[Gansan]

Originally Posted by vinaydas

This is the advantage and disadvantage of having an open discussion forum.
Its a matter of personal choice thats it.

Modifications on the car is after all a personal choice. It does not endanger other road users.

Driving fast and over speeding are not simply personal choices.

[Ranjan Sharma]

Originally Posted by MX6

He's safe here. At 180, there are very few people who can tail him in India. so there's no question of someone behind him rear ending him when he stops abruptly. By the time a santro doing 110 catches up, he'd have enough time to steer clear!

Rear-ending does not happen ONLY when someone is following you. It also happens if someone overtakes you and breaks suddenly. There are many other aspects which could be thought about if a person puts in his mind to do so.

Originally Posted by vinaydas

each and every one having their own views,some of them trying to act all oversensitive and over responsible at times..

Ofcourse we have to. As a fact people visit T-BHP for it's reputation. We should set good examples to them. A guest comes over and reads members giving Gyaan about riding safely etc etc.. and in an other thread reads someone boasting about doing 180 on Indian roads, does not make sense.

[vasanthn21]

Very well written CanonGuy.

I occasionally indulge in the thoughts you are talking of in your first post.

I do not know about others, but in my case I have problems (with someone overtaking me) only when they are in a smaller car! I drive a zen, and I sometimes feel bad when a M800/Omni/Alto overtakes me, the rest of the world is free to overtake me.

Just 2 days back, when I was in a similar situation; I was reminded of this article and let the other person overtake me. It was as bad as expected
Now, this is the benefit of a common forum, let me explain why I think so.

Generally I drive at speeds that I am comfortable at; which depends on the amount of traffic, condition of road, whether it is raining or not, nature of neighborhood (should I be alert for unexpected entries of humans/animals/vehicles on the road) etc. Now, when someone tries to overtake me and I speed up, I am going beyond my "comfort zone" of driving conditions. It is more riskier (I was aware of this earlier but would still do it due to my EGO).

Thanks to your article, I hope I can change this habit (and give myself a pat for it).

[akshay4587]

Originally Posted by Gansan

Modifications on the car is after all a personal choice. It does not endanger other road users.

Driving fast and over speeding are not simply personal choices.

Why not????
I use my bike for touring only.
and whenever i am on highway,i prefer to ride at speeds between 105-115 Continuously.
Reason,i feel safe at those speeds than i would at 70-80km\hr.
At 70-80km\hr i am exposed to unsafe elements on road,like trucks,roadways buses,and rashly driven Cabs.

At speeds above 100,most of the times,i am faster than these Accident susceptible elements,and i feel safe.
and not to mention The protective riding gear makes me feel safe.
And if i am driving,say a Skoda Octavia L&K with all bells and whistles,i will be crusing at 130-140 easily.
Cars like these Can be brought in Control at such speeds.
All we need is an Alert Driver.

Speed limits In India are a Joke,we get challaned for driving at 110Km\hr in 90km\hr zone.
But no one stops a tractor doing 20km\hr in 90km\hr zone

[vasanthn21]

Originally Posted by akshay4587

Why not????
I use my bike for touring only.
and whenever i am on highway,i prefer to ride at speeds between 105-115 Continuously.
Reason,i feel safe at those speeds than i would at 70-80km\hr.
At 70-80km\hr i am exposed to unsafe elements on road,like trucks,roadways buses,and rashly driven Cabs.

At speeds above 100,most of the times,i am faster than these Accident susceptible elements,and i feel safe.
and not to mention The protective riding gear makes me feel safe.
And if i am driving,say a Skoda Octavia L&K with all bells and whistles,i will be crusing at 130-140 easily.
Cars like these Can be brought in Control at such speeds.
All we need is an Alert Driver.

Speed limits In India are a Joke,we get challaned for driving at 110Km\hr in 90km\hr zone.
But no one stops a tractor doing 20km\hr in 90km\hr zone

If you comfortable driving at those speeds, there is absolutely no problem as long as you are not endangering others. There are certain stretches/roads where you can do this comfortably.

But, One question. What if you are driving at 105-115km/hr and you suddenly see an unexpected pothole/speed breaker (which was not there the last time you passed this place) or and animal right ahead of you, then wouldn't it be easier to control your vehicle if you were at a more reasonable speed?

And, you cannot compare riding in a 2 wheeler at 105-115km/hr to driving a car at 130-140km/hr. "Zameen Aasmaan ka farak hai". Don't kid yourself saying,"it is the same". Irrespective of whatever safety gear you have, it is much more dangerous than in a car (especially with the example you are talking of with ABS, Airbags, seat belt, Solid buidl etc).

The risk is aggravated with the road conditions and driving habits of other drivers. It is not about just being in control of your bike, you should be compensating for the mistake of a fellow drivers.

P.S: Hope you take my comments in the right spirit, I have been/seen/heard in/some/of bad experiences

[tacho]

The speed I am most comfortable with is being faster than anyone I come across on the road. Car no bar. If I get passed, I will risk my life if I need to, to pass them back. I can't sleep at night otherwise. Thankfully, I am yet to come across someone who is faster than me, when I really set my heart to it.

Due to my cop-o-phobia, it's a whole different ballgame here in the US though. Even geriatrics in Priuses pass me on the highways now. It has taken all joy out of my life.






</sarcasm>

[akshay4587]

Originally Posted by vasanthn21

If you comfortable driving at those speeds, there is absolutely no problem as long as you are not endangering others. There are certain stretches/roads where you can do this comfortably.

But, One question. What if you are driving at 105-115km/hr and you suddenly see an unexpected pothole/speed breaker (which was not there the last time you passed this place) or and animal right ahead of you, then wouldn't it be easier to control your vehicle if you were at a more reasonable speed?

And, you cannot compare riding in a 2 wheeler at 105-115km/hr to driving a car at 130-140km/hr. "Zameen Aasmaan ka farak hai". Don't kid yourself saying,"it is the same". Irrespective of whatever safety gear you have, it is much more dangerous than in a car (especially with the example you are talking of with ABS, Airbags, seat belt, Solid buidl etc).

The risk is aggravated with the road conditions and driving habits of other drivers. It is not about just being in control of your bike, you should be compensating for the mistake of a fellow drivers.

P.S: Hope you take my comments in the right spirit, I have been/seen/heard in/some/of bad experiences

i follow the principle of "knowing your machine well" before trying any heroics with it.
if i am riding at 105-115 i know my bike's capabilities and limitations.
and yes riding\driving with eyes wide open does help.
i havent come Across any pothole\stone on a highway that appeared in front of my vehicle within an eye's blink in my total driving\Riding experience of 1.5L+ kms.
and i would rather prefer going through a pothole or a speedbreaker at 100+ rather than getting run over by a truck at 70
Fastest i have driven a Car is around 190km\hr
and ridden a Bike at 245-250Km\hr.
And after doing these speeds,i thanked God that i was alive,these speeds were touched just for the rush of it.
And I knew the dangers involved.
otherwise usual crusing speeds would vary as i had mentioned in my previous post.

[vinaydas]

Originally Posted by Gansan

Modifications on the car is after all a personal choice. It does not endanger other road users.

Driving fast and over speeding are not simply personal choices.

umm how can driving fast not be a personal choice?
unless DUI, It definitely is a personal choice.

[Iluvcars]

Originally Posted by Ranjan Sharma

Of course we have to overlook them. Why do we have to care what they are doing on road. It means if Auto-car can drive at 200 on this road, why can't I? Now that's wrong.

Well, my post was: "If that statement is one in the tone of condoning, I beg to differ." and that statement of yours which was referred to was: ""Autocar is doing a "testing" and we are not doing "testing" so don't compare both."". Evidently, the only element that has a tone of condoning there was: ""Autocar is doing a "testing"". To me, it meant like: "Since they are speeding for testing it's OK" which is what I don't agree with and that's why I replied: "Speeding is speeding no matter what the purpose is.". Hope now you understand what I meant!
Again, I don't agree with: "Of course we have to overlook them." Why should we? Reasons aside, results of speeding are going to be the same - aren't they?

[Surprise]

I have observed that if I travel alone, I am tempted to participate in all fun with other vehicles who are in same frequency....sometimes I get out of my comfort zone too.
But with a companion, I do not entertain those thoughts & prefers discussing with him/her at my regular comfortable cruising speeds. Keeping behind the good drivers has really helped me to learn a lot (increasing the average speed in a safer model)

Originally Posted by megazoid

..........but then I took to motorsport as a hobby and all the excess energy and point to prove etc got taken care off on the race track and made me far more sensible on the road............

.........Trouble is I have a car with headers and FFE and that adds to the feeling of challenge that people feel as the sound track also adds to the confusion............


What I do is to back off completely.

That is really great. You got all and yet you do not feed anything.

Originally Posted by klassics45

Its a very common sight everywhere, even in the cities. When i am in a good mood i enjoy it. i allow them to overtake and just keep tailing them even if i could overtake. This way they will get fed up in a while and leave way for you.

All you can say is, you have a pilot vehicle for free!!

Yeah it is very easy to follow a equally speeding vehicle rather than keeping ahead

[akshay4587]

Originally Posted by Surprise

I have observed that if I travel alone, I am tempted to participate in all fun with other vehicles who are in same frequency....sometimes I get out of my comfort zone too.
But with a companion, I do not entertain those thoughts & prefers discussing with him/her at my regular comfortable cruising speeds. Keeping behind the good drivers has really helped me to learn a lot (increasing the average speed in a safer model)

i totally agree with you here.
i drive alone 95% of the times and this happens with me as well.
when i am driving with someone i stick to saner speeds and antics

[aah78]

Note from Support: rah1735 & Ranjan Sharma - please keep this discussion civil. Thank you.

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by akshay4587

Why not????
whenever i am on highway,i prefer to ride at speeds between 105-115 Continuously.
Reason,i feel safe at those speeds than i would at 70-80km\hr.

At speeds above 100,most of the times,i am faster than these Accident susceptible elements,and i feel safe.
And if i am driving,say a Skoda Octavia L&K with all bells and whistles,i will be crusing at 130-140 easily.
Cars like these Can be brought in Control at such speeds.
All we need is an Alert Driver.

Speed limits In India are a Joke,we get challaned for driving at 110Km\hr in 90km\hr zone.
But no one stops a tractor doing 20km\hr in 90km\hr zone

And so is rah1735 comfortable at his speeds! Where do you draw the line? Joke or not, speed limit is speed limit and one should obey. As for the tractor, two wrongs do not make a right!

Originally Posted by vinaydas

umm how can driving fast not be a personal choice?
unless DUI, It definitely is a personal choice.

Not when it can endanger other road users. Are we, the members of this forum, advocating/condoning others to flout speed limits?

If it is an empty stretch of road, and the only possibility is harm to the driver alone (no pax on board), then may be it is a personal choice.

[amitoj]

I think that it will be very inteteresting to put rah and akshay on the same road at the same time
What do you guys think?

[vasoo]

According to me speed limits are not a joke. It exists in most civilized countries and more or less are in the same range of 80 to 120 kmph or 55 to 75 mph on highways. It has a purpose and has been scientifically proven to be effective in reducing accidents and casualties.

Its enforcement is, however a different story in India as is the case with most of the rules here. Just imagine how much money can traffic police make in a single day if they decide to challan drivers who don't wear seat belts in Bangalore. I am sure at least 80% of them don't.