[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by supertinu

Interesting thread and no surprises to the outcome and also the opinions that are being written. Driving on Indian roads is all about continuous mental calculations about what is going to happen in front of you on the road. The cyclists, bikes, autos, cabbies, buses etc. Innumerable combinations of scenarios that can play out and as a driver we have to be always ready for it.

What I am curious to know is that whether it would be a good generalization to say that this is the case more specifically with the car drivers/owners since we are the ones who are always at receiving end. I doubt if a cab or auto driver and even more bikers ever give that much thought before doing those dumb lane cutting or squeezing into gaps.

These cabbies and autowalas are of the opinion that given a gap they have the sole authority to squeeze in and others have to slow down or apply sudden brake to prevent their vehicle from banging into the cabbie or auto.
I think the reason could be majority of the cabbies don't own the cabs. The same applies to autowalas too. So why bother if the auto or cab develops a dent. All they know is if the other guy creates a small dent in the auto or cab, they are ready to fight it out to squeeze money from us.

[Mistakenguy]

Very good thread indeed !! One that is very relevant in today's context.

I have developed the following behaviour right from the time I started driving on Kerala roads.

1. I am always on the lookout for speedbreakers (marked and unmarked) and touch the break pedal a little early just so that the brake lights go on/ switch on hazards so that the vehicle behind is warned early enough of my intentions to drop speed.
2. Whenever I'm the first to get the red light at a signal, I keep a very strong watch on the RVMs before I stop. There have been instances where I jumped the signal just to avoid a rear ending.
3. In all emergency braking situations, I would have my exit route planned in case some one barrels down on me from the rear.This would mean being on the right gear while dropping speed so that I can take off when needed and finding out an empty part of the road to move to.
4. Keeping a safe distance from drivers who keep the ORVMs closed to save a few bucks. They also warrant a generous dose of honking and lots of planning before you overtake.
5. KIDS: I make it a point that I keep a speed from which I can come to a complete standstill without hitting them. This was a lesson I picked up from my college days when a small kid in the neighbourhood suddenly rushed from a byelane making me hit the brakes on my bike and fly across eating dust. Result: 5k worth repair on the bike and a torn jeans. Luckily the kid was unhurt

[DragonHawk]

Well Well Well, lot has been said and discussed, but let me also join the party.

I just voted for not always option as I feel anticipation alone is not sufficient to avert from idiocy. You know why? I will share my set of experience. Being in the driving seat for almost 10years, I have seen many close calls. For the matter of fact until before 2 years I had zero incident record. It is when I bought my new car my record was broken. This is what exactly happened.

Scene 1: I was entering the main road from the nearby gas station at night around 10 and I stopped before entering as I saw a biker coming from right. I was hoping him to pass, as there was enough gap for a vehicle like truck to pass, but for my misfortune from about 100 mtrs this guy started coming in zigzag way and hit the bumper from the front end damaging my fog lamp and giving his signature dent. My initial thought was there was some snake in the road so he veered left and right and lost control, but after I went to check his state I came to know he was drunk. With ample space for him to move and low beam for perfect visibility, no way I had anticipated he would kiss my bumper.

Scene 2: I went to one of my cousin`s marriage and parked my car in dedicated parking lot. When I came back I saw you a huge dent in left side of the rear bumper. Passerby informed that a van hit my car while taking reverse and to make it worse this van was not seen anywhere in the premises.
Together I was forced to shell out 12k bucks with no fault of mine. Well will these two instances answer whether anticipation alone can save us from idiocy offered by our esteemed morons?. Simple answer a big no..

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by DragonHawk

Well Well Well, lot has been said and discussed, but let me also join the party.

I just voted for not always option as I feel anticipation alone is not sufficient to avert from idiocy. You know why? I will share my set of experience.
Being in the driving seat for almost 10years, I have seen many close calls. For the matter of fact until before 2 years I had zero incident record. It is when I bought my new car my record was broken. This is what exactly happened.

Scene 1: I was entering the main road from the nearby gas station at night around 10 and I stopped before entering as I saw a biker coming from right. I was hoping him to pass, as there was enough gap for a vehicle like truck to pass, but for my misfortune from about 100 mtrs this guy started coming in zigzag way and hit the bumper from the front end damaging my fog lamp and giving his signature dent. My initial thought was there was some snake in the road so he veered left and right and lost control, but after I went to check his state I came to know he was drunk. With ample space for him to move and low beam for perfect visibility, no way I had anticipated he would kiss my bumper.

Scene 2: I went to one of my cousin`s marriage and parked my car in dedicated parking lot. When I came back I saw you a huge dent in left side of the rear bumper. Passerby informed that a van hit my car while taking reverse and to make it worse this van was not seen anywhere in the premises.
Together I was forced to shell out 12k bucks with no fault of mine. Well will these two instances answer whether anticipation alone can save us from idiocy offered by our esteemed morons?. Simple answer a big no..

Leave alone shelling 12K, the very thought of some moron damaging your new car can be disturbing. I can understand your feelings. Parking the car in an open area is always prone to risk even if it is for few hours.

[aashish.shah]

One cannot drive / ride safely without anticipating what is going to happen around you. India is a place where rules on Speed limit, sticking to a specific lane and crossing the road the when the walk sign turn's green are not followed and are actually considered as non-existent. Humans & Animals alike look to go about their way in the fastest & shortest way possible.

Just today morning, A auto driver on OMR road in Chennai, tried to get into the bike lane on the toll gate to avoid wasting time standing behind another vehicle that was paying the toll fees, had I not anticipated his move. I would definitely rear ended him on my bike and one can assume what would have happened next.

[ambivalent_98]

From my little experience of driving , the style must be configurable to a city. In some places traffic rules are followed strictly and so you must go along. In some cities it is very chaotic. So one must learn to blend in else in either scenario you stand out like a sore thumb and then attract attention of local law enforcement.
IMHO (In my humble opinion) driving is an art of prediction of how the other vehicles around you will move. An example would be a slow cyclist exactly in front of your car. You dont honk to scare him but wait for him to move out of your path. If you are trained in the fine art of prediction and if he is looking right to ensure you are not moving in there is a high probability he might turn there. It is very very rare that a cyclist moves in the opposite direction unless he is spooked by your presence .

One has to be ever alert and careful. I have experienced this umpteen times that a little lack of concentration even at low speeds as low as 20 kph can be dangerous maybe not to you in the car but some pedestrian or some other vehicle using the road. It could also lead to your vehicle getting damaged. One thing for sure though the speed is directly proportional to the damage (self , vehicle and surroundings).

[Dieseldunk]

Anticipation and patience virtues which probably seems to be lost in this maddening crowd of chaotic traffic.
Patience - a very commonly needed commodity but uncommonly used.
　
　1st instance
This occurred whilst waiting at the railway level crossing on the Chidambaram- Vaitheeswaran Koil return route.

A lorry ahead of me followed by a car and me in the third slot. with another 2 vehicles behind me.
The morons of the highway- the usual 2 wheelers just whizzed past to brake hard near the barrier (well for a second thought they had discovered a magical route to cross the barrier) but then they were futile in their search.
Now can the King of morons be far behind when his tribe is futile in their search? He whizzes past all of us and good logic taking over the driver (SETC chap it has to be) he decides to spare the barrier/passengers and the train this time. Thank God he acknowledged that the magical path was not in sight by just braking hard inches from the barrier (on the wrong side of the lane which is technically required to be the King )

The icing on the cake is yet to come. I was just telling myself that we will be cut short by the bus guy and sure as can be he did just that (now whether I pride on being a anticipating driver or cry over the foolishness of these imbecile nincompoops ) and when I honked ( knowing the futility) frantically a frail hand darts out of the passenger window to indicate - Arrey baba pl wait you are disturbing us
Well I let go and patiently follow this guy and overtook him when he had to pull over to drop/pick passengers (atleast he stopped before them and not on them passengers)
2nd instance
Between Chidambaram- Cuddalore on the highway

Going at a sedate speed of 70-80 and followed by a Cheetah close behind me. Just ahead of me see a TVS 50 guy doing Kathakali on the road and even the Cheetah behind me was terrified and slowed down.

Now what happens is something that belongs to Ripleys believe it or not type stuff.
I overtake this chap with enough space to let a truck in between and suddenly this guys prances to the left in a parabolic path and without wanting to leave the path completed he continues further in the parabolic and I watch in my side mirror and see that he fumbles and falls to the ground.
Could not stop as this happened after we had passed some few yards and the Cheetah was (ok ok the XUV 500) close behind me.


3rd instance-
This is the best of the lot and could really be the proverbial final straw on the Camel's back.

Near the toll at Chengelput towards Chennai.

All of a(nearly 7 vehicles in a Q ahead of me) sudden a truck guy cuts across the adjacent parallel Q on the left and tries to move in to our Q and a bus guy (MTC this time) moves into our Q from the adjacent Q on the right. Heated words exchanged by the 2 imbeciles and in the broil the bus guy nearly side swipes a car 2 slots ahead of me and invites this guy into the fracas.
A mini van adds to the party and does the heroic act of jumping the Q to cut across the bus and nearly collides with him and it takes nearly 20 mins for things to settle down.

What on earth do these feather brained nincompoops gain is beyond my comprehension. What should have taken a 5 minute time takes all in the Q another 25 mins more.

PS:
Regret there are no pics - why- cause my daughter put the camera in her bag in the boot (well battery drained totally cause she had shot pics of all interesting stuff like stray cattle, insect caught on the wiper, to showcase her talents to her friends)

[damore]

1st things 1st, Thanks to Dieseldunk to start this thread.

to the point that Anticipating helps.

To share one of my instances, Yesterday I was returning home and on the highway there was a driver driven car which was in the first lane. I after overtaking couple of cars from their right reached this guy who was relatively at a lower speed & hence I flashed my headlights asking for space to overtake him. Flashed once - no response, flashed second time - no response, flashed third time - he swayed a bit (half of the lane) and I increased my speed anticipating him to change his lane completely. To my surprise he returns back to his original place and I have to jump on my break. After this I honked once, twice and third time which is when he moved. While passing by I look out of my window and see the owner / relative of the owner looking at me and asking what happened (as if I was driving rashly, not sure if he knew what his driver was doing). To all this the driver did not even look at me (I am hoping he understood that he did something wrong in that instance).

At the end I had to just move on with a smile in my mind and hoping the occupants of that car reach safely to their destination.

[GJ01]

I completely agree with the OP.

Usually when I drive, I tend to look out at the cars ahead of the one directly in front of me. The way they brake usually gives me an indication of when the car in front of me will break and helps me control my right foot. Then there are always those cars who always take the left most lane on a turn or a roundabout and then butt in to the right most lane once they come out of the corner.

Anticipating these actions has surely saved me on many occasions.

[prancinstallion]

An interesting read. Threads like these are intangible in value.

My view on this:There's only so much we can anticipate before 'Driver's fatigue' kicks in. Navigating our city roads is like finding our way through a cross-section of mazes. Honking has turned into rant to get past each other. Unfortunately, I'm also part of this maze. If we all start anticipating each others moves, wouldnt it be a huge 'stock market' on roads where needs and greeds play out? This is not to say that we all have to go by our instincts leaving fellow road users to pre-empt our moves. All I mean to say is that If we can respect each others road presence with courtesy and humility exercising great caution, safety on roads will be a reality. Most of us get provoked and abused for no fault of ours but there's a saying which goes 'Keep Calm and Carry on'.

[manjubp]

Anticipation is most even western countries. Indeed driving instructors in US/Canada talk about anticipation. However, what to anticipate is significantly a different scale in our country.

[SS-Traveller]

Thanks, Dieseldunk, for starting a thread on a topic that is very dear to me, and one that ought to make our roads much safer if everyone practiced it!

Anticipation, aka defensive driving, is not something that your average car driver has ever heard about, nor do the driving training schools teach it anywhere. Yet, it saves lives, and saves money too. Here's something I wrote a couple of years ago...

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

Nothing makes the brakes last longer, than by not using them. Ya, right, I'm ducking already, anticipating all the brickbats that you are going to throw at me. And that is the crux of the matter - anticipating that you need to stop, well before you do. Not only do you save your brake pads from wearing out, you save a lot of fuel in the bargain too.

Now, *techniques of anticipatory driving* is too vast a topic to detail in this one post, and cannot be developed overnight, so let me post these links for you to go through:
Situation Awareness for LEARNER Drivers
http://www.liikenneturva.fi/www/en/l...varaa_engl.pdf

Sometimes, I get the feeling that some folks are so proud of their driving skills, they flaunt the fact that their brake pads / shoes wear out in a much shorter time than others'. Given that brake pads on some cars are pretty expensive, and faster brake wear is also indicative of more fuel being burnt (apart from greater tyre wear), give your pocket as well as the environment a small BREAK - anticipate when you need to BRAKE.

[venkyhere]

Originally Posted by manjubp

Anticipation is most even western countries. Indeed driving instructors in US/Canada talk about anticipation. However, what to anticipate is significantly a different scale in our country.

+1 ; anybody who has some (not L board) driving experience in india will find what the western world calls as 'stressful traffic' to be a big joke. Other than the fact that you must remember to be on the right side, its easy peesy to drive in western countries.

[Kaumad]

Just yesterday at the Tidel Park signal on OMR in Chennai, I was going towards TPKM. I am stationary at the signal, have been so for close to 20-30 seconds. I casually look into my rear view mirror.
I see a bike approcahing me - fast!
I know he cannot brake in time - I can see it.
I know he will ram into the rear of my car - I can see it.
There are vehicles in front of me and next to me. I cannot do anything but sit and wait till I hear and feel the big thud.
So, there you go. Sometimes you can anticipate all you want but s**t will happen and you can't do squat about it

[500ContyCruiser]

I believe this video is best suited here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brIkouqOp6I

Our driving schools need to change their driving syllabus and off-course our RTO.. their exam papers. Simple 8 and a reverse does not help in real time scenario.