[desideep]

In delhi and Gurgaon you dont have to spot them you have to spot the one who is the good driver

[vishnuvijay]

In kerala, it has to be:

1.Two wheeler riders.
2.Private buses.
3.Taxis (all kinds)
3.Auto rikshaws.
4.KSRTC (Kerala State Road Transport Corporation) buses.

Signs of bad driving:
1.Turning without putting on the indicators.
2.Unnecessary lane changing.
3.Side scrapes, front bumper scrapes and most importantly, rear bumper/boot dents.
4.Driving with mobile in one hand.

[bblost]

Riding back into Hyderabad.
about 50 feet or so behind a bus and suddenly I am being bombed.
water bottles, banana skins, plastic bags and god knows what else.
Some picnic trip just over, and seeing that home is close by, the folks in the bus just threw out their garbage on the road.
felt like I was in matrix or something, dodging all that at speeds in excess of 80.

also about bumper stickers, what do you say to this one.
No Compromise, Only Fight!!!
usually under an image of the middle finger.

NICE!!!

about Goa,
intersection somewhere in Panaji, I see a lady coming in from the right.
Just the two of us on the road.
I stop my bike and wait for her to cross.
She stops her car and waits for me to cross.
I have a big smile on my face and wave her to proceed.
She smiles back and goes and waves a goodbye.
She was about 60, I was riding with wifey as pillion.
all of us smiling and enjoying the day.

wish I could say the same about life in Hyderabad or Chennai or Bangalore.
The three cities I have used the roads for sometime.
Or maybe I am fault.
I need to smile more when I use the roads, like I used toooo.
enjoy the gears and the wheels.

sign of a good driver/ rider.
smiles a lot while driving.

[lohithrao]

Have seen many drive without opening their rear view mirror, it shows how responsible drivers they are.

[pjbiju]

Originally Posted by bblost

sign of a good driver/ rider.
smiles a lot while driving.

I wish more people do that - smile and let the other person pass. Our roads would have been a much better place to be in.

[normally_crazy]

Another bad driver is one who forgets to turn off his indicators after the turn has completed (if that happens). Following him you are not quite sure whether he is actually going to turn or he will go straight !!

[Rtech]

The type of driver who pilots a 65 lakh car but drives at night without the headlights on!

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by Rtech

The type of driver who pilots a 65 lakh car but drives at night without the headlights on!

Merc S Class with that night vision stuff, uh those cost 1 cr - tell us more

[Rtech]

haha! Nothing that fancy I'm afraid. Just drivers who are to lazy to flip a switch I guess.

Or the other extreme, drive with their xenon projectors on high beam all the way!

[skandyhere]

Originally Posted by lohithrao

Have seen many drive without opening their rear view mirror, it shows how responsible drivers they are.

RVMs help, but they do not guarantee. many a time i have felt the need to turn my head and check if someone's zooming by since RVMs fail to give me the complete picture. and i'm pretty normal - so it should apply to most other people too.

a corollary to this is that opening your RVM is not absolutely necessary as it becomes a habit to throw a glance behind you through the window. folded RVMs make a bad driver not!

[DileepKS]

How to spot bad drivers? In Cochin the answer is, "Look around".

EVERY DRIVER, me included is a bad driver here. You simply can't be a good driver here, if you happen to drive on the public roads.

What do you do when NO ONE would yield to you to allow you to enter the roadway, and there are six vehicles behind you honking like a dozen donkeys in heat?

What about those intersections that are SAFER with the lights out? Why? With the lights working, you will feel confidence to enter the intersection with a green, and the darned tipper will jump his red and hit you. Thankfully, he will also hit the lightpole and take it out, so next time everyone will look very carefully around, as there is no light. Here too NO ONE yields, so you shove your hood into the road and claim right of way, being scared that you are going to get rear ended for not going forward.

What about that lady who took the wrong half of the road, while others are waiting at red, and want to go STRAIGHT, despite you are turning right, and want to go before you!

What about the #$%@$ who tried to pass a stream of vehicles in one go, came straight at you, right in the middle of YOUR half of the road, ran you off the road, had to stop because there was no room for all to go, and THEN gave you bad words (Pachcha Therri in mallu).

What about all those morons who make FOUR lanes at the light instead of two, and block everyone, including those vehicles from the other direction.

And what is the use of you putting on the indicator, if the suicide squad will not look at it, and still try to pass you?

No, YOU CAN NOT BE a good driver here. The only way is to be worse than the rest, and fight your way out. The ONLY place you can be a good driver is your driveway between your gate and the car-porch. And for me it is all of 3 metres.

My credentials: Drove 7 years in Cochin when it was not this bad. Drove 6 years in California, came back recently right into the middle of DRIVING HELL.

It is so bad, I walk to do grocery shopping, and that too from one side of the road, because can't safely cross the road in most of the times!!

[wheelsNsqueals]

Ah ..my favourite topic!!

1. All cars with yellow number plates. Except for the Mercs, BMWs which normally belong to the 5 star hotels (the drivers there are extra careful)

2. Two wheelers where the pillion rider(s) do(es)n't wear helmet(s). These SOBs will wear but will have their wives, kids wihtout them, so much for family ties !!

3. Any bi-cycle, especially if he is "doodhwala"

4. One eyed monsters at night - mostly municipal corporation lorries, and police vehicles

5. If you have lived in Mumbai, then you would also see the foot turning signal by the auto drivers...they'll simply stick out their right foot and you are supposed to understand that.

6. In Calcutta, its best to avoid minibuses, if you are driving anything less than an SUV, you are not to be counted.

7. And the last but not the least is the dear old Pandu, our honest to good Traffic police constable. I find them the worst possible danger to drivers with their complete lack of traffic knowledge and propensity to create a mess with their insatiable urge to line their pockets.

[VJ_MAVRICK]

Originally Posted by DileepKS

EVERY DRIVER, me included is a bad driver here. You simply can't be a good driver here, if you happen to drive on the public roads.

What do you do when NO ONE would yield to you to allow you to enter the roadway, and there are six vehicles behind you honking like a dozen donkeys in heat?

What about those intersections that are SAFER with the lights out? Why? With the lights working, you will feel confidence to enter the intersection with a green, and the darned tipper will jump his red and hit you. Thankfully, he will also hit the lightpole and take it out, so next time everyone will look very carefully around, as there is no light. Here too NO ONE yields, so you shove your hood into the road and claim right of way, being scared that you are going to get rear ended for not going forward.

What about that lady who took the wrong half of the road, while others are waiting at red, and want to go STRAIGHT, despite you are turning right, and want to go before you!

What about the #$%@$ who tried to pass a stream of vehicles in one go, came straight at you, right in the middle of YOUR half of the road, ran you off the road, had to stop because there was no room for all to go, and THEN gave you bad words (Pachcha Therri in mallu).

What about all those morons who make FOUR lanes at the light instead of two, and block everyone, including those vehicles from the other direction.

And what is the use of you putting on the indicator, if the suicide squad will not look at it, and still try to pass you?

No, YOU CAN NOT BE a good driver here. The only way is to be worse than the rest, and fight your way out. The ONLY place you can be a good driver is your driveway between your gate and the car-porch. And for me it is all of 3 metres.

My credentials: Drove 7 years in Cochin when it was not this bad. Drove 6 years in California, came back recently right into the middle of DRIVING HELL.

It is so bad, I walk to do grocery shopping, and that too from one side of the road, because can't safely cross the road in most of the times!!

Well Dileep! I dont agree that we should just get carried away with the honking of other desperate souls for you to yield and also to jump signals. I quote "Rome was never built in a Day" and it should be our responsibility to uphold and follow rules even if you are forced by the so called desperate donkeys behind you honking....as in that way reform can never be achieved . This is my 2 cents on this as a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step and being guys on this forum and educated souls its our responsibility to follow the rules and make others as well follow the same.
cheers

[lambuhere1]

One more way of finding out BAD drivers which i hate is that these guys keep honking behind SCHOOL VANS, which pick up kids early in the morning. Don't they care abt the KIDS? What if your OWN kid is going to be in the same van.

For that matter, the UGLIEST NUISANCE i find is SPITTING on the roads from the vehicles, I hate those morons. Spitting may include many forms and they dont care as to who is behind, either a two wheelers or a car fellow with windows open or closed, but its SICK. Worst is even the educated addicted guys do it regularly. Laborers spitting from BUSES is a common sight on airport road.

I HATE SPITTERS

[DileepKS]

Maverick, I completely agree with you. I am not professing to be a bad driver. Only that I am TOTALLY SICK AND TIRED of the driving scene here in Cochin.

I haven't visited outside Kerala recently. Are other places as bad? I often read about the "Nightmarish driving in Kerala" here at TBHP, so I get a feeling that we ARE the worst. The only thing you can comfortably drive here is a T-90 tank. A TATA Tipper truck is the next best.

Frankly, the only people who have any driving sense are those who drove abroad. The rules education/tests here starts and ends at showing the hand signals. Where are the rule for Lane discipline? Blind spots? Right of way? How can people be expected to be good drivers when there are no rules, and even if they did, there is no education.

The ONLY WAY to solve this mess is to EXPIRE ALL LICENSES right now and re-issue them after establishing proper rules and testing for them. Can that be done? Nope.