[NST440]

Things i do:
1.Wear seat belt, not because of police fear but it feels more safe & civilised i guess.
2.Usually prefer low beams while driving as an effort to tell others that high beam are not good for the oncoming traffic.
3.Prefer good music always, i just can't drive without good music.
4.Love to give side to others, its again a feel good factor.
5.Love to drive fast only on good roads with linkin park songs on.
6.Parking at a place where my ride is visible to me as i fear scrathes put by some disturbing elements.
7.Cannot drive without both ORVMs open i feel like i am playing a gamble on road without them.
8.Always prefer that my car is a bling bling and shining when it on road.
9.These days i am trying my best to minimise use of horns and manage my anger as it is essential in current indian driving scenario
10.Love to open my front windows on a pleasant day as i love the air kissing my hair.
11.Use of Reverse assist camera has become a habit now, dont know if its good or bad.
12.Courtesy & lots of courtesy for fellow drivers on road,i am trying my best.
13.Taking a longer more cleaner route rather than a shorter and bad road.
14. Last but not the least , listening to my ipod when driving my Enfield, at a sound level where i can hear the outer world.


Thats all i can come up with, would surely update when i know morw about myself.

[deep_bang]

Interesting thread.
My signatures:
1. Seat belts -> always. Makes me feel comfortable.
2. Avoid hard braking - this generally means i coast towards signals and humps rather than accelerate and brake hard.
3. Usually clean the windshield everyday although the car may be quite dirty. Hate to use the wipers without a clean windshield.

[benzinblut]

One signature move i always follow is Danke Schon.

If someone gives me way or makes a cooperative action, i do one right blink immediately followed by a left blink.

This is a very common thing followed in Germany that i learnt while driving there. Its called a Danke Schon, meaning Thank you in German. I found this to make the driving light and cooperative.

The only pity is that i hardly get a chance to do it because of the jungle rule traffic behavior in Bombay

[drive_or_die]

I do:

1. Fasten seat belts whethere I am behind the wheel or not. I am notoriously known for wearing seat belt at rear seat (if available) as well
2. Generally, I prefer driving in 1500-2500 rpm bracket. At 2500 rpm my car does 120+ in top gear
3. Hand Brakes is a must at any kind of stop
4. I look out for sing boards for speed breakers (if given ) and keep account of traffic in my vision and accelerate accordingly. I do not like braking strong
5. I like to use intermittent speeds on wiper
6. I honk only if situation needs so
7. Music is audible only within the car
8. I do not mind shifting to 1st gear at very slow speed to avoid clutch riding

I should avoid:
1. I play music very loud at rare occasions, but the loud music is accompanied with high speed only on highways. In fact in city limits, loud music goes well with lower speed (I believe I should make people listen to song nicely when I play it loud)
2. I keep nagging people on the way they sit in my car and especially the way they keep feet on mat (I hate people who will try to keep feet on carpet and not on mat). I feel guilty about nagging but can't help it. The nagging becomes a request if the co-passenger is a family member (as I do not mind cleaning if messed up by immediate family)

[Desmosedici]

Things that i do on road.


1 - Crank and leave the engine running for half a minute.
2 - Always go an inch ahead in the parking and then reverse.
3 - Always use indicator and also hand signal
4 - Flash your lights to overtake, if driver doesnt budge, honk, still doesnt then try to overtake from left.
5 - Stop at red signals while everyone else is breaking it, unless its like 3am and the whole street is empty, but will take a look for incoming vehicle and only then move.
If someone honks at a red signal, i gesture them fly over.
6 - Music will never be loud.
7 - Brake lights should always be functional
8 - Always on low beam
9 - Leave way for ambulance
10 - Overtake rash autowallahs and make sure they slow down by cutting their lane. i know this is wrong but talking to them doesnt get thier brain working.
11 - Revv hard when i am the expressway.
12 - Seatbelts always on for me and passenger.
13 - Never Drink and Drive and dont let anyone drink and drive. Period.
14 - Race a bit with my friends on expressway but with good consideration to the vehicle and the traffic around and the road conditions.
15 - Switch off engines and headlights at signals or heavy traffic.
16 - Need both ORVMs, never drive with those folded.

Cheers,
Raj

[MilesAndSmiles]

1. Get in the car, insert the key and run the diagnostics check everyday morning.
2. Fasten seat belts, release hand brake, change to neutral, depress the clutch and start the engine.
3. Even if I have to reverse out of the parking space, I take an inch or two forward before I reverse.
4. Use indicators at every opportunity, use horn bare minimum in the city limits. When I drive thru ghats, I honk at every curve.
5. In city, plan and execute lane changes well in advance, especially at traffic signals.
6. Drive without jerks and in proper gear, no half clutch.
7. In highways trail a fast moving vehicle in a safe distance, whenever I can find one, especially in the night.
8. I don't jump traffic signals.
9. Curse the stupidity of other drivers .
10. Always fill the fuel full tank, less visits to the bunk. Check air pressure once a month.
11 . Engage the hand brake, close all windows and lock the car whenever I park the car.

[airguitar]

My core principles :

1. Don't touch anything with your car; and don't scare anything with your car
That means :
a. Give wide berths to pedestrians and 2 wheelers
b. Slowdown when I cannot give a very wide berth, as I pass them

2. I slow down and stop at ambers and don't beat them ( and get yelled at for doing so but I smile back, which irritates them even more ).

3. Dippers at night to start with ( although I avoid night driving as much as possible ); Switch between highbeam and low beam depending on speed and oncoming vehicles. Always dim down even if the oncoming guy doesn't ( as that helps focus light on what I need to be seeing ) and slow down.

4. Scan long and hard the stretches when I do good speeds. I sometimes used to do high speeds upto 150-160 kph on open multilane highways : but only as long as I felt it's safe for me and others on the road. Typically on straight stretches where I had enough coverage of vision on the sides as well as on the frontside. In the recent months, I stick to 100-110 kph always.

5. Don't hesitate to give a piece of my mind to rash drivers and rude offenders.

6. Break often on a long journey; leading to overall bad average speeds. But that also means that I can drive upto 19-20 hours sometimes without losing concentration if required.

7. Very bad driver when I haven't eaten well, so I stack my car with loads of things ranging from chewing gum to coca cola/pepsi to chocolate bars and don't miss out on a good meal on the highway if there's a good place to eat. I prefer to sleep well and eat well on the night before the long drives.

[abhayshanu]

I dont know if this is wrong, right or just something unique, but I do it, and I dont mind anyone saying anything about it.

1 - I will always ride safe and never do something which will go to the edge of my skills as I driver/rider.

2 - If I am late or in an hurry, I will ride fast and might look dangerous to other, but I will not go to the edge of my skills as I driver/rider, though I go halfway through

3 - Never street race, unless it is with a friend on a known and fairly empty road or with a worth opponent on a fairly empty road.

4 - Will always ride with my helmet, rarely not wear it.

5 - Always wear the seat belts, always.

6 - Turn on my parking lights as soon as I cant see the speedometer and lights as soon as the road isnt lit well with sun light. I might turn my lights on much before everyone else, or be the last to do it, but I do it according to my needs.

7 - I always give way to an ambulance/firetruck/red light car, if I am obstructing its way. If I am faster than the vehicle/s, I make sure that I in no way obstruct its motion.

8 - This is applicable only when I am riding and in a hurry on a flyover. Will take the left lane and sometimes undertake(overtake from the left) because this is the fastest route to go ahead of someone. The trucks wont come more to the left and there is no one else who does this, so its completely empty. I do honk and go ahead when I am sure the driver/rider knows that I am undertaking


Now for something unusual and have been trying to control and its difficult, but doing it nonetheless.
9 - If I ever see someone driving/riding as they are at a track and are racing with everyone on the road and winning, I cant handle it, it just angers me. I am sorry to tell this but, I will show them that there are people who are 10 times faster, better, more skilled than them on the same road they are traveling. Once I do overtake them, I do slow down, most continue driving the same way with a hurt ego but some rare ones, slow down to a normal pace.

10 - If someone is using his high beam, be it a truck or a scooter, I will once or twice, pass, if he/she doesnt understand, I will also use the high beam, with my bike, it is for certain that the person will either use the low beam or can be termed as blind.


I know this is OT but, am I the only one who thinks that there are alot more aggressive drivers and riders than there were, lets say some 5 years ago? I still remember when I use to sit in the passengers seat and look at almost everyone driving and riding properly, there use to be very few who use to drive and ride rashly.
But now? I rarely see anyone driving and riding in a sane manner.
I think it is because of the increase in number of cars and traffic jams and the stress of getting of work/college/school on time that forces people to drive and ride fast, but what I do not get is that, why not take the public trasport? Why not take the school bus? Why not car pool? Why?

[RajeshK]

Many things are covered by others, and some of the major ones are

Originally Posted by GTO

- Say a short prayer before driving off in the morning -> A must

- Work the engine on empty roads. Drive real smooth, jerk-free and without any sudden action in traffic

- Maintain a safe distance from the car ahead at all times. I hate drivers who tail-gate -At signals, stop a bit away from the front vehicle and move a bit forward after the rear vehicle stops to ensure safe distance..!!!

Originally Posted by drive_or_die

3. Hand Brakes is a must at any kind of stop
6. I honk only if situation needs so
7. Music is audible only within the car - Prefere semi classicals
8. I do not mind shifting to 1st gear at very slow speed to avoid clutch riding

Originally Posted by Desmosedici

4 - Flash your lights to overtake, if driver doesnt budge, honk, still doesnt then try to overtake from left.
7 - Brake lights should always be functional - A must before startign the car
9 - Leave way for ambulance - Only for those at work
3 - Never Drink and Drive and dont let anyone drink and drive. Period. - Includes water or snacks
16 - Need both ORVMs, never drive with those folded. + internal rear view mirror, this helps to judge the distance

Originally Posted by airguitar

1. Don't touch anything with your car; and don't scare anything with your car
That means :
a. Give wide berths to pedestrians and 2 wheelers
b. Slowdown when I cannot give a very wide berth, as I pass them

2. I slow down and stop at ambers and don't beat them ( and get yelled at for doing so but I smile back, which irritates them even more ).

5. Don't hesitate to give a piece of my mind to rash drivers and rude offenders.

I am a serious offender of seat belt. I do strap seatbelt only when wife tells to wear or when in Kerala (police may book you for not wearing..!!). Now started practicing seat belt.

Thanks
Rajesh

[noopster]

Originally Posted by abhayshanu

3 - Never street race, unless it is with a friend on a known and fairly empty road or with a worth opponent on a fairly empty road.

Dude there are no exceptions to the "no street racing" rule. Ever. What on earth do you mean by "fairly empty road"? Have you considered the possibility that there may be a child on a bicycle or a mother with a pram somewhere and you may not be able to stop in time? Please desist from this idiotic practice at once.

[womanonwheels]

I do follow almost everything the fellow BHPians have mentioned. I feel pleased with myself given the fact that driving isnt really considered women's forte. I have a question though. Why is it recommended to move forward a bit before reversing?

[drive_or_die]

Originally Posted by womanonwheels

I do follow almost everything the fellow BHPians have mentioned. I feel pleased with myself given the fact that driving isnt really considered women's forte. I have a question though. Why is it recommended to move forward a bit before reversing?

There is a thread on TBHP on which the issue regarding reverse gear has been discussed extensively. I am unable to find the thread (sorry about that) but there were various reasons identified for moving forward before putting the reverse gear.

This is in fact a technical reason that older engines in Maruti would find it difficult to put on reverse gear when the car is started for first time on a given day. The problem was solved by putting 1st gear-> move a bit forward and then apply reverse gear.

[justwheels]

I don't know if driving habits also means riding habits, but I want to add mine while I drive my Gladiator SS125.

1) Indicators always for turns, hand signals for U-Turns if during day-time.
2) Minimum usage of Horns (YES), I use a whole lot of dipper.
3) Ride Low Beam all through the streets in City. High beam only for dippers, Highways and near darkness stretches.
4) No snaky driving on roads, fast is for open highways and some night outs.
5) Slowing on Yellow and Stop and Red Light. No crossing the Stop line even if the whole world behind you keeps honking.

* A suggestion to all regarding point 2 : try some day, say to yourself, no horn today whatever happens, use lots of dippers, I tell you even on a bike, it works 75% of the time, just need an extra second of patience. That self pride of making our country less polluted by one man is satisfactory for me.

[bharatbits]

Nice thread.
Few of my habits,in no particular order,include
1.I ensure the car i am driving today is cleaned and washed,inside and on the outside
2.I give way to ambulances and fire engines.
3.I maintain a pretty sedate driving style.
4.I don't tank up ever nor fill in small amounts.I prefer filling in multiples of 1000INR.
5.When i am in somebody else's car I follow
"Respect a man's car,the man will respect you"
6. I first use dipper ,if that does'nt work then i honk.
7.I park nearer to the entrance or exit where there are lot of people around than in a secluded place.
8.I don't prefer giving lift to strangers.(I should practice this strongly and learn telling NO)
9.Drive with windows rolled up 96% of the times.
10.I maintain my car in such a way, she's ready for a long trip/drive anytime.

[jaygeetee]

1) I always prefer the lower gear of any two possible while driving. So it's usually 3rd gear above 2k revs instead of 1.5k in 4th. 2) I like being the first out of the block at a signal 3) I always park my car in the proper marked area without touching the lines, fold both mirrors and keep the front wheels straight 4) I always drive with the windows up. 100% 5) I love driving fast on twisties, am usually sedate (not too much) on straight roads but the devil in me comes out when I see ghat roads, maybe it's from riding bikes. Just today I went to Lavasa and boy! I had a blast. I know, not too good an idea but everyone has his poison. 6) I need car perfume in the car, am really put off by 'bad' ones in other cars 7) I always fill nitrogen in my tyres. 8) I don't allow food in the car, or I throw a tantrum if I am forced to. 9) I never allow anyone to throw things out of the car window, a few people have had an earful when they did it before I could stop them. 10) Finally, a small prayer to the almighty before I get out of the gate.