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View Poll Results: How Many Driving Years Have you Got left?
I am done with Driving already! 4 1.05%
About 5-7 years more 11 2.89%
About a Decade or two more 52 13.65%
Are you kidding me? I will drive to my grave! 314 82.41%
Voters: 381. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 17th December 2019, 13:05   #61
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Re: How many "Driving Years" do you think you have left?

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Originally Posted by Samurai View Post
About 25 years ago, every street in cities and towns of India had STD booths, enabling you to make local, std and isd calls. It generated lots of jobs. Yet, the mobile phone revolution killed that industry in a decade. Don't ever underestimate what technology breakthroughs can do to government policy and user habits.
Bit of a non linear analogy don't you think?. Convenience , economic consideration, tech upgrade were the reason why people wholeheartedly chose mobiles over booths. In case of autonomous driving Vs human driving , what factors besides the above can we list?.

Safety , Provenances of the tech are factors that would hinder.
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Old 17th December 2019, 16:53   #62
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Re: How many "Driving Years" do you think you have left?

I've already voted and given my opinion but since we are discussing the future of cars I have one question to ask.

It's 2020 where are the flying cars promised to us dammit !!
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Old 17th December 2019, 17:30   #63
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Re: How many "Driving Years" do you think you have left?

I witnessed a learner (with a red 'L' on her Alto) get bullied by impatient motorists this morning. And my wife got to hear an ungentlemanly expletive from an impatient man on a bike this past weekend when she was driving our A Star.

These instances got me thinking - for how long can I really drive? I can't afford to pop a vein in anger every single time some ill-mannered person goes wild on me or my family on the road. I had voted here to say that I will drive as long as I can; but our nation's spiraling road manners begs the question - how long can I really drive?
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Old 17th December 2019, 19:18   #64
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Re: How many "Driving Years" do you think you have left?

Voted for the last option.

For commuting in Pune, I prefer my two wheelers.

Cars are used at times to keep them in operational condition for longer tours/trips involving the entire family.

I hate driving my cars during rush hour traffic (except during the rains).
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Old 17th December 2019, 20:39   #65
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Re: How many "Driving Years" do you think you have left?

Voted for the Last Option. But increasingly now driving is becoming a chore rather than a pleasure. Lack of civic sense, lane driving , increasing congestion etc are putting me off driving within the city.
Still i constantly find myself leaving for work earlier just to be able to stretch the ponies.
Maybe we should have a poll about what is the Ideal engine displacement that one can enjoy in the city?
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Old 17th December 2019, 21:32   #66
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Re: How many "Driving Years" do you think you have left?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Samurai View Post
About 25 years ago, every street in cities and towns of India had STD booths, enabling you to make local, std and isd calls. It generated lots of jobs. Yet, the mobile phone revolution killed that industry in a decade. Don't ever underestimate what technology breakthroughs can do to government policy and user habits.
Not too many were full-time phone shop owners AFAIK. Even the poor need cell phones for basic purposes, but the only the 2% of the population will own cars. So, drivers become important in a country struggling to generate employment for its youth.

I stick to my earlier point. A young driver doing an honest job is better than a youth dealing in contraband/scamming or engaging in other illegal activity and be a menace to society.
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Old 18th December 2019, 18:21   #67
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Re: How many "Driving Years" do you think you have left?

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Originally Posted by VWAllstar View Post
You are living it up

How much ever enthusiast, Mumbai traffic and roads will squeeze out driving enthusiasm out.

But then there are always team BHP and good friends who plan just to drive together, talk about cars and rant about the traffic and bad roads together

If I have had a really bad week, I go drive on the freeway early Sunday morning. Makes me feel I don't live in Mumbai for few hours.
Do join in sometime, it helps keep one and one's car happy!
@VWAllstar - I completely second you on the Mumbai driving part. I drive 73 kms minimum every day cutting across Mumbai (Thane to Byculla and back). Till a couple of years back i would have closed my eyes and selected Option 3 but driving through broken roads (cracked my alloy wheel sometime back on the E E Highway), managing lane-cutting bikers and oversized buses & trucks trying to sweep you to the sides is really taking a toll on my nerves (have still driven 44,000+ kms in the last 2 years on my diesel auto Verna - Switched from a Swift because my left knee just couldn't take it any more).

I had chosen my Team-BHP handle priding myself on my patience of driving everyday but that seems to be running out. Voted for Option 3 as i am almost 40 now and given the situation of Mumbai roads, really don't think i will be able to drive beyond that.
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Old 18th December 2019, 20:23   #68
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Re: How many "Driving Years" do you think you have left?

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Originally Posted by BoneCollector View Post
I dread my daily commute to clinic and back home. The traffic at my place, a small tier 2 city bursting at its seams with loads of 2 wheelers, 3 wheelers, cars, UVs, jugaads, cycle rickshaws and bovine forms and none following rules, is horrible.
Well, we all suffer horrible commutes, I am a bit lucky in this regard as I stay in a small place, really small, just like yours or smaller, but traffic for sure is better and we have wider roads . You are free to see it yourself sometimes. I don't let driver drive though, as I prefer driving myself.

My driving is either to drop and fetch my daughter and I dread the 100 meters out of ~4 kilometers as it is really narrow, else, the traffic is almost free flowing, unless, the school adjacent to my daughter's [where I studied too] has its school off timing at similar time. Not an issue if I am in my 4WD as I go through fields / slush etc.

Similarly, if I am going north or east [from my home], I don't face much traffic, but if I am going south, I really have to be patient.

But nowadays, I have kind of become patient with traffic, I don't honk much nor do I get irritated, I simply go with the flow and my driving too has become much relaxed, I think this helps as well, as I am [almost] never in a hurry.

So, the day I stop driving and riding [health / ailment /accident, what ever causes it] that day I will cease to exist, I may be alive, but I will be just breathing without any life. And I prefer riding [for leisure] than driving.

Last edited by Sheel : 23rd December 2019 at 08:21.
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Old 18th December 2019, 21:21   #69
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Re: How many "Driving Years" do you think you have left?

The last option has me in splits because I can pretty much imagine wanting to step out of my coffin just to take even the hearse out for a spin and quite literally "drive to my grave"!

So yeah, I guess I know where my vote goes!

Having said that, at 23 years old and five years into my driving days, I'm already done with the daytime city traffic.

Driving has a very happy association in my head and heart - sometimes when stressed about something and sometimes even just because, I take the car out for a quick drive late night/early morning when there's less traffic. This is usually a peaceful and relaxed drive that brings me back home happier and calmer. Long drives and scenic highways are even more cathartic and very essential for me. As far as those drives are concerned, I'd more than gladly keep those going on for a lifetime. For anything in city traffic though, the lesser the better.
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Old 19th December 2019, 12:37   #70
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Re: How many "Driving Years" do you think you have left?

What made my day is the words in the last option.
How many "Driving Years" do you think you have left?-tbhp.jpg
Prior to viewing the poll results, I was skeptical about the percentage votes in each of the options, as I thought many would vote in the first three options too. Some did but the current 82.32% speaks volumes about this community.
As long as health and external factors permits, I will keep on driving.
I was appointed as Presiding Officer in the 2019 Parliamentary Elections and those who served this duty know well how physically and mentally tiring the day can be. After submitting the EVM and other election documents and materials, I reached home around 11:45pm (as the collection center was near). Seeing her parked, though physically and mentally exhausted, something stirred inside me and urged me to go for a ride. A short ride of 20mins was all I needed to bring myself back to my usual self aided by the sweet sound of the BOV upon releasing the throttle.
So yes, I would drive as long as I can.
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Old 19th December 2019, 13:45   #71
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Re: How many "Driving Years" do you think you have left?

I voted for the last option. I will drive as far as I can see, I can hear, I can sit tight in the driving seat.

Of course, I started driving bit late as those days (1985) it was not easy to buy a vehicle. My first car was a Maruti 800 which I bought when I was 32 and since then I have driven many cars and 4 or 5 two wheelers, means almost 35 years in the driving seat (don't count on my age ).
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Old 19th December 2019, 15:03   #72
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Re: How many "Driving Years" do you think you have left?

I will echo the spirit of the majority here and state that I drive not because I have do but I drive because I want to.

Everyday after reaching home, tired from the daily battle on the roads for each inch moving forward, I think that I can take it no more but the next day all such thoughts are discarded as I turn the key and prepare for battle.

Driving has helped me reach a good level of keeping calm (over the years). Bad drivers will drive badly everywhere, be it in city or on the highways, expressways, autobahns, I rather think the open roads give them more initiative to be stupid.

Despite these and all other moments of frustration on the road, I will continue driving till I am simply unable to continue, physically.
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Old 19th December 2019, 21:46   #73
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I would love to stop driving the moment self-driving cars become mainstream or when I can afford to be chauffered around.
I love to sleep when I am travelling. I can go to sleep instantly when I am inside a vehicle, whether it is a bus or an aeroplane. I have slept in flights which were just an hour long.
The main reason I want to give up driving is because of me being prone to get irritated very easily and doing something stupid and getting into fights. Though, I have mellowed down a lot (I think), some instances do leave me fuming and I would rather stay away from such situations as I am a comparatively calmer passenger.

In fact, my decision to move away from cities to my village in Himachal and try to become a farmer was majorly influenced by my cases of road rage and my intolerance for stupidity. Also, driving in a city has become a chore and I was always a sedate driver on highways, so normal driving doesn't induce any kind of excitement for me. In fact, I am willing to buy a smaller, much basic car when I have to in a few years time and use the remaining funds to get into paragliding which will be 10 times more exciting and a stress reliever rather than a stress giver.

Last edited by Sheel : 22nd December 2019 at 10:46. Reason: Putting spaces between paragraphs for better readability.
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Old 22nd December 2019, 10:25   #74
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Re: How many "Driving Years" do you think you have left?

Chosen option 3. I hope to drive till I am safely able to. I hope to own one to my grave.

Traffic or no Traffic, driving soothes me - but it is not a hobby!

Good high ways, bad highways, traffic jams all remain a pleasurable challenge even after decades of driving (I got my driving licence, tucked below my pillow on my 18th birthday).

Yes, I do get a little more tired than I used to; highways are slower than before even with clear roads; on hills I am bashful to the curves, no longer ummm brash, am I maturing.

But the driver in me refuses to die, from Standard Herald to Toyota and everything in between, manuals and autos, all thrill me.

Surprisingly, as I discover myself with each passing year (and others- my wife too), I rather clean my car than my room!!!!! and what joy seeing it gleaming (We got detained at Raisena Hills Police station (Rashtrapati Bhawan) because I parked the car near the fountain at night to take advantage of the water spray blowing in the winds to ... you guessed it ).

Why??? Because it does what I want it to do? Don't ask me, I have not been able to articulate it.

So to each his own.

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Last edited by Sheel : 22nd December 2019 at 10:47.
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Old 23rd December 2019, 08:17   #75
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Re: How many "Driving Years" do you think you have left?

I chose the last option but in reality it's first and last option 50:50.

I drive around rural Tamilnadu and Trichy city, 120 km a day. It does make me want to get down atleast a dozen times and want to break the jaw and slam the backs of idiot drivers on the road.

But then I can't sit at the back seat and tolerate being driven. It is among the most boring things in life according to me.

So it's a pleasure and pain mixed. Being the optimistic man that I am, I choose the former over the latter while deciding to take the car keys every morning.
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