[Tgo]

Originally Posted by carnutfrombanga

How do other bhp-ians cope?

Giving-up driving is never an option. I would rather have this addiction all my life. Doesn't mean I haven't had my share of traumatic experiences on the road. Mentioning a few which resulted in perceivable losses and frustration, other minor ones which we encounter on a daily basis have become insignificant now.

Instance 1: Buffalo soldier

Things that worked in our favour ad saved us from an enraged mob:
1. The Ambulance arriving on time.
2. A local on seeing my Dad's ID card having his picture in Khaki Uniform (Central Govt. Employee) which he pulled out of his wallet for a moment (just so that the villagers could glance at it) asked him where he worked, to which he replied that he was a Superintendent (very carefully not mentioning the department), and mistook him to be SP of Police.
3. Knowing an high ranked ex-policeman who called up the SHO at Halena which sped up the process.
4. Rain, which started just 5 minutes after the crash and made the mob disperse as there was no shelter nearby.
5. Talking to the villagers and feeling sorry for the owner of the buffalo.

Instance 2: Off-road brain wash

The first day out in the open, I had a humbling experience with a log ripping out the wheel well liner. Mental Note: Being too adventurous has to be done along with being mindful of the risks involved. Got the liner replaced the next day which was a 20 minute job and was light on the pocket too considering what all could have been damaged behind the liner.

Instance 3: King of the road, who??

You ask me how? I'll tell you what I forgot that day:
Truck drivers have blind spots in proportion to their vehicle
Not to overtake from the left
Not to get irritated by incessant honkers right behind you

Instance 4: That's a nice pic... oops!!

As a result of distracted driving. No further comments. Lesson learnt.

Instance 5: Night-blind neighbour.

My neighbour reversed into my parked car.

Instance 6: Malnad F1 Bussing.

This happened to a friend of mine with a car which was 9 months old. You know how rash the private bus drivers are in the Konkan region. My friend was forced to swerve off the road and into the roadside bund to save himself from an oncoming bus that suddenly moved his lane to overtake a slow moving truck.

Had to tell him that everything is possible from car repair to getting back on the road. Shared SS-Traveller's thread with him. Asked him to take it slow and be more observant of things he took for granted before. His car was repaired after the lockdown was lifted in June 2020 (after 4 months) and he is back on the road now.

Some takeaways from my experiences.

• The key is in evolving as a better driver.
• Drive more often and in varied conditions.
• Everything is repairable from the car to a bruised ego.
• Install a dash-cam for live proof in case of tricky escalations of the violent or legal nature.
• Keep numbers of RSA, Police Helpline, Emergency Response etc. handy.
• Keep some must-have back-up eg. jumper cables, tyre inflator, puncture repair kit, cellphone power bank etc.
• Give the road-ragers right of way, that way you get the peace of mind.
• Never set a time target on a road trip, especially when you depart later than the planned time.
• Talk about your traumatic experiences with others, relieve the stress.

In the end, how can one give up driving and miss out on experiences like these...?

[vrprabhu]

I have been thinking something similar - considering that the 'pleasure' of driving / riding seems to be diminishing these days. Reason? Not because of four legged creatures, but assorted morons on the road on two wheels, rickety trucks, devil-may-care cabbie drivers - to name a few. This phenomenon has increased post COVID.

Having read (and re-read) GTOs post, some thoughts -

Originally Posted by GTO

... enjoy Indian road-trips a lot more than ....

I guess many of us do, going by the number of posts in the Travelogues thread!

Originally Posted by GTO

...If concerned about safety, you could drive at a slower speed, brush your skills up .. get a car that handles better & is safer, stick to expressway routes instead of two-lane highways etc.

100% right - the first and the mid part. But, as to the last, I personally love driving on the two-lane highways (where development is yet to catch up) where the number of insane drivers / vehicles are comparably less.

On the other hand, expressway is chaos. Just look at some of the comments with respect to the Kolhapur-Satara-Pune stretch, especially chaos at toll, and some posts in the accident thread (the recent Salem - Bangalore highway accident near Thoppur is frightening) you'll get my drift! Most of the people are hell bent on being ahead of every one else!!

Purely my opinion, of course.

Originally Posted by GTO

..Indian highways will keep getting safer & safer due to the construction of more expressways, ever stricter speed limit enforcement, the improvements we're seeing in new cars & trucks...

Again, agree. But shouldn't better cars and trucks be accompanied by more responsible driving manners - to me it appears that the ratio is inverse!

Originally Posted by GTO

- Quitting driving is frankly impractical in India as the public transportation system sucks. Plus, in these Covid times, no transportation is safer than your own car.

Once again, 100% right. But, my driving experience in Kerala says that the rail route is much preferred than the road route. Pre-COVID, of course.

Originally Posted by GTO

- All of us can get disillusioned from time to time. Just wait a while and perhaps, this feeling will pass too?

That's a good one. I too felt the same. Taking small rides (<50 km) now, as opposed to 'long drives' to re-discover the magic. BUT (it is a big but, without the additional t ) it only seeks to reinforce my impression conveyed in the second and third quote above!

Originally Posted by GTO

- You've driven well over 1 lakh km. Have you had a lot of accidents? If not, please do continue driving. If you've had a rare crash or two, take it in your stride and move on...

Touch wood, only one major incident each on the car and bike. Came out unscatched in the car but the one on the bike resulted in a broken leg. Did move on, on both occasions. However, looking at how people have taken to wheels over the last few decades and deteriorating road habits (how much ml of petrol / diesel will one save by driving on the wrong side of the road at what cost doesn't seem to occur these specific category of idiots), is what set me thinking - to reduce my driving.

Originally Posted by GTO

- Whose driving do you trust more? Your own, or some cab driver's who you might potentially hire for highway trips?

Exactly the same argument I use. But the common refrain (from colleagues and family members) I hear is to hire a cab + driver for long drives. If not, at least a driver. Guess they don't believe my reputation!

Originally Posted by GTO

- Were your close shaves in the early morning or late night? If so, best to drive during the day only. I stopped night-highway driving a long time back.

Driving at night was no big deal; in fact, found truck drivers - as opposed to bus drivers - were more mindful of other road users in the night. This was till recently - nowadays all and sundry are upgrading their headlamps, LED / projectors, pointless AHO et al, irritating those coming opposite - any idea how these guys tolerate the same treatment being meted out to them?

Only issue with regard to night driving is that one has to plan the travel time properly, so that there is an option to get a good place to rest the moment attention wanders - aka back of boondocks driving at night is a strict no no.

Originally Posted by GTO

Hope things change and we see a travelogue from you in 2021

Wishing the OP, you and all b-hpians the same! Once again, BUT (), isn't it better to heed to what your mind is telling you than rationalising that this too shall pass?

PS - Above experience based on (a) bikes used extensively : KB100, CT100, Gladiator (b) cars used extensively : M800, Palio, Eon, Getz, Swift.

[Durango Dude]

I'd like to be able to drive till I live. That's one thing I cherish. We all have had accidents, prangs and hit animals that dart across the road. Don't give up hope and driving altogether for that. I started driving in 1988 wish to drive as long as humanly possible: health and God permitting. As we age we mellow and become mature and a little less hot blooded. Happy driving to you and wish you reconsider your decision.

[Guna]

Key to driving in India is to be alert all the time, anticipate things in advance, drive according to the conditions, essentially follow defensive driving. If you follow these, you are in more control of yourself in the driver's seat rather than giving that job to someone else. I always get anxious if others are driving

[srini1785]

@OP: If you are going to quit driving, then you need to quit t-bhp too. Reading, posting everything, is that OK?.

The first time i put a foot on the pedal, it resulted in an accident. That did not put me off driving. In fact, i was emboldened since i was now "experienced". Everyone in this forum would have a story to tell of horrid experiences on the road, that does not mean you quit totally. Take a break and start all over again.

[Torq]

I am in a similar boat (about driving, not quitting). Since getting into my current profession, in last four years, I have cumulatively driven about 1.3-1.5L kms, averaging about 2500-3000 kms per month.
Sometimes I do feel the stress of driving, that's the time when I hire a driver for a day. But I end up still being stressed out due to not being comfortable in passenger seat!
First two years I have been a rash and fast driver which added up to the stress levels, but lately have started driving sedately in city and on undivided highways. That makes the ride much more comfortable and relaxing.
Nowadays with time, workload has increased, number of patients has increased and believe me, driving is the most relaxing thing I do inbetween appointments. So much so that, few Sundays a month after a heavy 15-16 hours day of work, I look forward to driving down back to pune late nights through the winding tamhini ghat!

[Prowler]

You have a pseudonym as 'car nut from Bangalore' and how can you avoid driving because of a fear ? As others have said , driving is still probably the safest way to travel. At least you are in control and not some poorly educated half-wit who didn't get a proper sleep the previous night.

Modern cars have fiber bumpers which absorb impact resulting in less serious injuries to other road users and animals. A well rested, attentive careful driver has less probability of getting involved in a serious accident.

Chances are if you have driving for 5 years with no serious accidents, you will drive for the rest of your life without a mishap. It is like the household electronics. If it lasts the first 3 years with no issues, it will probably last a long time.

[spoth001]

I have driven another 1700 km on the highway since then but have become cautious,

You have an answer here !! Being cautious is the only way, there is no other way unless you are driving a high end tech car which detects a collision from a distance and averts it. These type of roadkills happen everywhere and are inevitable. I remember running over a raccoon in Miami and I felt very bad. Just pray for a minute whenever you spot a poor tiny departed soul on highways. Do not give up on driving because of the guilt and let it not consume you. If you find an injured/scared cat or dog trying to cross the road, slowdown your vehicle and slowdown everyone behind you and let them pass

[Nalin1]

Originally Posted by carnutfrombanga

I have driven about 115,000 km in 5 years, just letting other members know that I am no stranger to Indian road conditions and would like to believe that I follow most rules & best practices for highway driving, most of the time.

PS: it's been a cathartic experience just writing this post

If you are going to quit driving for the various reasons you mentioned, but handover the responsibility to someone else, then it is an even more worse situation!.

Do you think you will be able to sit peacefully in the passenger seat? All the dangers around are not going to disappear because someone else is driving!.

And yes!. It is different matter if you want to avoid road transport altogether.

[nagarjun]

Long back, I went over a puppy when it jumped in front of my car out of nowhere. I was only going around 40-50kmph. Felt really bad and I remember that every time I pass that place.

On the Indian roads, I feel anticipating for the worst and driving in a defensive manner is the only way to go.

[tirumalavoleti]

Please do not quit. I know how heart breaking it would be when an animal dies under your car. In your case, you saw the dog still alive.

In 2015, at 7 PM i was driving on NH 16 at 90kmph, unfortunately a dog came all of a sudden from bushes and damage occurred even before I realised. It was so sad for me that day. My car broke down after 20 km as the engine coolant broken and coolant drained. I called VW towing and got the car repaired.

Next few months, the sight of the dog hitting my under car remained in my thoughts even though I did not see the animal with my eyes.

After few months, I changed driving style. Avoiding complete night drives after 6PM unless its an emergency or unavoidable. Try using the middle lane if its a 6 way highway, maintain some distance to the divider and slow down when ever there is a divider cut/pass

It might get a bit late, but always helps to have safe journey

[sramanat]

There is the famous quote "accident is a situation where presence of mind is good, but absence of body is better" which sums up the predicament you are in. Unless you can live by *not* traveling (moving), accidents are bound to happen. What is in your control is to eliminate your "at fault" behavior. If you could parse the incident rationally and assign some of the blame to yourself, try to work on eliminating that in the future. That's the best you could do to yourself and others.

PS: I am not a driving enthusiast, or for that matter a travel enthusiast. I am here because cars fascinate me. Yet, I've been driving my family around for about 20 years now. By the time I am in 2nd gear, I get into the "are we there yet" mode. But I yell at my kids when they ask that question :-)

[S2K]

If anything, I have developed similar fear since I hit a cow on the Mumbai Nashik highway on a straight patch of road.
The cow was on the opposite direction of the road but because of some heavy vehicle coming over and honking loudly, it scurried and decided to jump divider between the lanes and come right in our cars lane. I noticed her from movement at the correct moment and applied brakes as hard as I could. Went from 90+kmph to around 10-20 kmph. Hit the cow and the cow fell. But got up momentarily and walked on.
There were multiple factors that worked in our favour -
1) I noticed her movements even on the other side well in time to reduce speeds to a level that wouldn't cause major injury.
2) There were no vehicles right after us in the same lane or even other lanes. Applying brakes completely wouldn't lead to a totalled rear.
3) It was a Baleno RS serviced regularly with well cared tyres. The light nature of car made it quicker for us to stop. Also the impact did not cause any injury, at least nothing evident there. The front of car was damaged. But could be covered under insurance, so not a big deal.
4) The last point is something of a dread I have in mind. The animal we hit was a cow. This happened around the time when cow vigilantism was prevalent. Despite being a hindu, getting caught in an incidence is easy if there is an unruly mob around.

However, my response has been to take even more precautions now -
1) Buy a vehicle that has excellent braking capabilities. Keep the brakes in top condition.
2) Buy a vehicle with some electronic safety assist features like ESP that might give you a bit more headroom to react in such conditions and avoid roll-overs, etc
3) Buy a strong built vehicle and high safety rated vehicle. Damages outside the cabin can be recovered. Damages to inside the cabin should never happen.
4) Never drive the in rightmost or leftmost lane when at high speeds. I try keep the car on the outside markings of the rightmost lanes. This is a bit unruly. But gives me more time to react and some peace of mind.
5) I seldom go above 80kmph. Mostly when the road is straight, there is no traffic and there are no cuts on the road fences.
6) At every such place where I feel there might be an opening for a person or animal to cut between, I slow down, try to get further on the road's lane and honk. 99% of the times, its just the leaves rustling due to some wind. But it does help at rare occasions. I honk a lot and feel it might lead to my battery draining and should bill others to pay for it, but well, its for my peace of mind.


And all this is coming from a 25 year old guy who has just driving almost 20k total in all.
In the new car I have bought, I plan to install front and read dash cams. Because no matter how much care you take while driving, the people of this country either don't fear for their life or just believe that the big guy in the car will pay. The dash cams will make sure that I don't pay for other's mistakes, if there are any such incidences.

[PearlJam]

I think we've missed an important point, and a very important question that "carnutfrombanga" needs to answer:

Does he really, in his hearts of hearts, enjoy driving at all? Yes, he's driven 115,000 Kms. But was that all with joy and anticipation? Of hearing the sweet engine sound, enjoying the surrounding scenery, experiencing the adventures of new roads? Or, was it just something like a boring job that needs to be done? Let's face it - not everybody in this forum might actually *enjoy* driving, though they might love automobiles and the various things that come along with it. And there's nothing wrong in that.

If his thoughts on quitting driving are just a subconscious facade, with the core underlying reason being a lack of interest in driving, then he should just stop driving. No point doing something you don't enjoy at all. However, if he really enjoyed driving earlier, but losing interest now, then many others have already given great advice!

[RiderZone]

Know exactly how you feel, on a motorcycle though hitting a dog is not always a moment of compassion, but mostly a near death experience, and it's not just dogs.

I was once riding from Bangalore to Mumbai due to an undetected mental disorder, 1000 kms in a single day. A Fortuner I was following went over a small tree trunk that was sitting in its natural habitat, the middle of the highway. It was nothing for the car, but its back wheels flicked it in the air, and by the time I got there it was waiting to smash into my head. Only ABS saved me from being decapitated.

While I was doing these idiotic things, I always kept an article with my life story scheduled on my website to automatically publish 3 months from now, unless I postponed it. That way if I did get decapitated in a freak accident, at least there would be some fun in watching people freak out over a post written by a headless man.

In the end, it's all about the risk-reward ratio. I took a lot of risk, but it was insane amounts of fun. Some 5 years ago that ratio changed, and I haven't touched a bike since. Now I'm trying to get back into the danger zone, because it feels a bit stupid to live this protected life. Only you can decide.