[humyum]

An incident which shook me a little, but also made me realise that Mumbaikars are like brothers, they sense something wrong and people come to aid.

While getting back yesterday from Borivali to Ghatkopar in the night at around 11:30 took the JVLR, near the Powai Signal, I saw an Alto with 3 girls driving right ahead of me while a Swift with 4 guys was driving on the left side right next to the AltoK10. The girl driving the Alto was driving quite aggressively and the Swift was following suit, I thought to myself, just some guys trying to race with girls to show off.

The windows opened from the Swift near the GandhiNagar Junction Flyover and they were shouting yelling at the girls ( don't know what they were yelling as there was too much noise around) and the girls obviously by now were terrified as they slowed down to 40 kmph and the Swift was trying to box them in, cut them off and try all those stunts. I could see the girls pointing their hands towards the boys and shouting too as without tints you can see everything what is going on in both the cars.

There was a Vento behind me, who was not trying to pass buy I could feel he was somehow noticing the situation too. We reached the junction where in you take a left to go to Mulund and right to go to Ghatkopar/Sion etc.

The girls moved to the extreme left on this junction and the boys followed suit, suddenly at the last second she turned right and I realised the game is on and something needs to be done as this behaviour I wont let pass. Now we were on the highway which was quite empty as it was quite late. I smashed the throttle and got behind the Swift and put my horn down relentlessly. The Vento was still behind me, not honking, not flashing but noticing everything from a little distance. The Swift for a couple of seconds moved away from the Alto and I got a chance to put my car in between the Swift and the Alto whom they were harassing even at 70-80 speeds.

Now this bugger pissed because of me honking behind him continuously, tried to push my Swift into the Alto too. I braked hard because it was the Swift on the left and Alto on the right and there comes the Vento from behind like a missile from the extreme left side of all the cars, goes ahead of the rogue Swift and brakes and slows them down. I was right behind the Swift, so they were boxed, the girls meanwhile went ahead from the right and the Vento closed the gap immediately to not let the Swift go.

Now I was behind the Swift, the Vento in the front and whenever he tried to go left or right, I would honk, flash and put my car there and the Vento would do the same from the front. We slowed down to 60 to 70 kmph and the Alto soon disappeared like wind in the front as she must have really punched it. By the end of the long Godrej stretch with this cat and mouse, the Vento moved aside and I let the throttle go. Opening the window and shouting some expletives at the Vento guy, the Swift went ahead.

I pulled my car next to the Vento and turned out he was around a 45-50 year old guy. Both of us smiled, gave a thumbs up and went on our way.

Phew. I never thought such things happen on Indian road and I never thought people come to other's rescue in such ways too.

[ksameer1234]

Originally Posted by humyum

An incident which shook me a little, but also made me realise that Mumbaikars are like brothers, they sense something wrong and people come to aid.

This feels straight out of a Fast and Furious script! And yes, it is true that being on road in Mumbai, there is always a feeling that traffic all around in considerate of each other.

However, I think the girls could have avoided taking the Gandhinagar flyover and gone to the junction where they might have been able to find some cops. But then, typing from comfort of home is totally different compared to being in the middle of threatening situation.

Kudos to you and fellow Vento driver for keeping the faith in Mumbaikars intact!!

[shifu]

Originally Posted by humyum

I pulled my car next to the Vento and turned out he was around a 45-50 year old guy. Both of us smiled, gave a thumbs up and went on our way.

Phew. I never thought such things happen on Indian road and I never thought people come to other's rescue in such ways too.

What you both did was very courageous. In the heat of the moment, the Swift guy could have actually rammed the Vento in the front. And in some parts of the country, you never know if the other guy has a gun! I don't think I would have the courage to get involved directly. I would have probably followed them and contacted the police at the same time. But that's just me - a mango man who is taught to stay away from trouble.

Thankfully your story has a happy ending, and I am sure those girls must be thanking their stars...

[ravimathi]

On Friday, while returning home at around 7 pm, I was driving on a road which is just enough for two vehicles to cross at the same time and in peak hours, over taking in that road is not easy because of traffic moving in both the directions. I was about to turn left with indicators on at around 15 km/h and suddenly there was a two wheeler over taking the cars and turn sharp left from my right at the same speed (~50 km/h) and lost balance and fell down right in front of me. There was no contact between the bike and car. I stopped the vehicle to the left possible with hazard lights on and got out to assist him in moving his bike so that others can move. I saw him having scratches on his hands and bleeding and the lady sitting in the pillion seat looked fine and I noticed both were wearing helmets. I was happy for him as he was not injured as I thought initially and was walking towards my car. All of a sudden he started yelling at me in Hindi which I am not very good at but from his gesture and tone, I knew its very bad. Either he was thinking that my car hit him or he was trying to accuse me for some reason.

I smiled at him because it was his mistake and abusing me who was there to help him. He continued his yelling and I was trying to make him understand his stupidity and cursing myself for stopping to assist him. When I was least expecting, a lady in mid 40s who was seeing all these things from the near by apartment gate came forward followed by the security of that apartment and said that he was over speeding and it was his mistake. He said something wrong to her as well for which she shouted at him and said she would call police if he speak anything more and showed the camera in the apartment gate. The pillion rider finally came to the scene and asked him to leave and they left riding at very high speed ~90 km/h. Both looked educated and were having laptop bags but his behaviour was very bad.

I thanked her and the security who supported me and left. On reaching home, I was thinking the whole thing and felt happy about people like her and the security guy who helped me for no reason. Humanity Prevails.

Thanks,
Ravi

[TheRajput]

Originally Posted by humyum

An incident which shook me a little, but also made me realise that Mumbaikars are like brothers, they sense something wrong and people come to aid.

A very similar incident happened yesterday around 10 PM with me.
I was on my CL 350 going towards western express highway from SV road Bandra. As I took a left from SV road & got onto the WEH, I saw a biker (no helmet & with a pillion) riding recklessly & coming extremely close to an auto. As I moved a little forward, I saw that there were two girls in the auto & the biker along with the pillion was passing comments and signaling towards the girl sitting on the left side of the auto. All this while I was tailing the biker. As soon as I got a chance to squeeze in, I blared my horn & got between the auto & the bike. The biker didn't expect this & gave me a stare, to which I replied with what are you trying to do. Was expecting the biker to become aggressive, but to my surprise he just raced off from the spot.

The driver of the auto gave me a smile & moved on.

[NPV]

Recent experience when driving back to Bangalore from Palakkad:
I paid the full toll amount of Rs.31 near Madukkarai for the L&T Coimbatore bypass and continued on the journey. There was a MH registered Etios in front who also paid for the toll. We need to show the toll receipt at the multiple toll plazas on the way for validation, so no need to pay if one has already paid the full amount of Rs.31. There are multiple junctions/exit/entry points on this road and hence the need for these toll plazas with different charges for the shorter journeys. Of late, some of the attendants at these tolls just fleece unsuspecting drivers, especially first timers.

At the toll plaza near the Trichy road junction, the Etios was in front and I saw him struggling to find change to make a payment. After he paid, we moved on (I only had to show the receipt I already had for full payment).

At the next toll plaza they again tried to make him pay and sensing this, I rolled the glass down and waved my hand hoping to catch the attention of the Etios driver and told him not to pay as he already paid up (twice!). The toll booth attendants realized that their Modus Operandi was discovered and quickly waved the Etios away. At the toll booth when it was my turn, I asked them about it, they sheepishly and very unconvincingly said it was a communication issue since the driver knew Hindi only

[Dieseltuned]

Originally Posted by humyum

An incident which shook me a little, but also made me realise that Mumbaikars are like brothers, they sense something wrong and people come to aid..

Hi buddy,
That's down right scarry and that too in Mumbai. I am speechless. Cannot think that this could have happened in Mumbai of all places.

A very heartfelt thank you to you and the Vento guy, you played the game very well.

By any chance did you note down the Swifts plates ? Could be very handy to give them to the cops.

Regards
Dieseltuned

[ptushar]

Originally Posted by NPV

Recent experience when driving back to Bangalore from Palakkad:

This happens many times. The toll receipts are not too friendly and do not show what distance / area can be covered. My modus-operandi on the roads is that whenever you come to a toll plaza, just confidently show the last toll receipt. They will either wave you off or ask you to pay. In which case, just pay and move on. This has worked on many toll plazas, for which you have actually paid before.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by ptushar

This happens many times
....
They will either wave you off or ask you to pay. In which case, just pay and move on. This has worked on many toll plazas, for which you have actually paid before.

Maybe it does happen many times but I for one hate to get conned by these dishonest guys at toll plazas.
This time, I was glad I could help someone escape from getting conned. The driver of the Etios waved out with a Thumbs Up and that was enough for me - priceless

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by ravimathi

On Friday, while returning home at around 7 pm, I was driving on a road which is just enough for two vehicles ... Humanity

Glad that you were inches away from what some of us have gone through, for no fault of ours. The name of the game is extortion, and some learn it from others while some have already mastered it. It's easy to misguide people with a "bigger vehicles is at fault" statement ending it. I had posted my experience in the Accidents thread, but the mods had forked out a separate thread.

[deetjohn]

Something positive for the new year! A heartwarming experience from my drive yesterday to Mavelikara. No long texts, just two pictures from a railway level crossing around Thiruvalla.

Cars waiting in their lane for the train to pass. The gate is about 100 meters from where the Fiesta is parked. You can also spot a street vendor with his bunch of spinach. It felt nice.


The view from the ORVM of the Fiesta. Can also see the brilliant roads which are so rewarding with a good car. And no one broke the lane when the gates opened.


By and large, most 4 wheelers keep to their lane while waiting for a train to pass everywhere in Kerala. Only two wheelers, autos and private buses are exceptions to this rule. The latter being the most notorious. Anyways, let's not go there today.

We all know this is something totally expected on roads everywhere but a little hard to spot in our country. In Kerala, it's also out of necessity as the roads are narrow with no median and there are level crossings still present on roads with high density traffic. A traffic jam created by unruly drivers can take long to unlock. Thankfully most respect this and keep to their lanes.

[ashishmathur14]

Originally Posted by bharat4ever

This happened to me in Bangalore. there is this signal in Jakkasandra, near Koramangala which is quite long to cross. And the Yellow light comes on for a very short time, and by the time you cross and come over to the other side the cops are convinced that you jumped the signal, even though you crossed when it was yellow.

A similar incident happened when I jumped the signal turning yellow in Powai,Mumbai (signal in front of Powai Lake),The usual Mumbai Traffic cops caught hold of me and the conversation went like:

Me - Sir, When i crossed, it was switching from Green to Yellow ! Yellow mein to nikal sakte hai na !

Cop - Sir, aap to educated ho, Yellow ka matlab hota hai slow down and stop na ki accelerator dabao and nikalo.
Fine bharo abhi signal jump kia to.
(after checking all documents)

I found it really logical and did not argue over it again !
Since then, If any approaching signal appears to be switching to Yellow from Green, I slow down and stop. It does irritate many errant drivers driving behind my vehicle.

[ashishmathur14]

Originally Posted by swift_guy

This happened some hours back. Today was a hot day, high temperature you know.

This incident reminds me of one such encounter near Ghatkopar-Vikhroli in 2014, The left toward EEW faces immense jams in evening, as all the bus traffic is coming out from Godrej Compounds.
I was in that bumber to bumber traffic, and there was a girl on the left who wanted to cross the road. She had tried a couple of times but was bullied and pushed back by some bikes and car, and she couldn't cross, As others passed, i noticed her irritated not being able to cross, and stopped; She looked at me and having an eye contact I asked her to cross. She had a big smile on her face and once she was on the other side, she had said a big "Thank You". The Thank you smile is still fresh in my memories and it felt good.
Since then, I made a point to give way to all pedestrians and always stop for any person crossing the road rather than honking or pushing them away.
It's a common culture in western civilised nations but in a country like India, you get a stare from other vehicles for stopping to let someone cross the road.

ADMIN: Posted on different days, Please merge my two posts if rules are violated

[pet_apf]

I remember this incident from many years ago, probably 2004 or 2005. I, a happy bachelor, had an Alto Lxi back then. We put the Alto to good use driving around the coast of Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka. During one of those 'many' holidays to Goa, a friend and I found ourselves driving through one of the many small Konkan townships on the (then) NH17.

The highway that passes through these villages and small townships also typically doubles up as a busy high street, vegetable market and boarding point for buses, auto rickshaws and all kinds of alternative public transport.

We passed through one of these towns at twilight. With the sun having just set, the sky was a blazing riot of orange, blue and yellow and everything around us was illuminated by the mystic golden glow of twilight. The highway that passed through this town curved left and it found many busy locals making the last purchases for the day before darkness set.

Now, as we followed the road and turned left, at a speed of about 40 to 50 kmph, out of nowhere, I saw this little white haired old lady right in the middle of the highway. She had an orange saree draped around her, covering her tired bones and her head. She walked with many years of a long life weighing down on her old bent back and having faced the full brunt of destiny, supported by nothing more than a stick, she feared neither mere machines made by man nor their much maligned ability to end lives by accident.

If she wanted to cross a road, cars would either have to stop or find their way around her.

I did. I saw her last minute but found enough time to avoid her and continue driving on.

I had this friend of mine alongside me. His senses numbed by many late evenings in Goa, the chap saw her last minute and was understandably startled. "Did you see her. Where did she come from man?"

Now my friend has this extraordinary fascination and an equal measure of fear for, ahem, the paranormal aka ghosts, gremlins, witches, haunted houses and all such other worldly manifestations.

It didn't help, of course, that I knew this well nor the fact that we had many discussions about all such phenomena very recently in Goa. To make things worse, I had been driving all day and was a wee bit bored.

This is how our conversation went:
Him: "Did you see her. Where did she come from man?"
Me: See who? Who came from Where? What are you talking about?
Him: Didn't you see her bro? That old lady in an orange saree who almost walked right in front of the car
Me: No. I didn't see any such lady. What are you talking about. Go to sleep man.
Him: Don't mess with me bro. You just swerved to avoid her.
Me: Rubbish. That was a cat I had to avoid running over. Go to sleep man

An hour later.
Him: Did you see her bro?
Me: No.

4 hours later
Him: You sure you didn't see her bro?
Me: No. Sleep bro. Sleep

A week later
Him: Bro, You sure
Me: Shut up Bro

A month later - At a gathering of common friends
Him: You know what, P and I were driving down from Goa and the strangest thing happened. (BLAH BLAH BLAH). And you know what, I saw her as an old lady with an orange saree. P saw here as a cat. But I saw her eyes man; there was something sad and scary there. I tell you, someone must have run over her in the past and now the soul (BLAH BLAH BLAH)

I heard that story from him many many times after that.

It was a full year before I told him the truth. Of course I made sure we had all those friends around who had heard the story of the ‘old lady ghost’ from him.

Wasn’t he disappointed.

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by deetjohn

Something positive for the new year! A heartwarming experience from my drive yesterday to Mavelikara. No long texts, just two pictures from a railway level crossing around Thiruvalla.

Cars waiting in their lane for the train to pass. The gate is about 100 meters from where the Fiesta is parked. You can also spot a street vendor with his bunch of spinach. It felt nice.

We all know this is something totally expected on roads everywhere but a little hard to spot in our country. In Kerala, it's also out of necessity as the roads are narrow with no median and there are level crossings still present on roads with high density traffic. A traffic jam created by unruly drivers can take long to unlock. Thankfully most respect this and keep to their lanes.

Along the same lines, One thing I commonly observe in Kerala (This is more in Calicut and couple of other towns, not sure if it reflects everywhere else), is that if there is a free left at a junction, the left lane is left mostly free. And I see this on relatively narrow 2 lane ( 2 lanes in one direction) roads. Even autos and buses mostly leave this lane free. Note: I say mostly because as the signal is close to turning green, lot of vehicles try to rush up this empty lane.

This is in stark contrast to Bangalore where I have rarely see a free left ( or a straight road at a right turn) left free.

A strange adherence to rules in normally chaotic driving conditions.