[abhinav.s]

I do it only if i am walking or on a bike. When in a car in the city, there is no opportunity to stop due to the traffic and in the highways i normally do not stop on deserted stretches due to safety concerns.

[phamilyman]

Do it always while on cycle (80%+ times). Honestly never got time on car or bike.

[Abes]

Once when I was driving down the Al Kail Road in dubai, a cop car was in front of me, suddenly the police car put siren & lights, and indicated to stop. I got scared, thought I had done something wrong.

I had gotten too close to the cop car, couldn't easily get into other lanes also, as there were vehicles. I put on the hazard lights and stopped in the middle of the road, right behind the police car, the cop who was driving put out his hand and asked me to be patient.

The other officer got out of the car and walked to the front of the police car, lifted up a big plywood sheet from the road and took it to the side of the road.

[jaguar.runs]

One more Dubai experience, but with a sad ending. I have seen lot of road hazards on Dubai roads like Truck tyre pieces, plywood sheets, marking cones, Heavy metal rails (fallen off from trucks) and of course camels, but never thought that I will fall prey for one of these.

I used to drive all the way from Ajman to Jebel Ali (A good 100+ kms one way) and was happy to drive my 2008 Black Lancer GT for the distance. I always make use of the Cruise control and set the cruise on 140 as the speed limit is 120 km (there is a buffer of 20kms before cameras flash). I was doing 140 on the two lane Dubai Bypass Road (before it was 5 lane) following an SUV (not closely) and slows down to 100 for a small deviation on the road. The SUV in front of me serves away to the slow lane and I see a 20 Kg brake drum piece fallen off from a truck in the fast lane front of me! It's too late to change the lane and I hit the brake drum, initiating a skid process and turning almost 180 deg in two lane width. I hit the construction barrier filled with water on the left side and roll downhill on stone paved slope for an underpass towards a heap of sand. Thanks to ABS on the GT, I stop right before hitting the sand.

I lost my car to this incident as it had sever under body damage and the left side was also in bad condition as I had hit the barrier on the way down. I was saved by the GT, such a heavy car and very stable. Not even a single scratch on me after the accident. If was driving a Corolla, Old Lancer (Indian Cedia) or a Tiida, the story would be different as it would have definitely toppled.

Within one month, I bought a new 2009 Black GT.

[sukiwa]

My tiny bits to remove obstacles in traffic.

Have removed concrete stones (used as road separator/divider on newly laid concrete road) on couple of occasions.
Have also placed fallen barricade correctly on a busy square once.

For others on road, I feel, it's someone's else job not theirs.

[honeybee]

Originally Posted by jaguar.runs

One more Dubai experience, but with a sad ending. I have seen lot of road hazards on Dubai roads like Truck tyre pieces, plywood sheets, marking cones, Heavy metal rails (fallen off from trucks) and of course camels, but never thought that I will fall prey for one of these.
...

At the Mumbai IIT, there's severe traffic congestion. The road from Gandhinagar signal (between Kanjur and Vikroli) ascends to a pinnacle near a church, then a small descent, then from the IIT onwards almost flat till it reaches the Powai residential areas/lake. This was during the time the road widening at the IIT was yet to start (I guess three years ago). I was returning from Powai in my M800 in the night (10pm or so). After clearing the bottleneck at the signal (the IIT Market stop), I stepped on the accelerator. The road descends from here to the Gandhi nagar junction and I was expecting a free run to the flyover and away. Just as I took the curve and headed for the flyover I realized there was a large concrete block in my path. The lane was barely wide enough for two cars, there was thick traffic behind me and a vehicle was passing me from left. No room to avoid the piece of concrete and I couldn't brake hard enough for fear of a rear end collision. I tried as best as I could, but couldn't entirely prevent the contact. The front of the car went partially over the concrete, there was a loud thud and I stopped. Switching on the hazard lights, I opened the door and got out to check the underside. Fortunately there was no damage. Most of the motorists had by now started bypassing my vehicle. The guy behind me backed up and then went around. I now had room to back up slowly and then work around the concrete block. It was so huge, it would take a bulldozer to move.

The road had been divided by concrete blocks right from the flyover to the IIT. The traffic police used a bulldozer to move these blocks around to regulate the traffic, as the traffic entering IIT and Powai is heavier in the morning, while traffic leaving Powai is heavier in the evenings. While doing this, someone had not bothered to shift this particular block back in line.

[lohithrao]

Have seen this on the hiway, where truckers will make sure that they build a fort around thier stranded truck, ofcourse they are on the road and when they are done fixing the truck they just drive off... once i did see a huge stone right in the middle of the road, stopped the car and move it aside. but there after i did see the stones lying on the road many times but did not move them, guilt and a fear bothers me that if anyone unlucky come across these stones what might happen.....

[Exhaust_Note]

The other day when I was traveling between Bandra to Navi Mumbai, I took the Eastern XPress Highway till Cheddanagar (and then turn right into Mankhurd). In the EE Highway, I saw a Indica very close to the divider, parked and the owner/ driver standing next to it. Traffic was there but I managed to stop and cross the road. The BMC had done some repairs to overhead street lights and had left "Huge" divider blocs on the road. About 2-3 feet from the dividers. may be used as chocks for their truck. The Indica's right front wheel was completely smashed and there were serious under body and axle damage too. Called the BMC and Police (for insurance) and I went my way.

I am sure the Indica guy was lucky to survive the accident with only damage to car. The average speed on that stretch touches 100.

[prguru]

I have removed stones nails and screws while walking around the house and also have removed some bricks lying in the middle of the road while on bike. Don't remember removing anything while driving but will surely do if it looks hazardous. I remember removing a huge branch which fell in the middle of the road right opposite to my house last week when it rained heavily. It is a narrow stretch and one side of the road was covered by the branch and an esteem was parked on the other side below the tree whose branch fell.

[jaysmokesleaves]

The way things are today, i will not, rather i dare not stop on the road to move/remove anything, simply because I may get run over by someone else or someone for sure will crash into me. The traffic is reckless and people are remorseless.
When you stop on the road, you are another hazard yourself for the others, unless the roads are clear and wide without any/much traffic.

[ampere]

I have another question in the same vein.

Have you ever stopped on the road to give way to a pedestrian?


I find this extremely lacking. Every one is in a hurry. I do not understand how that 5 seconds will bring the world or the wall street down?
(Well it may but what the heck!)

Need to give our due respects to people, even if they don't care about their lives. But I do see some folks genuinely thanking you, if you give way to them. That small gesture, makes my day.

[Exhaust_Note]

Originally Posted by ampere

I have another question in the same vein.

Have you ever stopped on the road to give way to a pedestrian?

Yes I do. Also to two wheelers. Unfortunately in other, developed countries I always get an acknowledgment in the way of a smile or a wave. In India (Mumbai, Pune) the pedestrian/ Rider just crosses off with the smug face as if my very presence there was a nuisance. At times I feel like running the person over. I dont look for a "thanks" but the smug face is not called for. Till date only one lady on a scooter smiled and waved when I yielded the way.

[shankar.balan]

yes I always do this. Poor Pedestrians - they also have a right to cross the road. Especially ladies.

I come to a halt and wave them on despite my regular observation of all the idiots behind me honking like furious geese because they a. lack patience, b. lack common courtesy, c. lack basic understanding/empathy for pedestrians and d: are not "gentlemen" in that sense of the word!

Originally Posted by ampere

I have another question in the same vein.

Have you ever stopped on the road to give way to a pedestrian?


I find this extremely lacking. Every one is in a hurry. I do not understand how that 5 seconds will bring the world or the wall street down?
(Well it may but what the heck!)

Need to give our due respects to people, even if they don't care about their lives. But I do see some folks genuinely thanking you, if you give way to them. That small gesture, makes my day.

[scopriobharath]

I will never stop to remove the stone if in India. This may be a trick by some thugs to try to stop me and when i get down, they may abscond with Car + Valuables.

If the stone is obstructing my path, I will wait inside the car till there is a pileup (5-10 mins). Then i would work with other car owners / drivers to move the stone.

If it is USA / Europe i will remove the stone from the path so that all are benifitted.

[jeevmenon]

Last Friday - 10th Sept 2010 - 12:50 PM between M.M.Hills and Kollegal (KA)

Before:


After: