[Abbas]

Mine is:

1.First will adjust the seats according to my comfort.
2. Set all the RVM's right left and centre.

I don`t feel comfortable unless i do the above things. A car which does not have or have just 1 RVM, then i feel very insecure.Also, if i am not shifting gears, my left hand stays on the hand break. and i keep pressing the button on a red light.(i don`t lift the level, just pressing the button)

[mmxylorider]

- At toll stations, I go to lanes with heavy vehicles unless they are dedicated lanes. They don't argue and clearing 1 vehicle frees as much road space as 3 cars.
- Tender exact change for the toll and keep the ticket handy at the exit point.
- Move to outer lane for an exit in advance even it means driving at 40kmph behind a lumbering truck for 100 yards rather than race ahead and cut in front of it.
- Never ever keep my ORVMs folded.
- At public parking, I ensure that adjacent car driver side door can be opened for easy ingress. (I find it very annoying when I have to squeeze in if I am at the receiving end)

[raj_5004]

1) I always drive with a seat belt on, infact i am so used to it, i cant drive without it now!

2) If my car is slow, i usually stop for crossing pedestrians.

3) I always use indicators for lane changing.

4) My car is always parked with the hazard lights On.

5) I switch off my headlights when waiting in a signal or when stuck in a jam.

6) While overtaking, to inform the driver ahead, i flash twice & only if the driver does not respond, i honk once.

7) I dont like honking at signals or jams.

8) I dont move my car until the signal turns green!!!

Things i am not proud of:

1) I hate people jumping dividers in jams. I block their way.

2) I hate ricks, taxis & bikers ignoring my turn signal & still honking, i purposely block them & take my turn. Of course, if i am on the proper lane.

3) I hate guys honking provoking me to break signals. I adamantly wait till the signal turns green & then 2 seconds more!

[Gany]

This is a great thread...hope this helps us to learn good habits & kick bad habits!My signature habits:

1) Properly maintained, everything functioning all the time!

2) Use indicators always for pass or lane change

3) Parking lights during day / low bean when raining/cloudy/highway & Low beam + fog (if it is raining) during night. Occasional flip to high bean if traveling on unlit roads with very low traffic

4) Use flashers when stopping by the side of road

5) Never park in no parking/narrow lanes/near junctions! I avoid going to places where I may not get parking or return back from places when I do not get proper parking

6) Always wear seat belt before I move the car

7) Allow kids/elderly to cross

8) Allow others to take turn in a no signal junction

9) Do not take U turn unless it is marked for same & ensure I am not blocking others while doing so

10) Do not honk or flash oncoming vehicles especially in the night

Bad habits:

1) When I get irritated I honk continuosly

2) Use curse words(not targeting to person) whenever someone cuts me on wrong side/bad driving/slow moving on fast lane/not yeilding etc.

3) Sometime I do not yeild but then regret after crossing the spot

4) Do not drive within legal speed limit, whenever possible

5) Overtake from left when right lane is blocked or someone do not give way & driving slow

6) Have no respects for bikers, auto & tractors

[suhaas307]

Since I drive a Santro on a regular basis, I have set myself a routine before I move.

- The moment I enter the car, I crank the motor and let it idle for a few minutes. In those few minutes, I wear my seat-belt, fix the stereo head-unit and choose a playlist that I'd like to listen to on my phone/ipod. By then, the car has nicely warmed up and I'm all set to go!

- On the road, I try and stick to one lane as much as possible. We know that in Bangalore, it's hard to do that as you might have to get off one main road as soon as you get onto it.

- I anticipate. I keep my mirrors open and keep an eye out for all two-wheelers who tend to come oh-so-close to your car. My left ORVM is very important to me. I would die without it!

- When I know that I need to turn left/right and come off the main road or enter another one, I gradually switch lanes (using indicators) a good 200 meters before the turn and about 30 meters before the turn, I switch on my repeaters.

- My parking lights are on usually by 6:00 pm/twilight. I never use the high-beam in the city unless the road is absolutely empty.

- I almost NEVER sound the horn during the evening/night. I generally flash my lights and slow down while approaching an unmanned intersection.

- I use my hazard lights only if I am stationary on the road. The only other time I use the hazards is when I'm say, reversing in a dimly-lit area and into the main-road.

- While waiting at a signal, I turn off the low-beam and keep it on parking-lights.

- I've never exceeded 60 within the city. The fact that my Santro struggles beyond that may be one factor but even if I'm driving our Civic/Jazz, I never go above 60-70.

- Sometimes, I do take off like a rat on fire, but that's when I'm late for college or something.

- I detest those who honk and get very frustrated. I tend to block their way. Especially cabbies.

- People who try and get me to take off when the lights are 5 seconds away from turning green, I purposely wait after the green-light for an extra 3-4 seconds and then move!

- I always stop for an amber-light. I always wait for the green light. No matter how late I'm getting!

- I tend to show hand signals of a different kind. I know it's wrong, but I can't help it!

Yes, college! Some of you might be surprised to know that I'm 21 and none of my friends like sitting in my car while I drive because of how careful and slow I am.

[noopster]

Things I do when driving:

- Buckle up and don't start the car till the passenger seat occupant has done so too.
- Lock all doors. Couple times early on, I'd driven off without everyone getting in, so wait till all doors are closed, then lock 'em.
- Adjust my seat perfectly before (and sometimes even after) starting the car. I cannot drive in a sub-optimal seat & steering position.
- I have a clearly delineated "driver's zone" which my passenger seat is not allowed to enter. It includes the entire dashboard space upto the extreme left hand (first gear) position of the gearstick. No knees or elbows allowed there. My wife understands this well and sits accordingly- if it's someone new I need to let them know!
- I drive most of the time with only one hand on the wheel. Left hand usually rests on the gearstick. Picked this up from my friend Nilesh who I drove around with a lot in the early days. When driving to the US to my amusement I realised I was doing the exact same thing (no reversal).
- I never honk. Wifey gets really annoyed at this. Only exceptions are if some idiot tries to cut in and endanger me/others. If someone is blocking the way, I stop and check the reason before gently tootling.
- I am kind to pedestrians, especially kids, old people and the disabled. I once stopped my car and helped a confused-looking guy across while all the time people were honking relentlessly and yelling obscenities. I just grinned at them.
- I take it very personally when cops stop me for violations. At Chembur signal a havaldar stopped me once for "breaking signal". I was and am quite certain I didn't. I have never bee stopped in Pune and intend to keep it that way.
- I took a snap on a borrowed cellphone camera when my car odo touched 50,000. I was the only one in the car excited about this. Some people laughed.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by rohan_iitr

Can you/someone briefly elaborate on technicalities of these 2 points.

Do these practices increase the life of the engine ?

Rohan

The first one : Yes. It's cruel to high-revv an engine when its still cold. Maximum wear & tear.

The second : No. However, it makes me happier and thus, increases my life

[mallumowgli]

Cool thread and interesting points discussed. As for me, apart from all the safety issues discussed, I

- give way to pedestrians esp children and elderly
- put car in neutral, take feet of clutch pedal and engage hand brake at short signals (switch off if duration is longer and there is a timer)
- with my bike, I start the bike first and then clean the seat, mirrors, headlights etc. This gives time for the engine to warm up
- sing very very very loudly during solo highway drives in my car : the only time i sing (or rather make noise that i consider as singing)

[akshay_b]

After reading the thread, I just realized that almost everyone on this thread has the same driving etiquette.

Here's mine:(The goods)

>Make sure the windscreen is clean

>Idle warm up after a cold start

>Check mirrors, Buckle up.

>Stick to lanes, unless there's a rickshaw doing 15kmph.

>Stop at a red light even if it is midnight, Stop well before the stop line.

>Always yield for pedestrians unless there's a dare devil trying to stop a fast car to let him pass.

>No honking at cyclists, Overtake them with a decent gap.

>Low beam at night and on Highways, High beam for the high beam drivers. Tit for tat

The bads:

>Honk and scare people trying to jump signal when my signal is green by driving fast, but make sure i do it safe.

>Never let another guy cut in front of me, I make sure i maintain very less gap between the vehicle in front of me when there's a guy trying to cut lanes.

>Turn on high beams when there's a high beam monster in the opposite direction, This blinds the other drivers.

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by akshay_b

>Turn on high beams when there's a high beam monster in the opposite direction, This blinds the other drivers.

Well I do that. Can't help it sometimes. Last night, I was driving and it was drizzling. Some idiot on a bike almost hit our car because:
1. He was on the wrong side AND WITHOUT ANY LIGHTS
2. I was driving on low beam
3. There was another moron (which turned out to be a police jeep) with high beams on, coming from the opposite side

Since the road was wide enough, I didn't have to do any last minute risky maneuvers but I did shine the 100W high beams onto the jeeper's face. He obliged after that

-----

I've noticed a friendly taxi driver (he's a good guy on the roads) moving the car a few inches forward before taking it out of the car-shed (or any place where it'd been parked for a considerable duration) in reverse. I asked him why, but he said it's good for the car and nothing else. Any thoughts on this?

[valhallen.282]

Hmmm interesting thread. Here's my two cents.
Boot car before I get in. Whenever I drive from home its parked in neutral and handbrake so its a straight boot.

Restart on warmup.

Wait for reaching the first signal before the ac comes on. At signal handbrake>idle>restart(if not done before)>10 seconds>AC

On road keep to low beam. Double flash for pass. Single for warning. And short blasts of honking for give way or pass.

Slowing down at signals or junctions without fail even from 120+ if so be the case.

The bad
No I don't use ORVM. Don't ask I'm a slightly dicey driver when it comes to traffic.
I'm a revmonkey.
Yes I love my music loud. But I heard you toot me.

The UGLY:
Cut me once: ok. Cut me twice:ok you need to take a crap, I understand. Cut me thrice: er must not mention.
Honk once:I move. Honk twice: my bad. Honk thrice: beep beep beeep to you too.
Yes you have a big ride and a big engine doesn't mean you're gonna stay ahead forever. Traffic driving smarter is better not bigger is better.
Gap>measure>squeeze>grin in apology for comin so close.

[fine69]

Originally Posted by noopster

- Lock all doors. Couple times early on, I'd driven off without everyone getting in, so wait till all doors are closed, then lock 'em.

Originally Posted by silversteed

I've noticed a friendly taxi driver (he's a good guy on the roads) moving the car a few inches forward before taking it out of the car-shed (or any place where it'd been parked for a considerable duration) in reverse. I asked him why, but he said it's good for the car and nothing else. Any thoughts on this?

This has been discussed on some other threads too, something to do with lubrication within the gears i.e. not enough oil reaching when directly applying the reverse gear. So once 1st gear is applied and its lubricated reverse would be smooth.

[megazoid]

1) Can't lift off when driving fast for a vehicle in my lane to move aside to the slower lane. I know its a bad habit. I don't flash headlights or honk. I weave but only if back is clear. Nevertheless...a bad habit!

2) Stop at random places and jump out of the car to appreciate the beauty of the car. This is becoming an increasing irritant for passengers.

3) Hate more than two people in the car for any trip.

4) Can do nothing when I drive but drive. Can't think of work or problems. Its a big relaxation for me and I drive everyday whether it is required or not.

5) Don't rev the engine till redline very often (considering that its a honda) but very particular about downshifts and rev matching. No jerks acceptable. Keep feeling bad if it happens.

6) Every trip I do will have many many pics of the car. Ppl get bored with this.

[Shubz]

A Santro struggles to exceed 60? You may want to have it checked! Am sure a lot of Santro owners will dispute this (am an ex-santro owner).

Originally Posted by suhaas307

Since I drive a Santro on a regular basis, I have set myself a routine before I move.




- I've never exceeded 60 within the city. The fact that my Santro struggles beyond that may be one factor but even if I'm driving our Civic/Jazz, I never go above 60-70.

[suhaas307]

Originally Posted by megazoid

1) Can't lift off when driving fast for a vehicle in my lane to move aside to the slower lane. I know its a bad habit. I don't flash headlights or honk. I weave but only if back is clear. Nevertheless...a bad habit!

2) Stop at random places and jump out of the car to appreciate the beauty of the car. This is becoming an increasing irritant for passengers.

3) Hate more than two people in the car for any trip.

4) Can do nothing when I drive but drive. Can't think of work or problems. Its a big relaxation for me and I drive everyday whether it is required or not.

5) Don't rev the engine till redline very often (considering that its a honda) but very particular about downshifts and rev matching. No jerks acceptable. Keep feeling bad if it happens.

6) Every trip I do will have many many pics of the car. Ppl get bored with this.

I've been in your situation and I know what it's like. Everything down to matching the revs while downshifting, not thinking of anything else while driving but the drive itself, not lifting off for other vehicles, etc..

Originally Posted by Shubz

A Santro struggles to exceed 60? You may want to have it checked! Am sure a lot of Santro owners will dispute this (am an ex-santro owner).

Actually it doesn't struggle beyond 60 as such, I haven't taken her out on the highway yet. I have done 100 + in okay comfort while on one trip to the the outskirts. But I've noticed that by the time I hit 60-70, I have to slow down while in relatively lesser traffic and open roads. I can tickle the 80 km mark on my other two cars faster before I have to slow down, I mean!