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Old 19th December 2008, 09:02   #1
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How to drive safely, tips from experienced drivers

Hi Guys,

Yesterday we were having some discussion on how one should drive safely and avoid any kind of collision or contact in the 'Accident in pics thread' it was an OT there so i therefore planned to open this thread.

In here all the experienced drivers would help people in knowing them practically how to drive a car to avoid a mishap on road.

We are here for good of everybody, we want everybody to be safe, and if we can help you in making you even 5% better driver then what you are currently on a drivers scale then we would consider our job done.

When on the above mentioned thread i wrote:::

I am driving for past 14 years, some 3.10 lakh of kms. with types of Vehicles on different highways of Northern India and obviously in Delhi city traffic.

Some...
85000kms on a Hero Honda Splendor ( Sold )
45000kms on a Maruti Van ( Sold )
80000kms on a Maruti Esteem ( Sold )
50000kms on a Wagon R ( Sold )
17500kms on a Aveo
17000kms on a Chevy Spark
2500kms on a Palio SDX

But till date i have not crashed into anybody, nor have i allowed anybody to crash on me ( many have tried to but failed ),as you said it not depends on only you, it depends on other drivers on the road as well.

The key is, in city or on a highway, have as many options as possible with yourself, as you never know what may happen.

On a single lane highway only overtake when you are like 200% sure that yes you will make it or else just dont even think about it.

On a 3 lane or more then 3 lane expressways never use the right lane, no matter what speed you are travelling at always stay in the middle lane, the reason you never know that a vehicle coming from the opposite side may loose control and jump the divider and come towards you.

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.

Hope these tips would help you all. These are just from my practical experiences and thats about it, so nothing against anybodies driving ability.

This is what i got as responses from fellow BHPians, i am attching my responses to them :::

Ques ::: i want to clarify with my friends who are pointing here others as bad drivers that
Ans ::: Dost, I am no one to point at anybody, i wanted to share my experience and i dont see any harm in doing so, if this sharing can help anyone anywhere to avoid a mishap wouldnt it be just wonderful for that individual
Ques ::: what if someone hits from backside while standing on redlights is its your fault if it is your than how??
Ans ::: You cant do anything about it, driver is only responsible for car the when it is in motion.
Ques ::: what if you are overtaking some vehicle and it makes a sharp cut to avoid a pothole is it your fault ??
Ans ::: Have options available with yourself, think of the worst case scenario when you are driving a car and have an alternate path ready for that worst case scenario that you are thinking about.

Ques ::: I wonder what made you to think like this after driving all these kilometers - "no matter what speed you are travelling at always stay in the middle lane ". I disagree with you on this
Its always best to take the lane based on the speed we drive. We need to be considerate while driving on the road.
Ans ::: This is India man and in here not everybody is aware of which lane to drive in, on Indian roads you find a tractor trolly, a rickshaw, a cyclist enjoying the run in the right most lane, which is meant to be the fastest one. So i think we can end this here.

Lot of guys call people who havent met an accident as LUCKY, to all those guys somebody LUCKY, someone cannot be lucky for 15 odd years and after driving for more then 3 lakh kms.

What say?

Last edited by Bubby : 19th December 2008 at 09:16.
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Old 19th December 2008, 09:24   #2
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only one tip to give out here . been driving for past 8years around 7years with licence

my drving school master told me this.

Consider that all the other drivers around you are madmen and drive accordingly.

cheers
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Old 19th December 2008, 09:27   #3
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You know what? i was thinking of starting a thread just like this one! You beat me to it!

And i do agree the driving in the middle of the road part. I do that even on divided roads because you never know who might jump into your path from either side of the road. Gives me more room to avoid an accident. Of course if i see a faster car approaching, i turn on my indicator when he/she is still far away and move out from middle to center lane.
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Old 19th December 2008, 09:42   #4
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Accidents are called accidents because they are just that - inevitable. It is futile to assume "it can't happen to me" attitude. This is because accidents obey the laws of probability.

Certain actions say, high speed, increase the probability of an accident and certain actions say, training, decrease the probability. People who have a background in maths will understand that it is impossible to fight against the laws of probability.

So on the one hand we have Bubby without any accidents and on the other hand we have guys who have had 7-8 accidents. So on the whole things get evened out.

So can accidents be avoided? Answer is no. Can we decrease the probability of an accident? Answer is yes. Can we drive for 15 years without an accident? Probably.
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Old 19th December 2008, 09:59   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by watashi75 View Post
Accidents are called accidents because they are just that - inevitable. It is futile to assume "it can't happen to me" attitude. This is because accidents obey the laws of probability.

So can accidents be avoided? Answer is no. Can we decrease the probability of an accident? Answer is yes. Can we drive for 15 years without an accident? Probably.
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.

It is always avoided, as I said earlier there is technique called anticipation. No body can teach anticipation but it has to develop gradually. With anticipation you can avoid much of the other drivers/pedestrians/cyclists mistake.

I ask you simple question: You are driving aroun 40 - 50 Kmph and Some truck coming from opposite side in zig zag manner. What will you do? You would take left side as much as possible and stop your car, you will not go straight and leave everything on your luck saying that "I cannot avoid this accident".

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

15 years is very short period, I know many people who have driven aroud 40 to 50 years and never met any accident.

That day when one come to know what is his actual limit and develop anticipation skills, one can avoid more than 90% of accidents.

Last edited by anujmishra : 19th December 2008 at 10:02.
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Old 19th December 2008, 10:01   #6
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Agree with Watashi, Accidents are termed that for a reason.
Just because you have not had one till date does not mean anything.
It says that you are a careful driver thats about it.
Law of averages will catch up never know which corner its lurking around.
Cheers
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Old 19th December 2008, 10:05   #7
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Well said

Quote:
Originally Posted by watashi75 View Post
So can accidents be avoided? Answer is no. Can we decrease the probability of an accident? Answer is yes. Can we drive for 15 years without an accident? Probably.
Well said.

Driving a car is not just slotting in gears and pushing on the gas, that is just 10% of the job done.

A simple question... When someone sees an empty expressway, what is it that immdiately comes to your mind... Lets speed up, lets check out cars capabilities, lets check what top speeds can be achieved... these are the intitial thoughts and that is normal and there is nothing wrong in it.

The only important thing here is, think before you start your adventure on an empty stretch, think of what all can happen, think of all the scenarios, think of worst to worst scenario. What all can happen on a road.

For example, right from an animal dancing down your way to a tyre burst. Always keep such negative scenarios at back of your mind when driving, this will help you in reacting in a better way if at all one of the scenarios happen and when you were thinking about all those worst case scenarios when you are driving you wont be surprised and would not get panic when a scenario actually happens. When you know what may come, you are well equipped to deal with it. Right?

Usage of brain and anticipating scenarios is very important when you are driving.
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Old 19th December 2008, 10:08   #8
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Then one should not leave home at all.
Negativity does not lead to anything.
this should be about driving carefully. Safety is no way assured in any scenario.
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Old 19th December 2008, 10:45   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bubby View Post
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.
So basically, your safety tip is not to follow lane discipline?
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Old 19th December 2008, 10:46   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by iceman91 View Post
this should be about driving carefully.
iceman91:: Can you elaborate this statement? I feel it contains lots of meaning.
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Old 19th December 2008, 10:50   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tejas@perioimpl View Post
So basically, your safety tip is not to follow lane discipline?
Yes, specially if you are going above the speed limit.
Now dont say that the safety tip is to go above the speed limit.

Its always better to have the option of avoiding an accident than to have one and later claim, "Oh, but i was following lane discipline!"
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Old 19th December 2008, 10:56   #12
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That's no justification amitoj and you know it.
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".

I remember an old school joke:
Chinese people in america are never directly involved in a accident, but are always seen driving away from one!"

Last edited by Tejas@perioimpl : 19th December 2008 at 10:59.
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Old 19th December 2008, 11:02   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tejas@perioimpl View Post
That's no justification amitoj and you know it.
Tejas, i am all for following lane discipline if i am absolutely certain that no villager is going to cross the road without checking, or there wont be a woman crossing the road after i take this bend in the road, or that no crazy two wheeler is going to jump onto the highway from that small road thats meeting the highway up ahead. Give me this certainity and i will not move from the leftmost lane unless i have to overtake.

On a 6 lane highway, i almost always stay in the center lane precisely because of the above reasons.

I hope you understand what i am trying to say. Driving in the middle of the road does not mean driving rashly. Jumping from left to right and right to left and be all over the road IS rash and stupid.
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Old 19th December 2008, 11:05   #14
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While driving Prediction(Anticipation),Patience is a must and above all adhering to rules while on the road is a must which many people fail to follow.

By driving carefully Amit might have meant the following
1.Cutting lanes haphazardly (STRICT NO)
2.Maintaining a safe braking distance
3.Strictly adhering to lanes and use of indicators a must as a responsible driver one must make the drivers around you aware what are you intending to do? Many folks dont bother about this for sure.
4. Checking blind spot while changing lanes which definitely many fail to do so.

These might have been a few by which he meant driving carefully

@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."
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Old 19th December 2008, 11:13   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tejas@perioimpl View Post
So basically, your safety tip is not to follow lane discipline?
Hey Tejas,

I am not telling you to drive in the middle of road when there is lot of traffic behind you. You need to read what i wrote carefully once again.

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.

Hope i have made myself clear here.

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.

Last edited by Bubby : 19th December 2008 at 11:16.
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