I absolutely agree with watashi75. Accidents are just that-accidents. You cannot anticipate them. Agree with iceman91 too. Stretching this logic has no end at all. Will have to lock up ourselves at home.

It might be very safe to drive at 60kms/hr on the leftmost lane of a four laned highway. But how feasible it is to do it? There are too many people on road. How many of those behaviour will you predict? Turns out, you are so involved in second guessing people that you forget your own driving
Lane discipline is a big joke. In theory yeah, fastest vehicles are supposed move on outermost lane, but anybody who drives in India on a regular basis knows what happens on road. All you know, a pedestrain will jump suddenly from the median to land on you/your vehicle. Its best to move in the middle lane at moderate speeds if you can handle the traffic on both sides.

Maybe I am wrong, but six years and nearly 60,000kms of city riding has made me believe what I just typed.

[Bubby]

I have read on lot of threads, in where people have said what to do when somebody crahes into you from behind.

These kind of scenarios generally happen on conjested city roads.

There are all kind of cars on roads, right from a M800 to Mercs and BMWs, and each of the cars have different braking abilities.

Always be aware of that you might be driving a car with an ABS and can make stop as and when required, but here you must also remember that the car behind you may not have quality brakes as you have, so that car is bound to hit in case you brake at the last moment.

Tips to avoid this from happening :::

Whenever its possible, always keep distance from the car ahead of you. At times you know that there is red light or a standing traffic and you are approaching a car already waiting, in such a scenario you should gradually decrease the speed rather approaching at high speed and applying brakes when last few meters are left.

This is should be more strictly followed by the hatch drivers, as hatches normally have more height at the back and it blocks the certain extents of visibility for the driver behind you.

When you are moving in Bumper to Bumper scenario always keep a buffer of 1m or so with you, you may end up using it to your benefit if in case u look at a speeding vehicle in your rear view approaching you and you are feeling uncomfortable about it, then it can be used at very last moments of the car nearing you.

[Guna]

Originally Posted by Bubby

Tips to avoid this from happening :::

Whenever its possible, always keep distance from the car ahead of you. At times you know that there is red light or a standing traffic and you are approaching a car already waiting, in such a scenario you should gradually decrease the speed rather approaching at high speed and applying brakes when last few meters are left.

When you are moving in Bumper to Bumper scenario always keep a buffer of 1m or so with you, you may end up using it to your benefit if in case u look at a speeding vehicle in your rear view approaching you and you are feeling uncomfortable about it, then it can be used at very last moments of the car nearing you.

Problem in India is if you keep good distance, you will see at least 3 cars trying to squeeze in to the gap! If you leave enough buffer in bumber to bumper traffic, some two wheeler or threr wheeler will turn their front wheel in to the gap and pressurise you to slow down.
How do you handle this

[sameel]

frankly speaking if you have never crashed its like you arent drving at all

i have had four major crashes i have learned from each of them and am stronger than ever

the latest one is my avatar cool right ?? lolz

on a more serious note. there were two more crashed cars at the service centre not as serious as mine, but the occupants in both the cars are dead!! [ it was informed that no one inside the two cars had seat belts on!!]

get this into all your heads Driving safe is one thing but wearing seat belts is the most important thing. i know i am alive for this reason and my luck and due to the prayers of my loved ones.

SEAT BELTS ARE NOT JUST A SAFETY FEATURE . IT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT!!!

cheers
sameel

[lordofgondor]

Originally Posted by kalpeshc

Guys, just post tips on how to drive safe - paranoidically safe on Indian roads, both city and highway!

My 2 paisas:

1. Keep yourself cool and calm on the road.
2. Avoid being affected by any ego trips while driving. Just think that the offender's a fool/insane. Forgive & forget is the best policy. I know it's easy to say and hard to implement, but give it a shot. It actually works. In case you're the offender, learn from your mistake.
3. Be defensive. Anticipation and the corresponding defensive approach goes a long way in making the drive incident/accident free.
4. Never let your mind wander off the road. When you're traveling with company, don't indulge in what others are doing. Just be one with the machine you're driving & the road condition and you concentration levels will always be good.

That said, fate is something you can't escape. So don't worry too much about what's gonna happen and just enjoy the drive.

[BomBatt]

Originally Posted by Bubby

When you are moving in Bumper to Bumper scenario always keep a buffer of 1m or so with you

In such b2b traffic, when a vehicle in front of me starts moving, I don't start immediately. I wait for 4-5 secs, allow good gap, and move slowly such that the guy behind me cannot speed up. I don't care even if people start honking. And when they overtake and stare at me while passing, I just give them a good

PS: I quoted this in some other thread and just repeating here.

[Tejas@perioimpl]

Dear Bubby,
So today, i'm stationery behind a bus following all safety tips and a bike bangs into me from behind! So back to square one!
Read here: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street...ished-kid.html

[BlackPearl]

Originally Posted by lordofgondor

That said, fate is something you can't escape. So don't worry too much about what's gonna happen and just enjoy the drive.

What about the people who do not believe in fate?

[tantragna]

Lordofgondor, I agree with your 4 points stated above. We need to respect others feelings & forgive their mistakes. Else we will end up doing the same.

Earn respect in turn of respect!

[venuraja]

[quote=Bubby;1099391]Hi Guys,

On 2 lanes highways, if you wish to travel faster then the most always opt to keep your car on the centre white strips on the road, as this would give you enough space on either sides to budge in case of an emergency.


[COLOR=black]I don't agree with you on driving in the centre white strips on the road. [/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]Not at all, because on turnings if you were on centre white strips of the road you might have a headlong collusion. [/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]On straight roads also sometimes we may be talking , or falling in to deep thought particularly during a very long journey, will lead to unavoidable danger, if you are on the centre of the road , just right on the centre of those white markings. [/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]Instead if you are on left side of the road, and by chance, if you have missed out or not noticed a fast approaching car, because of any reason, the approaching car would go his way and your life is saved along with passengers. [/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]Driving right on the centre on white marking lines on a two way high is highly dangerous if the road has an upward inclination and you would not be able to see an approaching vehicle, particularly smaller ones even when the road is a straight one.[/COLOR]
[FONT=Times New Roman][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]If the middle of the road is an yellow coloured line ,then it would prove highly dangerous to drive on the line. If it is double yellow, it will be much more dangerous [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]even to overtake on these two lane road until the yellow double line ends.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][/FONT]I have only 5 year driving experience (Indica v2) , but I want to say that I follow these blind principles.

1) never overtake on yellow double lines
2) keep to the far left as much as possible when on turnings.
3) Never drive close to the divider ,or along with it. In Indian conditions, most of the times you would see heavy bouders or concrete blcoks because of destroyed divider are kept there right on the road perticularly abetting the divider,so avoid driving along the divider in the first place, but if it is required ,then expect sudden appearance of the bouders, so always I give a gap from the divider and drive.

4) Always watch for the slow moving vehicles, in trying to avoid high speed vehicles in the opposite direction,you might run over the slow moving vehicle on the left !! Somtimes when it a fast byke, comparatively slower than your car, you would tend to "forget" the slow moving byke on your left while trying to avoid a fast moving car in the opposte direction.
This temporary gap in memory would lead to serious danger to the byker.

5) I would always tell the person , sitting beside me to stop talking, becauase if some one kept talking , I would not enjoy driving.

6) Whenever I took off my eyes off the road even for a few seconds at that perticular moment only something suddenly comes up. I had once hit a an auto in the city, and the cost was 40,000 rupees for me.

7) On the highways one must avoid using clutch, directly braking is a must.

[Surprise]

Venu, thanks for taking me to this thread. Already Amitoj has mentioned Bubby beaten him on opening such a thread based on "Accident pics" thread. Add me to that list

Originally Posted by DKG

"Always think the other person is an idiot and he is trying to crash into you. Watch out for such idiots and you will always be safe".

Its now 30 years of driving and I consider his advice golden.

Some examples:

On the road if I am passing an auto I assume he will swerve suddenly to make a u-turn blocking my way and hence leave a larger margin while passing

When overtaking a truck I always assume he will swerve like a madman and run me off the road. I always leave that margin of madness for him while passing

When overtaking I always assume some unseen lunatic will dart across out of nowhere straight into my path. I always am prepared for such lunacy while overtaking and try to get a visual fix on someone ahead of the car I am passing that I may not see initially

Always expect a dog/animal by the roadside to dart across just as you cross him

Always expect old men and women (especially in villages) standing by the road to suddenly start walking across.

On a blind turn expect both lanes (oncoming and your lane) to be blocked by jokers overtaking on a turn. You can imagine my horror once when I encountered three trucks side by side overtaking together on a turn!! Thank god I was prepared.

When you can't see a hazard around a corner expect it to BE THERE!!

Exactly my thoughts too & I practice the same to be best possible extent.

But when you drive with your colleague seated in front seat, who has got good driving experience, he will constantly nag you to break such own set of rules.

Example- When I see an Auto waiting at a junction to get into the other side of road, I remove my foot from Accelerator to prepare myself even if he decides to cross down suddenly. Usual comment " Why do you want to slow down, you are actually confusing the auto driver and creating a dilemma for him to quickly get in. If you keep accelerating or push further, he will not change his mind"

I accept that to some extent. Avoiding two extremes is always good. Let us assume that Iam traveling behind a lorry on a single road state highway, obviously I leave enough space to tackle any sudden braking by lorry & want to overtake only when Iam 200% confident. There are chances that I might be actually paining the other driver behind me as its bit difficult to overtake two vehicles in one stretch or follow with patience. Here I horn adequately & overtake even if Iam not sure of the potholes + surface of the road. Sometimes have to close in on left to avoid pothole & I know there is a definite risk on that.

Anway thanks DKG for helping me to reinsists those thoughts.

[Bubby]

Hello All,

I would advice you all on not to switch on ICE as soon as you get into the car.

Try travelling for around 05-10 mins without ICE being switched on, as generally when something mechanically ( moving parts in car ) is about to go kaput it will first makes little noise.

The noise is much low in initially stages, but it increases as the part starts to wear out further.

Its always better to investigate and get the repairs done, rather then getting the whole thing replaced or to get stuck with that particular problem in the middle of the road.

For eg :::

• Brakes making noise becuse of dust in the shoes or disc, in such a case you just get the brakes clean, or else if you are never able to hear it you will end up replacing the kit, or some day the brake may malfunction.
• When you are steering a car, at times the axle make some noise at the very begining of its wearing stage, but if its not looked into at initial stage you will have to replace the whole thing.
• Same goes with all kind of Fans and Belts inside the engine bay.
• The movement of car in itself, all tyres are rotating freely and are not making any noises and all tyres are bolted properly and not loose.

These just a few that I have mentioned there are many other as well.

Hope this helps all fellow T-BHPians.

Cheers.

[watashi75]

Originally Posted by Surprise

Example- When I see an Auto waiting at a junction to get into the other side of road, I remove my foot from Accelerator to prepare myself even if he decides to cross down suddenly. Usual comment " Why do you want to slow down, you are actually confusing the auto driver and creating a dilemma for him to quickly get in. If you keep accelerating or push further, he will not change his mind"

There is some merit to this. On the road, a positive indication is always preferable. In this case it is the prerogative of the auto driver to give a positive indication.

Infact you could actually be putting him in jeopardy. Say, you are on the left lane and slow down to let the auto pass (could be pedestrians too). But you are never sure who is on your right, and if he is slowing down too.

What I do in such situations is change immediately to a lower gear and tap the brakes without reducing the speed. You can also use the horn and flash your lights.

[simran]

Planning your trip helps maintain balance and patience when you know you won't be late. Plan your trip, leave on time. Don't plan travel time aggressively, keep some buffer, and there will be one less reason to be agitated. This applies to long and short trips as well.

On long trips, maintaining high speeds reduced travel time by only 5-10%, but increases stress and you tire faster. Maintain cruising speeds and pay attention to safety, and try to relax - its a much smoother enjoyable ride.

I try to follow a rule to stay within 60% of the capability of the car - this includes top speed, braking distance, visibility restrictions in rain etc.

For getting racing thrills, its better to visit a place that has Go-Karting, or get a car racing game on your computer.