The new highways..shudder

tsk1979 · 14th February 2005, 23:39

Well its over 2 years old

. And yes now i watch those speeds. My motto is not to go faster than i can see!

zenx · 16th February 2005, 09:40

yeah - v scary. in general 100+ is fine only if u can clearly see for upto 200-250 mts ahead of you - else immediately drop speed. Driving need not always be f1 - and if u're always pushing the envelope once in a while you'll tend to go over it - look at the f1s - familiar circuits, gr8 handling cars and they still go into the wall or if lucky onto the grass.
Stay under your max capabilities and at all times be alert to an 'exit strategy' for imagined errors in judgement/design.
To an extent I'd say this keeps Indian drivers awake on the roads (yes drivers in arizona hv been known to doze off!!)

lamborghini · 19th February 2005, 10:29

scary man
real scary
glad you are safe

Deeps · 19th February 2005, 17:35

Your incident reminds me of a scary drive that i had - but nowhere near as bad as yours though. Was on a highway coming to delhi (can't remember from where) at about 11.30 in the night in a Santro with three ple including me. Was cruising at 80 enjoying the music. I was approaching a blind right hand turn that could be taken at 130 easily. Was on the righ lane taking the turn. As soon as the curve straightened. A traffic cop jumped out of his post with a red LED stick about 100m in front. Man, that was scary. Had to jump on the brakes and eventually stopped the car, with some front wheels locking, in a straightline a good 4 metres from the cop. When i looked around i saw that the place was actually a very wide 4 way intersection. There were no markings or an traffic light. This wasn't the end though. The same thing happened twice again.

The road looked quite tempting and wanted to push the car harder. But thankfully the santro had misaligned front wheels which didn't allow me to do more than 80. So potentially, 3 traffic cops were saved from possible death because a Santro didn't have aligned front wheels. Scary to imagine what would've happened if the Santro did have perfectly aligned wheels.

The moral of the story is: Keep your speed in check no matter how tempting your car and road is.

askulkarni · 14th March 2005, 15:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by tsk1979

My motto is not to go faster than i can see!

I totally agree with this quote for India. But you would get honked if you do this outside !!

Scuderia · 15th March 2005, 23:50

hey ppl

there are a coupla design flaws on the expressway .. but they are infact enhanced by some beautifully indisciplined driving by the ppl travellin on 'em

was on the expressway, cpla years ago. It was dark, so no light on the same, n especially 2-3 years ago, when the late evening traffic on the expressway used to be sparse.

Was in the 1st lane, going at 100 or less. Suddenly, i see a local jeep , full of villagers, taking a REVERSE on the 1st lane!!!

luckily , cud wserve off as was not too fast

Need i say anything else on discipline, or even basic driving common sense??

askulkarni · 16th March 2005, 11:41

I think there is one big mistake that can be easily corrected regarding the expressway. There are NO lane bifurcators. Those flashy reflector thingies (not sure what they are called) are used only at the sides of the roads and none in between to demarcate the lanes.

These things are an absolute gem when you are driving in poor visibility conditions. Once I got caught in such a siutation abroad in a fast traffic with zero visibility after 5 feet on a 65mph zone. The only way I could drive was using these for guidance. Especially at night they make the road look like a fully lit runway.

While driving from Mumbai to Pune late at night with pouring rain the white painted markers are very poorly visible and I could see most people including myself were having difficulty in following lane discipline. And THAT is a disaster waiting to happen.

ajmat · 16th March 2005, 11:58

I think that highways should be "high" - keep them well above ground level so that only wheeled vehcles can access - villagers do not walk on them

normally_crazy · 16th March 2005, 12:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by ajmat

I think that highways should be "high" - keep them well above ground level so that only wheeled vehcles can access - villagers do not walk on them

Spot on Ajmat !!

i have never understood why the expressways and highways have to pass thru villages and towns. even if they are there should be proper fencing and stuff to keep the people out !

i have been thinking that if there is a long flyover from suman nagar to anushakti nagar - it would probably solve the traffic jams and chaos from sion to chembur !!

cheers

revtech · 31st March 2005, 03:38

if im not mistaken isnt the sion flyover one way?? every time i pass by that i wonder why they didnt make it a two way its helped so much but why the one way.dude even if the roads were prop fenced those gao vallas arent educated theyll jump the fences and still be a menace to traffic

14th February 2005, 23:39	#16
tsk1979 Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 23,695 Thanked: 23,484 Times View My Garage	Well its over 2 years old . And yes now i watch those speeds. My motto is not to go faster than i can see!
	() Thanks

16th February 2005, 09:40	#17
zenx Senior - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,164 Thanked: 162 Times View My Garage	yeah - v scary. in general 100+ is fine only if u can clearly see for upto 200-250 mts ahead of you - else immediately drop speed. Driving need not always be f1 - and if u're always pushing the envelope once in a while you'll tend to go over it - look at the f1s - familiar circuits, gr8 handling cars and they still go into the wall or if lucky onto the grass. Stay under your max capabilities and at all times be alert to an 'exit strategy' for imagined errors in judgement/design. To an extent I'd say this keeps Indian drivers awake on the roads (yes drivers in arizona hv been known to doze off!!)
	() Thanks

19th February 2005, 10:29	#18
lamborghini Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Mumbai Posts: 6,166 Thanked: 5,937 Times View My Garage	scary man real scary glad you are safe
	() Thanks

19th February 2005, 17:35	#19
Deeps Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2004 Location: Delhi/Noida Posts: 1,119 Thanked: 170 Times	Your incident reminds me of a scary drive that i had - but nowhere near as bad as yours though. Was on a highway coming to delhi (can't remember from where) at about 11.30 in the night in a Santro with three ple including me. Was cruising at 80 enjoying the music. I was approaching a blind right hand turn that could be taken at 130 easily. Was on the righ lane taking the turn. As soon as the curve straightened. A traffic cop jumped out of his post with a red LED stick about 100m in front. Man, that was scary. Had to jump on the brakes and eventually stopped the car, with some front wheels locking, in a straightline a good 4 metres from the cop. When i looked around i saw that the place was actually a very wide 4 way intersection. There were no markings or an traffic light. This wasn't the end though. The same thing happened twice again. The road looked quite tempting and wanted to push the car harder. But thankfully the santro had misaligned front wheels which didn't allow me to do more than 80. So potentially, 3 traffic cops were saved from possible death because a Santro didn't have aligned front wheels. Scary to imagine what would've happened if the Santro did have perfectly aligned wheels. The moral of the story is: Keep your speed in check no matter how tempting your car and road is.
	() Thanks

15th March 2005, 23:50	#21
Scuderia BHPian Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Mumbai Posts: 127 Thanked: 8 Times	disciplined driving is what is reqd hey ppl there are a coupla design flaws on the expressway .. but they are infact enhanced by some beautifully indisciplined driving by the ppl travellin on 'em was on the expressway, cpla years ago. It was dark, so no light on the same, n especially 2-3 years ago, when the late evening traffic on the expressway used to be sparse. Was in the 1st lane, going at 100 or less. Suddenly, i see a local jeep , full of villagers, taking a REVERSE on the 1st lane!!! luckily , cud wserve off as was not too fast Need i say anything else on discipline, or even basic driving common sense??
	() Thanks

16th March 2005, 11:41	#22
askulkarni Newbie Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Pune Posts: 14 Thanked: 0 Times	I think there is one big mistake that can be easily corrected regarding the expressway. There are NO lane bifurcators. Those flashy reflector thingies (not sure what they are called) are used only at the sides of the roads and none in between to demarcate the lanes. These things are an absolute gem when you are driving in poor visibility conditions. Once I got caught in such a siutation abroad in a fast traffic with zero visibility after 5 feet on a 65mph zone. The only way I could drive was using these for guidance. Especially at night they make the road look like a fully lit runway. While driving from Mumbai to Pune late at night with pouring rain the white painted markers are very poorly visible and I could see most people including myself were having difficulty in following lane discipline. And THAT is a disaster waiting to happen.
	() Thanks

16th March 2005, 11:58	#23
ajmat Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Bangalore Posts: 15,188 Thanked: 31,100 Times View My Garage	I think that highways should be "high" - keep them well above ground level so that only wheeled vehcles can access - villagers do not walk on them
	() Thanks

31st March 2005, 03:38	#25
revtech Senior - BHPian Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Bombay Posts: 1,992 Thanked: 39 Times View My Garage	if im not mistaken isnt the sion flyover one way?? every time i pass by that i wonder why they didnt make it a two way its helped so much but why the one way.dude even if the roads were prop fenced those gao vallas arent educated theyll jump the fences and still be a menace to traffic
	() Thanks