[W.A.G.7]

This was clicked by my friend somewhere in Pune and posted on his FB page. Charity begins at home they say!! Then why do they catch hold of other drivers standing on the zebra crossing and fine them?

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

I got this off the net - I first read it around 1997 or so when internet just started becoming accessible and available for us lesser mortals.

Anyway while it is extremely uncomplimentary, it is also in the same breath, absolutely hilarious and as such, an excellent read on a boring, depressing Sunday evening...

Enjoy.

You made my day Shankar...
All this is Hilarious but unfortunately true

As you have told that you read this somewhere in 1997, cabs have been left out.
I would've loved the author's take on them...Any ways I read autorickshaws as Autos and cabs.

Surprisingly driving-school vehicles have no mention

[noopster]

Check these two heroes parked outside a mall on Baner Pashan link road last weekend.



The i10 guy probably parked first and was in two minds- parallel or oblique? Finally did both

Then the Innova came along and didn't want to exert effort parking a little ahead or behind (where there is TONS of parking, trust me) so he just double parked where he did.

Incredible!

[NPV]

Some live examples of bad drivers and 'herd mentality' from last week:

1. Scene 1:As I head out of our street, I get to a T junction and need to proceed straight but there's a long line of cars including more waiting to turn left from the perpendicular road so I decide to stay put not wanting to block the junction.
Surprisingly there are no cars from the opposite direction - and then all of a sudden from the perpendicular road, this 'smart' guy comes up overtaking a long line of cars (that were waiting patiently) driving to the extreme right side of the road and reaches the junction. I really expected a nasty jam lasting 10-15 minutes, but he just got lucky! As soon as he turned left (from the right most extreme) traffic in front of him started moving so he just quickly cut to the left and went with the flow.


This act of one senseless driver awoke the 'herd mentality' in several other motorists who followed suit driving on the wrong side and at this junction it feels you're in America driving on the right side


2. Scene 2:Coming out of Sahakarnagar, I turn left onto Bellary Road and have to make a U-turn at the next junction. There's the elevated road construction in progress so the junction has a diversion to be negotiated before making the U-turn. As we wait patiently, this auto driver squeezes in from the right, overtakes me and turns left.


How can this act not have a follower - here he comes! A taxi also does the same and gets in front of me. But now he needs to move to the left across my car before he can make the U-turn. Here, his luck ran out and there was a metal barricade fallen on the road so had to wait for me and few other cars to negotiate the diversion before he could, so turned out to be a futile effort. In my experience this was a rare ocassion when a Taxi driver failed to execute a smart manouevre

[arvind71181]

Saw another "father of the year" this weekend. Comes with 2 kids and a wife on a 2 wheeler (Activa) and buys vegetables, fruits etc. Keeps the vegetable bag on the front of the bike. One kid and the wife sit on the back. Since there is no place on the front courtesy the bag, he starts the bike, asks the kid to sit on one thigh, take a U-turn and rides away!!!

[Alive2Drive]

Hi Everyone,

Spotted a rash arrogant Team bhp member at Cyber City who whisked pass my left foot at high speed without honking( An act of dangerous driving by team bhp member) When I tried to explain it to him, he just ignored what I said and went on his ego trip and speeded away to the next halt. This act is not called for by the team bhp members and needs to be corrected asap.

Mods - Is there anything which can be done in this case. Attaching the pics of the car as well.

[voodoochild]

WARNING: Unbelted kids are NOT to be used as airbags!

Another Father of the Year, this time on the ghats near Lavasa, in a spanking new WB-regd. BMW 5-series! Being on a motorcycle, I didn't take a pic for the Rogues' Gallery here.

The guy's missus was in the left seat with a young kid in her lap, obviously not belted in. Comes screaming uncontrollably down the straights, jams brakes at hairpins. On one such lefthander, his luck almost ran out when he saw an i10 crawling slowly up in the opposite direction. Slight misjudge of the turn, probably because of the length of his car, but he thankfully screeched to a halt before a mishap.

I've heard of spirited driving and all, but come on man!!!

[evilshantanu]

Spotted on Sarjapur road yesterday, a black scorpio (Koramangala Registration) with Team BHP stickers, honking away to glory (his honking would shy away most of the cab drivers). And the icing on the cake, he was so desperate to overtake me, on a narrow road where there is no scope that he got down from the road on my left , cut across and sped away.

Again re-iterating the point, if one cant follow the road etiquette, then I guess he shouldn't be sticking team BHP stickers, with great power comes great responsibility

P.S. I have the registration number of the Scorpio, but not posting here, as this would spark off just another fight.

[hemanth.anand]

I was going through facebook and saw one of the innumerable pictures of Saif and Kareena's wedding posted by TOI
The below image was the latest I saw



In the first picture, look at what Saif has done to the seatbelt.
Be it to avoid the warning beep from the car or to avoid wrinkles on his blazer, he qualifies as a bad passenger/driver.

[faustus77]

Shankar.balan
Hi
Loved reading about driving in India.We all have been facing such a situaion for years.
Discipline is innate.The attitude of me first and me the most important has to be relooked at.
There is one point I would add.The powerful horn.It is imperative that you have it.It is the most potent weapon of a driver.
Regards
PS:Sunday night I had posted on FB being the most important in the driver's arsenal.

[simplyself]

To put it quite frankly, wearing seat belts in city speeds is not necessary. While it is a safety feature, too much emphasis is being laid on it.

Why comment on Saif not wearing seat belt? Why intrude and pass judgement?

Just because one is a team-bhp member doesnt make one automatically polite and correct driver. Argument that team-bhp membership is voluntary doesnt hold water..it is after all a virtual club.

Driving with an entire family on a two-wheeler is a question of means rather than the concern of the parents. They need not be parents of the year

Originally Posted by noopster

Then the Innova came along and didn't want to exert effort parking a little ahead or behind (where there is TONS of parking, trust me) so he just double parked where he did.

Incredible!

Innova was parked there because there were bikes earlier in that now empty space. That explains the oblique parking of i10. He squeezed into whatever little space he could find.

[bblost]

Originally Posted by simplyself

To put it quite frankly, wearing seat belts in city speeds is not necessary. While it is a safety feature, too much emphasis is being laid on it.

My wife used to feel the exact same way.

Then we had a minor collision. Signal turned green and then the car in front braked very hard.

At that less than 10 kmph speed, I hit his bumper.

My wife's head made contact with the windscreen with enough force to crack it.
She had a mild concussion.

The reason for the crash:
I was driving my cousin's 800 and had forgotten how poor its brakes were.

I don't know how bad it would have been if we were at 20 or 30 or 40 kmph. All of which are typical city driving speeds.

[rohanjf]

Originally Posted by simplyself

To put it quite frankly, wearing seat belts in city speeds is not necessary. While it is a safety feature, too much emphasis is being laid on it.

I will give you two incidents that happened in Bangalore some 7-8 years ago, and then let you decide:

1. an employee of Wipro was test driving an Ikon near Koramangala. He lost control and hit an electric pole. He died on the spot. This was reported in the newspaper. A few days later, I saw a test-drive Ikon parked in front of Koramangala police station, with damage to rightside A pillar and right side fender. It did not look like an accident that could take the driver's life.

2. A car was waiting at a signal on intermediate ring road (which had sparse traffic back then). A speeding truck rammed it from behind. The driver apparently hit his chest/face to the steering, and died in hospital.

Then there is one more incident reported either earlier this year, or last year, by a BHPian in the Accident in India thread. A senior citizen was gifted an automatic i10 by his son. Since he was used to manual transmission, he probably got confused and presssed the A pedal. He hit some compound wall/electric pole. He his head to the windshield and died.

I agree that the first and third are drivers' faults. What about the second one?

As far as Saif Ali Khan is concerned, he is a celebrity. Many people will look to him as a role model. When they see the celebrity front passenger is not wearing a seatbelt, they will assume that only driver needs to wear seatbelt!

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by simplyself

To put it quite frankly, wearing seat belts in city speeds is not necessary.

Sorry, that's so wrong. Seat belts help at all speeds. Just do a google search on seat belt safety at low speeds and you will see enough material on this topic. You can choose to believe that it's an overrated safety feature, but that does not reduce its importance.

[simplyself]

Mod Note : Please use the EDIT or MULTI-QUOTE buttons instead of typing one post after another on the SAME THREAD! To know how to multi-quote, click here.

Originally Posted by rohanjf

2. A car was waiting at a signal on intermediate ring road (which had sparse traffic back then). A speeding truck rammed it from behind. The driver apparently hit his chest/face to the steering, and died in hospital.

It is freakish. When hit from behind in a stationary car, I thought one would be thrown back harshly.

Even with seat belt, one can hit steering.

Originally Posted by vb-san

Sorry, that's so wrong. Seat belts help at all speeds. Just do a google search on seat belt safety at low speeds and you will see enough material on this topic. You can choose to believe that it's an overrated safety feature, but that does not reduce its importance.

While I acknowledge the efficacy of seat belt, there need not be over emphasis on seat belt. Not using a seat belt is not that big a crime. It is common sense, not google or seat belts, which are the need.

Originally Posted by bblost

My wife's head made contact with the windscreen with enough force to crack it.
She had a mild concussion.

I braked at about 80 kmph. No one hit the windshield.

The point is, I am not saying seat belt is not a safety feature. Even as I understand what a seat belt does, there are limitations to its use.

One has to take into perspective the fact that there can be injuries and fatalities even with seat belt is on.

So, while educating users on the uses of seat belts, one need not raise a storm if one finds others not using them.