[narayan]

Originally Posted by devnull

Hi,

So I braked and gradually came to a halt (much to the shock of the waiting 2-wheelers). But the Indicab behind me wasn't expecting this and thought I too will go through.

if u braked gradually , its a clear case of the indicab guy not watching wats happening in front of him. so even if it was not a signal this guy would anyway have a high chance of rear ending somebody

so its not ur fault to have stopped at the red light

as such, if there is no traffic, makes sense to take a good view on all sides and then proceed.

[FERRO]

Originally Posted by GTO

The question is not whether you should stop at a red light or not; this could have happened at a regular junction in the late night too. The question is : How to drive defensively and avoid the cab from rear-ending you? Simple....watch your mirrors when coming to a halt and if required, switch lanes and stop.

Can we please know what is defensive driving and more similar tips please.

[Ho0ligaN]

Originally Posted by devnull

But the Indicab behind me wasn't expecting this and thought I too will go through. As I came to a halt I glanced in the left RVM and my heart skipped a beat. The Indicab was losing it trying to brake and decided to steer away rather. And thankfully, he finally made it and was just an inch away from my car's rear as he passed through, glaring at me.

Been in that situation multiple times, only difference is I'm on my bike. after the first couple of times I make sure to put my hand up and show the stopping handsign and make sure that I stop right next to the curb and not in the middle, so that speeding law signal breakers can speed through the junction.

And sadly this happens during day time also, like when the signal has *just* turned red, these indicab buggers expect others to break the signal so that they can break the signal as well.

[LLL]

I typically slow down, wait to see if there is anyone around. if no one, then i move on else i stop.

I also try to stop in the leftmost lane leaving the right lanes for morons who want to jump the light.

[dadu]

You stole my thoughts, same here, but needs judgement to take that decision, no straightforward rule for this, have a look at the traffic around the junction first.

Originally Posted by LLL

I typically slow down, wait to see if there is anyone around. if no one, then i move on else i stop.

I also try to stop in the leftmost lane leaving the right lanes for morons who want to jump the light.

[for_cars1]

Always stick to the traffic rules, but be aware of two types of risks in these late-night or early-morning scenarios

1. When your signal is RED and you decide to stop:
Risk of getting rear-ended who don't expect that you are going to stop

If you decide to stop, better not stop abruptly, stop gradually as mentioned in previous posts and stop on the left

2. When your signal is GREEN and you decide to cross:
Risk of getting hit by those who have ignored their RED signal.

When you're crossing when its GREEN, better flash lights / honk to others criss-crossing aware of your presence/intention.

Cheers,

[devnull]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I think, to summarize, what we need to do is to follow the rules with some practicality i.e. stop when it is red but take all the steps possible to avoid getting rear ended - stay to the left most lane, brake gradually, raise hand if possible.

[gowda79]

Hey the same thing happened in the Canada F1 Race.

The Indicab driver thought himself to be Hamilton and speeded even by seeing the Red Signal in the Pit Lane and bumped on to Raikonnen's car.

And in your case you were Robert Kubica who was next to Raikonnen unhurt and safely won the race.

Keep Driving and Safe Driving

[VJ_MAVRICK]

Well, i generally don't like jumping signals and if its empty even with a red signal on, i wait for it to turn green and ofcourse making sure i am in the left with my hazard lights on for those morons who might rear end thinking that "OH Yea! Its empty and i do have the right of way" and it happens more often here in Bangalore.

Initially a frustrating and then a funny and blessing in disguise incident happened to me @ Ejipura signal stop some time back.

Me: Stalled as it was a red with ofcourse no traffic on other sides as well @ 10:00PM and i was along a row of cars who halted.

Scorpio: This maniacal guy keeps honking forcing me to move and jump and so does an esteem guy behind a Getz.

We both dont relent and then after its turns green both the scorpio and the esteem guy got pissed off @ us and tried to cut us through awkwardly in our line of ride and bang each other ahead of both of us.

We could not help laughing @ those morons.Why cant people respect the signal stops and god forbid such habits may kill someone innocent who is abiding rules.

[devnull]

Originally Posted by VJ_MAVRICK

We both dont relent and then after its turns green both the scorpio and the esteem guy got pissed off @ us and tried to cut us through awkwardly in our line of ride and bang each other ahead of both of us.

Oh man, how I wish I get to witness something like that. These morons should pay. Unfortunately their car might take the brunt, but some misery should be added to their lives.

[VJ_MAVRICK]

People generally get into road rage and this quite often happens mostly @ signal stops and its really sad that for mistakes by such morons others have to pay for it.
Individually too people riding need to follow rules and abide by them which many overlook and have an attitude thinking why should I do? when others are not following and damn such attitudes definitely will result in something drastic which might be irreversible and also too late.

[dkhatau]

The best thing in such a scenario is to roll down your window and indicate with your hand that you will be slowing down for the red light. It is really effective as the driver behind will slow down or change lanes if he doesn,t want to slow down. I always do that when i see a car behind me is coming at a speed. Anyways it is always good to observe traffic discipline it helps.

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by FERRO

Can we please know what is defensive driving and more similar tips please.

In a few words, defensive driving would mean driving with the assumption that everyone out there on the road is a potential moron who could make mistakes and so drive keeping that in mind. So you drive defensively giving room for error of others.

A few examples :

1. A car is parked on the left side of the road. You are approaching it from behind on a bike. Always assume that the guy will suddenly open the RHS door(s), without looking out for people coming from behind. So, as you approach the car, move a little away from his car (and door length), so that he won;t swipe you with his door. I know someone who got swiped like this and a heavy vehicle went over him, killing him instantly. So, this is real serious.

2. You are approaching a free-left turn. Instead of breezing through the turn at high speed (since it is logically free left), assume that some moron might be parked there wrongly and out of your area of vision and you could bang into him. So, inspite of being a free-left, slow down, be cautious and take the turn.

So, basically give room for error of others and you would be doing defensive driving.

Apart from keeping you out of trouble/accidents, isn;t it a good feeling to be driving around thinking of everyone else as morons ? Thats the bonus.

[VJ_MAVRICK]

Originally Posted by dkhatau

The best thing in such a scenario is to roll down your window and indicate with your hand that you will be slowing down for the red light. It is really effective as the driver behind will slow down or change lanes if he doesn,t want to slow down. I always do that when i see a car behind me is coming at a speed. Anyways it is always good to observe traffic discipline it helps.

Yea ! ,though this is useful during the day and of course i too and many others too do it. How about @ night? The best way is to fall into a habit of keeping in the slow left lane with your hazard lights on, for morons coming behind you and who do not care a damn about these signal stops. Thats what i generally do and folks around pass by looking perplexed and how i wish they knew why and what i was doing.

[Prasidhi]

Also one more thing, In places like Bangalore, people do often alight from buses. So if a bus has stopped on the right hand side of the road, expect a passenger to alight from the bus irrespective of the traffic flowing on the left side of the bus.

One need to atleast "try to" drive expecting somebody would jump from the bus.

As in one of the traffice weeks, we had a question, what would you do if suddenly a ball falls in front of you when driving.

Answer was, "Expect a kid to follow the ball, so slow down".