[krcustoms]

It would be a blunder of epic proportion, I must confess i am guilty of not having rear view mirrors on my bike. Let me explain, i recently completed a custom bike project and needless to say didn't see the need for rear view mirrors as they mess up the "look" of the bobber. I happen to take a my first long ride on OMR road in Chennai, i was driving home at about 11 pm after watching Piku, the road was more or less empty. Being a Royal Enfield classic 500 based custom its loud. I was wearing a 3/4 helmet so noise levels were loud. As i was zig-zagging the lanes to increase momentum , a car whizzed past me at about 100km, the force of the car actually shook me a little. The scary thing is a moment ago i was about to jump lanes. Imagine if i had just moved to the right while the car in that lane was speeding at 100km!! It has really opened my eyes to the importance of rear view mirror. Cool or not they are a life saver and essential.

[Car-tya]

Originally Posted by Inquilab28

Very much agree to this. But the traffic in India (more so in my city Hyderabad), the moment you allow some one to merge into our lane, the entire convoy of the next 2-3 cars honk as though I have committed a crime as big as a murder! Not only that, they come back by driving parallel to my lane and show their decency! Not one person has the patience or the grace to be empathetic towards other drivers.

Atleast in the scenario described here, I am of the strong opinion that the person driving the 2 wheeler should have been extra careful...

Well my friend, the sensitive nerves on me have been numb for a while, do the right thing and do not worry about honks and stares.
The lack of common sense when someone wants to merge is appalling. So many near misses or bumps when people want to swerve and avoid merging cars but won't have a patience of letting one through, even stopping alongside because there is not enough space to get by. Even in bumper to bumper traffic there is a race going on to see who's first to the next 10 feet and stop behind the stationary car.
You are right though with the approach where 'Give an inch and take a mile' others follow when you let one through. It is even more fun to see how insensitive they behave once they get through.
Rear view mirrors should be used for its intended purpose but then given the attitude "Me not having rear view mirrors is your problem" or "I'll turn in so you better break" situations like these happen ever so often which kind of brings me to one question. Whose problem is it? coz once you step foot into a car you have put yourself in harms way.

Regards,
SVG

[dhruvtanwar]

My driving instructor in the US ensured I learned the S-M-O-G maneuver ... Signal, Mirror, Over-the-Shoulder, Go! That was part of the mandatory defensive driving course before you could get your Texas license. Became a habit that I still follow to this day, and boy! have I been thankful more than once (specially with the two-wheeled Kamikazes in all-India traffic) having saved someone's life and limb (and my own set of four wheels too!) on multiple occasions.

[RGK]

Very well explained. Kudos to your efforts at the spot .

Chennai roads have become highly risky now. There are no lane markings in any of the arterial roads. Very few two wheeler motorists in Chennai follow traffic rules and many do not understand the risk involved in shifting lanes without proper warning.

[WD-42]

Oh man! Don't even get me started on people and rear view mirrors.

I was stopped at a red light last week on my motorcycle. One fatass middle aged man with a soup bowl on his head as an excuse for a helmet was trying to wiggle through the standing vehicles to the front of the signal. He whacks my left mirror with his Activa handlebar and chips it. I'm a bit angry at his callous attitude and tell him off for damaging my mirror.

Stupid fatman: Why do you have your mirror wide open like that? Of course it is going to get damaged. What did you expect?
Me: <speechless for about 10s still trying to process how any working neurons in his head could come up with such logic>. Are you serious? I have my mirrors open so I can see backside while changing lanes and in traffic.
Stupid fatman: Aye you don't need mirrors. Close it now, what are you a girl? What do you need mirror for, putting makeup? Also your mirrors are as wide as a cow. If you have mirrors as wide as them I will hit them and so will others. <proceeds to whack my mirror AGAIN with his handlebar breaking it in half>
Me: <getting angry now> Who the <expletive> gave you license. Do you even have one? How much did you pay for it. How <expletive> are you even alive, you are too stupid to even breathe let alone breed.
Stupid fatman: <looking at my bike's fairing and yelling loudly> Why are you bringing racing bike inside city? All you hoodlums should be in jail for racing on city streets. (I never race on city streets. I never race at all for that matter.)

He now starts trying to incite people against me saying I was racing and harassing him, and public seems to be murmuring.

At that point I realised it is wiser to keep quiet even though I was wronged. A broken mirror is Rs. 200 to replace, being on the wrong side of a mob who sees a middle aged Activa riding uncle being "wronged" by a biker on "racing bike" in full riding gear could cost a whole lot more.

I'll be buying a dash-cam soon.

[Tamarind]

Originally Posted by abhii176

This incident just goes to show how one stupid driver can lead to a massive pile up. Hope the lady rider has learned her lesson though.

That is the saddest part in this whole story.
The general public who rushed in was by default scolding the lorry driver for hitting her !
And she played along with them and did not acknowledge the fact that she was the very cause of this pile up !

In my personal observation, the unsaid hierarchy of blame when an accident happens seems to be like this
** Cycle -> Motor bikes -> Car -> Van -> Lorry **

Originally Posted by unleash_thunder

Have been involved in one such accident, wherein i gave indicator to turn right well in advance and was constantly glancing at the right ORVM. Just when i was about to turn, a biker appeared from no where and tried to squeeze in between and rammed in the front right door. I was so furious that i wanted to teach that moron the lesson of his life, but cooled down after seeing the damage was not significant.

For argument sake, let's say that the damage was bigger - what would be the legal remedies that you can resort to ?

Originally Posted by createrkid

It's pretty sad that some people don't even acknowledge the fact that you've turned on your indicators. The first thing they do is *Beep Beep* , "I'm coming through, you have to let me pass, I don't care if you've toggled your indicators, I beeped and even if I didn't beep, you have to look out for me. Oh, I hit you? *insert expletives* , T'is but a scratch"

Interesting Illustration , was in splits and smiles reading your wonderful narration.

Thank you unleash_thunder,
There is this observation of mine which brings smile on my face every time.
When i travel on highways (state/national) there will be several instances we encounter a vehicle in the middle lane which is not moving fast enough for us to travel behind it nor slow and descent enough for us to over take it by moving to the next lane. In these places I first hit the indicator after I ensure that I can switch lanes, and move the car so that he can see my indicator using his side mirrors or rear view mirror,

And there comes a wrooommm... he switches to the lane I signalled to be switching over to :P
I stay in the same lane, shift gears and over take him with a smile on my face

Originally Posted by dhruvtanwar

Dude, if everyone told an accident story like you did, I'd be waiting for more of them to happen!
Jokes apart, kudos on the illustrative narration. This makes me love the fact that my OVRMs are constantly in the open position, even when parked
Cheers!

Ha ha, thanks for the encouragement buddy

[jamesdraj]

Superb animated description @tamarind. Looks like porur shell near dominos if I'm not wrong.

[rajushank84]

On this topic I want to add one thing: It's not enough if you look into your rear view mirrors. You also have to look OVER THE SHOULDER. There is a blind spot next to your car that the mirrors don't cover. When I first started driving, I almost sideswiped a few cars when changing lanes, before I understood this. Car right next to you, nothing in the mirrors.

[Jakku]

Not using side mirrors is a very big mistake which I see day in and out while driving. Do I use it? Yes, majority of the times, but I will more regularly use it after seeing this eye opening thread. Thanks a lot for the OP to bring this up with very good self describing pics. I thought I knew it, but no, this is really an eye opener to the cascading effect a simple stupid act can have and other innocents will be forced to bear the burnt of this.

I would say, we need more education in many simple yet vital traffic rules - no, they are not rules, but common sense and should follow it religiously. I see these violations many times every day on my way to office and back here in Chennai.

1. Stop and Proceed - When joining a main road or when approaching a T junction we have to stop, see and then proceed. I do not say that we have to literally come to a halt, but yes, we should be in a position to stop at the fraction of a moment without any fuss. Also, when one approaches such a junction, irrespective of the turn one intend to take, he/ she should be in their side of the road. I have seen & experienced difficulties when people coming in 40s and taking a left turn (for them) without looking to their right.
Near by my home, a guy (in bike) almost hit my car. I had almost stopped and was honking frantically to pull this guys attention. He was coming from a pocket road from my left and he was taking a right turn (for him), so he had to cross the road (on which I am). He was taking the right turn in 40s kind of speed and he was totally at the right lane, he was looking towards his left (i.e, opp. to me, so his vision was 180deg opp to my position) and joining the road (along with crossing the road). He had his earphones plugged in his ears, so assume he was listening to music (else, he could not have missed my frantic honking). Once he realised he is coming straight to me, he frantically swerved and hit a poor lady on the side of the road (God's sake, nothing happened to both, he didn't bother to stop, but sped away).

2. Driving wrong side & violating one-way rules.
In Chennai, I have a feel that it is almost legal to drive wrong side and violate the one-way rules. I have once violated the one-way rule (at the heart of the city TTK Road) and a police officer caught me. I pleaded ignorance to him and assured not to repeat this. He was a nice guy, warned me of the consequences and advised to be extra cautious while doing so and let me go (I completed my stretch of about a km in the wrong way). That was my last day violating one-way rules, but driving wrong side - yes, I take a 50m wrong-side drive almost every day to save approx 20 mins. Am I justified in doing so, no, never, it is wrong and I should stop this. The stretch where I do so, almost everyone in my locality with a bike do that way, even some 4-wheelers do it cursing all others !!!

3. Jumping red light. I go home from office by around 10:30. Near by office, there are 2 signals which people normally violate during night time. If you are in a bike and decided to obey the signal, either you will be hit from behind or your ear drums will be blown by the air horns of the Sumos coming out of DLF. Even during day time, I have seen people slowing down in signals and then jumping if there is no on-coming traffic. Even the cops who guard near-by posts do not mind this.

I would say, we need more education on this and kids should be taught it right from day 1. My kid who just turned 3 is a great fan of the program "Dora the Explorer" and Nick Jr. channel (she eats only if she is allowed to watch that channel). In those plays, the cartoon characters when enter the car first says "seat belts on". Seeing that whenever we enter the car, my kid insists my wife (who otherwise is totally reluctant) to wear the seat belt. Then, when we approach a signal she says "red go stop" this is again learnt from that cartoon. Now, likewise, we should ensure that traffic sense is taught starting KG classes. Atleast in some time we can ensure our roads are safe.

[Tamarind]

Originally Posted by jamesdraj

Superb animated description @tamarind. Looks like porur shell near dominos if I'm not wrong.

Yes jamesdraj, it is !

Originally Posted by Jakku

I would say, we need more education on this and kids should be taught it right from day 1. My kid who just turned 3 is a great fan of the program "Dora the Explorer" and Nick Jr. channel (she eats only if she is allowed to watch that channel). In those plays, the cartoon characters when enter the car first says "seat belts on". Seeing that whenever we enter the car, my kid insists my wife (who otherwise is totally reluctant) to wear the seat belt. Then, when we approach a signal she says "red go stop" this is again learnt from that cartoon. Now, likewise, we should ensure that traffic sense is taught starting KG classes. Atleast in some time we can ensure our roads are safe.

Excellent point Jakku,
I believe in Tamilnadu the govt has already taken such steps in the form of "Activity Based Learning / Fun Learning" where there are hundreds of flash videos and files put together in the form of Stories. And the student gets to watch those and interact with them to learn effectively.

But this is only available in Government schools in Tamilnadu. If conveying such messages are encouraged by government in all channels in the television (Similar to the ad campaign for AIDS with pulliraja), I believe it might have a vast impact than it has right now.

[subirdas]

Tamarind, excellent narration and appreciate the time and effort expended to narrate this as lucidly as anyone could for illustration.

I second the view that traffic rules and awareness should be taught in schools ; educational qualification(s) of any forms don't guarantee adherence to traffic law in letter ( forget about spirit ), as is amply evident in every towns and cities of our country.