[Thad E Ginathom]

Extract from UK Highway Code in a previous post (thanks)

You MUST NOT use hazard warning lights while driving or being towed unless you are on a motorway or unrestricted dual carriageway and you need to warn drivers behind you of a hazard or obstruction ahead. Only use them for long enough to ensure that your warning has been observed.

According to me, this is exactly right. You drive into a wall of rain, hazard lights is appropriate. Drivers behind you are now also in the rain. They know about it. Turn off the hazard lights.

[logicalidiot]

No offence but I curse people who put their hazard lights on while raining. I agree that during extremely heavy rainfalls, it is difficult to see other cars and hazard lights help you a bit. But, if the visibility is that bad, you should be reducing your speeds and if still not visible, you need to stopover until the rain reduces a bit. If you still want to drive, one should ensure to drive with the front and rear fog lamps. Hazard should be the last resort and if the situation is very extreme. All I see today is every tom, dick and harry jumping to put on their hazards while it rains (even if it is not a heavy rain).

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by saisree

And that’s why they are called Illiterate and Bad Driver’s and end up here in Wall of Shame

You could at least prequalify that with "no offence", as is usual when offence is intended.

India runs to its own rules, mostly even contrary to its own rules. The use of hazards while in the rain is so prevalent that it's become the rule, sort of, now. I understand that they may be illiterate, bad drivers, make the blood boil, but I for one have never seen hazards on on a vehicle in front of me in the rains, and gone "hey, I don't know if he's broken down, is going straight(???), or is doing this because of the rain." I can see the rain, and I know why he's doing that. I know that he's not broken down, because I can SEE that he's moving. Broken down vehicles are required by law to put a green, leafy stick on the back.

Yes, it's not the proper use of hazards, but I'm acclimatized to- and bothered by- much worse on the road to get down and be bothered by this. There could be a car heading back on the wrong side because the rain has caused a jam ahead, or the could be bikes taking up 3 out of 4 lanes under the next overpaid, etc.
I'm much more grateful that the person ahead has bothered to warn me, than to get my knickers in a twist about him using an inappropriate method to do so.
It's wrong, but it's not that wrong.....

[N.A.GTC]

Originally Posted by mayankk

You could at least prequalify that with "no offence", as is usual when offence is intended.

India runs to its own rules, mostly even contrary to its own rules. The use of hazards while in the rain is so prevalent that it's become the rule, sort of, now. I understand that they may be illiterate, bad drivers, make the blood boil, but I for one have never seen hazards on on a vehicle in front of me in the rains, and gone "hey, I don't know if he's broken down, is going straight(???), or is doing this because of the rain." I can see the rain, and I know why he's doing that. I know that he's not broken down, because I can SEE that he's moving. Broken down vehicles are required by law to put a green, leafy stick on the back.

Yes, it's not the proper use of hazards, but I'm acclimatized to- and bothered by- much worse on the road to get down and be bothered by this. There could be a car heading back on the wrong side because the rain has caused a jam ahead, or the could be bikes taking up 3 out of 4 lanes under the next overpaid, etc.
I'm much more grateful that the person ahead has bothered to warn me, than to get my knickers in a twist about him using an inappropriate method to do so.
It's wrong, but it's not that wrong.....

Thank you for saying this. Every single word of this. And especially the bit about intending offence. This is OT, but I do feel people on the forum (and especially on threads like this) get a bit too carried away in their feelings and emotions - understandably so. Probably we all need to take a break from the internet once in a while and remember it doesn't hurt to be polite.

Back to the topic though, YES. Indian roads have rules of their own, and for good reason. We have a very different socio-economic condition than any developed/civilised country. We see people riding on roofs of busses not because it's the right thing to do, but because they have no other option. Much of what we see on roads comes either from compulsion, or from ignorance. The ignorance part is mostly because of their lack of knowledge on the subject - not everyone reads T-BHP to know about the etiquettes of driving, and come from a very different background. And yeah, such queer practices can be absurd sometimes, but so long as they do not cause any actual harm (unlike going wrongway, not using helmets, etc.), I don't think we should get hyper about it.

[logicalidiot]

Originally Posted by N.A.GTC

The ignorance part is mostly because of their lack of knowledge on the subject - not everyone reads T-BHP to know about the etiquettes of driving, and come from a very different background.

Couldn't agree more. Most of them do not know the purpose of hazards. Forget hazards, but even the basic sign boards and road etiquettes aren't known - blame our authorities for that. Even I may not be super perfect for that matter. But I wouldn't mind failing twice or thrice just to get a hang of these basic knowledge.

I remember travelling once with a mutual friend of mine in his car where he approached a junction where he wanted to go straight. He turned on the hazards at that moment. I was confused for a second and asked him why did you do that and his response was that isn't this used for going straight in a junction.

[Gansan]

Whether you are driving your car or riding your bike on the road, if you spot these type of two wheeler riders, stay well away from them.

1) Both side mirrors facing a different direction, or facing only the rider's face!

2) If he or she applies only the rear brake. This can be easily observed especially in motorbike riders. Stay well clear of them. Combi brakes are an exception, better to err on the side of caution.

3) A bag or lunch box hanging from the handlebar. Sure sign of a clumsy rider.

4) A rider wearing a heavy backpack. It is sure to raise his centre of gavity considerably and he is prone to toppling.

5) Huge loads tied to the motorbike, or placed in the footwell of scooters.

6) Multiple persons sitting on the two wheeler.

7) Not following a straight line and changing directions erratically. This applies to car drivers too. It is always good to be predictable on the road.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by mayankk

India runs to its own rules, mostly even contrary to its own rules.

Maybe, but so does the rest of the world too.

Check out what the British Highway Code has to say about headlight flashing, and then check out how every driver on British roads uses and and understands a headlamp flash. It bears no resemblance whatsoever to what the "rule" is.

[s4ch]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Maybe, but so does the rest of the world too.

Check out what the British Highway Code has to say about headlight flashing, and then check out how every driver on British roads uses and and understands a headlamp flash. It bears no resemblance whatsoever to what the "rule" is.

Indeed, just adding here what the UK Highway Code says about this in 3.110 and 3.111:

110
Flashing headlights. Only flash your headlights to let other road users know that you are there. Do not flash your headlights to convey any other message or intimidate other road users.

111
Never assume that flashing headlights is a signal inviting you to proceed. Use your own judgement and proceed carefully.

While the law says this, I could say that 99% of the time in the UK, someone flashing headlights either indicates that the person is giving way to you, or that they are saying thank you to you for you giving way to them. The other 1% is probably to tell you to be careful as there is a mobile speed camera ahead!

Giving way in the UK, and saying thank you, or when someone else puts their hand up to say thank you to you when you have given them way, is honestly one of the best feelings while driving. It basically stems from a complete respect for you and your space, with a realisation that cutting someone up or pushing ahead of them is only going to save you 5 unnecessary seconds in life.

[anandhsub]

My main issue with people using hazard lights when moving in the rain is when they start overtaking vehicles. Firstly they likely wouldnt have been able to signal lane change, secondly the higher speeds as well as the horizontal movement with blinking lights is very distracting.

As long as they are going at or slower than the highway speeds I don't mind it much.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by anandhsub

My main issue with people using hazard lights ... Firstly they likely wouldnt have been able to signal lane change ...

I think almost all of us agree on this. Using indicators is vital communication.

Of course, some of those flashing the hazards are people that wouldn't bother to indicate anyway.

[GTO]

Mod Note: Guys, let's not get hot under the collar. No need for rude or strong posts please. Request to continue being polite, calm & respectful, even in debates.

Thanks for the support & understanding

[GKR9900]

I have been going through the thread 'Is India ready for ADAS' yesterday and was really wondering about how ready are we as a driving civilization to adopt Electric Vehicles (EVs). I'm not talking about the charging infrastructure or battery capacity here. EVs are truly remarkable in the sense that they are going to liberalize availability of power and torque to the masses. But that could be a double edged sword as well if we really think about it. Guess what! Someone was listening and I ended up in a related predicament yesterday evening itself which I thought should share here. Attaching the video below:

https://youtu.be/2u_I3XFL9tQ

So the story began when I was returning home after work. The incident started unravelling a few kms into my journey. I was happily cruising along the 2 lane roads overtaking slow moving traffic and ended up behind a Hyundai Kona. Now I have seen this particular Kona at the medical college where I work, but never bothered to find out the owner. Although in previous instances, I have seen the car raking up serious speeds in no time. Let's just say that I knew that the driver wasn't the most sedate. And boy! Was I in for a rude surprise! As you see in the video, I saw no signs of the Kona accelerating, hence decided to overtake it. He started accelerating as soon as I commenced my maneuver. At first I thought he may not have glanced upon the rear view mirror, but later realised that he did it intentionally. Guess his 'electric' ego was hurt. I was in no mood to engage in an ego clash with the person and proceeded to follow him at a safe distance. I got an opportunity to overtake him again, and the same happened. Once I proceeds with the overtaking maneuver, he accelerates. Maybe he's enjoying his 395 Nm at 0 rpm cocktail, but this was getting quite irritating. He also made it sure that his car is veering towards the center of the road so that I don't try overtaking him. I soon got presented with another opportunity to overtake him. Again I proceeded with the maneuver and this time he decides to steer his car to the right and run me off the road, making me brake suddenly to avoid hitting an oncoming pedestrian. It became clear that I am dealing with a psycho and hence decided to stick to my lane and pull back. A couple of minutes later, I caught up with him at a traffic stop and decided to stay behind him. As soon as the lights turned green, you can see him flooring the throttle again. Lots of power going to the wheels, but sadly none to the grey matter. Such a shame!

What happened after this is really entertaining. At the next signal, I caught up with him and parked next to him. He was ignoring my short honks for attention. As the light was red, decided to get a chat with him and when he finally rolled down the windows, I realized that he was a colleague, more of an acquaintance sort, but nevertheless. I was shocked! But he knew all along that I was the one that he was trying to toy with. The lights turned green. I just told him that I have his stunts recorded in my dashcam. We went our separate ways. Soon after I received his call and what followed was one of the most hilarious heated conversations that I had in quite some time. The opening statement itself was 'I am a person who only looks forward and drives. Only when I'm reversing or changing lanes do I use the mirrors'. I tried explaining to him about what actually happened, but he wouldn't listen. I patiently listened to the guy. He told about how I tailgated and intimidated him to forcefully undertake a risky maneuver in a turn. He also told me that he has an international driving license and no one needs to teach him how to drive, at which point I felt that this guy's cranium is potentially made up of vibranium, it's that impenetrable. I told him I would send him the footage once I reach home and he can see for himself. Story wasn't too different when he received the footage either. In fact I even received a copy of his international driving license as a souvenir for this incident I don't intend to shame my colleague in any way nor do I want to dissect his character. That’s why I blurred out the license plates and not mentioning the details of our interaction (which I have recorded by the way, just in case). I am no saint either. In fact, I have detailed a number of my own experiences here at team bhp where I am potentially at fault. But this experience is worth sharing for the use of team bhpians and other road users.

The larger point here is electric vehicles are mini power houses. I was hoping to get my hands on one too when the time is right, but this incident has left me in doubt. Sure, the penetration of electric vehicle market currently is low. But when it comes to ICE engines, that subtle delay in throttle response in many of the mainstream cars creates a sizeable doubt in the driver's mind, which usually makes him/her ease off the pedal. That in itself is a deterrent for accidents. This is totally not the case with EVs. EVs may accelerate better, but braking more or less remains the same. The availability of instant power on tap especially in the hands of untrained/hothead drivers could be a real problem to deal with in the future, when EVs garner more sales. But then again, it's not the technology that's the problem, but those who are using it.

[mayankk]

I doubt the poor ev had anything to do with this. Come to Noida, even Bajaj autos will do this to you. No license either.
In fact, you should have toyed with him some more trying to catch up and holding back, just so that he would have continued hard acceleration for another hour or so. Till he couldn't.....

[d3mon]

Sorry to say, before your judge the Kona driver's driving skills, please have a look at how aggressive you were being in trying to overtake him.

You had barely any space to overtake him in all instances, and he was under no obligation to slow down and let you overtake him.

At 1:22, you try to overtake him while crossing over a solid white line, with a blind corner up front. Later when you almost hit a pedestrian, it was again your fault for becoming impatient and trying to overtake without having a clear visibility of the road. While you were following a convoy of cars behind a slow moving vehicle, you were trying to muscle your way through the other cars without letting them overtake the truck first.

Calm down on the road, man!

[v1p3r]

It's amazing that even on an enthusiast forum, with educated, upper income folks (car owners), we have people defending the use of hazard lights in rains, with reasons like 'everyone is doing it' and 'India is different'.

India is different. We have 30% more road-accident deaths per vehicle than China, despite having less than 10% the number of vehicles. One might say that education could solve this, but this thread's recent posts seem to suggest otherwise.

Anecdotally (from driving instructors), Indians also take the highest time to pass their driving test in a foreign country where the laws are more strictly enforced.

Also, for some reason, people on highways turn their hazards on when they enter tunnels. I don't know why.