[Glass]

Originally Posted by tifosikrishna

otherwise, i slow down deliberately for two wheelers to ensure that water does not splash.

but as ishaan said, it always happens inadvertently. In such cases, if situation permits, i apologize and explain my helplessness, mostly the other party understands and spares me from expletives.

Indeed - don't we all slow down. That is what I do as well if I realise me having splashed on anyone.

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Interesting. I completely side with the bikers here. Not only because I am one.

Because most people in cars just keep AC on and rip through water (only till the moment they see deep water, then self preservation takes over).

I think you were simply being insensitive to begin with, and then stupid/rash to follow it up. They requested you politely, while you instead threw your attitude and tried to use your BHP. I mean, please consider being considerate.

In India, we just care about ourselves, forget pedestrians, forget two wheelers/cyclists, forget road sense. Its okay, you're one of the brainless herd man.

Just because someone is out there getting half drenched (with clean rain), does NOT give you the right to splash muddy water while driving. If there are puddles, please be considerate. Else road rage awaits.


Interesting. I completely beg to differ. Maybe spending alot of time on two wheels helps me see the difference between considerate and inconsiderate drivers, but its okay. To each, their own.

PS: I sincerely hope the day you use an auto, someone drives across just like you mention, and then you revisit your thread.

I hear you.
But you are making assumptions here. You need not keep hoping for the day since I drive a bike as well and I travel by auto on some rainy days and get water thrown at me as well - but I do not pick a fight with each person on the road who was the cause of the splash. You are also assuming I was ripping while I was not.
If it was a case of splashing on someone, I would be more than happy to apologise, though I still consider that is something one has to be prepared for on the road. The point in question is someone coming from the behind to the side of a car and trying preach of something I consider a natural phenomenon on road, please note I have never said I had splashed on them - I wonder if that is polite enough. And what did you mean by being considerate - stop at each puddle? - I clearly mentioned the road itself was one big puddle. What options do you suggest here?
The point in question which I see you are missing is whether and to what extent is splashing water in one continuous puddle called the road the responsibility of the vehicle driver in a situation where splashing is unavoidable?

India, Me - no generalisations please. You neither know my driving style nor do I believe you have researched enough on all in India to call them inconsiderate. And on the topic of politeness, may I request that you demonstrate the same without being lost in assumptions and hence subsequent rage and personal attacks? Thanks.

Originally Posted by Zappo

Ummm... I will take a different line here. I know its not a very nice feeling to be drenched by a bucketload of dirty pool of water, which probably also has sewer water mixed in it. Yucks. Normally when I see a huge pool and vehicles coming from opposite side, particularly bikers I generally slow down or try to move further away so that my car sprays minimum water on them.

Give those poor bikers some leeway, yeah. They are there on the road most probably not out of choice. That does not mean you should only add some more to their misery. Its about being sensitive towards other fellow road users. That is the minimum we can do. The comfort of being in the closed, safe confines of a car makes me think that I should be a little more thoughtful towards others who are probably in a tougher situation.

Do think about it the next time you are on the road on a rainy day.

Point taken. And I do consider myself one of the more considerate ones on road who keeps a few meters distance for the deadlocks ahead to clear up than to add a little more to it and to let two wheelers pass in peace.

The point I was trying to make is (please see my references to speed in my original post - splashing was unavoidable on that road unless you completely stop): Is it a matter of considerateness not to splash (or) is it a cardinal sin to splash when unavoidable?

[hrag]

The government / corporation is responsible for water collecting in puddles on the road and the subsequent splashing.

Until they get their act together, all of us have to be considerate to each other.

[gd1418]

Well, please don't start another Scorpio bashing argument here after reading my post.

I've several times had to do what Steeroid did and fortunately did not have any 'encounter' till date. As Ishaan said, if it is raining keep your windows rolled up and do so even if it is not raining and there are puddles on the road.

Just because one is keeping the windows rolled down, driving slowly and not giving way would not make me a decent driver; rather a very irritated person.

p.s. Being a biker myself, I slow down if I overtake a biker and there is a puddle on the road.

[Samurai]

I don't think any sane driver would try to splash un-necessarily, but in our indefinitely pothole ridden roads, it is un-avoidable.

I usually drive home for lunch in the doorless Jeep, but last month one day I took the GV instead, it was lightly raining. At one place suddenly a bucket load of puddle water was thrown at driver side windshield and door when a car from opposite site drove through a big pothole filled with water. Since the windows are always up, I didn't a feel a thing. Nor did I blame that driver for carelessness, the real blame should go to the people who laid the road or collected the bribe during it's construction. I just reminded myself to be careful in future while approaching that section in the Jeep.

Recently when I led Lukeskywalker to the sita river white water rafting, it was bright early morning, not a hint of rain. As I was coming off a curve, I see a big puddle on my side of the road. A bus was stopped on the other side picking up passengers. And a guy stood in nice formal dress right next to the puddle. I was around 50-60kmph, just 50ft away from the puddle. The only way to avoid the puddle was go head-on into the bus or run over the guy. I chose the middle path, stayed on the road, went over the puddle by slowing down to 30kmph, yet completely drenched the guy. After passing him I almost stopped thinking of apologizing for the unintended debacle, then thought better of it. The guy might hold me responsible just because I stopped out of goodwill. Standing next to big puddle on a state highway is not a smart thing to do, he is completely responsible for it.

[Glass]

Originally Posted by Samurai

I don't think any sane driver would try to splash un-necessarily, but in our indefinitely pothole ridden roads, it is un-avoidable.

... Nor did I blame that driver for carelessness, the real blame should go to the people who laid the road or collected the bribe during it's construction. I just reminded myself to be careful in future while approaching that section in the Jeep.

...The guy might hold me responsible just because I stopped out of goodwill. Standing next to big puddle on a state highway is not a smart thing to do, he is completely responsible for it.

Well said Samurai. You have aptly summarized what I was struggling to say.

We would all, as normal drivers, try to be as considerate as possible and avoid someone else getting splashed on, but I think it is important for oneself to be prepared to have some splashing on on the road, given the unavoidable. No point in going around fighting with each splasher and preach to them, because it is very unlikely he/she did it on purpose and there would have been very little for him/her to avoid it.

But if it is a rash driver splashing around just for the sake of some mindless fun, he/she is an exception we are not talking about that here.

[Sandeep_K_Ram]

I dont agree that "two-wheelers" should not come out on the road when its raining. Riders are not fools to drench themselves unless there is some urgency. I know from my own experiences that sometimes you are left with no choice but ride in the rain because you have to keep an appointment with somebody, because somebody is waiting for a package to be delivered or because you HAVE to get home on time for something.

In such situations, its inevitable that you have to ride through the rain. But there is not much you can do if other riders/drivers splash water all over you and your bike - either knowingly or unknowingly... it just happens all the time.

BUT - when I am driving my car and it starts to rain, I take care to ensure that I dont run over puddles or standing water - especially at the side of the roads or near the footpath at highspeed so that the water is not splashed over innocent bystanders,pedestrians and other two wheelers or vehicles. Its basic courtesy. Many people brace themselves for the splash as I near a puddle but appreciate it when they see me slow down.

You might ask whats the point in it ? A two wheeler will get drenched in the rain anyway. Well getting drenched by rain is one thing. Forced to get wet in the dirty water coming off the puddles as another vehicle runs over it is not the same.

If you put yourself in the other persons shoes you will see their perspective also. On more than one occasion, despite being careful people have given me a glare,stare , or told me *** I am doing because I just splashed water all over them. I smile , wave my hand and say sorry if I have done it without knowing but if it was beyond my control I would just tell them sorry - I couldn't see it and wave my hand and usually thats the end of it.

But 2 wheelers cant really expect all the four wheelers or others to be extra careful all the time when it rains because everybody is in a hurry. Its just a matter of common sense not to splash water in a very obvious situation like running over a puddle when someone is standing or riding right next to it.

While we are talking puddles - there is also the issue of spray coming off the tyres - and this comes from all vehicles - autos,bikes,cars and buses despite the mud flap and its unavoidable. But I reserve a lot of advice for those idiots who run without their mudflaps in the rain ...

[praveen_v]

There is one more problem in the rain if you are travelling by bike. Getting sprayed of muddy water from the rear wheels of the bike in front. I've had many bad experiences of getting my shirts dotted with fine mud droplets from the water sprayed by the bike in front. Pulsars are pretty notorious in this due to their non-existant mud-guards for the rear wheels. If left to dry, the stains become tough to remove and I had to discard two good shirts because of this.

Who is to blame?? I guess it's the govt for not even maintaining roads with proper drainage systems.

[Glass]

Originally Posted by praveen_v

There is one more problem in the rain if you are travelling by bike. Getting sprayed of muddy water from the rear wheels of the bike in front. I've had many bad experiences of getting my shirts dotted with fine mud droplets from the water sprayed by the bike in front. Pulsars are pretty notorious in this due to their non-existant mud-guards for the rear wheels. If left to dry, the stains become tough to remove and I had to discard two good shirts because of this.

Worse for a car. The mud and fine sand falling on the windshield are very capable of producing scratches with the wipers running, right?

[aaggoswami]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Because most people in cars just keep AC on and rip through water (only till the moment they see deep water, then self preservation takes over).

Yes most of them are insensitive, but there are some really sensitive one. I encounter them also. They would just slow down, and on some narrow roads, they also let left wheels drop out into mud to make way for other. This breed is very small in number, but does exist.

For regular commuting like going to college,I use bike.
But for other work like bringing some thing for home, visiting some relative and family frineds, I use Maruti 800. I do slow down, but in a limit.

Originally Posted by Zappo

Ummm... I will take a different line here. I know its not a very nice feeling to be drenched by a bucketload of dirty pool of water, which probably also has sewer water mixed in it. Yucks. Normally when I see a huge pool and vehicles coming from opposite side, particularly bikers I generally slow down or try to move further away so that my car sprays minimum water on them.

Give those poor bikers some leeway, yeah. They are there on the road most probably not out of choice. That does not mean you should only add some more to their misery. Its about being sensitive towards other fellow road users. That is the minimum we can do. The comfort of being in the closed, safe confines of a car makes me think that I should be a little more thoughtful towards others who are probably in a tougher situation.

Do think about it the next time you are on the road on a rainy day.

There is a certani limit to this. If everytime you slow down, the journey time will increase too much. This is from a someone whose regular commute is a bike.

Originally Posted by hrag

The government / corporation is responsible for water collecting in puddles on the road and the subsequent splashing.

Until they get their act together, all of us have to be considerate to each other.

Yes, the government is responsible for this. On certain roads in my city, a couple of inches of rain and rain water is accumulated on the road.

Originally Posted by praveen_v

There is one more problem in the rain if you are travelling by bike. Getting sprayed of muddy water from the rear wheels of the bike in front. I've had many bad experiences of getting my shirts dotted with fine mud droplets from the water sprayed by the bike in front. Pulsars are pretty notorious in this due to their non-existant mud-guards for the rear wheels. If left to dry, the stains become tough to remove and I had to discard two good shirts because of this.

Who is to blame?? I guess it's the govt for not even maintaining roads with proper drainage systems.

Almost all Hero Honda bikes have poorly designed rear mud flaps. Pulsars from Bajaj stable are worst. But more than that, the water getting splashed from the front wheels is more of concern. When some follows me back to justify that its my mistake why they are drenched, I take the water on the road at more speed. This results me in getting drenched also.

[Sankar]

Whenever i'm out on the roads when it is raining i always make it a point to be considerate and try my best not to splash water on anyone be it other two wheelers, pedestrians, autos or even cars. While overtaking other vehicles especially autos and two wheelers i will be extra careful to look out for any puddles and abort the overtaking maneuver if it's a possible splash. I ride a two wheeler btw.

[normally_crazy]

There is no conclusion to the problem. We will be going round and round in circles.

What I feel is - as the bigger vehicle drivers - we in cars have to be responsible enough not to splash water on pedestrians, 2 wheelers.

[dadu]

IMO, irrespective of two/ four wheeler,

One, whoever doesnt want to get wet should keep a distance from the other vehicle knowing well that the stranded water will get spalshed.

Two, people should not drive that fast during this time.

[HappyWheels]

Originally Posted by iraghava

My question to all these people is, when you can see it's raining & there is water collected on the road/puddles, why don't you guys drive with the windows up so that other vehicles can't splash you??...

True; if one is not taking proper care of himself/herself then how can you expect the other person to?

Originally Posted by Steeroid

Same thing happened to me during the last TBHP drive to Vagamon - there was this Accent that was hogging the road, refusing to let me pass. Finally we muscled our way through and ended up splashing him with rainwater...and had an interesting encounter on the road.

Read about it -

Originally Posted by Samurai

... The guy might hold me responsible just because I stopped out of goodwill. Standing next to big puddle on a state highway is not a smart thing to do, he is completely responsible for it.

He surely will. What was he thinking, all vehicle was slow down so as not to splash him, on a highway???

Originally Posted by dadu

...One, whoever doesnt want to get wet should keep a distance from the other vehicle knowing well that the stranded water will get spalshed.

Two, people should not drive that fast during this time.

Valid points. Keeping distance is the right approach. But how many follow that? People jump into the smallest space available on road!

The worst are those roads that have dividers; the water is usually logged near them ie on the high speed lane. So a vehicle going at good speed at the other side ends up splashing water on your vehicle on this side.

[Lukeskywalker]

@ Samurai,

The only way to avoid the puddle was go head-on into the bus or run over the guy. I chose the middle path, stayed on the road, went over the puddle by slowing down to 30kmph, yet completely drenched the guy. After passing him I almost stopped thinking of apologizing for the unintended debacle,

I was just thinking of the incident while reading this thread. I even commented on how bad you were feeling about the whole thing .

[Lukeskywalker]

This thread reminds me of a rather funny incident which happened about 6 years ago.
I was driving my friend's Fiat 1100, which was an ancient 1969 model, it had a huge hole in the floor on the driver's side right where the pedals are and where one rests feet.
There were four of us, headed to Simla from Chail, I hit a pothole filled with water and the water from the puddle splashed through the hole and hit my friend who was sitting in the rear left seat bang on his face drenching him.
He did not know what happened as the windows were rolled up because of the rain and he assumed his car was watertight.