[wanderernomad]

@ Samurai san: Yeah, they would have provided you with a separate SS plumbing line, on your visit. What I meant was that I would not see the other driver flash and continue driving, hoping that he knew the Romans died of lead poisoning.

For the other aspects, I did put them as annoying and incorrect useage and didnot infer that we follow them.

Switching on the headlights and rear fogs, if you have them, during heavy rains provides easy visiblity whereas the amber flashes through a rain environment causes temporary mirages in your peripheral vision and is dangerous.

[humyum]

Okay, let's give a different perspective to this.

Since some days, areas around Mumbai and Mumbai itself has been having TORRENTIAL rains. The kind of rains that would make drivers on the highway slow down to 40's and 60's beyond which life would look like its coming to an end. Accompany this with an evening or a night and one stupid move by someone and you will see a long line of vehicles into each other as the reaction time ( because of visibility ) is VERY LESS.

While going to Lonavala some days back. It rained like there is NO tomorrow. With my soft michelins, I was feeling uncomfortable touching an 80 on the Mumbai Pune Expressway, so the speed was kept at a 60 to 70 with the exception of some Merc or Audi going past at 120 and 140, everyone, kept to the 60 to 70 window.

The tail lights and fog lights were visible yes, but with the rains falling at super sonic speeds, the wipers were not able to keep up and between the swipes at full speed, there was still a window of unclear vision, during those times, the hazard lights is what kept things comfortable for my visibility from the drivers in the front. Not their rear fog lamps, nor their tail lights, the yellow hazards kept things comfortable.

Same situation while getting back from Thane yesterday in the night, Torrential rains plus night time. The Hazards really helped visibility.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by wanderernomad

@ Samurai san: Yeah, they would have provided you with a separate SS plumbing line, on your visit.

Actually they have switched to SS pipe, even before I could visit.

Originally Posted by wanderernomad

What I meant was that I would not see the other driver flash and continue driving, hoping that he knew the Romans died of lead poisoning.

When I first returned from US and started driving in India (in 1995), I was very confused by these people who came into my lane and pretended to yield. I didn't know how to react to that. So I didn't, I kept going enforcing my right of way. I used to get angry looks, which puzzled me even further. It took me a while to understand this stupid misuse of yield signal.

After I understood, I didn't have to change my reaction. If I am on the correct lane, and flashing car is on my lane, I always ignore his flashing. Because it means nothing to me.

I drive 400km long trips twice a month, of which half is on 2-lane roads. So I meet these flashing heroes, at least 10 of them each trip. There are two situations where people flash:

1) I am overtaking a vehicle by getting into the right lane. I never overtake a vehicle unless I have enough clearance. Still, some oncoming cars flash at me to get out of their way even though I have ample time to get out of their lane. Their flashing means nothing to me, because I would be getting out their way ASAP even if they don't flash. I mean, they have the right of way.

2) The oncoming driver is trying to overtake from his right lane and he is flashing at me. This is the hallmark of a very bad driver who doesn't know how to judge distances. If there was not enough clearance to overtake, why did he even try to overtake in the first place? Why should I accommodate such drivers? Therefore, I simply ignore their flash and their incorrect meaning. The only time I yield is if there is no way for that incompetent driver to back-off. In general, 4/5 times I force the erring driver to get back his/her lane, mainly by honking and controlled slowing down. Most of the time people know they were wrong to demand right of way and slink back to their lane.

[mallumowgli]

Originally Posted by Samurai

1) I am overtaking a vehicle by getting into the right lane. I never overtake a vehicle unless I have enough clearance. Still, some oncoming cars flash at me to get out of their way even though I have ample time to get out of their lane. Their flashing means nothing to me, because I would be getting out their way ASAP even if they don't flash. I mean, they have the right of way.

This is something I always find funny - a vehicle sees me from miles away and is flashing its lights!! What am I supposed to do? Put the car in reverse and go back? I ignore the lights. But am always tempted to ask the guy, why he took the trouble of flashing the lights!!

On the hazard lights issue for going straight - I found my cab driver in Bhubaneswar switching on the hazard lights for going straight. On asking why, he says that everyone does that there and that is the rule. So I asked him if a vehicle reaches a junction and is not having any indicator on, what does it mean.

He simply says ' Usko khud malum nahin hai kahan jana hai'
(he himself doesn't know where he wants to go)

[SnakemanJohny]

Originally Posted by GrammarNazi

The fault is also partly in the placement of the hazard light switch, IMO it encourages people to use it incorrectly. Being literally at arms length, it'll probably be tempting for people who feel its a light simply indicating 'Caution'. Also, there's nothing written on it (like on ORVMs).

Maybe car-makers should put the switch in a different place so as to make it more obvious to indicate that its only meant to be switched on incase of a hazard.

Well. initially, in the Maruti 800s, Omnis and Gypsies etc, they did put the hazards behind the steering wheel, probably to ensure that nobody tries to put them on in a moving car for fear of breaking fingers ! But possibly a few lawsuits in the USA or elsewhere about broken fingers and wrists forced carmakers relocate it at arm's length. They did not imagine they would have to cope with Indian ingenuity !



As for the Bhubaneswar cabbie, people driving cars for the first 100 years or so, before hazard lights became universal, did not know where they were going ? Typical Indian arrogance, I say!

[Dry Ice]

Now the cabbies in Delhi have found a new 'colour'! I see many cabs daily who have changed the orange to blue! If not the bulb, they paste a blue film on the indicator portion of the rear lights

Earlier I had noticed this only on bikes.

[reverse_gear]

Hazards being used to indicate that a body is sticking out of the sunroof. Hadn't seen this usage before.

And as if 2 misdemeanours is not enough, the gentleman chooses to straddle the lane markers.

[Relax&Cruise]

Observed the use of Hazard lights at a roundabout to indicate going straight; this was in Bali.

The driver was on an incline pushing upward. At a roundabout on this incline seeing a car on the left, while fumbling for the right gear he used his hazard lights.

I thought he wanted to indicate a roll back to the cars behind us, because of the fumble with the gear. His response was he wanted to indicate to the car coming from the left that he wanted to go straight

He also confirmed that he had been using this technique for a long time.
Not sure if the virus spread from India to Bali or vice versa.

Anyway the gentleman was not a paragon of driving, with multiple mobile phone texts and calls made during our two hour drive including slight bullying of other road users.

[nitinralli]

Originally Posted by Relax&Cruise

Observed the use of Hazard lights at a roundabout to indicate going straight; this was in Bali.

The driver was on an incline pushing upward. At a roundabout on this incline seeing a car on the left, while fumbling for the right gear he used his hazard lights.

I thought he wanted to indicate a roll back to the cars behind us, because of the fumble with the gear. His response was he wanted to indicate to the car coming from the left that he wanted to go straight

He also confirmed that he had been using this technique for a long time.
Not sure if the virus spread from India to Bali or vice versa.
.

Yes even i saw that last month when i was in Bali. I guess they are all used it now, something like us Indians using it in rain/fog and here in MH even in Tunnels

[locusjag]

Oh! Now I get it.

I was going straight through a roundabout in Hosur in December 2018 when a cop yelled at me to "indicate what i'm about to do". I was really puzzled since there is no way to indicate if you're going straight...

So there is a way to let everyone know you're going straight after all!

[ashwinprakas]

Used to make fun of my friends who used to use the 'Straight' Indicators until I started riding.

Not sure about the rest of the country, but where I roll intersections aren't marked and a good number of them are hard to spot even in stark daylight.

Though not quite obvious while driving, while riding there's this added concern of tunnel vision and unless something stands out quite obviously its hard to spot another vehicle even with its headlights ON(Funny thing being, HL's that garner attention during the day tend to go unnoticed at night) until the last possible moment, this is where the Hazard light comes to the rescue per me.

Even while making U turns, once I'm covering a good portion of the road to be used by oncoming traffic I instinctively turn on the Hazard lights, you'd be surprised how slow interstate/interdistrict drivers/riders are to responding to such scenarios due to high inflow of stimulus already endured, hence the blinking light ensures that I gather enough of their attention to warrant an apt reaction.

I might be wrong but this is what I believe works for me.

[Relax&Cruise]

Originally Posted by locusjag

Oh! Now I get it.

I was going straight through a roundabout in Hosur in December 2018 when a cop yelled at me to "indicate what i'm about to do". I was really puzzled since there is no way to indicate if you're going straight...

So there is a way to let everyone know you're going straight after all!

Well the guy on the left side of an intersection may mistake the straight / hazard indicator to be a left turn indication, due to his side angle view of the car.
Under such circumstances that car might decide to cross the intersection ahead of a car he thinks will turn left at the intersection. That will be a disaster.

I have used the hazard light just before reversing into parking slots at malls when I have some guy tailgating me.
I have also used it in pouring rain when I have had difficulty seeing around me, in the expectation that if visibility is bad for me, it must be same for others.

There maybe many other genuine circumstances to use your hazard lights but definitely going straight at an intersection is not one of them.

[locusjag]

Originally Posted by Relax&Cruise

There maybe many other genuine circumstances to use your hazard lights but definitely going straight at an intersection is not one of them.

No I definitely don't think they're right. Nor will I ever practise such a thing.

This is just one of those desi things that make you go 'aha!'...it's like how you switch on your high beams and hug the median if you want to drive on the wrong side of the highway. Our truckers have unanimously got this down as a science. It's obviously not right. But it's worth knowing why and how they do what they do.

Also worth noting, how desi truckers leave an indicator blinking, cruising down the highway. It could mean they're about to switch lanes. Or it's that they want you to keep moving along the side they're blinking. Aha!

[nitinralli]

Not an incorrect use but used as a nice gesture.

While driving in Cape Town and Johannesburg highways, whenever i used to let a car over take me, they would put on the hazard light twice/thrice as a thank you gesture after overtaking. After that whenever i drove on those highways i would do the same and would count how many "Thank You" lights i got on my drive, was a nice time pass too

[kiran_cr]

Originally Posted by nitinralli

Not an incorrect use but used as a nice gesture.



While driving in Cape Town and Johannesburg highways, whenever i used to let a car over take me, they would put on the hazard light twice/thrice as a thank you gesture after overtaking. After that whenever i drove on those highways i would do the same and would count how many "Thank You" lights i got on my drive, was a nice time pass too

Yes correct. In South Africa, flashing of hazard lights means either a "Thank You" if you help a fellow motorist in some way or a "Sorry" if the fellow motorist has done a mistake while on the road driving.