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-   -   Road rage : Had an altercation with political goons who threatened me (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street-experiences/143824-road-rage-had-altercation-political-goons-who-threatened-me-4.html)

1) driving slow in the fast lane, not yielding to honk or flashes - In almost all the cases I have seen, the "slow" guy is going at the legal speed limit. Not illegal, and certainly not deserving of street justice
2) speaking on the phone, sometimes texting and driving, obviously slow driving and holding up traffic. Illegal, and certainly not deserving of street justice
3) nervous driver who breaks for every bump and curve thereby setting up a chain of hard breaking behind. Not illegal, and certainly not deserving of street justice
4) cutting and weaving through traffic to reach work on time. Illegal, and certainly not deserving of street justice

Nobody puts a gun to the cabbie's head for 12 hours everyday. Should have learned another skill if cabbing was not your cup of tea.
Is there a certification given that if you're frustrated due to driving for more than 12 hours a day, you can stop and bash up people who "annoy" you on the road? And thats just "annoy".

Still, its going to happen. People are waiting to stop and have a fight. Mostly due to their own impotency in their lives, so its just better to be the most defensive driver possible. Let them through. Let EVERYBODY through.

You see a big expensive car, dont mess with it. Imagine you bruise the car. In either case, it will end badly. If he's human, you will be wiped out paying for damages.
If he's a politico or a derivative of the sub-human species, you could die, like a lot people have.
COme on through, sir.

Driving on the fast lane on the expressway at 40 kmph is not legal... it's suicidal. Neither is texting or speaking on phone while driving. All habits of good educated professionals. Not moving after getting flashed or honked is not legal..it reeks of arrogance. When one acts arrogant expect the stronger one to react. Then if you don't have the ammunition to walk the talk.... don't start complaining. I am against violence. But please don't provoke people into reacting. But I fully agree...one should not bow down to political arrogance

Its not just good educated professionals. In fact, the people I see most commonly using the phone while driving, being a PITA while driving, blocking lanes, driving erratically, are cabs.
But of course, they are entitled to it, since they drive for 12 hours a day.
And this "walk the talk". :D

Agreed, though, on "Do not provoke people". Everybody is on a short fuse. Wet yours.

Seriously? Not moving because the vehicle on the rear honked or flashed is not legal, and reeks of arrogance? Wow.

1. 2 lane road: Probably he doesn't even have space to give you way, or wants you to stay put because there's a vehicle up ahead coming from the opposite direction. His arrogance might have saved you.

2. 4/6 lane road: If you've honked or flashed and want him to give way, it means he needs to move to a separate lane which means that lane is free, and you as well might go there instead of him going into it.

Honking and flashing is only an indication of your intent, not your privilege.

P.S: "You" doesn't refer to you as a person, but "you" as in every other driver/rider concerned.

P.P.S. Apologies if your post was sarcasm, and I couldn't get it.

A week ago, when driving through Aurangabad, I noticed a Swift Dzire swerving in & out of traffic madly, braking suddenly & tailgating every vehicle.

Somehow I was still ahead of him a couple of kms later, I stopped for a signal & he bumped into my rear. No damage, just a bump on the fender.

Still I got out to confront him & ask him to calm down, he rolled down the window & started ranting that I stopped "suddenly". When he spoke, I could immediately smell alcohol in his breath.

When confronted, he admitted that he was drunk (so did his family sitting at the back!) and said 'so what, fault still yours that you stopped suddenly'.

I then decided to call the police, but nobody picked up the phone. I took his key out of the car. Meanwhile, a crowd collected & after hearing the story, asked me to forgive & forget, & let the drunk go!

I gave the key back to the guy & told the policeman at the next signal the car make, model & number - the car had stopped at the signal.

The policeman says sheepishly, what to do, many do that here. Cant do anything sir. I was stumped & quietly headed on to Mumbai.

This is the state of law enforcement :Frustrati

In so many cities in India, the police are too few in number and are becoming more and more ineffective each day. In Bombay for instance, they are almost only focussed on nabbing drunk drivers. You can ride your two wheeler on the wrong side of the road with impunity and nobody will bat an eyelid. You can drive up along the leftmost lane to a red signal and then cut all the way across blocking off other vehicles waiting in the correct lane and intending to drive straight and people will not be surprised. This used to be the domain of autorickshaw drivers who are generally the least aware of traffic rules. But nowadays, I see shiny BMW's and Honda City's being driven- probably by auto rickshaw walas. Stop lines are just a waste of paint. Nobody seems to know what they are for. In fact, often you will see that a policeman manning the crossing actually gestures for drivers to drive up to the centre of the crossing so that more vehicles can rush off when the lights turn green. When you drive in stop go traffic, don't be surprised if a two wheeler pushes half a wheel diagonally across the front of your car because its his right to go first when the vehicle in front starts moving. You are in a hurry? So? Decency and well mannered driving is almost totally absent from Bombay traffic already. Everyone suffers from this disease called hurry (ask them and they will not even accept that they are hurrying) and being rude and nasty is the accepted way to drive.

Traffic law enforcement is already lax. As the number of road users increases each day, the police will be outnumbered by larger margins. So, I predict that in another 10 years, drivers in larger cities in India will all be driving around with pepper spray and baseball bats. Road rage will be a daily affair and nobody will bat an eyelid if they see two decently dressed gentlemen bashing each other up during rush hour.

Truest words I have read all day!!!

ALso , if you feel Mumbai is bad, please drive 3 hours south to Pune. You will see the future of Indian city traffic:Frustrati:Frustrati:Frustrati

Very true, I've been driving in Bombay since 1992, and it was'nt always so bad. People did have some road sense, which seems to be totally absent these days. I routinely see people breaking signals, even police vehicles not on an emergency routinely break signals, bikers go through red lights at full speed, expecting the other person to stop abruptly. People not respecting pedestrians, or zebra crossings, they in fact rush to cut off pedestrians crossing a zebra crossing, even though there's a red light a few meters ahead. They do not indicate changing lanes, swerving in an out as they wish.

Wonder what happened all of a sudden, i think the massive change is only evident in the last couple of years. Anyone else feel the same???

A little bit OT:

This malady is not restricted only to driving these days. Being decent and well mannered in all walks of life is passe :mad:

When I joined a driving school, my instructor told me that if I didn't practise the 3 things below while driving, he won't submit my license application to the RTO (this was his standard warning to all his students):

1. Discipline
2. Patience
3. Courtesy

Yeah, he was a rare one.

Cheers,
Vikram

I think I have to agree on this. In the apartment where I live, kids play cricket in the driveway and often they hit the ball over the wall and hit the windows of the next building or do other damage. Quite surprisingly, these kids, some of them not even in their teens, are not the least bit apologetic and shout at the neighbours.

I guess it is the aggression they see in their parents and all around, of not giving an inch anywhere. I feel so sad. Perhaps this is what they call the generation gap.

With all due respect, I am sure the OP meant that if the vehicle in front was able to (after all, understanding the circumstances is what separates us sane drivers from the not-so-sane ones).
Secondly, isn't it worse & riskier to overtake from the left? Etiquette means informing the driver in front that you intend to overtake, and he should give way when he can. Slower vehicles should always stick to the left lane, as is the case in most international cities.

There is a cardinal rule in place in California: don't enforce the law on others (it's not your job), and don't insist on your right of way. While on the face of it this seems silly advice, it's very pragmatic and prevents and avoids accidents.

Most drivers in Bangalore seem to take pleasure in driving at 15-20 km even if the speed limit is 40, and there is an open stretch of road ahead. If it is possible to pass them, I do; but many times there is an autorickshaw at the side, also traveling at the same speed! That means I have to be in 2nd gear. What distance do you think I should keep going at that speed? Yesterday I saw a guy on a bicycle easily overtake two cars and two autorickshaws; he must have been at 40!

You really are on a short fuse, aren't you? Take it easy mate. No need to drum up to crescendo. Easy please...

What you call arrogance (not yielding to honking or flashing) is actually a very blur, subjective thing. It could very well be the arrogance of the person behind who is in such a hurry that something moving slower immediately leads to frantic flashing followed by incessant honking. Bereft of a life threatening emergency what can really lead to such a hurry? In choked city traffic it's impossible to immediately make way for such a dynamic personality to get through!