[rangaraj]

With a personal experience of a near death accident, and reading about two recent incidents involving two members of team-bhp, one of them - Rtech who tragically passed away, i thought it would be appropriate to add this note of caution.

As a couple of moderators have mentioned, readers take the posts in this forum seriously and often try and emulate or get into a one-upmanship mode. Many members do boast of the speeds of 100kmph+ and their redline exploits. A note of caution that always comes with these statements often unstated (i wish this disclaimer appears as in most of the ads stating that these stunts are performed by professionals and not to be repeated by ordinary folks),is that you need to have experience and expertise to control a vehicle at such speeds and it is not for everyone to try this - especially on Indian roads. Despite how good you are, there are too many idiots out there whose incompetence and mistakes could lead you to suffer.

With the holiday season and the new year approaching, please drive safely and take care.

[vasudeva]

I had started a thread on `Why the Obsession with High Speeds'. Some of the posts/comments there have been written by various people who consider themself to be immortal (of course the soul is, but then the body is only flesh, blood, spongy, and soft).

[rangaraj]

Dont get me wrong, all of us have the urge to drive fast and experience the thrill. Unfortunately there are not too many safe places (race tracks, unused runways etc.) that lets us experience this thrill..

Just do it safely and responsibly..

[eclectix 1st]

Originally Posted by rangaraj

especially on Indian roads. Despite how good you are, there are too many idiots out there whose incompetence and mistakes could lead you to suffer.

With the holiday season and the new year approaching, please drive safely and take care.

Guys, I might be sounding like your mum/dad/Grandparents et al, but

• DO NOT DRIVE under influence of alcohol (may it be a small one / I know my limits)
• Have a designated driver who doesn't drink or take a cab while partying.
• Keep a look out for morons who keep coming from nowhere

cheers

[sreenivass]

A very timely advice and thread Rangaraj. My suggestion would be not to drive under influence and around new year time. It is very difficult to drive even without drinking in our cities, imagine DUI is definitely asking for trouble.

[nutmello]

hi to all speed freaks.
we all drive fast, really fast. but let there be no road rage and over speeding. life is too precious to be lost or to remain handicapped.let good sense prevail, let enjoy every minute of our life.honestly there is no better place to have a drink at home than any where else! happy new year

[vivekiny2k]

I was on East Coast Road (chennai) on 2006 new year. it was a mess (considering it's outskirts of the city). we actually finished our dinner by 11.00 and returned home. Most of us also remember the new year incident at the gateway of india.

For some reason people do not want to miss the fun, and some of them go overboard like there is no tomorrow.

Please be sensible, choose your destination, and take precautions. getting stuck in a jam at 1.00 AM with anti social elements around can be an equally bad experience.

I personally like to skip holidays, festivals, long weekends and other popular occasions and use other times of the year to have my share of the fun.

[badri]

Guys, want to share my near death experience yesterday. Was returning from Tirupati in my Accent along with family and was driving on a kilometre long stretch at a sedate 90km/h.

A long car-transporting truck was coming in the opposite direction at a considerble pace. He flashes his lights suddenly and I am left clueless as there was no other vehicle betwen us and no car behind me. There was nothing on the road except us.

Immediately afterwards he veers completely to his right, leaving just enough space for me to swing violently to left and avoid him. Neverthless, the trailer swung menacingly towards my car and I am sure it's just due to God's grace and sheer luck that it had not hit my car. I still have goose bumps remembering the incident.

I checked in my rear view mirror to see the reason why he has swung so suddenly. There was a small branch hanging off a tree top right in the middle of the road and this idiot moved on to the right part of the road to avoid it as his truck was fairly tall.

He tried to indicate this by flasing his lights and I was quick enough to check my mirrors to see behind. But nothing in all my driving experience taught me to look up at the tree!!

The only saving grace was that I was driving at an easily manageable 90kmph. If I was at 120 or 130, I cant imaging what would have happened.

Guy's drive / ride safe. Look out for every nutter / psycho on the road and dont ignore animals, trees etc which can look innocuous but may mean life or death.

Safety is not just in your hands anymore but please do the best from your side.

[rks]

Originally Posted by badri

The only saving grace was that I was driving at an easily manageable 90kmph. If I was at 120 or 130, I cant imaging what would have happened.

I would never recommend 120+ speeds anywhere other than in Expressways. In my view, a small, light maneuverable car like my Santro, with a very responsive power steering, can handle the kind of incident that you mention more easily than bigger, heavier and more powerful cars.

A key point to be noted is that the the heavy, powerful cars also come equipped with insane amounts of torque, which enables them to accelerate to 120+ speeds in next to no time. This, when coupled with their lower maneuverability (in my view), is a key factor in setting up accidents in our road conditions. Whereas in my Santro, I can accelerate to 100-120 kmph on most of our highways which is more than enough to easily maneuver through our traffic. But I need fairly long clear stretches (as in Expressways) to hit 120+ speeds. I used to feel frustrated about this, but all things considered, I now feel that this is the best for our road conditions.

The same holds when you compare a scooter to a bike. It is just a myth that a bike is safer. I used to drive a Kinetic Honda for 10 years in Bangalore (about 50000 kms). I have never exceeded 60 kmph and the acceleration is very low as compared to bikes. I remember once when driving in very heavy rain and with no street lights (power failure) I was following a Qualis at 40-50 kmph, and a biker overtook me from the right with a burst of acceleration and then prepared to cut to the left of the Qualis ahead of me. Unfortunately, the Qualis guy braked hard exactly at that point and the biker lost control as he braked and went sliding under the Qualis's left rear. I barely stopped my scooter in time to avoid hitting the Qualis (jammed both brakes). Miraculously, the biker was pulled out from under the Qualis with no serious injury, although he was badly shaken and moaning. Likewise I have seen many bikers accelerating hard out of signals and they have absolutely no chance of stopping if someone gets in their way.

It is the insane torque (which we all thirst for) that provides more scope for accidents when the driver is inexperienced or lapses in concentration.

[MillionSwords]

I completely agree with RKS.
I think split second decision is the key. We cannot plan for this split second decision, we cannot nurture and practice this. This has to come in like a miracle, you see the situation wide and clear and as though in a "super slow motion". But this does not happen all the time, some times you might be in bad mood, sleepy, tired or even over engulfed in some joy or holiday mood.

I remember once in my Yamaha 5s I was racing the streets to reach office in time, and in a U-Turn junction one Auto Rickshaw did a U without stopping, and I was in right angle into him, with full brakes applied, and skidding towards him, with my front wheel just about not crashing on the Auto's back side, but my skidding was dragging my rear wheel to the auto, I took my right leg off the rest, and kicked the Auto's back to get back into position, and it all worked well; i was not even jolted for a second, and just drove away screaming at the Autowala and Zoom back on the road.

Ah forgot to add, I was with my wife in the pillion all the time! She wouldnt even know what happened, it all staged in split second!!

But I was 50% shaken and 50% happy that I missed a crash. It sure is some kind of adrenaline rush, but guys better be responsible, and wait for the 5th gear and leave it all for the Expressway!

Watch the new Ad Campaign on TV, to reduce speed, and use the skywalks (Jay walkers )! - be responsible!

[anuragn]

Absolutely. I always try to limit my speeds to max 70kmph on city highways (mostly the Palm Beach road).
Just a few days ago, i was driving at 45kmph in one interior road (but quite wide and deserted) at 8:30am in the morning, and suddenly this 5-6 yr old boy jumps from nowhere into the middle of the road, sees my car approaching towards him, stops for a few seconds, and then runs across the road (instead of returning towards the left side)
I got really frightened just imagining could have happened, had I been travelling at higher speeds. And same could have happened anywhere, in any expressway...after all it is India.
So my dear friends, I would always advise not to exceed 70 or maybe 80kmph anywhere, except on a completely fenced freeway like the Mumbai-Pune expressway.

[moralfibre]

Originally Posted by rks

I would never recommend 120+ speeds anywhere other than in Expressways. In my view, a small, light maneuverable car like my Santro, with a very responsive power steering, can handle the kind of incident that you mention more easily than bigger, heavier and more powerful cars.
A key point to be noted is that the the heavy, powerful cars also come equipped with insane amounts of torque, which enables them to accelerate to 120+ speeds in next to no time. This, when coupled with their lower maneuverability (in my view), is a key factor in setting up accidents in our road conditions. Whereas in my Santro, I can accelerate to 100-120 kmph on most of our highways which is more than enough to easily maneuver through our traffic. But I need fairly long clear stretches (as in Expressways) to hit 120+ speeds. I used to feel frustrated about this, but all things considered, I now feel that this is the best for our road conditions.

I disagree complete with the above stated views. By that logic the Santro should be an accident free car and all other cars (heavier and more powerful in your view) should wreck each time.

[Maverick1977]

The sheer thrill of speeding, coupled with showing it off to one and all is so very evident from Members displaying pictures of their Speedometers showing insane speeds.

[speedzak]

Originally Posted by moralfibre

I disagree complete with the above stated views. By that logic the Santro should be an accident free car and all other cars (heavier and more powerful in your view) should wreck each time.

Yes. That's the impression I also got after reading RKS's post and that is absolutely ridiculous.
Small cars can easily loose control especially in scenarios like above and especially the tallboys like Santro.

Am I wrong?

[badri]

Originally Posted by rks

I would never recommend 120+ speeds anywhere other than in Expressways. In my view, a small, light maneuverable car like my Santro, with a very responsive power steering, can handle the kind of incident that you mention more easily than bigger, heavier and more powerful cars.

rks, I guess Santro is more maneuverable, but the stability of a car in quick direction change and also while braking is important. In this aspect, I guess a bigger car would be better. Also, in my case the torquey engine of Accent is a boon for highway overtaking. That is as long as I dont exceed the limits !