[Satish Pari]

One mantra I have learnt over my 26 years of driving - "Never underestimate the stupidity of the average Indian driver". There are various reasons for making this strong statement.

1. Impatient bike drivers trying to overtake you from the left, despite one having turned on the left indicator (happens regularly)

2. Bike's being driven in the wrong direction casually despite having the presence of traffic police (who aren't really bothered)

3. Impatient drivers from behind signaling you to jump a red signal - their logic there is no traffic ahead. (Happens regularly during early morning drives (especially the Tidel Park signal where the road from Thiruvanmyur joins the Old Mahabalipuram Road). By the way I still am managing not to yield to such an impatient lot.

4. Drivers driving on our highways as if there is no tomorrow (observed whenever I do outstation road trips)

5. Car drivers multi-tasking, driving and talking on the phone and in the process suddenly swerving lanes (I would have been a victim to such a stupidity but thanks to my stars, I was lucky and was able to manage)

One can keep on ranting about this but the bottom line is, every journey has some sort of a new learning. And the best mantra for our roads - defensive driving and always expect the unexpected.

[AdvanceStarter]

As a lot of fellow members have pointed out, the greatest learning that comes with experience is that you don't reach your destination much faster by being an ultra aggressive driver compared to someone who is being smooth and not taking undue risks. This is especially true on undivided 2 laned roads.

[pavi]

I learnt and still practising to prefect rev matching downshifts. This has helped me transition to a lower gear much smoothly and maintain the speed during overtakes.
After owning Skoda Rapid TSI for two years, I understood that good low end torque is any day better than a higher power in Kerala roads where the average speed even on highways are very less (~35+ kmph).
I make sure the gear changes (downshifts) and breaking are done well before the start of a bend for making it smooth. Also use the engine breaking to shed the speed especially in bends and down hill.
Always beware of those who applies break very often, and in a unpredictable manner. Some people apply break even when the road is clear and see a vehicle coming in opposite direction. I always make sure that I overtake such a car when ever I get an opportunity as early as possible.

[saikarthik]

I will keep the post simple. The most important things that I have learnt is that,

- In driving school or many focus to learn how to operate a vehicle than DRIVING. Those are two different things.

- We are responsible for many outcomes on the road even if the other party/vehicle is at fault, so choose what you want to say/do post an incident.

- Better than the above is to avoid getting into a situation - so learn how to drive defensively. If you feel like a 'god' on the road or 'it's my dad's road', then better to have it on positive note of feeling responsible for you and others on your dad's road.

- Wear seatbelt/helmet and be strict with your own rules, don't allow others to deviate from this due to peer pressure of being 'Cool' or 'it's just around the corner'.

[srvm]

I'm the first car owner & only driver in my family. Previous generations at best had access to a moped. Hence, did not learn driving from family or friends. Learnt it from a driving school: about 11 hours of cumulative training and the only things I learned was the use of A, B & C pedals. And oh, the only time I slotted 3rd gear was in the last class.

Bottom line, (in response to thread title), is I learned EVERYTHING else from my driving journey (about 6+years and 65,000kms so far).

Sadly, I may not be the only one or the last one with such minimal skills to hit the road.

[rajwheelz]

One change I have made a couple of years back and am still consciously trying to adhere to, is not to succumb to velocitization. (https://www.iadc.org/safety-meeting-...elocitization/)

I have observed myself entering populated areas from a highway exit at almost same speeds I was driving on the highways. I have also observed the needle crossing 100 without even me realizing i was doing such speeds. Not that I was drowsy. I was alert. But that's what velocitization does to you. There is a scientific reasoning behind why the human brain stops perceiving true speeds of a vehicle.

I do what is recommended by most, and it truly helped me. Blink regularly, or watch the speedometer/IRVM once every 30 seconds. Or watch the black/white stripes on the road dividers. Or do some shoulder shrugs and neck twisters to get that relaxation.

It made me feel more confident about my speeds and most importantly made me aware of the true vehicle speed.

[zukhan]

Some user, apparently an English racecar driver, on an online forum once said something that kinda stuck with me, that racing and civilian driving are two very different things, kind of like knowing two different languages- you don't mix one with with the other- and pick the right one based on the situation.

In addition to the very elaborate and valid points people have made in this thread, I would like to add that when on the road with conditions such as ours, one should always go with their intuition/gut feeling (fun fact: the gut is actually connected to the brain through the Enteric Nervous System, also referred to, sometimes, as the body's second brain). If you are feeling all enthusiastic, confident and adrenaline-y but your sixth sense tells you to "hol' up" you should probably just cool down for a bit and recalculate.
ADAS and all the cool new kids on the block can't straightaway beat the developed-and-tested-over-hundreds-of-thousands-of-years survival instinct of ours.

All the defensive drivers might arrive late to the party, yet everyone wants to hitch with 'em on their way back.

[mayukh42]

Some of them are of course specific to the car you drive, but here goes in my 120k kms journey so far.

1. Keep your patience on the road and ignore the rogue drivers. Enjoy the drive.
   
2. Pressing clutch is not required to start the engine.
   
3. Engine braking on really steep downward slopes is awesome. 1st gear makes it an automatic if you are not in a hurry.
   
4. While the philosophy is to have upward slope and downward slope gears same in hills, keeping downward gear at 1 less is much better for the brakes.
   
5. Downshifting to 2nd is enough for most speed breakers
   
6. Most impact to fuel economy is frequent gear shifts. Cruising at 2500 rpm is much better.
   
7. Drive the car at least twice a week - your battery will thank you.
   
8. Front fog lamps and rear windscreen wiper are underrated in low visibility.
   
9. It is not as bad as it sounds when the car hits a pothole, but that sound is required to make you feel guilty and be careful next time.
   
10. Keep at 80 kmph on concrete tops without asphalt layer, your tires will thank you.
    
11. Average speed door to door inclusive of breaks is much more important in planning stop-overs, not absolute distance.
    
12. Do not compromise on sleep before a long drive, even if it means lower average speeds due to traffic. Avoid sugary/ energy drinks. Water is the best.
    
13. Maps work best when seen before starting the trip. If stuck on the road asking locals is much better. Pinpoint COCO pump locations 3/4th tank of drive apart, also restaurants and other pitstops.
    
14. Language barrier is overrated. Hindi or English works much better than what one might assume.
    
15. Music system is overrated. A good car connecting with you at every turn of the steering and press of the accelerator/ brake dilutes the requirement of playing songs.

[SlowRider]

A very useful thread. Sharing some things I've learnt over the years.

• There is such a thing as smooth braking. This is especially important if you need to slow down pretty aggressively, say, to negotiate a speed breaker that just appeared when doing 80 on the highway. The speed with which you move your brake pedal is directly proportional to the force your passengers will feel. I used to frequently make the front of the vehicle dive during braking, and this was deeply uncomfortable for the passengers, but I'm trying to reduce it by modulating the brake pedal. It is possible to still stop in time if you depress the brake pedal the same length, but over a slightly larger period. I first noticed this skill when I was in a taxi driven by a veteran driver; he'd get into tight spots, but I was never in position where I was thrown forward with his braking. Of course, none of this smoothness business applies when emergency braking.
• Sometimes you'll come across cars that brake too frequently for trivial reasons. These vehicles are driven by nervous drivers and are very unpredictable. They'll put you at a risk of rear-ending them. Maintain a good gap briefly, and pass them at the first opportunity.
• When driving at night, some drivers are more affected by incoming high beams than others. You can tell by the way those cars pull to the left against an oncoming high beam. They might speed up again after they pass the offending vehicle, but you'll have a smoother drive if you pass them.

After all these years, I'm still in search of the secret to driving on Kerala highways. I drive at night to avoid the worst of the traffic. Most of my driving is in undivided highways, and lengthy convoys of vehicles stuck behind slow moving trucks are the bane of this kind of trip. I often see torquey vehicles making good progress (mostly Innovas, Cretas, plus somehow Force Traveller etc). I drive a Ritz VDi, so it's not like I'm entirely lacking in torque. But there is a pattern I've observed that these vehicles quickly pass such convoys. I don't know if it's just the torque alone, or whether it's more of a risk appetite thing - that those drivers are willing to overtake in gaps that I judge to be sub-optimal. And I wonder how much of a difference it actually makes to the trip duration when you drive like that. Is it really just 10 mins going from Trivandrum to Kochi, or is it more?

[Hispaniola]

Well I will say my learnings are based on bad experiences I have had.

1. Never, never use phone on road, even for maps and if you have to for couple of secs, use it in front of your steering wheel.

2. When half way through a u-turn, dont just look for oncoming traffic, always look at your right, some idiot might be rubbing shoulders with your ABC pillars

3. Overly loud music is recipe for disaster. You should be able to hear a bus/truck/car passing by you with windows rolled up. Also loud music unnecessarily gives you kick and then you want to drive fast.

4. Look for blindspots. There are many. Around the car ahead, on the streets, some kid infront of you on a bike without rear view mirrors, anything. Look for blindspots. Anticipate blind spots.

5. Your car should have parking sensors, period! Does this count?

6. Suger free Chocolate helps when driving at night.

7. Don't forget your specs especially during night time and long journeys.

8. Last one, assume that everyone around you is idiot. And you should be active enough to save yourself from their mistakes.

[G V Krishna]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

-- I am not competing with the other folks either on the road or in life achievements. Let the other guy win.

-- Always drive watching what is happening up ahead - a several tens of meters in case of a city traffic road and 200 to 400 meters ahead in case of a highway.

-- Every junction, every U-Turn, every bridge, every village is a danger point no matter what.

-- Speeds above 70 in the city and above 90/100 on the highway won't get you earlier to your destination in any meaningful way.

-- In North India don't be the first to zoom off at the green signal. Allow time for signal jumpers crossing you at right angles

Very Wise words. Especially on the competing part. I realized this when I was working in EU and a German colleague explained me that traveling @250KMPH on an autobahn is not so great because you'll eventually be overtaken by another super-car traveling at 300 KMPH. So there is no point in competing unless you are on a race track. Also, on the competing in life part, I stopped logging into Facebook 10 years back and LinkedIn ~5 years back. They have become the cesspool of showoff. Forget Instagram.

On the last point, it is not only in North India. But that disease is spread across the country. In Hyderabad at a major junction I learned this in a hard way. I was next to the divider and after one car, waiting for the signal to turn green. The moment signal turned green, the car in front of me turned to the right, & I started to press the accelerator very hard to march ahead. Then comes the stupid biker cutting all the three lanes from far left. His stars and my stars were lucky that he didn't die that day. So from that Day I don't launch off like a rocket from any signal.

Originally Posted by 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.

Truly spoken.There was once a period where I thought I would teach others on traffic rules. Later I realized that it is wise to shut-up and mind my driving.

[Small Bot]

One of my pet peeves is when vehicles around/behind you act like rank idiots inside the city:
- Edging way past the stop line at four way junctions, thereby obstructing folks who want to turn in that perpendicular road. And honking at me when I refuse to do the same when I'm first behind the line.
- Go faster instead of slowing down at Amber signals, and then honk at me when I slow down like a sensible person.
- Stop a few mm behind my car or tailgate me at city speeds, so close that I can clearly see their angry faces in the IRVM
- Overtaking me from the left with great effort only to immediately slow down before me after a few metres and take a right turn.
- Incessant honking because my slower car happened to be in front of them for 5 whole seconds.

I learnt the hard way to tune it all out and let it flow away, while keeping the doors locked and windows rolled up at all times. Yeah whatever, says my mind-voice a lot these days.

[ChandraSekarMN]

Most of them are already covered. From my personal experience, if i had to mention something, it is about the usage of mobile phones. I have felt mobiles are a lot bigger diversions than we think and the impact it can have on driving within City traffic is huge (usage on Highways while driving is a bigger crime by itself). Being in a sales profile, we are expected to respond to client interactions over call, text , mails and that have become more of a habit. Realised that despite experience and (over) confidence, the diversions of few micro seconds is vast that they can easily harm your car, family or you. Not worth it. Have made a habit to respond only after i park or to stop somewhere safe and finish the work for a peaceful drive.

[Cruzn]

Great thread with lots to learn. Below are some of my learnings. Have tried avoiding any repeats:

If idiots want to overtake on the left, let them. Learnt this the hard way when I thought I’d teach some kids on a bike a lesson only for them to squeeze through and scratch my car in the process.

Drive using “X-ray vision” looking 2-3 cars ahead. This will help you anticipate when the car in front of you is going to brake unexpectedly.

In India, there is no such thing as right of way when many drive like their fathers own the road. Hence, wait until the vehicle turning in from the left or right slows down/stops until you can proceed.

Avoid getting into arguments on the road. While some may want to fight you on the spot, there are others who will follow you home. Is quite a scary experience but managed to use some quick thinking to make it an unpleasant experience for the other idiots.

If you see kids/senior citizens/blind people wanting to cross the road, slow down well in advance and signal the same to the vehicles behind you.

[Apex1815]

Following are the things which I learnt gradually with my experience :

1) Use Horn : When overtaking a Truck/Bus at double lane or three lane road always honk for a second. This will alert the other vehicle about your presence and will avoid any surprise lane change by vehicle whom you are overtaking.

2) Give way to others : Whoever appears to be in hurry let them over take.

3) Reasonable speed : Indian Highways are suitable for speeds upto 90~100 Km/hr (You never know when a Splendor or Cow will suddenly jump out of the bushes in between a highway and rest will be the history).

4) No Bluetooth Calls use while driving (Forget about physically holding the phone while driving) : Even though Handsfree Bluetooth remains connected while I drive, I generally take the conversation for not more than 30 seconds.

5) Much lower speed during Rain and during night: During heavy rains or night I prefer to limit the speed upto 75~80 on highways.

6) Observe the movement of adjacent vehicles at Junctions: While approaching junctions and signal I observe other vehicles movement and let them make first move. ( You know, There are idiots who will turn suddenly and may come in your trajectory).

7) Do not let your child sit on your lap while you drive: I cannot understand this way of expressing affection with kid.

8) No overtake at Curves or blind spots : I am from Himachal Pradesh and have seen lot of Punjab / Delhi cars creating nuisance/accidents while attempting overtake at curves.