[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by harsha.cs1

i can not think of anything else. using a curb or a tree at a low speed to stop would not be advisable as it would deflect the direction of the car and would render it totally out of control.

If all else fails, shout out to all in the car to brace themselves and drive into the nearest mountainside at no uncertain angle.
Damage, yes, quite a bit. But you'll get away with small injuries to occupants.
This is a last resort method, but good to keep in mind. Some people prefer to keep strongly brushing against the mountainsides and keep shedding speed before the final ploughing into the 'wall'.

[shankar.balan]

for an emergency stoppage as a LAST RESORT dictated by absolute and total failure Anup's suggestion is a good way of saving yourselves - only, ensure everyone is belted up, put on the hazard lamps, lean on the horn and go at an angle into the muddier/ softer parts of the hill side. Atleast the belts will help contain the damage to the people. Cars can be replaced, lives cant.

Originally Posted by anupmathur

If all else fails, shout out to all in the car to brace themselves and drive into the nearest mountainside at no uncertain angle.
Damage, yes, quite a bit. But you'll get away with small injuries to occupants
This is a last resort method, but good to keep in mind. Some people prefer to keep strongly brushing against the mountainsides and keep shedding speed before the final ploughing into the 'wall'.

[watashi75]

Originally Posted by Dolphin

Brake Failure: If your brakes fail while driving downhill, try the following, they MAY save your life.
• Try your emergency (parking) brake (Give it some time to work)

I have some doubts here. I am not sure how effective handbrakes would be if brake fading happens due to excessive heating. The heat is likely to damage even the emergency brake pads. Infact during track runs it is advised not to use handbrakes immediately after completing the run because of the heat generated. I feel even the emergency brakes should be used intermittently and not continuously.

[planet_rocker]

since we are talking about hill driving - why has no one mentioned about using indicators - IMO it is something similar to trucks using their RHS indicators to indicate a pass.

i have seen all vehicles giving a pass either to on-coming traffic or the car behind them by switching on the vehicle's RHS indicator.

more details on this will be great

[shankar.balan]

you are right on this one. if you wish to allow the person behind you to pass, you have to indicate as much by using your right indicator.

however, sometimes the lights etiquette can get a bit confusing given that the larger number of road users are not fully aware or may be partially aware only.

like for example, in other parts of the world apart from india, if a car flashes its headlights at you, you are meant to go through - he is giving you right of way. But in India, if you flash your headlights at an oncoming vehicle, you are signalling to the other chap that you are going through and that you are are taking the right of way.

Originally Posted by planet_rocker

since we are talking about hill driving - why has no one mentioned about using indicators - IMO it is something similar to trucks using their RHS indicators to indicate a pass.

i have seen all vehicles giving a pass either to on-coming traffic or the car behind them by switching on the vehicle's RHS indicator.

more details on this will be great

[kaynmantis]

I've also noticed heavy vehicles use turn indicators to indicate overtake and for on-coming traffics. Im not sure its a good idea to have different meaning when using turn indicators. I have personally witnessed a minor accident on the highway when the bus right indicator was flashing and the car behind propably interpreted as "overtake". The bus turned and the car bumped the side of the bus.

However, I have to admit it does help sometimes on hilly winding roads. The truck ahead has greater view of the road ahead and they use the right indicator to signal all-clear to overtake (sometimes you cannot see hand signals), and you sprint and overtake. Sprint, aye! Mostly one gets just a couple of seconds till you hit the next turn or on-coming traffic or both.

[praveen_v]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

for an emergency stoppage as a LAST RESORT dictated by absolute and total failure Anup's suggestion is a good way of saving yourselves - only, ensure everyone is belted up, put on the hazard lamps, lean on the horn and go at an angle into the muddier/ softer parts of the hill side. Atleast the belts will help contain the damage to the people. Cars can be replaced, lives cant.

How about engaging the reverse gear as the last resort?? The Transmission and clutch will be damaged, but all i am interested to know is how effectively will it stop me in case of a brake fail and a steep descent?? I feel this should be safer than ploughing into trees/ sidewalls of the mountains.

Originally Posted by planet_rocker

since we are talking about hill driving - why has no one mentioned about using indicators - IMO it is something similar to trucks using their RHS indicators to indicate a pass.

i have seen all vehicles giving a pass either to on-coming traffic or the car behind them by switching on the vehicle's RHS indicator.

more details on this will be great

showing the RHS indicator to let the car behind you pass,is homicidal.
RHS indicator is to indicate that you are going to move right.
the LHS indicator is to show that you are planning to move left.
I hope everyone is clear on that.

how are we supposed to differentiate between a RHS indicator for passing and a RHS indicator for turning right? Telepathy????

I would really like an answer for this one because I have risked my life many times just because of the ambiguity caused by an ignorant trucker using his RHS indicator.
here are 2 examples(there are more)
(1) about to overtake a truck when he switches on the RHS indicator, what do I do? I hold back thinking he's going to turn right.
5 mins later he's still going straight with the RHS indicator on.
I honk and try to overtake, indicator goes off and comes on again, when I pull up next to his cab, he actually turns right. fancy footwork, steering and pure luck saved my skin.

2.a few months after the incident detailed in (1),
I see a truck driving on the RHS lane at 40kmph.
I honk, wait, nothing happens, then he switches the RHS indicator.
I assume he's turning right, take the left lane for overtaking.
he, being the courteous, but ignorant lorry driver decides to give me way at that point and swerves into me in the left lane.
a short excursion into the bushes later, I escape alive again.

answers please.
why the hell would we use RHS indicators to let someone pass?

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

like for example, in other parts of the world apart from india, if a car flashes its headlights at you, you are meant to go through - he is giving you right of way. But in India, if you flash your headlights at an oncoming vehicle, you are signalling to the other chap that you are going through and that you are are taking the right of way.

another of my favourite rants on road safety and etiquette.
the sensible thing would be to do it like the brits do. flash your lights and let the other guy pass.

in india, what we do is flash our illegally bright lights at each other and then both dive for the same narrow gap. recipe for disater.

who decides about who should get the right of way?
is it like a gun fight of the west? the quickest trigger(light) wins?
you see these decrepit amby drivers flashing their lights at you optimistically thinking that they will reach the contested gap before you. comical and pitiful.
I flash my lights right back at them and take the gap with ages to spare.

Since using the headlights properly will never happen in india,I have given up,now when I want to offer the right of way to some one, I stick my hand out and gesture to let him take the gap. no ambiguity, no risks.

@praveenV
engaging the reverse gear without stopping is almost impossible in most cars.
also, if you do manage to do so, the wheels will lock completely and lead to a skid. leaving you in a situation much worse.

ramming the hillside as gently as possible, is the best option after you have tried pumping the brakes, used engine braking and used the handbrakes.

[ravikn]

what I normally do if I wish to overtake truck in front of me is to put the RHS and honk, if the driver observes this and turns on RHS, I would just move towards right portion of the road but do not overtake immediately as I want to be sure of the clearance for the overtake am doing (otherwise am risking my life and others inside the car). Once I am confident that there is clearance, I press the metal, honk again and switch on the LHS as soon as I overtake half way through the truck to indicate him that am coming to the left. This works for me almost every time.
am sure everyone does the same every time. Just thought I would share what I do so that if I have to adopt any changes suggested by TBHPians

[shankar.balan]

reverse will not engage when the car is moving forward - since it is impossible to synchromesh it with 5 forward gears - yes there will be massive damage. and when you press the clutch, to jam the car into reverse, you will end up going faster instead of slower since whichever lowest gear you are already in, will disengage the instant you press the clutch. Dangerous maneuvre, in my opinion

Originally Posted by praveen_v

How about engaging the reverse gear as the last resort?? The Transmission and clutch will be damaged, but all i am interested to know is how effectively will it stop me in case of a brake fail and a steep descent?? I feel this should be safer than ploughing into trees/ sidewalls of the mountains.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

however, sometimes the lights etiquette can get a bit confusing given that the larger number of road users are not fully aware or may be partially aware only.

like for example, in other parts of the world apart from india, if a car flashes its headlights at you, you are meant to go through - he is giving you right of way. But in India, if you flash your headlights at an oncoming vehicle, you are signalling to the other chap that you are going through and that you are are taking the right of way.

Gosh, I am not aware of this, despite my 23 years of driving. I had learnt from my grandpa's chauffeur (or was it my dad?) that you flash your lights to warn the oncoming driver to slow down and let you pass. Now I am confused

[jat]

how are we supposed to differentiate between a RHS indicator for passing and a RHS indicator for turning right? Telepathy????

what if the guy sends the signal in morse code or a tamilian sending message to punjabi

Nobody is supposed to tell the other guys what to do like using RHS indicator to tell a person to pass because everybody has same level of qualification in driving (it is yes or no, not ranked on percent of marks scored). And we are supposed to keep the rightmost lane always clear for emergecy use such as ambulance etc. If it has to be used for overtaking, then after the vehicle is overtaken, the lane should be cleared. Using private methods (as already put here by rippergeo) will lead to disaster. It is like a one guys talking in english and other one thinking in hindi (classic case of communication failure)

[shankar.balan]

actually much of this signalling etiquette etc is unknown territory to most of our drivers out there on the road - considering that guys get a drivers license with a fudged 8th standard pass certificate (if that) or by simply paying some crittur at the RTO or some super crittur at some half witted driving school, then all this debate is no use because no matter what you do and no matter what is correct, the other chap will simply continue to behave as he normally would - ignoring all these finer things completely.
I think there is much to be said for "when in India do as other Indians do" - atleast as far as all this signalling and lights language etc is concerned - that way you may come back from where you went to, in reasonably good order. Im with ripper geo - stick the paw out and gesticulate wildly seems the best method of indicating to the chap behind that you dont mind if he passes you. Slowing down considerably and even pulling up on the left to allow him to pass, might be a good idea, if this is being done on a hill road.
Lest we forget - it is clear that atleast in India, Might is Right and physical arguments with vehicles carrying Taxi Yellow plates are things to be avoided like the plague!

Originally Posted by rippergeo

another of my favourite rants on road safety and etiquette.
the sensible thing would be to do it like the brits do. flash your lights and let the other guy pass.

in india, what we do is flash our illegally bright lights at each other and then both dive for the same narrow gap. recipe for disater.

who decides about who should get the right of way?
is it like a gun fight of the west? the quickest trigger(light) wins?
you see these decrepit amby drivers flashing their lights at you optimistically thinking that they will reach the contested gap before you. comical and pitiful.
I flash my lights right back at them and take the gap with ages to spare.

Since using the headlights properly will never happen in india,I have given up,now when I want to offer the right of way to some one, I stick my hand out and gesture to let him take the gap. no ambiguity, no risks.

@praveenV
engaging the reverse gear without stopping is almost impossible in most cars.
also, if you do manage to do so, the wheels will lock completely and lead to a skid. leaving you in a situation much worse.

ramming the hillside as gently as possible, is the best option after you have tried pumping the brakes, used engine braking and used the handbrakes.

[jat]

All the advice given for stopping on a hill road is good. However, one thing we have forgotten that under such situation, people panic and all this things will not come to mind till you mentally keep on simulating number of times. So, all emergency procedures has to go to the head for reflex action.