[Kottayamkaran]

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

Expect us mallus to vote in unison!.

Amen to that. From my drives from Bangalore to Kottayam, i cover the distance till Coimbatore in under 5 hours. That's a distance of 350km if I am not mistaken. The rest of the 200km take about 5 hours inside Kerala .

[IndieGooner]

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

I had it when we drove from Palakkad to Trivandrum via Alleppey after picking up a friend from Cochin to attend a friend’s wedding. God, I just remembering crashing that night! Vowed to never drive to Trivandrum again.

Something about that Kochi - Trivandrum NH scares the bejesus out of me. Whenever I have to make that drive, I prefer taking Alapuzha - Changanashery road and then onwards with MC road towards Trivandrum. Not that the conditions are far better in this route, but I find it less mad compared to NH and it gives me a somewhat safer feeling.

[Samurai]

Karnataka actually got 3 votes as the worst in India? You guys need to visit Kerala once.

I have mostly driven in southern states, KA, TN, KL and Goa. Very little driving in other states, mostly as part of official test drives, which I won't count.

Within my limited experience, I would put Kerala as the worst. It is mainly because of the traffic density, as someone already said most of the state is like a big city, there is no empty stretch unless you go towards Munnar or Wayanad.

[vivekkp]

Its Kerala, land of my birth place. The road surface quality is good but very narrow and winding roads. You never feel like you are out in the open. It feels like just one big urban landscape and hence cannot maintain good speed for long duration.

p.s: I find the traffic discipline in Kerala is way better compared to other states that i have driven in.

[Shreyans_Jain]

Originally Posted by binand

Voted Kerala - my home state. Is there any other state where a distance of about 180 km (my parents' house to my in-laws' house) takes nearly 6 hours?

Originally Posted by Kottayamkaran

Amen to that. From my drives from Bangalore to Kottayam, i cover the distance till Coimbatore in under 5 hours. That's a distance of 350km if I am not mistaken. The rest of the 200km take about 5 hours inside Kerala .

Haryana, dear friends. We are just as bad!!

The 250km drive from Faridabad to Ambala easily takes 6 hours or more. This is when the entirety of the drive is 4 laned, 6 in some stretches. Add to it perhaps the most indisciplined traffic anywhere in India.

It is normal for the drive to Ludhiana, 350km away, to take 7-8-9 hours. Only because as soon as you enter Punjab, the road opens up and speeds increase by 50%. It is that bad. I need to visit this coming weekend. This BHPian is taking the train. By choice. Says it all.

[Rajeevraj]

Another vote for Kerala. Of course, I have mostly driven only in South India, but fair to say that nothing would come close to Kerala. The roads are narrow, way too overloaded, no thinly populated stretches all of which means that you cannot travel more than 30km per hour which obviously leads to rash driving to try to eke out that extra distance or speed.

Even the main highways have not been upgraded yet and are in the same state as it was 30 years ago.

The only saving grace is that the surface and road markings are excellent and you rarely find unscientific humps irrespective of the type of road. So if you are driving late nights or early mornings when the traffic madness has not started, especially on the smaller roads, it is a joy to drive.

On a side note, Kerala has 4 international level airports but I just realised that there are pretty much no flights between them. I needed to go from Calicut to trivandrum and flight is not even an option. Driving is obviously a nightmare, so the only realistic option is a train. Since that is the default option for everyone, getting a ticket is also hard.

[Turbohead]

Voted Kerala LOL!

They are good in certain parameters but roads are definitely not one of them.

Almost everybody has a car but then the roads haven't increased in size. But towns have merged together to create probably the largest urban area in the world.

The only way to tackle Kerala roads is to travel at night. I prefer to do all inter city trips between 9 PM and 8 AM. If the roads are good and there are no speed cameras, it's honestly a blast- you don't need to go too fast to enjoy your car thanks to all the twists and turns.

[dhanushs]

Voted Kerala. This is not even something to give a second thought!

I used to have a Vento with brake disc judder above 100kmph. Well, as long as I didnt go outside Kerala this was perfectly OK for me. The moment I step into KA or TN I used to start hating my car, and plan for the replacement, but, once I'm back in KL, it never matters.

30-40km/hr is the max!

[ruzbehxyz]

Did not vote for any as this question seems to be difficult for many of us to answer. India has 28 states and 8 Union Territories.

How many TBhpians have traveled to all states ? Yes, we may have a few, but have they traveled through the major roads in each state ?

National Highways through most states will be good, however state highways may or may not be good.

[megazoid]

Voted Kerala.

For driving difficulty, Kerala wins hands down. Just drove from Kozhikode to Nileshwaram in north kerala and boy it could not have got any slower. We barely were doing 60km for the duration of the trip. Its not the surface quality but the congestion that lets the place down. Kerala is one big town from one end to the other. I really wonder how people who commute daily across towns maintain their sanity.

[GeneralJazz]

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

Expect us mallus to vote in unison! No two thoughts about this. Our state has unarguably the worst roads in the country with no scope for improvement in the immediate future.

Why do we even need a poll for this? Anyone voting for any other state has probably never driven inside KL.

As a poster above rightly said, 30-35 kmph is the best average you could eke out even on the 4/6 laned roads thanks to the combination of the traffic, speed cams and the absence of flyovers at junctions.

Throw in the murderous KSRTC and private buses and you will have several near death experiences even at that 35 kmph speeds! For us North KL folks, 35kmph average is kinda the best case scenario!

I had it when we drove from Palakkad to Trivandrum via Alleppey after picking up a friend from Cochin to attend a friend’s wedding. God, I just remembering crashing that night! Vowed to never drive to Trivandrum again.

I regularly drive between Coimbatore and Kannur. Every time I leave the highway at Palakkad, its a sinking feeling!

[Vasuki]

This is really a one-sided contest. Kerala will beat all hands down.

I say 35kmph is a pipe dream, there was a report some time ago stating 27kmph is the average speed in Kerala as of now.

That said, maybe changes are on the way. Fingers crossed, from Walayar till Thrisur, it has got significantly better nowadays.

[binand]

Originally Posted by ruzbehxyz

Did not vote for any as this question seems to be difficult for many of us to answer. India has 28 states and 8 Union Territories.

Just prefix "among the states you have driven in" to the question. This is how a lot of surveys are conducted - from Corruption/Press Freedom Index to Best CM of India to best Airport/Airline in the world... and these are taken at face value by everyone from Twitter commentators to policy makers and all in between.

[vivek95]

I have driven mostly in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Goa. Among these 3 states, Maharashtra is presently a mixed bag. Karnataka and Goa have good roads uniformly all throughout. Situation in Maharashtra is fast changing too and for good. Infact, at certain interstate borders, the moment you enter Maharashtra from Karnataka or MP, you will be amazed to see a brand new concrete road with nice markings and signages. Bad roads in Marathwada region of Maharashtra will soon be a thing of the past. Have you driven of late around Aurangabad, Jalna, Akola, Shegaon, Chikhli, Khamgaon, Solapur, Osmanabad, Wardha region ?? I did and was pleasantly surprised to see impeccably awesome roads. May be 2-3 years down the line, Maharashtra will rise to the top with maximum number of 4/6 lane state highways.

[SideView]

Tbh kerala the highways are not bad but it is the congestion that is bad.

If one travels during off hours you will sail smoothly.

Are we talking about road quality or highway congestion here? Road quality is not bad in kerala. Whereas in other parts the roads itself are horrible.


I feel this poll is wrong, we should see which has the best and see which gets the most votes.

From personal experience TN gets the best highways both congestion & quality of roads are quite good.