[Aditya]

Driving without any lights and cutting lanes like a lunatic is far more dangerous than driving at 10km/h over the speed limit. Autorickshaws should be off the road. They're just too dangerous.

Originally Posted by Jaggu

Wow another person noticed it!! Its true moment you see south indian plate you are 90% ensure you will have to take the LT side for overtaking

I dont bother flashing lights or honking at people who are crawling in the right side lane. i gave up years ago. these days, the 4 lane aluva chertala highway has become a lot more disciplined, and people actually move to the left side of the road to let you pass(this is after a gap of 4 yrs when i was abroad) so things are getting better.

BUT- auto drivers are idiots. thats because of faulty genetics in the vegetables their ancestors bred with.
its never the auto driver's fault.


Fine them heavy with proper chalans, thats the only way things will improve.

100$ Tab is not taken easy by Americans Nor Rs 1000 by Indians, but then we need to have highly paid cops in first place

I dont think the cops need to be highly paid, i think they should take more bribes. when you pay heavy bribes, you will automatically follow the rules to avoid the financial penalty.hit the auto driver where it hurts the most, his paycheck. let the cop improve his lifestyle, that will be a better result.

Originally Posted by sreenivass

How does one manage to look for a pedestrian jumping in the middle showing stop, an auto rick taking a U from left/ middle lane and a biker cutting in front and braking. I can not see how one manages this many views with a pair of eyes.
Its difficult if you try to focus on all the dangers at the same time. dont fix your vision on one threat.look staright ahead, use the periphery of your field of vision to watch the ORVMs, if there is a hazard, glance at it,correct your course, then forget about it. and hope for the best. if there is more than you can handle, get out of there, or hug the left lane, that way, you dont have to defend all sides.

I think there is a lot of luck element in Indian traffic, the only best option is to pray as hard as one can
true there is a lot of luck involved in driving in india, but praying is not the only option, it is an important option

One of the basic lessons in driving is to look at the path, not objects in the way. With the kind of suddenness of manoeuvres some of the folks make, its very hard to deal with one vehicle in the way, It would not be possible to drive with many such folks around the vehicle.
that is true, one maniac near you is enough to cause trouble, if you have 2 or 3 around, then its a mess. you could let the 3 go in front and watch them from behind, tangling with each other, its good fun. I do it all the time.


Any practical suggestions are welcome (the scenario may be slightly better on highways, but city traffic sucks whatever indian city it is).

dont give up on driving in india. its the most fun you can have, ever!
i missed it so bad when i was using the motorways of britain. i hated them. i love our roads, and I love hating the autos, and i love india.

[PatchyBoy]

Guys,

Agreed that the auto driver did not have lights, no uniform and made an extremely dangerous move in the traffic leading to an almost 5 car pile up. I am surprised that many members here question "Who follows the law anyway?"

If YOU, educated and more knowledgable than the auto driver cannot be bothered to follow rules, do you expect the poorly educated and ill-trained guy to follow them?

Two wrongs do not make a right, does it?

In an other thread, I mooted an idea of organizing a traffic awareness drive on 26th Jan. The response has been far from enthusiastic, to say the least.

If we, people who are much more better positioned to follow the rules do not want to do so, then who will?

I have seen the cab drivers working in my company. The poor guy has to drive as much as 400 kms a day in city traffic and he also is expected to maintain timings to get the staff to work on time. So what does he do?

In my initial days of joining the company, I was using one of these cabs. When I found that travelling in these cabs is pretty risky, I did what any sensible person would do. I went and bought me a bike, which I use to commute to work.

While we cannot bring about a change in the driving style of these autos and cabs overnight, I am sure we can make a difference by changing what is in our power - OURSELVES.

Now imagine this scenario -

The auto cut across 4 lanes at 45 degrees without head or tail lamps and without looking behind. As this happened a few meters from the traffic signals, I feel that the cars involved were:

1. Quick shifting and accelerating too fast.
2. The author of this post should have been in a better position to spot the Auto, before the Indica guy.
3. If these cars were acclerating gradually, then they would have been travelling at 50 - 55 kmph, not 70 and in a better position to stop, without having to screech to a halt.

First we blame the auto for bad driving skills. Then we blame the cops for not enforcing the law. Then we blame the government for not paying the cops enough. Then we blame other road users for being bad drivers. But when it comes to ourselves, we just shrug our shoulders and say "I was 10 km over the speed limit, So what?", or "Nobody follows the rules. Why should I?"

I strongly believe that nobody, but nobody, is to blame for this state of our country, but ourselves.

So, let us stop lamenting and do something to change all of this.

How many of you are game? How many of you are willing to pledge never to break a rule willingly? How many of you are willing to own up and say "Sorry officer. I was speeding. I will pay the fine." rather than trying to get away by bribing the cops? When all of these are possible from within and we do not care to change, why complain about the system?

Cheers,
Rajan

[druva]

Yes, if we educated dont initiate change.. things will get worse only.
Can we do something about the educated people not following rules?

1. I try to drive without honking! (Trust me.. I honk ONLY to yell and NOT to clear my way)
2. I try to give way to crossing pedestrians.
3. I try to yield to turning vehicles.

Guess what? I still have dents in my car. I still dread that someone will jump before my car. I still cuss about the drivers cutting before me.

Still that is not an excuse NOT to build the awareness amongst road users about defensive driving and lane principles. How do we go about this?

[druva]

Thinking about my previous post, didnt want to sound critical of the starter of the post. After all accident is a horrendous experience, I hope we all live to learn from it.

@Mods: Can you combine this with my previous post? Also appreciate if a definitive thread on 'Team-BHP Initiatives for Road Safety' be started.

[apachelongbow]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

and how many people stick to the speed limits? the author broke the speed limit so he is at fault? what about you? do you stick to the 40kmph road limits and the 80kmph road limits?

For your information I stick to the speed limits. I see no harm in that, at worst I arrive at my destination max 5 mins late, but I am driving sedately and without any tensions of major accidents etc.

[apachelongbow]

Originally Posted by normally_crazy

@ apache

So I broke the speed limit by 10 kmph - I am guilty of that and what did the auto driver do ?

Simply innocently drove in a 45 degree angle at 15 kmph from the slow left most lane to the overtaking lane when there were cars coming at 60 kmph in a straight line (which is how vehicles are to be driven IMO). Was that not breaking the law ?Or are the guys who were driving straight on the highway inside their lane markers wrong ?

Oh I forgot - poor guy was without headlamps and tail lights - isn't that the basic requirements of driving a vehicle ?

Oh and I forgot to tell you he wasn't wearing his uniform - which is ok ? There is a law for that but I guess it does not apply to auto drivers.

No prbs mate, blame the auto driver. I never said he is right, but also that doesnt make you completely right either. Lets forget the speed limit issue for a moment. At the speed you were travelling (above limit or not), I trust u were not able to decelerate to a stop quickly enough. There is something known as defensive driving technique, which basically means treat all other road users as morons, who could do anything, and hence drive safe, to compensate for their idioticity. Not preaching you at all, and I am really sorry at your accident.