[Samba]

"Idiot!" "That guy has no driving sense!"
"Who gave him/her the driving license?"
"He is driving like an idiot!"

These are the most common exasperation we use while driving. I agree that there are even worse curse words we use, but let's not even get there!


Pic courtesy- Google

Okay, I agree that I am the best driver out on the road, but what do I need to do to improve myself and ensure that even if there are idiots on the road, my driving aces a tricky situation and everyone is safe.

Driving at a safer speed, maintaining proper lane, following the law, keeping safe distance, keeping our nerve are a few cliches that all of us would have heard. Majority of us know the basic safety measures that we need to follow on road.

But when there is a mess up on the road, I may be equally affected whether I was driving accurately or not. In every situation, we either already know or we need to reflect what could have I done to avoid the situation. Or how I could have been more prudent in avoiding the situation.

This post is not about teaching safe driving. There are plenty of awesome threads available in this forum & online.

My whole intent for this post is to see, what we do ourselves to implement it while we are driving. Do we confess our own faults & try to rectify it?

If we have the right of way and the other car cut into our lane, we blame the other driver and rightly so. But in this we have to accept that this sort of driving is a commonplace thing and we have to be prudent enough to ensure that our vehicles - whether 2 wheeler or 4-wheeler - are safe.

Many young guys including Bhpians asked me to teach them how to drive properly or how to drive fast.
Did I? No.

That's because, I am no expert. I always advise them to get trained from a proper trainer, who has been responsible enough to take driving as a profession. At most I share a few basic driving tips, nothing more than that.
I agree, it's not easy to get hold of a professional driver & get trained, but those who are really interested in learning advanced or fast driving should definitely go for it. Tips or coaching from a trained rally driver or a racing driver will always be much more effective than taking tips from a amateur like me.

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

-- Who is the judge of their expertise? Themselves? Not good.

Nothing can be more apt than the above quoted line. So let the professionals do their work.

So what I believe is, if one wants to drive fast or want to learn advanced driving, he or she must undergo a proper training. A practical one. Online videos or tutorials wont suffice.

Now lets start with my own experience-

With 20 years + & covering approximately 4L km, I have claimed insurance thrice.

First one, I was over speeding in an Alto K10, a truck wrongly changed its lane and while trying to avert the collision, the manoeuvre from my part was harsh enough for the skinny rear tyres of the K10 to give-up and skid. The car brushed the rear of the truck, damaging the front bumper and denting the bonnet.

Second one was actually not my fault. I was waiting at a red light when a drunk driver without a driving license rear ended my static car.

Third one happened while performing a stunt in a private property. The rear wheels lost traction, the car spun and brushed the median, damaging the front bumper. The front bumper clips broke & it came off.

The first and the third one could have been very well avoided , but the second one was unavoidable.

Paid fine for traffic violations around 10-11 times, which I feel is acceptable in 20 years. Or maybe not. Any feedback is most welcome.

Near miss experiences? Quite a few. This I will state as bad or careless driving from my end. Reflex saved me, but definitely few times luck played a major role too.

A couple of incidents where my reflex saved the other person. But in reality, I should have been slower.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfYplgZFUc8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmQcjV9eIlM

We know a lot of things and if we start implementing them impeccably, we will be 99.9% safe. So what stops us from implementing them?

So, what do I do to improve myslef?

Team-Bhp threads-

These are few threads, I read thoroughly. They get into our subconscious mind.

Your near-miss experiences on the road -
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/road-...tml#post895786 (Your near-miss experiences on the road)

Pics: Accidents in India-
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/road-...nts-india.html

Bad Drivers - How do you spot 'em -
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/road-...u-spot-em.html (Bad Drivers - How do you spot 'em)

Road rage confession -
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/stree...onfession.html (Road rage confession)

Once in Kolkata we did a safe driving training conducted by DBhpian SS-Traveller.

Kolkata enthusiasts attend the Low Risk Safe Driving course -
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/road-...ml#post4446436 (Kolkata enthusiasts attend the Low Risk Safe Driving course)

There are 100's of safe driving tutorials available online. Indeed they teach many things.
The crash video's shared in Facebook or YouTube have a perspective of their own.
I download the dashcam video's from my car and I see them minutely on what maneuvers could have been averted or where have I gone wrong.

Listen to the feedback's given by others. They can be right or wrong but taking the feedback first is important for me. I analyze later.

For example-
Team-Bhp moderator Blackpearl once told me, not to get carried over and drive fast through crowded places after following my car for quite a distance. This was back in 2014. We all know, it's not safe to drive fast through public places, but the word 'carried over' was the key word.

My confession-

Getting carried over and drive fast.

Yet to get a proper solution for this. But definitely I have toned down. Need to tone down further.

Getting impatient in a long traffic jam.

Need a proper solution for this too. I get impatient and I start to find gaps to squeeze further. Good music and some candy calm me down to some extent.

The bragging rights.

I covered point A to point B in 3 hours, which Gmaps showed 4.5 hours. This boosts my ego, and this gives a unsaid target to my friends to drive fast and achieve or beat the same. Earlier I was stupid enough to do this frequently. Thankfully now I try to refrain myself from this. I realized what is so wrong about that is that people develop an uncanny habit of trying to beat someone else's time. But that may actually be detrimental and fatal because any two drivers will always differ in their skill, reflex, patience and style. If we try to beat someone it sets unrealistic targets that may diffuse safety norms that a driver may have otherwise followed.

Losing my cool

If someone cut my lane or honks unnecessarily it irks me.
Sometimes I let it go by thinking- The road is full of Idiots! This satisfies my ego and I let go!

Over time a few changes that I have observed in me are -
When I lose my cool or drive recklessly, few scary incidents which occurred with others, start popping up in my head. The incidents can be anything, from a road rage, to a tyre burst, to a harassment by the cops, to get involved in a collision or many others which we definitely do not want.
This calms me down. If we can learn from others mistake, nothing can be better than it!

Accidents may occur with anyone at the wheels, but unfortunately we don't have ctrl+z in real life. So it's better to be safe than sorry.

It will be interesting to hear from other Bhpians on how they do a self-check on themselves or how they analyze & deal with their weak points.

[GTO]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

Will go to our homepage later this week

[vigsom]

The first two examples quoted here (Honour the drivers & riders that truly impressed you with their skills) are the way one should drive - allow room for others' errors, and keep one's cool at all times. Sadly, most of us can't be that way.

I, for one, come from a family of irate drivers - not rash drivers but extremely disciplined, expecting discipline from all other road users, and when expectations aren't met, go boiling. Result - always on the boil.

When I saw my uncle in Mumbai drive an Ambassador in 1986, he'd keep saying, "Aare, andhe ho kya?" (are you blind?) or "gadhe" (donkey). I've heard even well mannered transport corporation drivers lose it. Once, in 2011, a TNSTC Volvo (the low floor intercity bus from Trichy to Chennai) driver called someone near Vilupuram an "erumaimaadu" (Buffalo). Drivers earlier used to be a sporting lot to let these comments pass, not anymore. Try speaking like this today in sober Vadodara, or for that matter anywhere, and one can even get roughed up.

Here are a few tips (have tried these out with success).

1. Never show ego on the road
2. Be a little accommodative - drive at no more than 60kmph in the city and allow others to pass (I even keep the windows down and give hand signals to allow others to overtake)
3. Even if I have the right of way at intersections or on a narrow road, stop, wave to the other driver to pass. It helps.
4. If you pass another driver from the left and cut back into his/her lane, first show an outstretched palm after passing as a means of saying sorry. If it results in potential conflict with the other driver trying a dangerous cut back, just allow the person to pass. Don't flash lights or honk madly. Never stare at someone once you pass. In a potential road rage situation, tell the other driver that you had no intent to show your superiority but decided to move ahead only because the other vehicle seemed to go slow. Massaging the other driver's ego helps.
5. Alter the speed based on the road, the number of pedestrians, crossings, etc. I generally don't touch the three figure mark because I'm always wary of some species crossing the road in surprise.
6. Before reaching intersections on highways, flash lights to ensure that others at the intersection see your intent to cross. Honking just doesn't help.

[Bibendum90949]

My driving spans two and half decades and close to 6 lakh kms. Few things I would like to share which i've learned/realised/changed over the years.

On Indian roads, irrespective of your level of discipline and safe driving one employs, there's always an element of luck. It all depends on the other motorists and road users. No drive is 100% safe. I'm largely a very defensive driver. I cut down as many risks as possible and try to keep it to zero, especially overtaking on single lane highways. That's one of the rare maneuvers where we can have total control. Make the mind clear on this aspect with overtaking - when in doubt, always abort. I've heard from my friends saying they never wanted to do that tight overtaking but couldn't perform the decision making in that crucial moment and went ahead. The hunch, more often than not, is to go ahead. But it's much easier to abort the overtaking than to test your luck.

I've had one decent crash for zero fault of mine. I believe this made me an even better driver(assuming I was one in the first place). This was in a TN single lane highway when a guy in a moped(riding on left edge of road) ahead of me decided to take a right turn out of the blue when I've almost started to pass him. I was at 90-100 kmph and had I braked, it would've been curtains for him. So instinct took over and I had to swerve to right without any braking, lost control as the car got into the loose gravel beside the road, ended up somewhere. My car saved me that day. The biggest learning for me from that mishap was if at 90 kmph I could spin around aimlessly, what it could be like to encounter such a situation at much higher speeds. After that event I've very rarely touched speeds above legal limits. It's not just in our hands all alone on Indian roads. I've to confess that I used to do pretty high speeds on six lanes before, but never after this incident. "Experience is the best teacher " ~ William Wordsworth

I've always made it a point to interact and give ears to the words of wisdom from more experienced professional drivers - Volvo, truck, cab, rally drivers et al. In this forum, someone said earlier - "It's not about the speed your car can handle, it's about your skill and the speed you can handle".

Coming to losing cool on the actions of morons on the road, what I do is to never make eye contact with them and accept and expect that as part and parcel of driving and living on Indian roads. Absolutely no point cursing or even preaching. It's simply not worth it. Instead I take pride in myself averting a heated scene or a mishap.

On almost every single long drive(700-800 kms a day), there would be one situation/event that can be termed as a close shave, could be a minor or major. This is where I feel luck plays a part. I always try and not be the reason for such close shaves. I've lost count of such close shaves over the years.

I've read about people who keep the pictures of loved ones on the dash. It helps when there's an adrenaline rush. I think about reaching home safely and meeting our loved ones waiting for us back home. We aren't in a race. One who reaches home safely is the winner here.

Having said all this, I still love and enjoy driving and travelling/driving on our roads can still be an enjoyable experience with a bit of patience, skill and most importantly taking things in our stride even when the right is on our side. Happy and safe motoring to all

[gkveda]

A one word answer or rather solution to avoid messy situation anywhere, be on road or any other place, is living CONSCIOUS at the situation. If we stick to situations that we encounter on roads, the root cause of all the situations are just a 1 or 2 seconds of delay in noticing that situation and reacting correctly to avoid it.

Let's analyse why That ONE or TWO seconds delay will occur in reacting to the situation. In human brain, cerebrum is the main thinking and analytical center. If it handles all the situations, there won't be any mishaps or mess ups. This is called driving conciously. However, our brain will allow all monotonous work that does not require analysis and thinking, to be handled by medulla ablongata and starts focusing on some other activities involuntarily. Now when an unforeseen situation comes up which medulla ablongata can not handle with routine way of working, the cerebrum leaves the current thought process wherever it was, takes notice of the situation, starts analysis and takes decision. This transfer of control takes 1-2 seconds. Sometimes, it may not even notice the situation till mishaps occurred.

Any amount of experience, an expert driver may have, he will not be able to control the situation through medulla ablongata. Medulla is meant ONLY for monotonous work. And brain decides which one to be considered monotonous and which one has to be handled by cerebrum. So, the key here is, training your brain to keep the control with cerebrum as much as possible. Then brain will always keep looking for unforeseen on the road and keep preparing itself for right reaction. This completely prevents accidents. Even in case of "idiots" behaving wrongly on road, if we are prepared to forecast their behaviour, 95% of the cases, accidents can be avoided.

Now coming to the question, how to DRIVE CONSCIOUSLY? It is not an easy one day training. Every minute you are in driving seat, you have to conciously remember and practice to drive conciously. Even for one second, if your brain gets diverted and you realise you are driving monotonously with the help of medulla ablongata, get the control back to cerebrum.

All the above practice are science and if practiced, definitely reduces the amount of mishaps and increases the chances of safe driving by 90%. Remaining 9% is in practicing to follow the rules, practice to stick to conservative driving such as,
1. When speed limit is 120kmph, drive at 100kmph,
2. When you foresee a bad road, immediately, reduce the speed to 40 kmph or below,
3. Always keep an eye on 100m ahead in addition to road just in front of windshield
etc

In addition to all the above, or if we follow all the above, it is still only 99% safe. One percent is in the hands of so called idiot driving the other vehicle.

[Mafia]

I have learnt too along the way like many experiences quoted above to be a defensive driver. In the cities, my threat perception is at 100% all times. I expect the worst behaviour on the road by others and slow down beforehand. This may sound more drastic than it is. It has worked well in my favour. I have had many near misses for no fault of mine by simply being defensive which could have been accidents if I was driving a little differently.

I don't think this makes me slower by much (compared to myself) or a boring driver, but surely a safer driver. It does not reduce my stress levels much because you still hope the behaviour of other drivers is not as bad as anticipated.

All the above is in the city.

Highways are a different ball game entirely. The road infrastructure directly impacts the speed you travel at. This is where you are boringly safe. The current speed formula is as follows: 60 kmph on a 2 lane, 70-80 kmph on a 4 lane without a divider. 80-90 kmph on a 4 lane with divider and speed breakers at every intersection or gap in the divider. 100 to 120 on toll roads with all NH standards of no speed breakers and only the flat rumblers.

Luckily, I have not had a high-speed impact so far, many near misses only. Have had minor and medium impacts at low and medium speeds, Buy were scary enough to learn.

[aargee]

Originally Posted by Samba

My whole intent for this post is to see, what we do ourselves to implement it while we are driving. Do we confess our own faults & try to rectify it?

No I don't confess immediately; almost all the time, after a day to a week to a month, these incidents surface & I chew them to see how better it could've been dealt with.

I've almost stopped swearing, not because he/she said so, but afraid of my children. They're going to walk the same way & I know for sure, swearing, yelling, gesturing all these don't help & I simply don't want to start riding/driving lessons 101 to my children.

I somehow liked the below quote & adhere to live by it as much as possible whenever I'm with children & family


So if you may ask, what about the other times? Well, I ensure not to venture out alone as much as possible to let out the little devil inside of me

[Kosfactor]

An old driver once told me "Any idiot with an accelerator can go fast".

Having a car in itself is an Ego boost - the ill effects of this will be seen on the road more often than not, best to ignore them and mind our own business of reaching places quick and safe.

[wilful]

Nice thread and I can completely relate to the original post.
The trick - I've learned the hard way over the years (of driving) - is to leave emotions and ego completely aside once one gets behind the wheel. Easier said than done.
This realisation has dawned on me very late in life - after weary miles of raised blood pressure and liberal use of four letters.
I also started realising that I was slowly sliding down to the standard boorish driving levels.
It is just not worth it especially in our country and conditions.
Of late I've started being more Dr.Jekyll although I won't say with complete conviction that Mr.Hyde has completely disappeared.

[am1m]

Take the Metro!

But jokes aside, I hate driving in the city, so I avoid taking the car out as much as possible. So much so, the car has probably seen 90% highway usage vs 10% city usage over the past few years. I find I'm a lot more at peace that way.

In the city, I use the bike, which gives me less stress (no parking hassles, easier to move past jams, can use smaller side roads), plan my outings in such a way that they are only near a metro station (fortunately I have a metro station a couple of km from home).

If you want to drive peacefully in the city- roll up windows, switch on music, ac; give way to basically everyone; ignore blatant idiocy, rule-breaking and horrible infra; accept any dents and dings even if the other driver is completely at fault, smile and wave them on; be completely 'zen'. Too much for me to do!

About self-awareness and defensive driving, I've become more realistic about my abilities. Don't push either myself or the vehicle the way I used to before.

[octane1002]

Interesting thread.

Having "matured" from an out an out 'fast' driver to a 'consciously defensive' driver , I can say that the mantra I drive by nowadays is "How safe did I and my vehicle come out of that drive" and NOT "How fast me and my vehicle covered that distance".

P.s.Irony here is that in my fast days, a decade ago, I used to drive a 150 bhp Octy vRS . In my consciously defensive days, I now drive a 450 hp Audi RS5/a 385 bhp V8 Lexus LS460. I don't drive them at snail's pace, yes the temptation is there to give them the beans, but only on stretches I know like the back of my hand or a road I can see ahead till quite a fair bit ahead.

I recently completed a 2300 kms solo trip (no back up car / no backup co-passenger) from Mumbai to Kolkata cross country in my Audi RS5 through NHs/SHs and what not. While it wasn't a blistering fast drive, I am happy to brag that I came out with zilch speeding tickets/scratches/bumps/mishaps to the car. No putting petty blames on stray animals/villagers for close calls either. Now that's what I call cool!

[wilful]

(On a lighter note) There's one point I missed in my earlier post. Getting an AMT is probably the best way to cool one's ardour. My driving which was already sobering up has become even more sedate with the acquisition of my current ride. I just amble along these days. This gearbox sure is unforgiving on an impatient driver - any sudden antics on my part and it rears up like a startled horse. AMT is certainly good for anger management if nothing else.

[JoshMachine]

2 situations, where I have witnessed/experienced unsafe and accident-inviting behaviour:-

Situation 1: Long, open roads. Typically highways. Need to keep speed in check, being less egotistical.
Situation 2: Traffic jams. Typically city roads during rush hours. Need to keep mind in check, being less egoistic.

There could be variants of the above 2 situations, but as long as I am conscious of what less to be, I am relatively safe.

[DogNDamsel12]

I have been taught early to examine my fault first before blaming others if I am behind the wheels and the car is moving and gets so much of a scratch!

Philosophically, learning to drive is a never-ending process for me. But the adrenaline rush that the speed of the car gives, makes it really a task to keep egos at bay.

A large part of my driving is in city - a decent number of years in Delhi with my WagonR and two subsequent Polos, and now in Kolkata for the past year or so.

City driving involves a lot of patience, especially during rush hours. I learnt to drive with my new WagonR back in 2008 and I am not ashamed to admit that there were a few scratches here and there. But I still own the car and my father drives it without major complaints.

With my previous Polo in 2016, there was a major accident. I still dont know if I had a role to play in it. It was a Stop-Look-Go signal at a crossroad in the Sunset Boulevard area of the Gurgaon Faridabad Highway. I was behind the wheels and a friend was sitting to my left. After I had examined all sides for a possible incoming vehicle, I drove out and in no time there was an overspeeding SUV which rammed into my rear right door. The car had spun out of control and the other vehicle sped away. In that split second, I had stepped on the gas and drove onto the other side of the road to the extreme right. This prevented my car from hitting a divider or toppling over. Not sure how we missed the vehicle, because that area has high distance visibility. But thankfully that nightmare is over.

With this Polo, I have had no major episodes. Sometimes it is hard to save your vehicle when it is parked in busy office areas or marketplaces at the mercy of a municipal parking agent who does not give a dime for what's worth a million to you.

But yes, that said, I have learnt or self-taught a few things -
1. There is fun in driving fast, and value in slowing down. An experienced, safe, self-entertaining driver lies somewhere between the two
2. I never go after what timing other people have completed a stretch in - whether they were faster or slower. If I wanted to beat a timing, I should learn this professionally and go after driving as a sport.
3. Music is my zen place when I am caught in a bad jam. I load my spotify and just consider this time sitting in the car as my "me time." And unless I have to reach somewhere within a certain time, no point in taking stress. (Psst.. I am tardy anyway, so no point in any case). I am always listening to something on Spotify or Youtube or Storytel. This I have mastered over the years so much so that even a phone call from a friend at this time, which may be welcome to most people, is a cause of disruption

There are millions of times when I have put my foot down when the police tried to book me unnecessarily (twice in Kolkata already where the police official conceded). But if it was my fault, I have paid the fine without a word (one happened yesterday).

I am usually someone who would not trouble other drivers on the road (my bragging rights) - I dont honk unnecessarily or go too close to the next vehicle. But when there is "AN IDIOT" driving in the fast lane at 30kmph, and would not even consider anyone else's Right of Way, things can happen to the best of us. (Breathes deeply!)

Just for kicks, a video where Schumacher hit Coulthard and then stormed into his racing garage charging him for his own fault.

https://youtu.be/fUkTSzPkiq8

Like I said happens to the best of us!

[ABHI_1512]

Going through the thread and the posts by members thereafter, it does make an observatory thread Samba. Over the years and driving since a fair amount of time, I still consider myself a work-in-progress in terms of driving. That’s because, almost everyday I get to know something new.

Don’t believe me, here’s the latest in one of the narrow streets of Calcutta- driving through a narrow lane where only one car can cross at a time and there comes a bike in the wrong lane across a blind turn carrying a kid in the back. I instantly hit the brakes and I had to hear from the biker that one who brakes first is always the one at the fault in quite a condescending way. I was for a moment flabbergasted but then simply drive off quietly.

Moral is and I have acquired this over the years- Patience is a virtue when driving on Indian roads, be it the highways or the city roads . There was time when I used to get irritated when someone would constantly honk even after knowing that there is no way ahead. These days I simply give those cars a pass. I don’t honk and that’s where patience has taught me many a things.

Judging the tendencies of the cars/trucks ahead is also a good defensive technique across the highways. I have been saved many a times just by watching the cars/ trucks in front. All in all, keeping the eyes open on the roads help bigtime. Also, the incident that Bibendum90949 narrated above, identical incident happened with me as well but in my case it was a drunk cyclist.

Incidents will always happen whether one likes it or not, just keeping our eyes open through the surroundings is our best bet. Returning home everytime after a highway drive or even our daily routine in one piece sometimes turns out to be the most gratifying thing. One can only do this much and leave the rest to others !!