[warrioraks]

One thing I learned very late is the use of engine braking. Especially in hilly areas to avoid brake-pads overheating. No one ever taught me about this and I just chanced upon the concept on one of the bike forums.

Originally Posted by RedTerrano

Vehicle language, like body language is real. If you feel a vehicle is going to overtake you from the left and slide in front of you, it will.

This one! Multiple times I slow down the car followed by a car or a bike entering our lane few seconds later. Wife is usually curious on how did I anticipate that. Always tell her it’s pure instinct. Now I have a better way to explain.

Originally Posted by RedTerrano

Bookmark the Italian tuneup thread on TBHP.
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techn...ally-work.html (Italian tune-up: Does it really work?)
In case she comments on your speed, share it with her.

[shahadav]

I learned that no matter how aggressive you drive, say for a journey of 3hrs, you will not save more than 10 mins. It is simply not worth the risk, mental stress, increased fuel consumption and the wear on your car.

[Tgo]

Excellent Thread, I must say learning rules of driving is the easiest thing to do, how you evolve as a driver is a totally different course which comes with experience and maturity as you age. Some things I learnt:

-There is no heroism in driving X km in Y amount of hours and keeping other such numbers in your head while driving. Take it easy and ejoy a relaxed drive.

-Its not show biz where you have to flaunt your style or worth to get ahead in life. A guy driving an expensive car is as vulnerable on the road as a guy on a moped. Everyone should be treated with respect and with equal amount of patience.

-A car is your tool for you to go from point-A to point-B safely, comfortably and conveniently. In that order. Never compromise on safety. Never make it your eatery, your pub or your discotheque while its moving.

[Kosfactor]

Autonomous driving tech with super computers the size of refrigerators inside them haven't been flawless or even good enough to be called road worthy - that is in countries with much more organized traffic.

So I realised how good Indian drivers are while sitting next to an expat driver, our drivers truly have 6th sense.If you treat driving like a process on Indian roads, you'd easily cause accidents and never be able to drive peacefully.

What I learned over the course of time.

Accept driving as a skill , involve yourself into it with an art like devotion and practice often, else you can follow all the rules and yet be an unsafe driver that none of your friends and family would be comfortable riding with.

[COMMUTER]

Many of the points have been already ointed out but I still would like to put them down again.

SPEED - I came to know that having a faster car and staying in the 80-90 kmph is actually not substantially slower than going full throttle crazy on roads. To be able to calculate the speed to maintain to reduce braking instead of trying to rub the rear of lorry is a valued art I had been able to cherish a few years after I started driving my car.

VISIBILITY - I drive by night most of the time, and I learnt the importance of being able to see what lies ahead in spite of facing buses and lorries which frequently flaunt a1000+ watts array of halogens in all directions. I have come to know that being in law abiding stock setting on Indian roads is simply not possible if one is mostly driving by night and is not privileged enough to be able to spare a few days especially for driving by day. They are an absolute necessity in rains and fog. I had been forced to pull over because of reluctantly being made the leader of a long convoy of vehicles because of the superior visibility and reasonably higher speeds.

HORN - I have fond that the horn needs to do its job even when I sound it once in every 50 kms on long high way drives and almost never in town. People have grown completely numb to stock horns and sounding a stock horn is completely useless. I have good horns. I have been thankful for their effectiveness every time I had been forced to use them. They had been literally life saving many time than I care to remember now.

RESPECT - I have seen the roads being great leveller of all users. I have experienced many cars from the TATA Nano to a Mercedes E Class. The returns are too starkly diminishing as we go up the upgrade ladder. I have found that the owners of entry level vehicles get the most value out of their cars than those who are otherwise. This had taught me to be just as respectful of any well-maintained car's owner, be it a decades-old hatch or a brand new flagship, if bought and run with their honest and hard-earned money.

[AutoConsultant]

Having learnt driving in cars which didn’t even have a passenger side ORVM and from a dad who relied solely on the IRVM and never used ORVMs, I have come to realise ORVMs make your life so easy especially while driving in cities and parking in tight spots. I seldom use the IRVM, primarily on highways only.

[StepUP!]

1. You are on the road to drive safely from point A to point B. You are not on the road to teach or ensure people follow the traffic rules.
2. Driving is more of a responsibility than anything else - freedom, right, joy etc
3. How to defog the windshield while driving through rains
4. How to move your car on an incline from standstill without rolling back
5. Beware of and maintain long distance from autorickshaws, people driving with mirrors folded, no mirrors, no lights, people carrying stuff in their car whose IRVM view is blocked, people riding with babies, car with political flags, posters or ideologies, cars with stupid lines like real men don't need seat belts or airbags, etc.
6. There is absolutely no need to switch on hazard lights in a tunnel or in a foggy weather
7. What pass light switch means and how to use it
8. When to use high beam on the two way road

[masterChief007]

Some of my learnings are as follows, not necessarily learnt after driving, as I also used to do road trips on my bullet before my car so some learnings are from that too:

1. Wind blast: wind blast is tiring be it on a bike or through an open window in the car, the constant correction required by the body to keep a stable posture fatigues the muscles, so in a long drive I always keep the windows up.

2. Hear the noise, check the light: In hilly roads i keep the windows a bit rolled down and music volume NIL or down so that I can hear vehicles coming from back or from turns, also check the road illumination, if it is changing mostly it is due to another vehicle around the corner.

3. Follow the lead: In bad road conditions with lots of potholes, just let someone overtake you and let them do all the mental calculations (not that I am incapable of that), but why fatigue yourself when someone else is eager to do that for you. In case of potholes, odd speed bumps gives you a lot better warning than being in the lead yourself.

4: Compare the shadows: How many times we see two trucks running parallel to each other, but take some time to decide on overtake which one is going faster. Rule is to check the shadows of the trucks, compare the difference in the shadows, gives you a clear understanding which truck is moving faster, so change to that lane till it clears the other truck.

5: Engine braking: though I know the concept, haven't mastered it well as I really hate the high engine RPM sound it makes initially, but yes everything is learnt by practice so I keep refreshing this always.

6: No ego: A truck/car/scooter or even a tractor wants to overtake you aggressively, give way and let them. If they are really that fast its just going to be one time affair, else you will get your time to overtake them if they lack skill/speed. Either way let go of the ego as soon as you turn the key.

7. Parking with lights on: Always park with lights on, based on the shadows/headlights/tail-lights cast you can judge the clearances better. Even though I know by "feel" how much distance is there, but helps when you sit in a new car.

I know there are many other small tricks. But this is a nice thread !!

[Turbohead]

I used to read the T-BHP safe driving tips way before I got my license. However, some things just need experience-

1) Patience: Driving in India is a game of patience- just don't lose it and keep calm. It's so easy to lose it and the last thing you want to do is to act on your emotions.

2) Anticipation: Honestly, I've read about it but could never practice it since I was getting used to the car. The art of anticipation honestly requires you to be absolutely thorough in driving before supplying more mental power in anticipating the actions of fellow road users which enables you to drive safer and smoother which further results in safety and mechanism empathy. Extremely important skill.

3) Giving way to people who follow you damn close: Learnt this the hard way. Let them go! They won't even pay for their mistakes.

4) Respect the limitations of fellow road users - trucks and buses have huge blind spots. Never take them for granted for your own safety. Realised this after I happened to travel regularly by bus. In fact, driving or using other vehicles gives a feel of the challenges faced by them and helps you to respect them when you are on the road. This is even true when driving next to a bike when in a car and vice versa.

[kaps454]

Originally Posted by RR96

How to stop the car on a slope using half clutch.

Thanks.

Would not recommend holding a car stationary that way, the clutch is being burned.
I learnt driving from my Dad and he learnt it in the gulf, so not many things to learn later.
One of the things I did learn was to "let go", let folks jump into the safe distance that you have left in front, letting go of the anger that one feels when bikers cut across multiple lanes of traffic without bothering to turn their heads or check mirrors (cars too, some fold both ORVMS and drive with aplomb), letting go of the frustration of seeing inept and inefficient cops trying their best to manage traffic, letting go of small dents and scratches inflicted by careless road users (not worth my time, FNG will fix them all when I get the car serviced for another 4-5K, consider it as another yearly road tax!!).
These days, I just play my favourite tracks and drive with a feeling of zen. (getting old too I guess). Earlier I used to chase them down, pull up next to them, or walk over at a light and tell them what mistake they did, now I just don't bother.
regards kaps454

PS: still trying to ignore folks who drive at 30-40 kmph in the overtaking lane with their noses buried in their phones.

[TorqMaster]

This is what I learnt.

1. Road rage has two idiots. You can choose to NOT be part of the metric and shorten your losses. Do yourself a favor and keep moving on. NEVER ENGAGE.
2. The ones in your circle who talk about how they are the best drivers in the planet are the ones who are ticking time bombs. Stay away from them and dont let their foolish talks affect you.
3. Rest well before driving, stay hydrated while driving. This affects your mood while you drive. This will also keep your co-passengers happy. Nobody likes a grumpy driver who yells at other road users, or worse, fights with co passengers while driving.
4. There will be times when your co-passengers will stimulate you or give you ideas to overtake, undertake, side take, rub-him-off-the-road take etc. Ignore all these stupid suggestions and drive safe. Choose to drive safe, all the time.
Never forget you are in charge of your life, their lives and the others users lives too. Nothing is as important as you staying in your proper sanity and doing the right thing-And it never involves retaliation.

All these safe driving habits could make you an unpopular driver. Only safe drivers drive safe. Not popular drivers.

[gururajrv]

I learnt:

1) Patience to deal with morons and let go off any aberrations that happens to the vehicle while on road. There's simply nothing we gain by putting up a show with such people who care least to their own property / others. Matter of safety first kicks in and I just go ahead quit that moment and move on to fix anything that can be repaired.

2) Importance of using the O / I-RVMs frequently to avoid any blind spot turnings that could put myself or anyone on road at harm.

3) Sub-concious speed limit is now inbuilt. There was a time I used to floor the throttle. However, in the last 3 or 4 years, I have grown a bit of a cautiousness towards the speed the car does right now, no matter how empty the roads are, I just limit myself to acceptable speeding.

[KebabBoi]

A self-taught driver here (no driving school), who has not been involved till date in a mishap of any kind by God's grace. Here are my two-cents for what they are worth (high chance of repetition):

1. As a beginner driver, prioritise pedal control. Have some dedicated practice focusing on accelerator-clutch relation to minimalize your chances of stalling.
(First proper exposure to driving was due to our parking arrangement - neighbours would park their car but would ask us to move ours when going out because they did not want to reverse down the entire gully, thus I developed my pedal control as my first skill, maneuvering the car in tight spaces - stalling is a foreign concept now )

2. Handbrake is your friend. Avoiding rollback solely from accelerator-clutch is indeed a great skill but until you have mastered it, use your handbrake liberally when climbing inclines from mid-slopes, it won't make you any less of a driver and will ensure your and other people's safety as well.

3. Breathe. If you stall mid-traffic, breathe. Zone out the excessive honking and shouting, don't get flustered and try to regain your rhythm to prevent further errors.
(As GTO rightly pointed out, people have a lot of frustration pent up and they need the slightest of excuse to vent. Honking has become an extension of their bodily function, equivalent to blinking their eyes or breathing.)

4. Don't take Braking lightly. City braking and Highway braking are 2 vastly different experiences. When getting exposed to highway driving, always be excessively cautious of braking pressure and braking distance.

5. Be Extra Cautious of unused ORVMs. Some people on the road either don't have an ORVM (less likely) or can't be bothered to open and use them (more likely). Their driving pattern is more unpredictable in terms of swerving and overtaking.

6. Don't take Drowsiness lightly. This was drilled into me by my ideal driver - my father. Feeling the slightest hint of drowsiness, disconnect from the car? STOP! Take a break, refresh, drink or eat something. Even better, take a power nap.

7. Don't stick to the Overtaking Lane. Inner lanes tend to host stray animals (due to plantations in medians), crouching locals waiting to misjudge oncoming traffic and make a run to cross to the other side, causing panic and stress to the drivers, as well as bad patches courtesy of the top-notch contractors we've been blessed with.
(Experienced this recently on highways in U.P. - won't comment on the reason but A LOT of stray cows have been let loose and are present on the highways, was exiting a blind curve and had to swerve to avoid them)

8. Judgement based on the vehicle ahead is a great tool for assessing sudden changes in road level, uneven patches, etc. but NEVER follow it blindly into an overtake.

9. Drop your Ego. The road is not yours to own. Someone going faster than you? Let them.
(There was a Polo trying dangerously hard to overtake us, a few kilometers ahead it was sitting on top of a cement barrier at a diversion.)

10. Drink enough water. Its easy to misjudge one's requirements when the focus is on driving as efficiently as possible to reach intended destination ASAP. Force yourself to drink water if you haven't for a long period.

[swparth18]

I have very early career in driving with just 22k kms in 1 1/2 years and late entry into the driving world (early 30s). I drive a Ford Aspire diesel. Needless to say I'm still learning quite a lot.
1) Overall trying to be more patient while driving. I'm still heavy right footed for city driving and like to get into those higher revs and power band. I have noticed that when there more passengers I'm always extra careful and tone down a bit. With only me or with wife, I'm more impatient and trying to make it on time.
2) Figuring out when to be precisely in 2nd gear vs 3rd gear inside the city, especially for better FE driving as well as jerk free driving.
3) I never overtake city/state buses from the left especially inside the city. I always give them the way and more watchful while overtaking them from right.
4) On the highway, trying to get better at looking out for vehicles in front of a heavy vehicle (left most lane) before overtaking. It becomes immensely risky, if and when I miss it, and all are trying to take a pass more or less at the same time frame.

[sunikkat]

The things I learnt later in my driving journey (mainly to do with manual cars) are -

Avoid driving half clutch as much as possible
Do not rest your left hand on gear lever
Do not rest your left leg on clutch pedal

I know these are basics of driving, but not something most driving school teaches you