[Sheel]

Originally Posted by Surprise

We all very well know the risks involved in our uncertain highways, a tractor coming in the wrong side, a govt bus traveling 2-3 kms at 60 kmph on wrong side avoiding 5 kms extra run "U" turn, pedestrians crossing the roads as if they walk on their backyard & vehicles doing somersault in the process to avoid, lorry parking without any indication or reflector boards in place etc etc

These things need to be looked into and i feel highway patrol kind of thing practiced abroad will be really good,

need to FORCE speed limits(but not on each & every road) the vulnerable ones,how to spot the vulnerable, dunno, but can be done

two important pointers thought to share as reading about it here--

Cars are safer than SUV's, no two ways about it, they handle better, brake better, GC is less so toppling them is hard(unintentionally or intentionally)
secondly, the more miles you clock in, the better driver you are

[KishoreC]

Originally Posted by Sheel

secondly, the more miles you clock in, the better driver you are

Only a good driver can sustain the chaos on Indian Highways for a longer period. That's why you won't see a long distance truck driving rashly on a highway, they would not have survived the long distance drives if they were not good patient drivers. It's mostly local or short to mid distance traffic which are rash drivers.

[.sushilkumar]

I think , Indian Highways Are not that Safe During Night. I usually Travel by HRTC buses to my home town in HP via CHD, Ropar and I can Assure that it`s complete madness. This time Before ambala , there was a Truck Driver ( Over Loaded Truck) Running Right in middle of road, All traffic behind him stuck up (for good 10 min), Sleeping , Somehow Our driver ,took the Bus past him and Blasted him with RAILWAYS HORN and a Mouthful .this Awakes the guy , Apparently he was sleeping and worst part is i usually spot these sleeping drivers at least twice during whole night .

I must Say , State transport Buses are best bet if you wish to travel during night . they have no pressure to reach destination( Can,t say same for Haryana Roadways, they are always in Hurry for some strange reasons ) ,the Drivers Usually sleep during Day and they take a Break every 3-4 Hours at destined dhabas .Again a CAR , is a Big NO during Night IMO

[vasanthn21]

The sleeping drivers are definitely a menace. But I personally feel day time highway driving can be safe as long as the vehicle is in good condition, within reasonable speed (reasonable speed varies based on road condition and traffic) good distance from the vehicle ahead of you and overtaking done very very very carefully. Of course the driver should also be in good condition

[paragsachania]

Of my recent and frequent Pune-Bangalore-Pune trips, I have mostly stuck to Night drives with m Dad and have realised it that they were less stressfull and more safer (In My personal opinion on NH4 )for the following reasons:

• No 2/3 wheelers who recklessly slow down, cut lanes or even brake abruptly to take U Turns, Peep their front wheel out of the median to get into the moving traffic.
• Absoultely Zero Village traffic and pedestrians and you save so much time passing them at relatively the same speeds as you would be cruising on open stretches.
• Tractors, Bullock carts are absent, thus helping you maintain normal driving speeds rather than forcing you to panic brake on spotting them in the fast lane.
• Trucker and buses due to the above usually remain in the left lane and allow overtaking from the fast lane.
• Overtaking is safer since flashing of lights will give enough indication to the trucker that you are approaching him rather than honking during the day when he is really not bothered to listen. (A visible indication has always worked faster than an audible horn)

However, it is also good to know that

• Driver needs to ensure that he's had his share of nap and isnt drowsy.
• Knows the Roads, curves and median breaks well - This comes with experience of travelling frequently on the same road.
• There can be cases of parked, brokedown trucks either of the lanes and hence it is always important to maintain speeds good enough to brake in time.
• Very rare chances of breakdown assistance in case of any.
• Might be unsafe if travelling with Valuables and Family.

I would never attempt a night drive unless I have done frequent day trips and have known the roads well and hence it also means that I am more comfortable doing night drives on known highways than the days.

[dr.faramroze]

Absolutely correct, paragsachania, its your skillsets and intelligence which helps in night driving apart from the practical know how you have about Indian road driving.

We wish each and every mature citizen of this country takes your inputs responsibly.


Moreover, one has to protect his anticipation while facing oncoming vehicles' headlights on some highways. Even though the lanes are seperate and wide, but the glare can leave a driver dumb sometimes.

[ulhas.ahirrao]

One of the most frequent reason for accidents on Highways is error during overtaking. Overtaking on the curves, trying to fit in your car by overtaking when there is a speeding vehicle from front, driving dangerously close to rear of the car ahead of you waiting to get the chance to overtake.

I believe if you are careful while overtaking, be fully convinced that you can overtake comfortably, are constantly scanning for others who are rushing for overtaking, you can be safe on our highways. What say?

[John]

Just back from a Hyd - Bangalore - Hyd drive. While the highway is not yet fully completed, large stretches of it are really excellent and was able to cruise at 100 -110 kmph in the Innova. The biggest threat / danger is the number of vehicles driving on the wrong side - bikes, autos, tractors, ST buses etc. Most of the times it's to avoid going ahead and making a U turn. Noticed absolutely no presence of police hence these vehicles have no fear of being caught. What is really dangerous is that in most cases they are driving in the passing lane where other vehicles are driving at +80 kmph. Are our highway authorities aware of this and if so what are they doing to put an end to this. Or ist a case of 'life being cheap' in this country?

[prateek99]

I would like to bring in a different angle here.

Like several BHPians pointed out that we cannot drive with the fear of crashing a car on a bad day, these don’t happen intentionally (unless you are on a suicide mission).

The main thing here remains the CAUTION while driving.

And where do we bring in the car safety features, primarily air bags. Most of us don’t buy a fully safety equipped car because of the price factor. Even I bought one without the airbags.

You don’t become indestructible with air bags, still the probability of survival increases.

My next car is gonna have good safety features, even if it means I buy a relatively smaller car.

[agspins]

Yesterday had almost would have bid farewell to this world, Thanks to a Idiotic scumbag Trucker(TATA 2515 EX TC) who was busy chatting to his cleaner doing almost 60 on a under construction strip of NH7 near Nagpur.Was doing 30 as the strip was broken,when saw this 10wheeler coming fast, took my car near to the left divider and dunno was it a intuition of sorts, i stopped my car to let the Giant go, But to my shocking surprise this moron came head on despite continuous honking and flashing lights, at the last moment swerved the giant with barely few meters left.The strip was wide enough (2 lanes) to cross each other without any problem,Still that moron came head on..

[gajadonga]

I had been to Banglore last week from Hyderabad.Most of the time I do night driving.
After crossing Kurnool and Dhone which is probably 70kms away from Kurnool it was four lane and was drizziling a portion of the bridge is incomplete and we have to go on to the incoming lane and cross the bridge and get back to our lane.
This stretch the directions was not marked properly.They had placed big stones on the highway.I braked heavily to avoid the collision but because of the rain I skidded and I hit the stones and almost went on to the divider and could manage to avoid it.
No major problem with the vehicle.I could continue with my journey but my wheel alignment went for a toss.

[XH_Vee]

Originally Posted by bblost

Suprise, I guess we are looking at it in completely different ways.

You want get from A to B, so you drive.
I want to drive so I go from A to (destinations don't really matter)

The best I can do is understand the road, my vehicle and have a cool head.
Practise safe driving always and being prepared always.

Yup... nothing against who think otherwise but I too don't bother much about the destination. I and my wife just returned from a 1000 + km road trip and when my sister in law asked me about how was the trip I said, the drive was great - roads have improved, car worked great and everything else other than the wedding for which we actually did this road trip

Regarding the highways, I think they are getting better and safer. For instance, there are truck lay-byes, emergency calling booths, minimal intersections, better signs. But that means people overspeed easily. But then should we rather not do all this for the benefit of the responsible drivers because a few stupid ones misuse them?

[rm_arjuna]

Last week , i had to drive to Dharavaram, from dhone till Anatapur road condition in night is very bad due to many diversions without proper markings . I barely avoided accidents at two place , and moron truck driver with all lights blazing was coming straight inpsite of all flashing , i just had to stop dead in track for few second till he could pass and pray nothing wrong could happen .