[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by suhaas307

Buying a Polo TSI has helped. The automatic gearbox maxes driving through mad traffic less tiresome. And covering ground has gotten easier as it's a reasonably quick car.

But what has really helped is my attitude on the road:

- I no longer engage in heated arguments on the road and I've completely stopped the questionable hand gestures that I may have been guilty of.

- I don't use the horn anymore unless it's absolutely necessary.

- I ensure that I leave a lot of room between me and the car ahead of me.

- I let anyone and everyone cut me off. I don't challenge them for road space anymore and if they really want to get ahead of me, I let them. They're probably in a bigger hurry than I am anyway.

Suhaas, you have captured my very thoughts in a succint manner. My Octavia TSI DSG also helps immerse myself in a 'trance mode' on my ~75 km round-trip commute.

To add to your practices, in bumper-to-bumper traffic I always choose the RIGHT-most lane as:

1. It leaves me with one less adjoining vehicle to worry about
2. Is usually the cleanest being most used by fast moving traffic
3. Very rarely has cabbies and bikes as they are all playing catch-me-if-you-can on the middle and left lanes)
4. Road camber usually means it has the least water-logging
5. Generally contains similar drivers like me in 'trance mode'

Cons are it is usually the slowest plus one needs to watch out for divider blocks out of place.

I also try and keep at least a car-length's distance from the car in front thereby smoothing out the irritating stops and starts resulting from tailgating. This really helps in a lovely smooth ride especially with the DSG gearbox. D1 manual mode also helps too sometimes.

[Viper21]

Hi There,
I live in Bangalore and the way i can sympathize with a lot of people driving through traffic in Bangalore. I usually use the company cab , but recently, i use Ola / Uber Share and that works out both in terms of convenience and economics. Suggest try those . Else switch to an automatic.

Off topic: Anyone thinks having the semi automatic clutch (easy clutch) works well in these cases? I have not seen many people posting about easy clutch systems.

[hellmet]

Hmm.. my advice? Move out of the country! Because that's what I did after years of traffic abuse and the high-stress it caused to me mentally and eventually physically. I began looking like a diseased patient, thin, and with severe stress. This was the result of riding 2-3 hours each day in Hyderabad's senseless traffic. No amount of meditation or relaxing helped.

Now, out of all the mess, and without a car, I feel happier, relaxed, and my health is slowly returning to normalcy.

Traffic-related stress is no joke.

[Desmosedici]

I too have the traffic phobia. My Ecosport has done only 3k kms in around 8 months.

My commute is 30kms overall. Mornings are a breeze if you leave before 8am. Evenings are a mess with only 2 route options, the dreaded JVLR and Aarey which has become equally bad.

After being introduced to Uber, i have completely stopped taking my car to office. Its really peaceful not to drive in the maddenning traffic.

Cost wise, yes, i am paying more, nearly double of what i would if i take my car but the peace of mind is unparalleled. Now my company has introduced AC buses and since this week i have started using them (zero cost now). That covers the weekdays.

For weekends, i prefer to take out my TVS Wego for local usage (approx 5km radius). Car is taken out very rarely. I do start it once a week and drive it around within my area to warm it up. The car is now more for weekend trips outside Mumbai.

Reasons for not using the car:

Heavy Traffic
Parking Woes
Increasing number of morons / Road rage
Unnecessary stress
Left leg starts to ache within 15 - 20 mins of driving in traffic
Paranoid about the new car being scratched / dented

AT is the need of the hour. So badly wanted the GT Tsi but settled for Ecosport since the GT is too small and low for parents. But then i now ask the question, how many such trips do i make where my parents sit in the car - very rare.

We all Live to Drive but no longer within the city.

[Santoshbhat]

Driving up and down to work in today's crowded cities is a serious problem staring at present and future generations. I considered myself extremely lucky that my daily drive to office was only 5 kms in a city like Bangalore where people are doing 30 kms one way. But even this 5 km commute was slowly turning out to be stressful. I moved from MT to AT which helped initially but I still felt I was losing too much productive time. The 5km journey which used to take 15 mins earlier, progressively started going up and during bad days would take upto 45 mins.

Fortunately I am self employed and my business does not require me to visit clients on a daily basis nor do clients have to visit me. So I decided to vacate my ownership office which is in heart of the city and moved to a rented premises close to my home. My new office is less than a km away in a peaceful quiet place and my daily commute is now a 3 minute drive. Its been almost a year since I've moved to the new place and I can't tell you how blessed I feel. I am able to be very productive in office as there is no fatigue from driving in traffic and also able to give so much more time to my family.

[Viju]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

My new office is less than a km away in a peaceful quiet place and my daily commute is now a 3 minute drive. Its been almost a year since I've moved to the new place and I can't tell you how blessed I feel.

You are indeed very lucky and you made a good choice to avoid unnecessary stress in life.

Only one question though - if your new office is barely a km away, do you really need to drive to work? Why not consider walking / cycling which would improve your mental / physical state even more?

[Thilak29]

Is the title really representing what we are discussing ?
Its not phobia (meaning fear) but aversion to be specific.

I hate city commute with frequent gear changes and clutch work. I keep myself busy by calling (hands-free) those friends who are not on my speed dial so that i remain connected,if not that my music library keeps me cool.

[ashishk29]

Originally Posted by capslock

1. Less downshifts. Don't downshift till the engine starts knocking?
2. Take your left leg off the clutch (I try to do this as much I can but still not helping with my problem).
3. Don't drive. Just ride.
4. Give up driving, you are not worth it. Use public transport.
5. Buy an automatic. (Too expensive solution I guess).
6. Go live in a village?
7. Meditate?
8. Try things like Revital ?
9. Anything else?

Traffic is awful indeed. I drive through the capital of traffic in Pune, Hinjewadi.

- Avoiding downshifts can help only if traffic is moving. For standing traffic, this is impractical.
- Taking foot off the clutch: Very much necessary. Otherwise leads to cramps in the foot.
- Even I prefer to ride instead of driving to work. But rainy season will not leave me with that option.
- Public transport is awful, messy and in horrible state. Hardly 10% of the buses are well maintained. Also, monsoons are coming soon. I cringe at the idea of traveling in a bus with 50-60 potentially sick people. Call me a germophobe, but come monsoon this is a necessary precaution.

Some tips/suggestions:
- I usually shift into neutral when I hit completely stationary traffic. It's relatively ok to have to shift into 1st every time.
- I don't move forth unless the car in front of me creates at-least half my car length space.
- Plan lanes from a minimum of 100m in advance. That way you don't end up taking a turn in the middle of peak traffic.
- Spot buses, auto-rickshaws and those 3 wheeler 15 seater things. Avoid their lanes entirely. They are absolutely bound to cause jams.

[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by Viju

You are indeed very lucky and you made a good choice to avoid unnecessary stress in life.

Only one question though - if your new office is barely a km away, do you really need to drive to work? Why not consider walking / cycling which would improve your mental / physical state even more?

I need a car with me on standby in case I have to go out/ meet someone etc... Of course there is always the OLA/ Uber option. There are many days when I do walk to office. Takes hardly 10 minutes.

My work also requires me to be in Belgaum (KA) for about week to ten days a month. I enjoy this 1000 km drive . Belgaum is a two tier city with moderate traffic. Every time I return to Bangalore after a 10 day stint in Belgaum, the traffic density of Bangalore really hits me hard.

[msk016]

I must admit I'm a bit lucky when it comes to traffic woes. I'm a Marine Engineer and therefore, am out sailing for 8-10 weeks and then home again for 8-10 weeks. I drive a XUV5OO and I'm in love with my car.
When I'm home, I simply don't take my car out in the traffic hours and on weekends.
There have been quite a few times that I've been stuck in traffic, but i simply ask myself if i can do anything about it? The answer of course is NO. Then I just let go of my frustration and enjoy whatever else I can, music, audio books or simply watching the rest of the world go mad!
I always leave early and drive calmly.
It's been 2 years and 8 months since I bought my car, out of which, I've been sailing for half the time. In the remaining time my car has clocked 55k

[Parishrut]

I like driving a lot, but even then, start-stop traffic tends to get a little onto my nerves (especially to those on my feet). I get equally worried about the fuel economy, not just because fuel's gotta be paid for but also because it's not good for the planet.

So I figured out a way to make it less of a chore, for both myself and the car.

I try to sync with the rhythm of the traffic & make some space in front of me. And instead of breaking and revving up to roll again and again, I just try to let the car roll in the lowest possible speed in the 1st gear with both my feet off the pedals.

I time myself with the 2 guys infront of me. By the time they break, i have almost one or two car lengths infront of me, and by the time I close in on the front guy's bumper, he moves again. I barely ever have to shift my gears (i've a manual i10) & only need to modulate the clutch &/or accelerator a few times.

And you might think that the space I keep leaving in between is getting occupied by others around me, it doesn't happen all too often. And I'm not holding up the guy behind me (despite of what he thinks I'm doing) because I'm practically maintaining the same average speed as him.

I'm not sure if it helps my car a lot, but I feel that letting the car roll a little & not having to start from standstill again and again would certainly have a lot of positive effect on the efficiency and life.

But it surely calms me down a little. I hate to stop again & again. And i let the music drown the honks from the guy behind me.

P.S. If I time it well enough, it works good enough even in Delhi's peak hour traffic.

[hybridpetrol]

Originally Posted by hellmet

Hmm.. my advice? Move out of the country!
--
Now, out of all the mess, and without a car, I feel happier, relaxed, and my health is slowly returning to normalcy.

Traffic-related stress is no joke.

This is one of the best piece of advise! Unless we are ready to go with the flow by finding ways to keep us occupied and happy while the irritants are bothering each other (and not us), it is best to move to a city where public transport is best.
When talking about public transport, all the cities in India have some kind of public transport available, but last mile connectivity is missing, and added to that is the huge crowd in all forms of transport (especially in metros).
European countries on the other hand, have a good network of trains which takes one to almost all directions, coupled with that is the accurate timings and thin population. Added to the relief will be the fact that, one can roam around all nearby countries with the Schengen visa!
If one loves driving, what other place is better than the USA to drive wonderful cars!
Note: This is not to suggest that one should get out of India for traffic. There are several tier 2 cities, where driving is a breeze most of the time. Coimbatore is one such city!

[pranxter]

@capslock I can so much relate to this...I had similar feelings too and still occasionally think that I have zero tolerance to bullshit I see from fellow road users or is it wrong to expect people to follow what they should follow. A couple of things I have started is exploring newer routes with detours and so far have found 10-15 variations of reaching my end-points (Yeshwanthpur to JeevanBhima Nagar) in a marginally less and stress-free mode. It's a continuous process and somewhat similar to discovering smaller joys. My workplace provides flexi timings and so I now avoid the peak hour traffic. I go late to office and leave late. What takes 1 hour 20 minutes during peak time is now 45-50 minutes and most importantly I have to deal with lesser irritants on the road.

I am now using Metro to reach office just to cut the driving time. I still have to make 9km journey to Metro station, and then use autorickshaw to reach office from the drop point even though it almost costs the same as car travel..

But the point you make still stands. Don't for one moment think something is wrong with the way you think. Its just that many people give a damn about rules, sense & etiquettes And it is not wrong to expect/demand better road sense...May be (just a hope) one day people will to show better maturity on roads..

[hangover]

4 parts - physical, mental, psychological, mechanical

Physical:

1. Do pranayama each morning for 10 minutes.
2. Sleep by 8:45 pm. Get up by 5 am max.
3. Dinner not later than 7pm. 6 pm is even better.
4. Do 10 push-ups, 10 sit ups everyday.

Mental: learn to drive in traffic; it's a skill;

1. On a Sunday afternoon, drive on avenue road. Practice for 10 Sunday's.
   
2. The next week take the post lunch off. Drive that same road in the afternoon. For 10 days.

Psychological:

1. Tell yourself - I will become the worlds best driver. I will get a parking spot soon as I reach.
2. I tell myself that today I will meet Sunny Leone.

Mechanical:
Hard clutch means you need to replace the assembly. It is not hard by default.

Financial:
Don't attach too much importance to your car. In your mind, accept that it will get scratched.
In the end it's just a steel sheet with some fancy lights and dials.

Situational:
I believe situational awareness is a valid industry term.

1. Flicker your eyes left to right. Scan the traffic. Expect surprises.
2. School area means 100% some kid will try to sacrifice himself below your wheel.
3. Drivers will stop in the middle of the road and ask kids to open their door.
4. School busses will pull out suddenly towards your car.
5. College areas means there are always my doppelgängers atempting wheelies.
6. Rich kids will attempt to exit the gate like a car in a Paris Dakar race chased by Shifta bandits.

Many people, way too many have died attempting to avoid dogs crossing the road.
I've lost a friend on a bike and know of someone else who died in a car.
Your life is a bazillion times more worth than a canine.
You should know which one is important. DONT SWERVE.

Fix a train horn to your car. Two miles of road will make way for you.

[flying_spur]

I can empathize with your situation. Do yourself a favour by getting an automatic. Outsource the shifts to a machine and have a relaxed drive