[B103]

These are somethings that I have noticed:

1) Once the tip of bonnet of the vehicle in the parallel lane is 1 cm ahead of your's then that vehicle have the rights to cut into abruptly into your lane without any signals. This is made true not just by bikers but buses, cars and auto rickshaws as well.

2) In highways, you can see fully laden trucks blocking all lanes, on an uphill. The truck moving at 3 kmph will invariably try to overtake another truck moving at 2 kmph and block all the lanes in that process

3)Absolutely no lane discipline with slow vehicles moving through all lanes of a road

4) Honking as if there is no tomorrow to warn that a speeding vehicle is approaching which is not bound to any rules on the planet. This is true for all cabbies and van drivers

[Youcanburn]

Sarang awesome writeup. It was a pleasure to read your article. Unfortunately I mist admit, i for one have been guilty of the 'me first' attitude at times too (depending on my mood). After reading your article yesterday every time i approached an intersection i remembered this piece guilt ridden.

[seanr]

Interesting presentation and rightly said. If only all of us have a little more patience...

I have seen in Australia - the driving licence instruction books contain illustrations such as presented by you which make immediate sense and get registered in memory quickly than lot of just text. Even in USA, I didn't see such clear book of instructions.

Huge population, short of infrastructure facilities are definitely a reason for this but these situations could be reduced with proper vigilance, enforcement of penalties, stricter norms in issuing licence to drive etc.

[ashphil]

This is a lovely article with beautiful illustrations which depict the sad state of affairs existing in the India where driving is concerned. Totally deserving of a five star rating! Traffic rules and common road courtesy is for lesser mortals. Unfortunately only a minority of us belong to that category in India
A problem like this needs to be addressed by creating awareness and strictly enforcing traffic rules with stiff penalties for offenders. I have seen youngsters riding with earplugs listening to music (The winning argument here is if you can drive listening to music , why cant I ride doing the same?), cops asking you move on despite the redlight so that they can proceed unhindered and riders without helmets weaving intricate patterns amidst heavy traffic unmindful of their own safety and much more that strenghtens your belief in God because survival after every day spent in city traffic is a miracle!
The moment one is on a set of wheels the driver/rider becomes a fierce and totally selfish brute with no concern for anybody's safety including his own! Are we as a nation doomed to be a race of inglorious riders/drivers or is there any salavation from this rot?
Regards,
Ashok

[sforsarang]

Originally Posted by nitinbose

Excellent write up! Such incidents are more on Saturday. Before I start driving on Saturday I tell myself, "switching to Saturday mode!" where one has to be extremely careful as this is the day when people who are learning to drive, the rundown vehicles, outsiders with less sense of city driving etc., converge on the roads.

Thanks Nitin, you're really lucky if you face these morons only on Saturdays, at least you got 6 days free of stress which is great !

Originally Posted by chakri400

Great narration - I was laughing throughout. I must admit (sheepishly!), I find myself guilty of one or two above - specially the "I like to move it, move it!" idiot, where one has to wait behind a bus at a bus stop Yes, patience is the key to transform from an idiot to a sensible guy. One has to practice patience and needs to perfect it.

Originally Posted by hellmet

The answer is not patience, but to switch off yourself from the situation completely. It is highly impossible to have the infinite patience required to keep sanity on Indian roads. I plug into music and turn my brain off for the two hours I ride everyday. Some remote part of the brain rides my vehicle and makes sure I don't turn into one of the idiots myself.

Thanks chakri400, hellmet, even I must have surfaced on one or two or maybe more of the categories I see it as really difficult to be 'doodh ka dhula' here in India. Patience is the key to transform from an idiot to a sensible person at the same times patience is the key to transform from an 'always stressed and pissed off sensible rule abiding common man on the road' to a 'detached and emotionless, senseless robot ignoring everything and commuting point to point !'

Originally Posted by KiloAlpha

I have encountered another annoying highly effective habit of idiots.

Selectively in a hurry.

These are the guys (vehicle agnostic, drivers of all types have this habit) who cut through traffic any which way they can, and end up right in front at the traffic lights. Which, of course, is red. Then, when the lights go green ... they don't move!

I mean, if you are in a hurry, you would want to take off like a pole-sitter in a race when the lights change, right?

Kiloalpha, another angle to it is, when the bike stops right at the middle of the road due to some technical fault, the biker, instead of first taking his vehicle to the leftmost 'shoulder' lane, tries then and there in the middle to kickstart without bothering about the traffic that's halted behind him.

Originally Posted by Arvind6488

SforSarang: Very nice write up. We encounter with all these type of Idiots atleast once in a week and at least one type of idiot, for sure once in a day.

One more type that I would like to mention is the "Get Confused Buddy" kind of Idiots. These are people who never remember to turn off the indicator nor have a buzzer installed that would remind them to turn it off when the auto cut off is not happening.

I have ended up many a time being isolated to the corner of the road when overtaking guys having their left indicator turned on. At the time I overtake them and they notice me overtaking them, their blood starts boiling (as I would be on a bike and also that being a Splendor) and they rev up pushing me to the right corner and speeding away.

At the end of the day it is me scratching my head thinking as to why I ever tried overtaking this guy? Lately, I have stopped overtaking guys who have their indicators turned on either knowningly or unknowingly and maintain a safe distance with them to ensure I dont get smashed up.

Thanks for listing out all the types. Would help a lot to identify them when riding or driving.

Thanks Arvind, I guess this confusion might be arising from the fact that indicators are used to indicate you are turning as well as I have seen them being used to indicate you can overtake. I still don't know what separates these two indications from the other driver point of view. Any idea how to identify this?

Originally Posted by drmohitg

Excellent and hilarious thread. And the best part is this is not even the tip of the iceberg and you could have taken a few hundred more pages elaborating on many other idiotic behaviour existent on our roads.

The question we need to ask and address is how to cure us of this disease. I sincerely feel a good part of the cure has to be in the form of driving habits and general character/habits/attitudes that your parents/family/teachers have helped you to develop during your growing up years. I am not a saint and probably would have at times found myself on the wrong side of the law for instance while jumping a yellow signal to attend that meeting. But 99% of the times I can say with pride that I drive sanely and allow the cognitively challenged around me to zoom ahead. And I feel that its primarily due to my dad correcting me whenever I made a bad decision on the road during my early driving years.

Thanks and you're spot on doc, the problem is, as someone wrote somewhere, we Indians are privately smart, publicly dumb ... While on roads, we aren't worried about accidents, mishaps etc., we are worried about 'saving''.. it can be money, time, efforts but never lives...sadly

Originally Posted by pyrodrive

Great thread ! Cant stop laughing at some of those.Best is the mystery where people look the opposite direction as they cross.!
I would like to add another one which is very common in highways here.
People on bicycles riding on the wrong side of the road and that too beside the divider.Imagine the guts to face oncoming trucks like that.wow!

Thanks Pyrodrive, I guess the bicycle riders on a 4 lane highway think that their ride occupies only 5% of the huge road so it's safe no matter where they ride it !

Originally Posted by mayuresh

I find it most annoying when a slow mover tries to take over another slow mover. Ridiculous that this happens on expressway as well, typically with truckers.

The scene is as if they are playing a race with peak speed limit of 20kmph.

In cities, autos are not far behind in playing this game with each other either - typical on gradients, where their rpm and noise level increases to such a level that they think they are driving really fast and can easily overtake their fellow autowalas.

Mayuresh, frustrating aspect of this is mostly on a steep climb or ghat region this mind blowing phenomenon happens and wastes your half an hour for nothing !

Originally Posted by SDP

Absolutely brilliant article sforsarang!
Thanks for presenting such a frustrating aspect of driving with a dose of humour.

What I have failed to understand is that - how can some people be so stupid? Anybody with an IQ as low as 50-60 should be able to use logic and reason to figure out the utter stupidity of these habits. What's unfortunate is that neither self-discipline nor adminstration have been able to rein in such idiots.

Here's a new idea for Google:
After you have successfully launched the "self-driving" car, how about spending some research money on "driver-disciplining" car? A car that will be aware of its sourrounding (just like the self-driving car) and give a mild electric shock to the driver if he tries to muscle in his way at the front of a queue or drives on top of the lane-markings or enters a one-way from the
wrong direction.

SDP, sorry if I sound cynical and pessimistic, but even if such technology comes in reality, Indians will find ways to bypass or make a fool of it in no time !

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Fantastic narration put in humorously. We have come across such people falling in majority of the classes if not all of them sometime or the other during our driving years. However in the Indian context the road sense is the step child of courtesy & patience.

IMO the Short term memory loss idiots are the scariest of them as they put themselves and other on the road to a greater risk because of their inability to take the correct judgement.

Where would one slot those idiots who talk on mobiles when driving but drive insanely cutting lanes, stopping suddenly and that too at angles yet to be discovered?

Thanks Ghodlur, with absolutely zero intention of making fun of the health condition itself, I would say they are under the category 'Spondilitis Prone' idiots. I mean, out of curiosity I tried on an empty stretch, driving a bike with neck twisted as if I am talking on a mobile (simulated without cellphone obviously) and found that we just can't stay balanced on the vehicle at the same time in that position..

Originally Posted by NPV

Nice thread, thanks for sharing
One of the habits with folks (idiots!) on 2 wheelers and 4 wheelers is the tendency to veer to the extreme right side of the road when nearing a junction where they intend to turn right. What they don't realise is that they're blocking the vehicles trying to turn left (traffic flowing in opposite direction).
Would these guys be classified under "my way is the right way idiots" ?

Thanks NVP, I guess for a bigger vehicle it would be difficult to take a U turn while turning from extreme right lane (nearest to the divider) and thats why probably they steer to left and then take U ?

Originally Posted by Mnjdnght

Great observations. I do wonder at times, several times in fact, if the bad driving habits are more deep rooted. For e.g. I observe similar behaviors on foot in malls, airports, roads and even offices.

Almost all the bad driving traits are on display
- Jumping queues (plenty and wherever there are queues)
- Rushing at a crazy pace, brushing and shoving your shoulders as they zoom past
- Ambling along in quiet confusion making you wonder whether to go around them right or left
- Cutting across with no care to who is behind or elsewhere
- Looking down at cell phones or their fine pedicures while walking straight
- Personally most annoying to me are people with backpacks who make abrupt turns (even in narrow aisles) with their backpacks punching others left and right.

The list goes on but, well, you get the idea.

So you see, we are like this wonly Maybe provides an easier path to cure or maybe not.

Mnjdnght, You nailed it ! Ours is a very old and evolved socio-economic culture and we have absolutely conquered all loopholes in the systems to suit to our needs and screwing up others necessities at the same time

Originally Posted by sukhoi30

Great write up Sarang. Good to read and excellent illustrations. But honestly, what is it we or anyone can do? Unless, the procurement of licenses are made stricter with proper tests and exams, these idiots will continue to rule the road.
This happened to me today morning iteself ... just ahead of Airoli (Navi Mumbai) station, I was waiting at the right most lane to make a U turn, when suddenly a mini-van overtook from the left lane, cut across from my front and takes a speedy U Turn making all vehicles in the opposite road stop. He just missed a rickshaw by a whisker as the rickshaw speeded up at the right moment when seeing this idiot take the turn.
At other times, I see idiotic pedestrians when they cross intercity highways by holding up their hands to oncoming traffic and not looking at the vehicles at all.

Thanks Sukhoi, as I have said somewhere else, my expectation from this post is, if after going through all our discussions, one person drives sanely and sympathetically for even a day, the goal is achieved. I personally thank team-bhp for my own improvement (although I am still not there, long way to go) but specially the 'street experiences' section makes me introspect and the 'accidents in India' keeps me grounded even while driving big vehicles. I go through them almost daily without fail although many times it's not a good start to the morning reading those, but I would prefer safer mornings than good mornings.

Originally Posted by travelwriter

And how about the 'Brittle Ego" Idiots.

Imagine a scenario where you are in the correct lane and you approach a car that is ahead of you and driving quite slowly. You give the proper signals and start overtaking it. You want to complete the manouvre before the oncoming vehcile comes close.

Just then, the driver realizes that he is being overtaken and takes it to heart. his ego is hurt and suddenly accelerates leaving you in the wrong lane. "Oh, I am not a slow driver. Just that I was in deep thought."

You then have to take hasty steps to get back behind that vehicle.

Such idiots also make driving a dangerous activity

travelwriter, this especially happens when you attempt to overtake a premium vehicle or luxury sedans or big SUVs, I never mess with them, they are humble, their drivers aren't !

Originally Posted by Desmosedici

Awesome humour. Loved the ' i like to move it move it' one. I was smiling after reading it. This exactly depicts what happens in our country. Very true.

I have also experienced a 'To be or not to be' kind as well. Encountered these last week when i was standing at the Infinity Mall, Malad Signal and i dont see one but two such incidents.

Car No. 1 came in straight in the middle lane, signal is green. He is about to cross the junction when he suddenly feels that he should take a left from the Link Road onto the back road and he does, but does it after looking here and there and probably thinking for a few seconds. I stand there watching and thinking that this guy has lost his marbles and within the next 10 seconds i saw one more idiot doing the same.

Either they thought that the Mall Entrance is on the back road or wanted to park outside and save the 'exorbitant' 30-40 buck parking charge or forgot their way or just plain idiots! Indecisive fools.

Thanks desmocedici, I didn't want to mention it but you know what, with the exact scenario as you have mentioned, there was a life lost near the Gachibowli junction flyover where the bike rider just couldn't make up his mind whether or not to take the flyover, and at the last moment, changes lanes in speed without looking back to avoid the flyover, and ran over by...tipper

Originally Posted by alpha1

Haha, this is a great thread on a genuine topic.
But honestly, sforsarang, if you realize, this behavior is not just limited to road sense.
As I posted elsewhere (http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street...ml#post3070245), this is human nature, which can be condensed to the following:

1. I am highly selfish and greedy (so why should I care about the impact of my action on others)
2. I am always in an irrational hurry (not just in traffic, but everything in life)
3. I can never be wrong, neither those in my close relationship
4. I always accuse others of being idiot (despite me doing the same - see the next point)
5. The rule is always flexible for me ( "इतना तो चलता है" )


I am sure many of the road disciplined people (even on this thread) will still display either of the above characteristics in some or the other aspect of their lives.


Now you may argue with me saying why is road sense more developed in other countries?

I will answer it - discipline. And unfortunately for most human (the ones that follow the above axioms) the only way to discipline is via authority. They simply lack the capability to use intelligence and think for the better or everyone.

Thanks Alpha1, I agree with you, having stringent laws is one thing and having stringent law enforcement practices is another. We have former, we need the latter.

Originally Posted by t3ofil4us

Most of the Indian drivers who have no courtesy are covered here, although I would like to add the most notorious of them, Autorikshaw drivers.

All of a sudden they decide that they want to turn and drive in the opposite direction. they have no clue as to why their vehicles are equipped with the turn indicators and most of them never use them in their whole life. I have screeched to a halt multiple times, scaring the living daylights out of me, the pedestrians around and motorists behind me.

Seriously, whenever I see a rick ahead I slow down , no matter how much ever i have to hurry to my destination.
I just hope it is made mandatory for all these drivers to be certified by a very strict authority concerning their driving habits/respect towards other motorists.

Cheers,

t3ofil4us, thanks ! Sometimes I just want to bash the guy who invented '3-wheelers'. I request bajaj and piaggio to manufacture 4 wheeled autos... these autowallahs take undue advantage of the third wheel and turn like crazy from anywhere like a dog swagging behind its own tail doing roundabouts ...

Originally Posted by lapis_lazuli

Probably unique to NCR/fringe/NCR "extension":

1) A bikewallah, in first gear, with one leg on the rear plank of a hand cart, effectively transporting a pregnant buffalo, a pile of bricks, 6 of his family members or may be 10 gas cylinders. His leg is now the "axle" or the "drivetrain". On similar lines, a cyclist lugging along with his "bhaiyyas" bike. And all this along the NH24.

2) Two "brothers in arms" autowallah or cabbie: occupying two lanes of the road, and exchanging pleasantries or discussing road-sense amongst themselves, with the every third word uttered being unspeakable mating rituals within the bloodline. All the traffic behind

3) Stopping on the Hindon bridge, Nizamuddin bridge or whatever bears a resemblance of a waterbody, to offer prayers, dump used pujan/hawan stuff, further polluting the stream, and finally impressed by how a prayer stopped traffic!

4) TBHPian stopping at the busiest sec 62 crossing, getting out of his vehicle, feeling the depth of the nascent scratch by the "run your nails across" method, cursing the biker who caused the scratch and holding traffic for 5-6 minutes. Ahem....this is not fiction.

Of course this is not fiction, thanks so much !! that was hilarious and I bet all NCR folks would be on the same page... I found the similar ones in MP too..although I guess more or less it applies to whole of India

Originally Posted by bigwheelz

How about the ones who don't want to slow down before a speed breaker, pothole or bad road patch? They honk if you slow down and jump their bike/cars over the speed breaker like a moto cross biker. Not sure if the vehicle they drive is their own.
One more addition to the auto rickshaw category are the small 4 wheeler tempos (chota hathi types). They will always occupy the fast lane and never go above 30-40 kph.

'Nut crackers' idiots... coz they are nuts, and their vehicles are going to be mere 'crackers' sooner or later if they continue such rampage !

Originally Posted by NST440

Well thats a superb topic, everyday i find these idiots right from the moment i take the car out of my garage & till the time i am back from work, infact i myself was looking forward to put up this topic but i have to admit, i couldn't have done it in such nice manner with great illustrations.

The issue of concern is what is the solution? Is it self improvement, well i for instance try keeping low beams all the time, being polite and follow & respect road rules & manners but believe me 90% of the times i see the same idiotic driving tendencies all around me. Everybody, a rickshaw driver, a scooterist, cab/bus/truck/car driver all tend to give you a feeling that you re lucky today as you have survived them but well for how long?

Though you have put up the issue in a comical satire, i feel real sorry to be on road with these idiots , we face them everyday, without doubts.

Thanks NST440, as I mentioned above, the solution lies in stringent law enforcements, we need to put really big materialistic things at stake for such stupids. Unfortunately the biggest thing which remains at stake i.e. Life is of no importance to them.

Originally Posted by rakesh_r

Great article mate.Experience all the 7 clauses daily during my office commute.How about adding the "MR Honk happy" idiots to the list. The most frustrating part is when you stop for the red light and the Idiot behind you starts honking.I have learnt to ignore these nowadays as the only thing you do is increase your blood pressure and ruin a completely good day at work.Its easy to say this but very difficult to preach.For the people who jump q's and barge in,sometimes i wished i had a jeep like the Thar,install a good sturdy bull bar,ram at the car that comes in between.

Thanks Rakesh, you were too generous mentioning about the Thar, I wanted a hummer, or at best, road roller to run over these morons' vehicles (without morons on them) at least once

[andy69]

Super Thread ! There's one more idiot who's been referred to in other threads : Our superhero who drives with his ORVMs folded. A Maha-Idiot to say the least. I cruise over 100 km every day in city and highway traffic. Having seen all the aforementioned idiots ( man, and they keep coming on in hordes !) , I've realized there's just nothing one can do other than move on. Swearing and confrontation leads nowhere and one's just wasting time. The people of this country ( me included) just arent disciplined enough. Conversely, the uncontrolled growth in population has resulted in slack policing and little or no enforcement of rules.
The establishment just doesnt have that sort of manpower to ensure road rules are followed.
In sticky situations, I manage to save my beloved car, take a deep breath, thank the Ooperwallah for saving both idiots (me included...... since relatively both parties think the other is an Idiot !) and move on.
Do we have a choice ? This probably does reek of a fatalist attitude but what to do ?

[longhorn]

In south India, Hyderabad takes the cake in moronic driving habits, closely followed by Chennai. I have found traffic in Mumbai to be much much more disciplined than Chennai, inspite of the density of traffic being higher there. Some people act so foolishly that we tend to believe that they were born without a brain.

[amarpreet99]

Hi Everybody,

Boy am I glad to see my favorite topic being discussed. I have blogged about our roads, traffic, and the people involved previously. Pasting the blog:

Traffic rules: (Or how the traffic rules should be framed in order to stop from arresting almost everyone on the roads for traffic violations):

Another important task that I have agreed to humbly undertake on my own initiative as our legislators are busy discussing the john bloke paul bill in parliament and elsewhere. There have been important changes in traffic rulez, which have to be publicized.
Traffic light rulez update:

1. Vehicles are no longer required to take cognizance of zebra crossings (annoying white lines painted on roads).

2. Drivers should note that it is now legal to pass when the traffic light just turned red when you reach the zebra crossing. Vehicles slowing, stopped or otherwise standing during this time at crossings will incur huge fines as this kind of activity can result in accidents.

3. Traffic light stops: People wanting to turn right must be placed at the left corner of the road when waiting for lights to change and viceversa. This will confuse terrorist car bombers who our police can quickly identify and apprehend. An additional aesthetic advantage is that the maps will show a beautiful traffic pattern when the google satellites picture Indian traffic.
NOTE: Post the John Bloke Paul bill discussion, parliament will take up the important debate of phasing out traffic lights permanently
Overtaking rulez update:
1. Drivers are now authorized to keep up incessant honking to make the driver in front give way. Although this is considered an offense and poor etiquette if the person driving the car in front is on the phone.
2. It is now legal to overtake from the left side. The previously available areas to overtake(top, down, right and center) will continue to remain valid.
3. Drivers are now no longer required to signal traffic maneuvers via light signals. The “Niraadhar” scheme has implanted telepathy chips in all Indians, so if you just do it, you are assured that the driver behind you has already understood your intent through the telepathic signal. Hand signals can still be used.
4. Objects in the rear view mirror are (f)actually farther than they look, so the car you see in the side rear view mirror is really very far away and you can change lanes, no problem. Vehicle manufacturers have been informed to correct the text etched on the ORVM to display the correct message to vehicle drivers.
General rulez update:

1. Tailgating (drafting) is now a legal activity and considered to be prudent fuel saving technique and must be applied by all wherever possible.
2. Pedestrians are hereby ordered to cross roads by dodging traffic. Due to the notification received from UNESCO, FOBs(foot over bridges) are now accorded national monument status and pedestrians can no longer use foot over bridges.
3. Wrong side driving has been legalized as research has shown that it helps people get to their destinations faster and promotes saving of fuel as well as keeps traffic speeds below 10kmph. Citizens are especially encouraged to do so in highways and expressways to keep accidents in check. This is also useful for foren returned Indians who are used to opposite traffic.
4. Parking on roads
5. All vehicles have been accorded a level of priority to help road users understand right of way. In descending order:
i. Buses (also accorded license to kill)
ii. Trucks (License to kill renewed)
iii. Auto
iii. SUV taxi
iv. SUV
v. Stray animals
vi. Cycles
vii. All other vehicles(cars and bikes).
viii. Annoying emergency vehicles such as ambulances, fire engines and police vehicles have been accorded the last priority on roads. Citizens are to block the passage of these vehicles as this is now considered a fundamental civic duty.
NOTE: VIP vehicles continue to enjoy their KOTR (king Of The Road) status.
p.s: This was specially important since most of the practices described above are widely accepted and expected. What better than to actually frame traffic rules to include them so that we can go on doing it without fear ??



==================

If you like it, I have other entries for kinds of bikers and how important pot holes are for the country.

[Arvind6488]

Originally Posted by sforsarang

Thanks Arvind, I guess this confusion might be arising from the fact that indicators are used to indicate you are turning as well as I have seen them being used to indicate you can overtake. I still don't know what separates these two indications from the other driver point of view. Any idea how to identify this?

Sarang, I must say that you are one among the very lucky commuters who have come across well mannered drivers who signal to you using their indicators allowing you to overtake them .

I have never been able to identify such drivers till date in my daily commute. Meantime, using indicators as signal for overtaking could be highly risky when there is more than one driver behind the person who is initiating the signal. This could lead to a confusion and the riders behind the vehicle cornering to one spot and getting into a crash.

[needmorebhp]

If I can add to list of "****". Anyone living in bangalore will testify. BMTC buses or rather their drivers. For some reason, they always move in the top lane of the road. Obviously they have those Volvo engines to keep up with traffic but then they have to move to leftmost lane to let people out and pick some up as well. And because bus stops are pretty closely spaced, they end up in an endless snake movement.

They will not let you overtake, pass or give you space. I have seen 2km jams because some Volvo tried to pull out of bus stop right into top lane

[noopster]

Lovely thread Sarang. Stephen Covey will be so proud

As a highly effective idiot on the road, I will:
- Wait till the motorist in front of me signals a lane change then speed up to prevent him from executing it.
- If said motorist manages to change lanes, tailgate him and flash lights to display my righteous anger at him
- If said motorist changes lanes suddenly and without indication, honk and wave fist at him anyway.
- If a pedestrian starts crossing well ahead of where I am driving, increase my speed and make every attempt to beat him to it.
- Even if the guy in the fast lane aheadof me is maintaining an appropriate speed, flash him repeatedly and tailgate him till he moves over so that I can overtake. That is my God given right especially if I am a big white SUV.

[kutts]

The saddest part is when the idiot happens to have a T-BHP sticker and I console myself that it might not a t-bhpian and just some nut who bought the stickers.

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by sforsarang

I mean, out of curiosity I tried on an empty stretch, driving a bike with neck twisted as if I am talking on a mobile (simulated without cellphone obviously) and found that we just can't stay balanced on the vehicle at the same time in that position.

You did not try that with a helmet, otherwise you would have agreed. Have seen many bikers with mobile stuffed inside the helmet (not bluetooth or wirefree one, actual mobiles). The trouble is when the call is over and they try to retrieve the mobile while moving. Thats when they struggle and start to move lanes. Once such an incident happened when I was driving with a biker in front of my vehicle and the guy started swaggering and stopped dead right in the lane to retrieve the fallen mobile. I had to brake real hard only to get a deep stare from the biker, no apologies absolutely from the crazy guy.

[mannubhai]

Originally Posted by sforsarang

'

What do you guys think?

Firstly Very well written. You should take up writing if you already haven't.

Secondly ,Another idiot on the road, whom i had the pleasure of meeting personally other day.

He was in a left lane moving at snail's pace. I honked and started to overtake him. He takes a sharp right with no indicator or hand signal. I hard brake and avoid a collision. I roll down my window and ask him what was he doing. He says, "I live that side" . . I mean , how am I supposed to know your house and you have the right to turn to your house as and when you want to ? What about an indication. . He says " dude, i looked at you and signalled " .. Essentially he did that eye movement to indicate his intention. And im at guilt for not reading his sign language.

To you sir, I dedicate this that I saw in FB yesterday.

[Jignesh]

Originally Posted by sforsarang

'Hide-n-Seek' idiots
try to cross the road to go to the opposite side, walking from the front side of the stopped bus.

Hello Sarang,

Wonderful write up & humour. Appreciate your writing skills. You have described the sorry state on Indian roads in a very light & eye opening manner.

Regarding "Hide & Seek" Idiots: See what recently happened near SEEPZ, Mumbai: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper...cle4334136.ece

Six women alighted from BEST Bus & started crossing the road from front side of the Bus, while the Bus was still waiting on bus stop. Now the Taxi Driver coming at high speed (as the road is a steep downward slope) could not predict that someone will suddenly emerge from front side of the bus & hit them. Two of these women died & 4 other were injured.

Further as mentioned by you, vehicle owner always assumed to be at fault, the driver of the taxi in above accident was arrested, tested for drunk driving & was caught in other legal issues.

Let us pray God that we are never in trouble due to Hide & Seek idiots on Indian roads.

Thanks,