[Guna]

Originally Posted by anujmishra

I certainly do not agree with you theory. There are more than 90 percent man made accident and it is deliberate and it can be avoided. Thing is to change attitude. 10 percent accident can be accident. .

I completely agree.
Most of he accidents occur due to negligent or rash driving. key is to practice 'defensive driving' and probability of accidents would drastically coming down. Many accidents happen becasue nobody wants to 'give way' and tries to overpower the other. Many rash drivers get away without problem beacuse others slow down/give way and accomodate but they may not be lucky all the time.

[anujmishra]

Originally Posted by VJ_MAVRICK

@anujmishra: I did not understand what you wanted to say here

"Also let me know one thing, why child is not allowed to drive on road in any country? 9 - 18 years."

It just mean that kids various driving skills are not developed. He cannot anticipate the things while driving. I have heard many times children of age 12 - 15 years drive cars and end with crash. Once it happened in Nagpur two kids 12 year and 14 year of age sneak with his father's zen for driving in the wee hours and crashed in truck. Result both died.
This news came in TOI and I personally saw the accident spot in the year 2005.

[sj_koova]

Sticking to line is absolutely not possible on Indian highways if you want to maintain a decent speed. I often drive home (around 550km one way) and most of the time I will be engaged with overtaking other vehicles. The problem in India is that nobody wants to give way and you end up driving criss-cross.
I usually follow the suggestion of driving on the white line just to be safe.

[Bubby]

Originally Posted by Tejas@perioimpl

I'd rather change this thread title to "This is how i am going to drive, other's note and beware, since i am accident free for a long time and don't spoil my statistics".

Tejas, this hasnt brought an smile on my face.

I am trying to help people with my and other experienced drivers, experience, there is a reason to it on why such drivers have not met accidents or have avoided them.

Learn to give credit to all such drivers and i bet you wont loose anything, you would just gain.

What we are sharing with you all are practical tips that we have been following through out as drivers.

When you are on road for 14 years, you cant say that this guy is lucky and thats why he hasnt met an accident, but let me ask you a question can somebody be lucky for a stretch of more then 3 lakh kms on a road. Think about it when you are next time on the drivers seat.

[sameel]

hey i used to drive from 16 onwards. i never crashed then i crashed three weeks back pretty badly!!

there is nothing like that. it depends on the way they use it. i never let my ego control my car.

be decent to yourself respect your car. rest will be fine.

i have my cousins driving they are just 13 years old. but they are real decent because they know i will ground them if they are careless . lolz.

the education part is very necessary

[VJ_MAVRICK]

Originally Posted by sameel

hey i used to drive from 16 onwards. i never crashed then i crashed three weeks back pretty badly!!

there is nothing like that. it depends on the way they use it. i never let my ego control my car.

be decent to yourself respect your car. rest will be fine.

i have my cousins driving they are just 13 years old. but they are real decent because they know i will ground them if they are careless . lolz.

the education part is very necessary

Kids can drive Gocarts in a controlled environment but certainly not on public roads. I will never advocate it though they may be good drivers and also might have control, but a law is a law and one must follow not only for one's safety but also for others as well.

Its just my opinion and no flames please
cheers:

[vikram_d]

Lane driving, the way I do it.

On a 2 lane/side highway, at my typical cruising speed of 100 - 120 kmph I will stick to the left lane. The right lane, according to me on a highway is an overtaking lane. Anything above 120 kmph I will be driving right over the white line and keeping it in the middle of car's width at all times.

On a 3 lane/side (or more) expressway, I will just stick to the middle lane irrespective of what speeds I do.

@VJ_Maverick - I agree with you completely. When I was teaching my 17 year old cousin brother how to drive I would take him to an under construction private layout and teach him there. Never on public roads even though he had his learner's license. Once he was good enough I got him out on to public roads and within a month he had his permanent driving license.

[DKG]

The likelihood of an accident is usually directly proportional to the chances you take while driving. Some aspects of driving I personally find useful in staying accident free/stress free.

Follow Traffic rules/signs

Traffic rules (not an absolute, can always be improved) are generally a socially accepted norm of behaviour designed to reduce the likelihood of an accident. You following the rules is one half of the job done. There's still others on the road who are to follow the same rules.

Everytime a person veers from following the traffic rules he increases the likelihood of causing an accident

Anticipation

We live in an imperfect world. There's always someone out there who will break from following traffic rules and becomes a hazard. Anticipating problems while driving is a huge huge element in avoiding accidents and generally driving stress free.

When I started driving my Dad gave me this advice.

"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!!

Hope you guys get the drift. Through alert anticipation and following traffic rules you can dramatically reduce the likelihood of accidents.

BTW in case some of you are wondering I don't drive like some paranoid lunatic Just that all of the above allows me to be relaxed and enjoy the drive.

Safe driving

[kalpeshc]

I started reading this thread expecting some good safe driving tips, but this thread is all about arguing whether to drive in the center lane or not!

The title is completely misleading.

@Bubby - you sure need to accessorize your car with an extra 'nimbu-mirchi' from now on. Please do not keep mentioning about your long run without an accident - even though i am happy about it - as we say 'nazar lag jaayegi'

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

PS: Finally DKG has actually started posting some good tips.

[DKG]

I noticed some discussion on lane usage. From my experience driving abroad and here in India its probably fair to say that the generally accepted norms on lane use across the world are:

Leave the inner lane for faster overtaking traffic.

Use the middle lanes for the journey

Use the outer lanes for slowing down to stop by the wayside or exiting the road and also allowing other traffic to join the road

[iceman91]

Maverick, you nailed it. That is exactly what I meant by driving carefully.

Bubby, No offense but are you looking at being applauded for not crashing in 14 years?? Agree with kalpesh on the nazar lag jayegee

Secondly DKG put up some valid points.

A very well heard saying " drive thinking that you are only the sane person on the road" this will give a better perspective.
Driving has a lot of dynamic factors which come into play. No trip is the same. you have to keep this in mind. no two drivers are the same, no two situations are the same. That would be the case only in a controlled environment, trust me india or abroad, no driving is in a controlled environment.

[DKG]

Originally Posted by iceman91

A very well heard saying " drive thinking that you are only the sane person on the road" this will give a better perspective.

I remember why this gem of an advice struck a deep chord in me when I first heard it from my father.

At the time when I started to drive, our main family car was the beautiful white 1939 Packard (we still have this baby) which was his pride and treasure. That he trusted me with the car touched me very deeply. You can now imagine I made sure I followed his advice

[BlackPearl]

I agree with the thread creator that most of the accidents can be averted by taking precautions and anticipations, but this thread seems to be heading in the direction of a poll where people will vote on how many years they have been diving without accidents. It may be a "grapes are sour" kind of thing for me as I cannot claim to be entirely accident free in my tenure of driving, but I really cannot find a purpose of this thread as driving safety tips have been discussed on this forum many a times. No offence meant to anyone.

[straightdrive]

Originally Posted by Bubby

....This case is only when a 2 lane highway road is empty for a stretch and this is when u really want to press on the gas to cover up few kms quickly.....
Guys also lets not talk about lane discipline, we can talk about only if everybody on the Indian roads is educated about it. A cycle wala, a tractor wala, a truck wala, a bullock cart guy, first let them all get educated about lane discipline and then from there we can take this 'lane discipline' thing forward.

Bubby, on your first sentence above, you have a point. I also agree with Amitoj - avoiding an accident is more important than expecting everyone to follow rules. On your statement that we can talk about lane discipline only when everyone knows about it, I have a different opinion. Educating so many people about these things is a long term project and a big change. It doesn't happen all at once. It will happen by a few people taking the initiative, others learning from them, passing it on to the next generation and so on. It will take some years and every bit helps.

A long term tip for safe road conditions which I have been thinking about especially after a couple of incidents in the last two days. Since I was a teenager I have been meeting people who say they have been driving since the age of 12 or 13 or 16 and taking pride in it. There is nothing to be proud about. There is a reason for the 18 year minimum - kids of 13 and 14, even if physically able to drive, don't always have the maturity to appreciate consequences of an accident- the physical pain, mental pain to victim and family, financial loss - medical and repairs, hassles with cops and insurance, hassle to other road users. It is an adventure to them. Driving is not an adventure. It is serious business. Some people may say - what's the difference between a boy of 17 years 11 months and an 18 year old. My answer - you have to draw the line somewhere. It has been drawn at 18. I know it doesn't apply to everyone but for every 16 year old who drives well, there are many who drive like idiots.

Yesterday I saw a girl (may have been 18, maybe less) driving a Swift on the wrong side (to avoid having to drive 200 metres the opposite way and making a U-turn), cutting across a signal from right to left against the flow of traffic and then entering the road on the other side of the signal on the wrong side (because she saw the divider at the last minute and turned to the right instead of left to avoid it). There were two or three others her age who were laughing in encouragement. Why did she do it? One reason - because the car belonged to someone else (parents/relatives/friends). She doesn't know how it feels to work hard and save to buy something and see it get damaged or lost. Similarly today morning, three well-off looking kids on a bike, the rider looked like a schoolboy, overtake a car and enter my lane (I was coming from the opposite side). The rider was almost on the fuel tank because there were three of them and was finding it difficult to steer the bike. At the last minute he moved out, and rode off without realising I had to brake to a stop to save his butt.

My point - kids on bikes and cars are a danger. If any of you have kids in the 10 to 17 age group, please, don't let them drive on the road till they are 18, get a license and have actually learnt to drive. I know people who can afford to own two cars but still won't let their 16 or 17 year olds drive and their kids respect them for it.

After I finished writing the above I saw the last few posts on people below 18 driving - good to know there are others concerned about it.

[kalpeshc]

@bubby - We do appreciate your accident free run and we hope and pray that you extend that with no end in sight. Take the comments in this thread with a healthy frame of mind. We definitely want to know the list of tips that you've got, you sure seem to be doing something right!

Just post the tips man