Common irritants while driving a car

There are many such irritants, of which some are long term and most are short term. Few we can control and are internal, and few are external and we can do nothing about.

BHPian saikarthik recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Do you like to drive a car irritated?

Well, it's a dumb question and answer is no for 100% of sane people.

But sometimes or in some pleasant trips or commutes, we do get into some situations where we need to live with the things that cause irritation and keep driving. There are many such irritants, of which some are long term and most are short term. Few we can control and are internal, and few are external and we can do nothing about. I recently had a 650 km long trip to my native in my new Nexon and had many such irritants but overall a good and enjoyable drive. Let me list down what I experienced and also what I think about few possible irritants.

Before listing down, let me clear (or create) a confusion. All irritants are distractions but not all distractions are irritants. Sorry for dropping this debate point now, and let me write what I was planning to in this post.

Long term irritants

Again, these can be categorized as solvable and non-solvable. In either case these issues that cause irritation persists over a good amount of time.

Ergonomic disasters

These are the type of irritants that keep you in a "not comfortable" state while driving. They can be minor to major irritants, some are solvable by aftermarket mods/accessories but for most - do a proper test drive and select variant/model. In my Nexon, there are a couple of issues that make my long trips slightly less enjoyable like:

• Right knee hitting the key fob every time I try to relax a bit and move my leg.
• Left leg shin being constantly rubbed against the central console.
• Lack of armrest in XM variant

Left leg rubs against the curved part of the central console

Build and design issues

This is again somewhat related to the first point, but varies because they cause irritation due to squeaks, rattles, unusable storages, access issues and hard plastic where you expect some soft material.

• The Nexon's door is built solid but if I place my elbow on the door for a second it squeaks and hurts.
• I have a phone tray near the audio unit, but it's unusual shape makes it difficult to place the phone and it's impossible to keep my phone (Nokia 6.1) with back cover.

Company

Yes, it's important with whom you travel. In some cases you can choose, but if it's your family and especially if you have a dad who feels like a rally car navigator, you can't help it. There is no cars24 for exchanging irritating family members.

There are few friends whose company you love but have a bad quality of taste in music. I like to listen to party songs in a party but not while driving a car.

Disclaimer - I love my dad and other family members, but just quoting the possible scenarios.

Traffic conditions and Road rage

There is progress in infrastructure and road manners, but given current speed of improvement, I guess irritation due to road incidents, people behavior, traffic cops harassments are to be endured. But we can avoid few with better planning, defensive driving and our reaction to an incident.

Short term irritants

These occur momentarily, some just one time and others may be recurring but not certain.

Eating food in the car

Makes the car smell bad and dirty. Sure as hell distracts us from driving while others eat. I like eating and I like to drive, but not both at the same time.

Constant talking or making sounds

If you have a child you would have experienced this. I love to listen to my daughter, but when I hear just "balabab babba wonderful toys balabala" for 20 minutes!

Uncomfortable choice of apparel or sunglasses

It's a meh! type of irritant, can be solved almost with a decision to change them but still..

I know there are a lot of such irritants out there that makes us uncomfortable, distract us and many would have gone through them multiple times. So, what are your experiences and takes on this?

Here's what BHPian Researcher had to say on the matter:

The following is my list, in no particular order, but all of these somewhat make me frustrated:

1. Poor road manners by fellow road users - Honking, bad overtakes, mobile usage and oncoming high beams are some that I get irritated by quite a lot. We really have to go a long way with respect road manners.

2. Bad ergonomics, headlights and unexpected niggles - Especially with Tata cars having projector headlamps, I have faced all three at one go. In the Hexa XT test drive car back in 2017, slotting into 1 and 2 was a task with the clutch pressed and this has been reported by all owners in our workplace for that 6 speed gearbox. Since the drive was at night, the low beams were pathetic, compared to the good high beams and fog. Add to this, the mute button will remain pushed (seen in our Harrier review too). I did not feel like driving for long and cut my drive short. Another irritant is shiny dashboards.

3. Lack of thoughtfulness in road infrastructure and rules - Unscientific speed limits, speed breakers, poorly maintained lane markers and signage sometimes get to me. We pay taxes and yet get such rules and infrastructure which feel like a knee-jerk reaction. A bike crashed into another? Put up a speed breaker and 20kph speed limit.

4. Uncooperative passengers - I prefer to provide my complete attention to the road and the vehicle, due to the previous three points beyond my control. I have had unpleasant moments with passengers, especially family, who were unwilling to wear seat belts or adhering to my no-eating rule. Few weeks back, an elderly relative decided to unload her nail paint bottle on the car leather as she wanted to save a few moments by painting her nails in the car on the way to a marriage. Thankfully, it was easy to clean.

So how do I solve all this? Simple. I prefer driving solo over longer distance and play suitable music which helps me stay calmer when something from the above happens. In fact, talking longer solo drives somewhat helps me get over the irritation from road as well other spheres of life. It is a work in progress but the progress has been good so far.

Here's what BHPian TrackDay had to say on the matter:

After driving for nearly a decade now, the one thing that truly irritates me is the general lack of discipline on roads. There are issues like niggles, slow moving trucks in fast lane, broken roads, squids etc. But more than that, the very fact that people don't drive in a straight line and mind their lane really bothers me. If everyone drove in a straight line, kept their distance from other vehicles, avoid cutting off, then I am a happy man on Indian roads. Another issue is with Jaywalkers and pedestrians who day dream while walking on public roads. For me it is not all about driving fast, but rather having a pleasant drive without having to deal with all the maniacs.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.