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All of us have a unique way of doing things, this also applies to the way we drive. This thread is an insight into all those small and big things that we implement in our driving which makes us different from other drivers on the road. It may or maynot have a logical explanation, but ought to be a feel good factor. So folks let`s bring out the things that make us feel that we commute to drive and not drive to commute.
To begin with

1. I drive with my fog lamps on during the day time but I make sure I switch them off during the night and I stick to low beams inside the city limits.
2. I wear seat belt as its a feel good factor for me, makes me feel better.
3. I give way to ambulances and at times I stop my car on the side to make way for the ambulance to pass.
4. I switch off my headlights and keep my parking on whenever I stop at a signal or when I am stuck in bumper to bumper traffic.
5. I love looking out for t-bhp cars in a parking lot and I make sure I park my car in a manner which facilitates easy spotting of my t-bhp sticker.stupid:
6. I love keeping my parking on when i park my car as it makes my car stand out.
7. I like parking with my wheels slightly turned towards right as it gives it a sporty look.
8.I like giving way to people crossing the road. Again its just a feel good factor. :)

I feel good when

1) I drive with seat belts On. Always.
2) I use low beams when travelling on streets with street lights
3) I follow lane discipline almost all times.
4) I switch off the engine when I am stuck in traffic.
5) I wait till the signal goes green and then proceed.

clap:

To all the three points above : clap:
If you do the above at all times, you will be feeling much better :). Thanks for making our roads safer.

Point two is followed always, except when I reverse to park in my garagestupid:

Never encountered point three yet, but will make way nevertheless.

And when its a tight space where only one car can pass, I am the first to flash my headlights:D

Nice thread & I'm looking forward to drop some of my bad habits that I may not be aware & pick up some good habits from others :)
1. Seat belts are always strapped ON when the car is on the move & when I drive. Except my GF (Grand Father hehe), I always request to strap on the seat belts. Wifey & Mother, no exceptions, they HAVE to wear
2. I always use low beam no matter highway or city & keep switching betwen low & high beam. When someone throws high beam at me, I show no mercy on him either with my 100/130
3. Always & every where (whether 2 wheeler or 4 wheeler), I follow a strict lane discipline. I switch lanes often, but not to the extent of putting others to risk. I switch lanes due to slow drivers on right most lane, 2 wheelers riding in parallel on both lanes etc.
4. Always have 3 mirrors wide open covering as much as possible. Seat belts, mirrors, brakes & engine noise are in my checklist each time I take out my car.
5. I switch off the engine at signals & love signals with count down. I also stop before the stop line & never budge for anyone even if its Govt bus.
6. To ask a pass, I start with one or two blinks, followed by series of blinks followed by one or two horns followed by constant honks.
7. I've constant watch on the mirrors all the time, I love to yield way for someone who's driving faster than me. I don't mess up my driving with speeding vehicles. After yielding way to a speeding vehicle & he proves to be a rash driver, either I speed up faster than he does OR I pull over for a minute or so & then continue. On anycase, there's no street racing even with a Nano.
8. Music depends on the mood, but no way its going to be loud
9. I get nervous when I hear an ambulance sound. The nervousness is because I want to yield way & not follow the ambulance & the people around me want to do just the opposite. But I always pull over to extreme left or right depending upon the way ambulance approaches. I make easy for them to pass me over.
10. A strict no driving/riding on wrong side even if its urgent. I'm proud of once riding about 2-3 Kms to take an U turn for stepping back few foot

The Devil's inside
1. Mid of the night or early morning, I do a high speed (not rash) wherever possible with loud music. I take revenge on myself for keeping up patience other times
2. When I'm forced to drive when I don't feel like, that's the worst thing to happen. I'm still learning how to control it. Better not to elaborate more on this; this is worst of all!!!
3. When asking for a pass I sometimes honk non stop for a minute or so. But again, I've a bad habit of watching through the rear & front glass of the vehicle in front of me provided the car has no sun control film. So when I see this guy has an empty stretch & still drives, slow, he had it with me.

@aargee - You need some solid lessons in Anger Management. Better see the movie starring Adam Sandler & Jack Nicholson.:D

Aargee, dude, u share most of my driving habits:)

Seat belts are mandatory for the front passenger.

But cant resist taking a reverse if its a few yards behind and the traffic permits me to do so:D

I always love to stick to the low beam even on highways and the high beam is strictly used for flashing for the high beam monkeys. My car can light up both H&L when flashing. So 100/130 will be an over kill. I feel its a decent treat for these reckless morons to remind them how much of trouble they are causing to others.

Very restricted in honking just two beep with a sec delay I think that can attract more attention than long honks. I hate melody makers as it can irritate others easily.

Switching lanes and overtaking ditto with flashing and honks.

Using mirrors are bit restricted to wind shield RVM and RH side ones. Mostly depends on wind shield mirrors for watching following traffic and I never try to provoke any one who is in a hurry to over take as it can spoil my mood.

Switching off the engines at signals, thats one of the rule of thumb in saving every penny.

Drive the car in high gears as much as possible even on 50kph.

I never use the hazard lights on signals to remind others that I want to go straight.

Doesn't like to fit a reverse horn as its the most irritating thing other than heavy honking I've ever felt.

Loud music is only when am alone provided roads are empty to have a casual drive. But when my friends are with me things will be different as they want to blow away my hatch door with the sub.

Downsides:

I prefer to drive on the right most side of the lane even if am doing at 60kph.

If some one is not letting me to over take to the right side, I would be tempted to consider the other side if its empty, this mostly requires to over take trucks doing a steady 60kph.

Every one has some evil minded habits when you get pissed off with rash/reckless drivers. So I am trying to avoid those encounters as much as possible.

Why and why?

Rather keep the fogs on at night so as to avoid blinding oncomers (even low beam is annoying). I'm assuming you have OE type fogs mounted / integrated at bumper level and not extra ones elsewhere.

same with me for 1,2,4,5,6, first part of 7. Also-
Get frustrated when the guy in front of me takes long when passing through toll both,
Do like a good driver in an equivalent car keep up with me on long drives

Ah, I'm so happy to see this thread

Things I'm proud to say that I do:
1. First thing I do after getting behind the wheel, adjust the seat for the perfect driving position, followed by adjusting the IRVM and both ORVMs and buckle up.
2. Crank the engine with the clutch depressed. Somehow I feel it helps the engine start up more easily, and also the logic that even if I forget to engage neutral (which rarely happens), the car won't try to "jump".
3. On a bike, wear the helmet and adjust the mirrors, check the fuel-cock if it's in ON or RES, before I start the engine.
4. Whether it's a bike or a car, I use my indicators to indicate lane change and direction change
5. Driving/riding on the wrong lane is strictly avoided.
6. Before a trip, among other things, I have the habbit of wiping all lights clean. I might not wash the car, but I definitely would make sure the tail lamps, brake lights, all indicators are spotlessly clean, and working
7. Strictly no jumping signals, no overtaking from the left
8. If the road ahead is clear of traffic and I'm not in the city/town, I use the high beams. Otherwise it's only low beams
9. My priority for accommodating: 1- pedestrians, 2- cyclists 3- other two-wheelers/autos, 4- cars. The rest generally bully you on the road.

The not-so-proud things:
1. I flash my headlights or give a couple of short beeps to indicate my intention to overtake, if the vehicle ahead does not give way despite having free space on the left and no other vehicle in front, I resort to honking - bursts of 1 second long pulses
2. If I see a vehicle coming in the opposite direction, I switch to low-beams. If they don't reciprocate, I'm back to high beam
3. I take out my phone and check for calls or messages when I'm stuck in a traffic signal with a timer display. But I don't make calls or type messages.

Trying to avoid:
1. I hate to see bikers overtaking from the left, on highways. I block them by swaying left, instead of letting them go
2. I keep my left hand on the gear lever until I reach the top gear
3. Inside the city/town, if I'm blinded by the high beams of a moron coming from the opposite side, I give him an earful in the few seconds I get while we cross each other

Ive never understood guys honking at toll booths. I mean its not like the guy in front is purposely taking long. Of course if they guy is front is talking or arguing with the attendant its a different story.

Correct. In fact I have made it a habit not to leave the toll booth without checking the condition of the currency notes they give me back in change. That sometimes takes about 5 to 10 seconds more.

Well, I used to be 100 times worst than I penned down above. I'm 101% sure I'll near the perfection in few years from now :)

Ofcourse, all of us are Indians & we'll share the same. The roads, people & vehicles are different, but the attitude that we see on the roads are the same. Welcome to India, unity among diversity :D

Yards or miles, belts are always tied for me.

Oops; I forgot to mention that I ALWAYS use clear signals on my next move. That way, I not only keep myself alert but also the others on the road. I DO use hazard signal to alert that I go straight on cross junctions.

Count me on this one

You need to go through this thread - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shifti...y-drivers.html

If some one is not letting me to over take to the right side, I would be tempted to consider the other side if its empty, this mostly requires to over take trucks doing a steady 60kph.

Every one has some evil minded habits when you get pissed off with rash/reckless drivers. So I am trying to avoid those encounters as much as possible.[/quote]

First point on obtaining US driving license. Anyway, I don't need to adjust seats as I'm the only person to drive. I've to do this only once when I take the car from M.A.S.S.

+1; even if someone takes time deliberately, I don't mind waiting for them. I observed that on a highway drive, 5 minutes of difference doesn't matter a lot even during a 500 Kms journey. Here's the theory
Car travelling at 90 Kmph makes through 450 Kms in 5 hours; however car speeding at 80 Kmph makes 400 Kms, the remaining 50 Kms can be done easily in & around 30 minutes. Now consider the stamina of the person doing 90 Kmph steadily versus 80 Kmph, I'm sure the person doing 90 would get tired soon. But if he really has that stamina, yes, hats off to him & I would say please take the lead. I stopped comparing myself with someone else on road (that's the biggest insult), I only compare with myself with what I've planned. It helps a lot to stay within bounds & enjoy the drive.

Another recent habit of mine is to engage the third gear followed by first after starting the car. Somehow I feel that the gears are smooth when I follow this protocol rather than engaing the first gear after starting the car.

What I always do:

> Seat belts strapped for EVERYONE in the car.

> I give way/stop to give way for ambulances.

> maintain relavant gap with the vehicle ahead of me acc to my speed.

> Do not overtake until the vehicle ahead has completed overtaking.

> Put my beams judiciously.

> Honk lightly to warn if there is a two wheeler ahead.

> Slowdown and Honk when I am crossing a cross road (specially when there is no traffic)

> Do not overtake from left when the right side traffic is stand still (this generally means something is crossing the road)

What I repent:

> When I go mad at people jumping lines in a traffic jam by going on to the otherlane

> When people squeeze in to the gap that I maintain with the vehicle ahead, also I have to admit that I become very agressive and accelerate just to make sure that the guy cannot squeeze in.

> When the person behind me is on high beams for no reason!

> I feel like hitting into the two wheelers who over take me when I am taking a turn with indicators on, I find this the most ridiculous thing any human can do!

:thumbs up Something I also practice

aargee, hazard warning signals are there for a purpose. Better to avoid using them to indicate that you're going straight.
Sometimes, we need to have it, especially in crowded market places. I have one in our car, but I did a DIY job of fitting a switch on the dashboard to turn it off when it's not needed. Moreover, it's not the usual "Sare Jahan se accha" etc tune, it's only a beeper.