[Shanksta]

Originally Posted by chevyman

This is how I manage tyre blowout fear:
I use Bridgestone tubeless tyres, right now done 5000KM odd so in good condition but I still check all the tyres for any cuts or bruises before a long journey along with tyre pressure. I use Nitrogen. I dont think there is anything else we can do to minimize the blowout threat.

Plus I keep playing the worst case scenario in my mind and check myself if I am ready to handle it. I may sound paranoid but its good to be 200% sure than regret later, especially if you have your loved ones with you.

I was highly susceptible to road rage earlier but now I have mellowed down and almost dont care about anyone overtaking me.

Even I use nitrogen since it doesn't expand as much as normal air(I hope I'm correct). Yeah even I keep playing the worst case scenario and always hope that I have the presence of mind to handle a tricky situation. Basically I always take one kilometer at a time and go with the flow. Even if I'm behind schedule I don't speed up to makeup time unless its an emergency.

I indulged in road rage once for a brief second, didn't like it. Not because I acted like an idiot for a brief second but because of the stares I got from my loved ones in the car. Ever since I am even more level headed, though I mutter the choicest of words inside the car in my mind.

[Octane_Power]

Biggest fears:

1) In city, on bike: Unexpected pedestrians crossing without warning, stones and other stuff which may topple my bike are the biggest fears.
2) On highway, on bike: Crosswinds -.- in addition to above.

1) In city with car: Nothing much, except the infamous traffic!! And have noticed this alot.. Its only when I drive a friend's car that the rickshaws and Tata Aces seem to be driving closer than usual :|

2)On highway with car: Virtually nothing, except getting blinded by oncoming high beams and banging into a rock, etc. on the left (which is not uncommon in India).

-Bhargav

[ashkamath]

Interesting thread.

I ride Motorcycle more than driving my car and this is with respect to motorcycles.

Highway: My fear is a breakdown on the road, perhaps a puncture or mechanical failure. I am pretty much ok with all other aspects of highway riding.

City: Being rear-ended by bigger vehicles, indisciplined riding / driving by irresponsible riders / drivers cutting suddenly in front of me/ braking without signal / vehicles coming out of side lanes without bothering to stop and checking the traffic on main road etc.

[andydude]

Originally Posted by Bubby

On Highway

A vehicle coming from the opposite direction, jumping the divider (due to over-speeding, tyre blow out, etc) and landing on me or in my path.
.

Even I fear of it on highways :-)

Also stray dogs, cattle running helter skelter in city and highways.

[akshay4587]

Originally Posted by Bubby

On Highway

A vehicle coming from the opposite direction, jumping the divider (due to over-speeding, tyre blow out, etc) and landing on me or in my path.

In City

Multiple pile-ups.

This is my biggest fear as well, when driving out on a highway, this is why i keep left always whenever and wherever possible.

[chevyman]

Originally Posted by Shanksta

Not because I acted like an idiot for a brief second but because of the stares I got from my loved ones in the car.

You said it. I mostly ferry my parents and my top priority is to give them a comfortable n peaceful ride. Earlier I used to indulge and chase the car which overtook me and not relent till I overtake it. Now I have stopped it completely. I feel more proud if my family sleeps peacefully.

[vdi]

Truck breakdowns in the middle/side of the highway with no rear indicators at all. I think most of the collisions on the highways in the night is due to this.

[aashish_84]

Highway?
Cattle, stray animals, especially dogs. I was driving on NH22 with 100+ speeds when a dog decided to cross the road. He crossed from left side of the road and made it to the divider safely, but then decided to go back! Barely made it out of this situation and not kill myself and the dog

City?
When in bumper to bumper traffic, some bikers have this habit of braking too close to the car in the front. I am always driving in the fear of having the rear bumper scratched. I just pray that I don't get into a situation where I have to brake hard and try to brake as smoothly as possible.

[Mr.mitsuvolk]

Great topic.
My biggest fear in city is getting rear ended especially at the traffic light when it has just turned yellow, hardly 2 seconds left, when I decide to slow down and there is someone who is gunning towards the traffic light from a distance and is pretty much determined to cross the traffic light which will be red after a second at that particular point of time I pray to God for protecting me and my beloved car from this over enthusiastic driver.
The false belief in our country is that the car which got rear ended is at fault,as he is the one who braked abruptly, while in foreign countries it is always the duty of the car coming behind to keep a safe stopping distance, but nobody cares here. People drive so close that sometimes I feel that the car may emerge from my IRVM.

In order to overcome this fear I just pray that the car coming from behind realizes that if he has to cross the traffic light, he'll have to go OVER me which he can't or atleast shouldn't.

On highways I am afraid of all mammals irrespective of them being on two legs or four, they walk around on highways as if it is their backyard. One has no option but to honk at them following which they stare you as if you just barged into their private land.

On our roads, it is all about anticipation. No matter who is at fault, it is your duty to ensure that you reach the destination without any mishap taking place which involves you.

Drive safe!

[DragonHawk]

Interesting thread.

I certainly agree with most of you folks and I too fear about all mentioned. However my biggest and worst fear is fear of drunkard moron in the driving seat. Twice I had close encounters with one moron in 2 wheeler hitting right side of the bumper. Lucky that he didn`t come under my car but its a different story altogether that I had to shell out 6000 bucks for repairs. Second one was with my cousin`s car and I was in the rear seat. Here a moron in his swift collided straight after hitting 2 more cars in my front. Since all of us were wearing seat belts none of us were hurt, but we had to went through other ordeals of the accident.

All in all prediction and vigilance can avoid certain accidents but it is very difficult to predict which type of moron is sitting in the driving seat of vehicle coming in front of you. So I would rate drunkards as my biggest nightmares on the road.

[saket77]

Nice topic. My biggest fear on highways is as someone already noted; some other vehicle jumping the median from the opposite side. Or even someone hitting something like a barricade and it comes hurling on me (this has happened with me once).
Another highway fear I have is breaking of some suspension part when doing high speeds. This also happened once with me on my Fiat 1100D. The car violently pulled to the left after the part broke and I was lucky not to be doing high speeds and the car came to halt promptly as I applied the brakes. To make matters worse, that was a ghat section.

In city, my biggest fear is someone rear-ending me.

[Gannu_1]

Within city limits:

- Impatient rickshaws and bikers squeezing through the smallest of the gaps that they could find and scratching/denting the car. Especially during weekends when the entire crowd is out on the streets.
- Miscreants scratching the car for fun when the car is parked outside. I had already faced one such instance when someone scratched the rear left door using a key.
- Logos being stolen.
- When the car is stopped on a sloped road due to a block/traffic signal and the vehicle ahead starts moving back momentarily because they did not accelerate quick enough after taking the foot off the brake or did not use the parking brake + accelerate method.

On the highways:

- Car hitting a stray animal which had suddenly appeared out of the bushes on the median.
- Vehicles tailgating my car and possibility of rear-ending if I apply a sudden brake.
- Stones/debris thrown off other vehicles hitting the windshield. Small stones keep hitting the bonnet frequently.
- Driving over a pothole at a high speed and suspension/alloys getting screwed.
- Driving over a stone on the road which would rip through the engine’s sump.

[ambivalent_98]

On the highway (4 or 6 lane) my fear is errant drivers (2 or 4 wheeler) who want to turn at a divider and dont indicate it in anyway and just take the turn. There have been many times when this has happened with me that a vehicle has cut across the road and tried to outdo my speeding car on a highway and often has been very scary. Its just my lucky stars that most of the times the person trying this crazy stunt has moved out of the way at the right moment but managed to scare the daylights out of me.
On a single carriageway like so many that remain today inspite of being National highways are overconfident drivers overtaking and blocking my path and putting themselves , me and the vehicle they are overtaking at high risk.

Fear in the city varies. For smaller cities the fear is ignoramuses who don't understand what a 1 way is and often come up a designated one-way at a good deal of speed. In a metro city like Bangalore I fear getting scraped by overconfident bikers , TTs , buses who enthusiatically overtake from the left hand side as though that is the right thing do in a right hand drive system of driving.

[raghu.t.k]

In the city my biggest fear is getting rear ended, and then knocking one of the moron 2/4 wheelers who cut lanes as they wish without checking their rearview mirrors.

On the Highway its the head on collision with the vehicle coming on the wrong direction with the headlight or blinkers on, giving them the right of way. The second would be pedestrians or motorist crossing intersections without checking if any vehicle is approaching.

[venuvedam]

Originally Posted by Bubby

On Highway

A vehicle coming from the opposite direction, jumping the divider (due to over-speeding, tyre blow out, etc) and landing on me or in my path.

In City

Multiple pile-ups.

This exact thing happened a couple of years ago on the Nellore-Gudur stretch of NH5. A couple driving sedately in their BMW from Nellore towards Gudur - had no chance - when a truck on the other side of the road lost control; went over the divider and practically ended up "on" the BMW.

Both of them died instantly.