[abhiram.]

100% yes. I get intimidated by the likes of Fortuner / Endeavour and the maddening speeds certain set of people drive. Especially where I come from, some mod their vehicles with flashing blue/red lights on their grills and a super loud sirens. And of course, how could I forget the night time driving - triple digit speeds and sharp zig zags turns.

[where_to_next]

If I notice someone in a hurry (and/or driving irresponsibly) in the rear view mirror, I always give them way when its safe to do so. It does not matter what they are driving.

[anjan_c2007]

Yes, many larger sized motor vehicles bully the not so mighty ones. A scooter or a light bike rider can get bullied by a Tata Nano, M800 or even a three wheeler. This bullying moves to the next and further higher levels when a mighty SUV could bully the same Tata Nano, M800 or the three wheeler.

As driver's on the less mighty motor vehicles, we need to be alert with safety as our motto and try to distance away from the bullies.

Defensive driving needs to be always put into practice.

The political satire "Animal Farm" (1945) by George Orwell illustrates the issue in his own style.

[SR-71]

Interesting thread, something I have been thinking about lately, driven in part by messages in the forum bragging about bullying rights on account of driving a larger SUV. Personally I give way to any incorrigible driver on the road irrespective of whether (s)he is driving a large SUV or a small hatchback. And the reason is, I don't want to let these folks stress me out or disturb my peaceful drive. IMHO, that’s the reason most folks give way and not because they are intimidated. And that seems to be misread by many as being able to bully their way out, thanks in part to their large SUV.

As someone who is been driving too often on 1000km round trips almost every week of late, I have come to identify patterns where the road is devoid of private cars and have been using those slots even if it means ungodly hours. The truck traffic at this time despite annoying you with slow moving, lane hogging style are much safer company than the dangerous lunatics behind the wheels of private cars.

[johny_desparado]

You shouldn't feel that way . That's the whole point of this thread I guess.

[alokk0912]

Interesting thread. I don't get intimidated. I drive one of those big bully vehicle as we are calling here on this thread and a Thar. I do pune-mumbai quite frequently and my experience as mentioned by few here is that it is not about the size of the vehicle. It is always about the driver and moment I see any fast, reckless driver; I give way for my own safety and peace of mind. Most of the big vehicles excluding buses, I have seen being driven quite responsibly. 90% of my experience where someone has overaken or cut the lanes in dangerous fashion is not the kind of vehicle we are talking about here.

Having said that, it is a fact that if you are driving a big bully vehicle, you anyways get respect on the road by most of the people. 2 instances I would like to call out:

- I was doing a Bhimashankar trip a few months back. In a 2 laned, 2 way road, one of the lane was blocked by a broken truck. It was early in the day with not too much traffic. I swerved to my right to get past the stationary truck and there was another vehicle coming from the other side. It had a name plate of councillor or something. I was getting ready to put my vehicle in reverse and to my utter surprise, driver quickly reversed his vehicle and signalled me to continue.

- I was stopped by traffic police for speeding near Ahmedanagar. I just asked him what is the reading he got as my odometer was showing 80 which was the speed limit. He looked at his instrument and said, it is just above the limit and is ok this time. Please continue.

[Mango]

I shifted from a larger car (Ford Ecosport) to a smaller car (Hyundai Grand i10 NIOS) and definitely noticed in a shift on how people give way and react. While the Ecosport is still a tiny car in the scheme of large cars, I never felt intimidated nor did I feel like I was being bullied but as soon as I started driving the i10 I definitely noticed that people would cut me off or pull in front of me at intersections more often. Even if I'm in traffic and there is no place for me to move people would flash their lights incessantly (maybe the locality is a bit rough where I live). However the perks of having a smaller car definitely makes up for it, I can zip through traffic like a little mouse and take U-turns without it becoming a 3-point turn and even get into places the bigger cars cannot even imagine. Owning a smaller car and becoming older definitely has made me a defensive driver so I give way to whoever wants to go ahead of me without irritating my wits.

[Capri89]

There are some active/intentional intimidation and some passive/unintentional intimidation.

I am really apprehensive about political party's flag bearing vehicles, autos/taxis within cities, two wheeler drivers (cities and highways). One can take corrective action in driving once these are spotted within close proximity.

The more dangerous ones are situations where you would have little choice. You may not even be aware at that particular time but realise later that you were in a really tight spot.

The following video would demonstrate what I mean.

As the traffic is inching bumper to bumper, a really huge container truck is coming along on the opposite side. As it crosses it wobbles a little and that is a terrifying moment with its huge load.

In hindsight, should have waited till the vehicle before gave me a more than sufficient space such that the big brother didn't have to come side by side.

https://youtu.be/nwmEXsjT3iE

[Veloster76]

The most intimating vehicles which i find on road are PCMC /PMT /State Transportation buses . The drivers keep unnecessarily accelerating engines to intimidate the vehicles in front of them .
People geneally give way as they feel even a small rear ending by Bus will damage their own vehicle .

[Kln]

As one becomes older, safety becomes of paramount importance.

Someone is waiting for you at home -- don't let them wait forever.

Play safe, drive safe, let fools run amok. If you have a small vehicle, be it a car or scooter or a bike, you are the most vulnerable. Don't let personal bravado fool you.

These are some of the things I keep telling to myself whenever I feel angry and feel snapping back at road bullies.

[Mad Max]

Quickly gauging the situation is paramount.

An example - for those who drive the southern route from Bangalore to Krishnagiri, we all know how Sunday afternoon driving is. It's absolute madness with folks flying on the freeway with three lanes made into five as per their own agendas. There are always these cars where you know the driver is in control, probably can drive the way they do and you just let them pass. Then there are the ones who are completely distracted or being egged on by their co-passengers and ride my bumper with not even inches to spare. One look at them and I quickly move out of the way because a) I know they can't control their vehicle with the reaction time that may happen and b) they are not in the right state of mind - more angry and frustrated than enjoying the speed.

In such situations, they may believe that they bullied me out of the way and may get happy/proud of the same and while I can easily catch them, I wouldn't want to do that just knowing that it's best to let them feel that moment of triumph and maybe calm down and not do it as they progress forward.

A few months ago, I was on the Chennai - Trichy highway and witnessed an amazing drive by a Fortuner. Classy, elegant and super smooth but no rashness. Stuck to his back doing high triple digits (he may have wondered what is an old Vento doing there) but he never brake checked me, followed me for a bit as well and then continued to help with his driving style.

I am no one to judge because most of this is perception based, I think.

"Anyone who's faster than me is a maniac and anyone who is slower than me is a tortoise."

[srinitdas]

My personal experience from roughly 80k kms on the highways. My s-cross is most at home on the highways and I am generally among the faster cars.

So following are the types of bullies I have come across.
The Mahindra XUVs. No offence to owners, but this is the single biggest share of bullies on the road. They would honk and tailgate till you give way. No matter if there is trail of cars behind a truck waiting to overtake one by one in sequence. But no, the XUV has to go first before any mere mortal.
The Hyundai Cretas. These are the royal enfields among cars. They would hog the lane and not budge no matter who wants to overtake them. One has to ultimately overtake from left, right, over, under but not on the lane they are in. Even truck drivers have given me way, but not a Creta.
The local bikers and cars (big or small). They would drive at snails pace on the right lane. Why not? It's my area after all. If you honk or flash headlights, they would all the more drive parallel to the car in the adjacent lane just to not let you overtake.And once you do find a way past, be ready for glares. Do not glare back. You must put your focus on the road ahead for the next obstacle.
The genuinely fast cars doing above legal speeds. Mostly the Germans with great dynamics and power. They would weave in and out of gaps and out of sight before even I can react. So these have never really bothered me.
Cars of various shapes and sizes that remember their F1 racing days when you want to overtake them. They would be cruising nice and easy till the time you signal them for space. They would move aside, and punch the pedal to have a drag race. Now this is the situation I hate most. Few years back, I would generally have the torque advantage and it wouldn't bother me. These days, my car is ageing and most new cars are turbocharged and powerful. Depending on my mood, even I am guilty of a bit of agression, but for the most part, I do not engage. The frustrating part though, is that the said car would continue in my sights for quite some time, just slower than my cruising speed but not slow enough for me to overtake easily.

Coming to what I would do. Well, I do everything I can to let a vehicle overtake me. I constantly keep checking my mirrors. Can't put a percentage to it but I check my mirrors to the extent that I have given way even before someone has asked for it. If someone is approaching behind me faster than me, I will actually lift off and minimise parallel lane driving. If I feel I need to overtake, I ll punch it pedal on metal, overtake as fast as possible, and settle on my cruising speed. The torque in my car helps this to a great extent. I am extremely uncomfortable when cars are driving parallel to each other at high speeds.

[amolathalye]

Hi Fellow Team-Bhpans ,

I feel bullying does not depend on size of vehicle but certainly depends on the driver's general behavior towards other fellow drivers. Bullying others is a mental disorder and I feel mostly people having very low self esteem do that all the time on the road as they don't have any other means to prove themselves superior. I have experienced smaller vehicles flashing light behind me , tail gating me , honking repeatedly suggesting me to jump the red signal etc.
I have experienced very bad bullying specially on Mumbai - Pune expressway, people just don't bother how dangerous it could be for all vehicles ( including themselves ) around when they come dangerously close to you even in a tunnel from behind as if they are threatening you of dire consequences if you don't let them pass your vehicle. I don't know how they assume that everyone on road will have enough luck & skill to manage such situations.
I am surprised to have seen such behavior even from decent looking people in expensive cars , let alone the rowdy looking people in "dadagiri" cars like Fortuner or XUV700. This very well could be a case study of a important topic in human psychology.

[himavanth_m]

While the size of the vehicle does not intimidate me, I always choose the safest option for me and for others. Period.

That said , even if I drive at speed limit, I always come back to the middle or left lane in multi lane highways. The right most lane is usually for overtaking and one should always move back to the left lane unless there is an obstacle. And that’s the rule .

Some people think if they are at speed limit , they can be in right lane and that’s a misconception in my view. One should always leave right lane empty irrespective of speed unless it’s for overtaking another vehicle or avoiding obstacles.

[Ashdel]

I am from NCR - where this culture is most prominent - specially adjoining towns like Noida and Gurgaon - I personally have been driving more than 100 km daily for almost 15 years now within NCR and in recent few years have completely changed my driving sense - Point is simple - Car can be bought again but not life - having seen so many road rages in front of my eyes - i choose to be the "Dabbu" guy and i am happy with it.