[Spitfire]

I dont get this calling the other guy a saint because you have broken rules. I have never knowingly broken rules.

I have had 2 challans in my life. One for the car and the other on a two wheeler. In a space of 12 years of driving/riding.

For the car it was for parking in an area that one day before had been turned into a no parking area, which was a parking area until then. The scum of the Bangalore Traffic Police fined unwary people by the dozens that day.

For a 2 wheeler, they picked up my bike from a legal parking area - with parking ticket issued only because it was Goa registered. Again the cheap Bangalore Police mentality here. To get a clue of this behaviour prevailing in Bangalore - look at the news from yesterday where the ACP is using bad words in front of the press.

Coming back to the topic. If you have commited a offense dont take umbrage under the false notion that everyone breaks rules so I am justified in breaking them too. This is well utter nonsense.

I know atleast 3 members here who have 20 - 40+ years of experience and have never borken a rule in their life.

My father is another.

Are they all saints? No they are not. They are people with commonsense.

When i turned 18 my dad taught me to ride for 3 months after getting the learners license. He used to watch the way i reacted to different situations on the road and where my faults were. He discussed this on the dinner table and how to avoid such problems.

Everytime I repeated a mistake he used to push my final license test by 1 week.

Samething with the car. I gave the bike test first and a year later I got a car license. Both the times my father saw to it that he was satisfied with my driving/riding as he didnt beleive the RTO guys.

I was made to read every rule from the Traffic Rule book and understand it.
I still remember my dad taking me to a busy junction whenever there was an oppurtunity and asking me to watch the behaviour of other drivers and point out what is right and what is wrong and how actually the person should have been driving. He also used to explain the consequences of one person taking a wrong turn or giving a wrong signal.

This all turned me into a saint like some people here call people who are sensible.

One sentence he asked me to always remember is that "Driving is a previlege not a right". It rings in my head till today.

Along with this he also pointed out that nothing is important in life then your own life and those of others.

So please all those guys/gals out there who break rules thinking everyone else does. You are mightly ignorant and a danger to our society. Please try and mend your ways.

[bblost]

@Spitfire, your post reminds me of my Dad.

I once parked the car facing the wrong side of the road. My dad blasted me.
I have never driven on the wrong side in the past 12 years or so since then.

How our kids turnout is in our hands. Lets try and do a good job by setting up an example they look up to.

[Spitfire]

Originally Posted by bblost

How our kids turnout is in our hands. Lets try and do a good job by setting up an example they look up to.

+1 bblost.

Its like a mental block for me.

In college days, peer pressure to race was very high. Eventually one who thought we are saints(because we didnt race) ended up losing his life below a truck's wheel.

The other day I saw a father taking his kids in their car up the wrong way on a busy road in Bangalore. Guess what these kids will be doing when they get a license.

Our soceity needs to value life.

[rg_chn]

It's been around 7 years since i started driving. And even today, if i forget to turn on my indicator when switching lanes even in an empty road, my dad yells at me.
According to him, it would become a practice. A very valid point.
Insane driving doesn't need talent, it requires just one thing, Stupidity.
Sane driving needs talent and patience.

[abhinav.s]

Originally Posted by Spitfire

One sentence he asked me to always remember is that "Driving is a previlege not a right". It rings in my head till today.

Your dad hit the nail spitfire. These were the exact same words my dad had asked me to remember every time i ride/drive. And like you, till date I remember them. Hope everyone remembers this and follows the rules like they are supposed to.

PS: My riding/driving lessons with my dad were similar to what you went thru with your dad. Of course, the main difference was that my mistakes were not brought to the dinner table but corrected during the process of teaching.

[scanD]

Coming back to the 'Hazard lamps'.. I somewhat agree with many folks who say it is a useful feature to briefly (short duration) blink the hazard lamps during emergency braking.

They are called 'Hazard lamps' and not 'Immobilized lamps'. So, i guess it would be okay if the rule book is updated to allow using Hazard lamps to warn any kind of hazards. (fighting street dogs, mad calfs, goats, humps, overtaking vehicles approaching from opposite direction, etc.)

Like many people here, I too have been guilty of using hazard lights in heavy rains / fog. My reasoning was somewhat stupid ..
In Formula1 racing, when the safety car (a normal car with all its indicators flashing) comes on to the track all overtaking is banned and all cars move in a single line. Perhaps this is why i used to instinctively reach for the hazard lamps and patiently follow the vehicle ahead of me at times of heavy downpour. (well, all that is history now.. and in this case, history won't repeat)

Thanks for this thread.

[yzfrj]

Well it seems "other" folks thought the idea is not that bad.

from Ford Figo brochure

[longhorn]

It seems the guys at Ford spend too much time testing their vehicles on Indian highways that they forgot what brake lamps are for. I'm pretty sure this is an India specific feature. If only they spent that money for configuring the headlamp/wiper stalks properly.

[paragsachania]

Why not take a case where the car is driven at an excess of 100kmph and brakes indicating other vehicles in the rear of his action with the Brake Lamps.
At this juncture, We have some morons who often miscalculate the braking distances and rear end causing serious damages. Hazard light coming ON suddenly due to an abrupt/hard braking at such speeds will additionally inform these specially characterized morons that the guy in front has almost stopped and its time you pushed the pedal harder and stop/slow down in time or even safely change the lane.

A Rainy day, lesser visibility, Broken down truck in the fast lane. A car at even 80kmph brakes hard spotting the truck and manages to stop in time BUT, an Idiot in the rear almost miscalculates the stopped car (at least now, the brake lights are not engaged since he's now changing lanes to get further from the broken down truck) and continues only to realise that it has stopped for a reason.
All this can happen as a sequence in a matter of seconds and how many will ensure to look at the rear view mirrors before braking hard or turn on the Hazard Indicators while stopping like this?
I am not justifying the so called alternate use of Hazard lights but Indian road conditions make way for these tricks.
I have spotted many who place the Warning Triangle just atop their cars in the night while attending flat tries. For heaven's sake, it is clearly written on the cover about the distance and location where this needs to be placed!!

[Samir Taheer]

Originally Posted by yzfrj

Well it seems "other" folks thought the idea is not that bad.

from Ford Figo brochure

Attachment 295900

Originally Posted by longhorn

It seems the guys at Ford spend too much time testing their vehicles on Indian highways that they forgot what brake lamps are for. I'm pretty sure this is an India specific feature. If only they spent that money for configuring the headlamp/wiper stalks properly.

I think the guys at Ford were quite intelligent to get a feature like this sorted. Having the Hazard lights come on during sudden braking - at high speeds and on the motorways is a good idea, especially when your going quick. This is got nothing to do with street racing. Here in the UK (and yes i know all our motorways aren't the same at home, but our cars are there or there abouts) on the motorway when your doing 80/90mph and theres an incident ahead, people use their hazard lights briefly to warn others behind them about sudden braking. There is nothing wrong with additional warning - brake lights are static whereas hazard lights flash, which would get more attention? On long monotonous motorways, where you can get into a rythym its a great tool.

I am totally against using hazard lights in the rain, going thru tunnels or over prolonged periods if the car is not stationary. Now for it being an Indian specific feature, don't Mercedes/Audi and others have their hazard lights come on with their automatic distance braking or whatever it is?

[gomzi]

Originally Posted by Spitfire

Flicking the Hazard lights takes a millisecond for this you need to either take off one hand from the steering wheel to flick it and also a millisecond to look for it. Since its not widely used you may not automatically move towards it subconsciously.

This is why its a good thing that manufacturers are automating hazard lights when braking hard from speeds > 90 kmph. I hope other follow suit.

Originally Posted by Spitfire

Our soceity needs to value life.

very very true. This is important not just for drivers but for pedestrians and passengers as well. Many times, people prefer giving up safety to arrive somewhere 5 mins earlier or to be comfortable (excuses for not wearing seatbelts, helmets)

Passengers in public transport such as autos and taxis should also be alert and reprimand the driver if he drives rashly. Most don't, some pay the price for it.

[sbraj]

This thread is turning out to be hilarious.

I am trying to imagine a Figo in a round-about in Kerala hard breaking; and the Sumo cab driver behind thinks that the Figo is going straight. Quite a scene I guess.

[Spitfire]

Originally Posted by sbraj

I am trying to imagine a Figo in a round-about in Kerala hard breaking; and the Sumo cab driver behind thinks that the Figo is going straight. Quite a scene I guess.

BINGO!!!

Hopefully people see this and realise the meaning of this thread.

This is India.

Here folks dont use seat belts in their air bags equipped vehicles.

[black_rider]

On a recent visit to Tamil Nadu, came across cars that turned on their hazard lights for a couple of seconds after overtaking me. Apparently, this is the way of saying "thanks for letting me through".

This takes the count of hazard light meanings higher by one. The tally now stands as below :

• Going straight
• Braking Hard
• Thank you
• Hazard on road (Original meaning lost somewhere)

If people followed rules and not arbitrarily made their own, our roads would be a lot safer.

[nkg77]

Its a common sight in Kerala to see hazard lights switched on when it is raining. Following a car with hazard lights is so annoying, since the combination of rain and blinkers blurs the vision. I fail to understand why people pick up the wrong practices without thinking about the consequences.