[volkman10]

The best drivers in the world: The Japanese are the best, the worst are the Thais.



This list is subjective because driving knowledge is difficult to measure, but there are some trends, awareness of traffic, traffic dangers, etc.




These are the elements that car insurance experts (Compare the Market tackled), who wanted to see which countries have the safest and which worst drivers. To compile the list of the best and worst states, they looked at a range of factors, including blood alcohol limits, road quality, the status of road safety topics on social media and the number of road deaths.

In the list of 50 countries, the safest drivers in the world are in Japan! The blood alcohol limit is quite low, at 0.03 g/dl, similar to Chile and the Czech Republic, and there is the most positive sentiment on social media for terms related to driving, at 33.4%. Japan also has the fourth highest level of road quality on the list, which means that it is generally a very safe country not only for driving, but also for pedestrians.

Eight of the 10 safest countries are in Europe, with the Netherlands leading the way in second place – at 6.4, it has the second highest level of road quality, just behind Singapore at 6.5, and it also has one of the lowest levels of traffic injury deaths in the world. 100,000 people.


And the worst in the list

Looking at the other end of the spectrum, Thailand has been named the country with the worst drivers in the world, with by far the highest number of tragic traffic deaths, 32 per 100,000 people. Peru came in second to last, with the highest traffic index score (220.4) and the fourth worst levels of road quality.



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[udzgodfather]

Originally Posted by volkman10

The best drivers in the world: The Japanese are the best, the worst are the Thais.

IMHO, the process through which one gets a license plays a very important role in defining a driver. Japan's driving license is one of the most difficult licenses to get. With the vast connectivity of public transport and stringent process of getting the license, the amount of process the driver gets through ensures that a lot of applicants are weeded out. Thus maintaining the quality of the drivers on road.

Comparing the same to Indian drivers most of the bunch get a license first and learn later.

[anjan_c2007]

True India has the worst drivers. Such worst drivers are in most cases enduring the worst traffic conditions, the worst traffic indiscipline, the worst traffic surroundings, the worst road engineering (with no accountability) for traffic, the worst traffic law enforcers, the worst road upkeep and infrastructure and perhaps the worst motor vehicles as far as safety standards are concerned. Our top car maker gets away with zero and one NCAP safety ratings for its best selling models.

And such a milieu in most cases creates the worst drivers who are cool with the mess everywhere. Many of them are morons and who also revel to derive sadistic pleasures by resorting to their own customised set of traffic mannerisms to put other traffic users into inconvenience and sometimes jeopardy.

Our Motor Vehicles Act 1988 and the Central Motor Vehicles Rules 1989 are getting amended many more times a year than ever before. But despite these amendments for safety, discipline and for streamlining the traffic including hefty penalties, nothing seems to work. All amendments remain on paper and are extremely handy tools to facilitate hefty bribing and to make tons of black money for the traffic law enforcers.

The result : the more disciplined drivers feel left out and get the feel that that they are missing the bus and are getting overwhelmed and in many cases outsmarted by these "worst drivers" who call the shots and rule the roost in our traffic.

[twin-turbo]

Living in Gurgaon, It is literally impossible for me to drive in a straight line even if I want to. God, the drivers here are atrocious.

[grshnehete]

One of the main issue is rightly pointed out by 'udzgodfather' that the process of getting a driver license is literally a joke in India.

After getting the license, people drive/ride crazily because they don't have a fear of getting caught. And even after getting caught, I hardly think proper fine is imposed. Simply bribe and go scot-free and repeat the same everyday.

[Jeroen]

What is also remarkable is that the greatest nation of the world is 7th worst! Another illusion shattered!

Jeroen

[SoumenD]

Not surprising TBH. Driving in India is like going on a battle daily specially if you office is in places like Outer Ring Road. I have permanently shifted to office cabs now(something I never did pre-pandemic) as after the grill of driving in peak hour, just cant concentrate on work. I feel super fatigued already

But surprised to see Thailand ahead of India in being the worst. In the 1 week I spent holidaying in Krabi and Phuket, found the drivers way better behaved than Indian counterparts. And US is 7th worst? Wow!!!

[navrddy]

There is something with our attitudes in general towards following rules.
Instance1: Recently I drove to mysure from Bangalore to attend an function on recently laid 6 lane highway, where maximum speed limit is 100 kmph, with most sections. Knowing my car capabilities and safety features I drive at maximum 90 kmph, and on 6 lane road I usually drive on middle lane. What I observed my drivers overtake from left , right(ok) and most of the them for sure where driving beyond 100 kmph. Now I safely reach destination attend the function, there goes discussion like this what is normal speed maintained by few of drivers who have driven on this highway, many people were boasting 120-140 kmph. When I said 90 kmph, people started laughing and making fun. This is the general attitude we have towards people who follows rules or atleast try to follow rules.
Instance2: Everytime I tell my family seated at rear to buckle up, huge argument follows even inspite me showing multiple instances of crashes without seatbelts at rear in YouTube. I seriously don't understand my most of our countrymen and women don't follow laid down rules.

[fhdowntheline]

Originally Posted by SoumenD

Not surprising TBH. Driving in India is like going on a battle daily specially if you office is in places like Outer Ring Road. I have permanently shifted to office cabs now(something I never did pre-pandemic) as after the grill of driving in peak hour, just cant concentrate on work. I feel super fatigued already

But surprised to see Thailand ahead of India in being the worst. In the 1 week I spent holidaying in Krabi and Phuket, found the drivers way better behaved than Indian counterparts. And US is 7th worst? Wow!!!

I have no doubt that India is the worst ever, considering its size, its geopolitical status. And among the big cities, Pune takes the (dung) cake. And this cuts across all demographics of age, sex, socio economic status. And I daresay, most of us BHPians have been occasionally guilty as well . It will take a revolution or some cataclysmic event for the Indian driver's mentality to change.

[bullitt1]

Not surprised at the ranking of this country at all. The traffic sense prevailing nowadays we'l give a tough fight for top spot in coming years.

Shocking to see US and Canada at the bottom, is it Biden and Trudeau effect.

[puntra800]

India agreed , considering the way people drive these days. I have and majorly drive in Bangalore and oh boy have the traffic sensibilities have deteriorated so much that people don't even realise they themselves are the reasons for the huge traffic pile ups. A little bit of letting the other person go ahead can work wonders.

Coming to US , its a surprise . Honestly when I had to drive there ,I had to unlearn my Indian driving skills and start afresh. People are always willing to give way when you are trying to switch lanes and give appropriate signalling when turning or stopping.

[SoumenD]

A classic example of why we are the worst. What's the point of world class infrastructure if the users are not civilized?



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Just 1 day since the expressway is inaugurated and we already have our 1st major accident. Ofcourse the 'jugaad' vehicle entered illegally.

[GKR9900]

Originally Posted by SoumenD

But surprised to see Thailand ahead of India in being the worst. In the 1 week I spent holidaying in Krabi and Phuket, found the drivers way better behaved than Indian counterparts.

Exactly! I was also surprised to see Thailand drivers as the worst. Back in 2017, wife and me were on a trip to Bangkok and Pattaya and the drivers were far more disciplined than what we usually find in India. There was this one day when we were stuck in a traffic jam in a cab and there was almost zero honking while maintaining one car distance from the vehicle at front, a rare sight on our roads.

[neochanger]

I agree. I live in Kanpur and the driving sense and traffic management are indeed in very sad state of affairs. Two wheelers go without any decency or sensibility, autorickshaw and e rickshaw pull over anywhere to pick/drop passengers and SUV/Crossover maniacs drive like goons. There is no space for peaceful, sedate and rule-following drivers. The traffic police is both responsible for and helpless against this messy traffic and road conditions/city planning is worst that I ever experienced. A lot of things can change only if people on road show patience and decency but the crowd seems ignorant/tolerant of whatever is going on. I can only hope that it gets better in the future but the crawling pace of progress gives little hope. The city has taken away my enthusiasm of riding/driving. I prefer staying at home than going out in Kanpur’s traffic. You are always worried about getting a dent on your car especially if you ain’t a rash driver.

[J2022]

Why blame India motor vehicle rules and the DL process alone?

Look at any profession or job and India and a vast majority of the service providers are inept, incompetent, nasty or worse. Whether it is a bank clerk who cites an imaginary rule or an airline call centre that is not aware of a free rescheduling rule or a university professor who plagiarizes freely for his own research everyone and everything around us is sub-standard. Why then should driving skills be any different?

As an aside, Japan's driving license process is not only very strict but extremely expensive. It costs more than Rs 2 lakhs (in their currency) which is quite steep and ensures people take the process seriously.