last 1000s of kilometers on both single and dual carriageways and not just a typical breakfast drive.

Great set of guidelines and would be even better if more groups followed these. Maybe the MODS could have a sticky with convoy driving etiquette taking into consideration the points you mentioned.

The drive to the farm is a regular affair for me and it's a pain during the monsoons. I have seen -

-- Bikes hogging the whole road, pillions standing, waving their hands, screaming like hooligans, groups of bikers not giving way to traffic behind them.

-- Cars with passengers (and may be the driver - god knows) leaning out of the car, again screaming and behaving badly.

-- Cars with sunroofs, which have kids standing up getting wet in the rain and the car doing close to 60-70 km/hr.

-- The WORST of them - Groups of bikers or cars harassing families traveling in maybe a single car. All because they honked at them or drove too close. No matter what do not intimidate someone travelling with a family.

Recently I had some guests, who were friends of my father at the farm. The two gents opened a bottle of whiskey and had a few drinks. No matter how much I tried to explain to them the risks of drinking and driving (with the added unruly and probably drunk day trippers), he just did not get it.

[Dry Ice]

Originally Posted by Samir Taheer

Had an unfortunate experience with the Safaris Owners Club this weekend - This is with the Pune Chapter!
....
Sadly its not only the Safaris owners club that I have seen driving without consideration for others.

Maybe share a link on the FB page/Twitter feed of TML? If it was an official meet, its gotta be better managed. Look at how MM manages the adventure/challange convoys with 20-25+ vehicles.

If this was an unofficial meet, well "might is right"

As for considering other's convenience, we couldn't care less, and, it is deeply ingrained in our DNA now. So you can see this behaviour from people on foot/cycle/e-rick/auto/bike/moped/in car/van/jeep/truck/bus/trailer etc etc and not just from Safari owner's club.

[luvDriving]

Met a load of bad and irresponsible drivers in Lonavala on Sunday. We were returning from our holiday spent at a farmhouse in Takve which is around 5 km from the NH4 hotel / shivneri bus stand at lonavala (under the expressway).

It took us almost 2 hours to travel 4 km. The reason being cars and buses filled with holiday public were randomly driving on the wrong side of the road. At one point in time, out of the 4 available lanes (2 for each direction), the 1st, 3rd and 4th lanes were occupied by people travelling in opposite direction leaving only one lane in the middle for us. At a few spots people in tempo travelers were dancing on the road after halting the vehicle right in the middle and dancing to music blaring from the sound system.

There were no traffic police visible anywhere. Some people were trying to sort out the mess but they were getting response from very few of the drivers. Others just drove wherever they found an open space. Traveling in and around Lonavala / Karla is a definite no-no on weekends (specially on Sundays).

[Samir Taheer]

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

Maybe share a link on the FB page/Twitter feed of TML? If it was an official meet, its gotta be better managed. Look at how MM manages the adventure/challange convoys with 20-25+ vehicles.

If this was an unofficial meet, well "might is right"

It may not have been an official drive. Most certainly didn't seem like there was an assigned lead car, etc..

If 'might is right' then I should have actually just stood my ground. I was driving my Land Cruiser!!!! Unless of course might is in numbers.. Which again as you mentioned is one of the things ingrained in the DNA.

It was most certainly a case of inexperienced driving!!

[arjithin]

This happened at Thamarassery Ghat section (between Wayanad and Kozhikode) while I was coming back to Bangalore on May 01 2017 (pardon the wrong date in video). Some one in a Celerio (KA04MR7618) tried to overtake me in a complete blind turn. I gave him space when I saw an oncoming bus.

This person was driving with a family and was doing similar stunts to overtake vehicles in front of me as well.

I was driving my Nano and the funny part is that I and this person reached Bangalore NICE road junction ( 6 hours later) almost at the same time as me , not sure why he was showing all these stunts.

https://youtu.be/dqIuCwFAdbs

[DriverR]

Originally Posted by arjithin

Some one in a Celerio (KA04MR7618) tried to overtake me in a complete blind turn. I gave him space when I saw an oncoming bus.

You probably saved him and his family from an accident by letting him pass. Just looking at the video i was cringing when the road keep on curving and the Celerio still tried to overtake. It is a recipe for disaster. I can assume this guy is not used to hills/ghat driving. A very dangerous stunt. In the city itself i never overtake at a curve if i cannot see the oncoming road traffic. In the hills, one has to be be even more careful. Having driven many times between Kolkata-Darjeeling and Guwahati-Shillong, i can say this is something no one should attempt.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by DriverR

You probably saved him and his family from an accident by letting him pass.

Never take up that space that an overtaking vehicle has left. Especially when one can't see past the larger vehicle they are overtaking. They must have room to drop back, especially if they are idiots like this who seem to think that driving consists of perpetual overtaking!

And no, the correct ready-to-overtake position is not with the left bumper almost touching the right rear of the ahead vehicle. safe distance should be maintained even when overtaking.

[AkMar]

Yesterday there was some water logging on NH-8 near Vasai creek bridge. That caused traffic to slow down to a crawl and spilled over to Ghodbunder road as well. Our great Indian drivers did this:







Words & smiley limit per post fail to describe my anger What the hell is this? There is not even 0.1% civic sense in our drivers.

Photos from FB and Twitter.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by AkMar

Words & smiley limit per post fail to describe my anger What the hell is this? There is not even 0.1% civic sense in our drivers.

I am glad there was footpath and median was higher for even buses and trucks to climb else even these would not have been spared.

I have often see this where traffic takes the opposite side and creates massive jams, especially from Vasai Creek Bridge all the way till Virar when the construction was going on.

I have badly got stuck during those days only because of these wrong side drivers!!

[swissknife]

Originally Posted by AkMar

Yesterday there was some water logging on NH-8 near Vasai creek bridge. That caused traffic to slow down to a crawl and spilled over to Ghodbunder road as well. Our great Indian drivers did this:
Photos from FB and Twitter.

The licenses of ALL the drivers of ALL vehicles that drove on the wrong side of the road should be docked if not cancelled. Such behavior not only chokes traffic, it ensures that everyone comes to a standstill!


I dread to imagine an ambulance in all this!

If this is a regular occurrence (not that a one off would need to be excused), then it would be worth the while for the law enforcement to install CCTV Cameras, let the people know that they are under surveillance and punish them without any exceptions!