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-   -   Bad Drivers - How do you spot 'em (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/road-safety/3580-bad-drivers-how-do-you-spot-em-306.html)

You are right about Europe - have seen the same in Belgium / NL too.

But there is a difference (other than us being pathetic at following road rules). There people cross only at pre-ordained locations aka zebra crossings. But in India, with all the jay walking and divider/median jumping, you have people crossing all over the road. If we also had people crossing only at set locations, motorists might be more sensitive.

To put it differently, if a pedestrian tries crossing the road in EU at some random location (not a zebra crossing), he will be hit for sure, since they dont expect someone to do it, but here we will mostly manage to save him, since that is the norm here and we always expect someone to jump onto the road from the median. :)

Here the jaywalking is getting to be too much! In Trivandrum, without looking at the road, people will hold up their hand and cross wherever and whenever they want! I once asked such a jaywalker, " are you a magician? do you expect a car with definite velocity to disappear the moment you raise your arm and cross the road with such audaciousness? " I only a got a stare back.

LOL . Off Topic, But what was the malayalam dialogue that you said.:)

(OT) Ningalendu Manthravaadhiyano? Kai pokki kanichaal paanju varunna vahanam apradhyaksham aaguvo? This is a malayalam dialogue quote of my previous post

One of the worst kind of behaviour that gets on my nerves is breaking a queue by many rogue drivers. Be it a toll booth, a railway crossing or one of those regular city signals on a road without a central divider. Everytime my blood boils down when you see a VIP moron break the queue and get on to the other side of the road effectively making a non existent third row and blocking the way for oncoming traffic which anyways further adds to the time it takes you to move eventually. And then these people also expect cars standing in the proper queue to give them way and accommodate them. Why do some people believe that its below there dignity to stand in a queue just like the other road users.
Worst is that on seeing one guy do this, there is this sudden rush of two wheelers and autos followed by a few other cars and in the end its just total chaos.

The 'usual' zebra crossers in Pune! "Zebra Crossers" kind of rhymes like 'Wedding Crashers!!' :D Everytime I see this scene, I remember a dialogue by Captain Haddock from Tintin - The Calculus Affair; with a slight twist : "Just look at the horde of rubber necks, they can hardly wait to see the rest of their bones smashed to bits!!! " rl: And oh yes, bright red coloured clown like canvas shoes will put Govinda to shame...

At times like these when pedestrians or other drivers acknowledge a courteous driver that one feels like doing such deeds over and over again. At several occasions I have stopped my car before a zebra crossing to let a crowd of people pass by even though there was no signal during peak traffic hours. It feels nice to be acknowledged with a simple hand gesture or a smile and surprisingly there were times when no one honked and made a fuss about the scene. It just emits a nice positive vibe on the streets.

There is already too much negativity around. Just turn up the volume and hum along while cruising. It does keep you calm and away from rubbish drivers and pedestrians who are a nuisance on our streets.

Anil,

Here is a question we need to think - consider driving in a busy two lane road and we stop for a pedestrian to cross the road. But not necessarily the person in the next lane should stop. In this case we are putting the pedestrian in danger. He'll be in the middle of the road!

This is something I have observed while driving in Kochi.

Thanks,
Jose

This is an everyday scene in Bangalore roads too. No point in upping ones BP due to idiocy of others. I try to listen to some soothing music, calms me down. OT: The SX4 in your pic has a strange number plate, Can you make out the reg. no. ?

Yes, it is a tricky situation. That is why I don't stop for every tom, dick and harry trying to cross the road. I do take the traffic condition, vehicles behind me and the pedestrian's urgency (someone casually trying to cross vs some trying to catch a bus) into account before stopping :)


The number plate is in Marati. The numbers are 25.

@Jose: Pedestrians have the right of way on the Zebra crossing ones which do not have a signal anyway.

That said i know what you are saying and we need to address other issues as well. Like for instance i see someone trying to take a u-turn i stop at my lane waiting for him to complete the turn. person behind me does not wait to see why i have stopped instead crosses into the wrong lane and goes head on head with the u-turning vehicle.

Urgency is the problem. We hate to slow down and think while driving. We just will not be bothered to stop or slow down. Signal is red? Get into nooks and crannys risking scratches just to get to the front of the line. Then what? drive at 40kmph once the signal goes green. What was the whole point?

At the statue junction [Bata showroom] there is only one lane to take the right/u-turn. But 2 lanes are formed, sometimes 3. and the scariest part is i see bikes driving on that non-existent 3rd lane and just stopping without even an indicator. Shudder to think if a bus was behind him thinking this fellow is going straight.

Our road problems are too many to point out in here. Even with good roads we lack common sense. Like going on the wrong side to avoid taking a u-turn which would be a few meters ahead :(

Long as bad policing bad licensing and bad common sense there will always be bad drivers on the road.

Only thing we can do is to go by the book and hope others will also one day understand and follow. But then that would be wishful thinking...sigh

Today morning I was driving on a 2 lane road. On the opposite side, a 3-wheeler goods carrier was being trailed by a big truck. Then suddenly, an Accent tried overtaking the truck. I realised that the Accent guy was unaware of the 3-wheeler, so flashed my headlights, asking him to back off. But he continued his overtaking. I stopped my car right there, to give him enough time to overtake both vehicles at once. Then I noticed, the Accent driver was quite old! Gutsy fossil!


In the evening, similar thing happened. I was following a Safari, with a BMTC bus trailing me. Suddenly, even with oncoming traffic at a distance, a Scorpio started overtaking the bus. He probably saw my car only then. He overtook me too, pulled in between Safari and me and braked hard to let an oncoming truck go. Then he floored the pedal, spat out black smoke and overtook the Safari and sped away.

I had such an urge to follow him. But sanity prevailed. Had I followed the Scorpio, I'd have offended and probably instigated the Safari.

Then I realised why I felt suddenly so angry. I had had a light lunch. I was hungry. My grandma always used to say, a hungry man is an angry man. Now it gives me a thought (which I express at the cost of sounding stupid), could it be that many bad drivers drive so because they are hungry?

I usually stop and say "Thank you very" (valare nanni saare). This is because I need to thank those who raise their hands to bless me isn't it?

Take a look at this Omni, driving with the door open. Someone is going to fall out of that door. No seatbelts worn either. Taken on Law college road yesterday evening :Frustrati





Maybe this is exactly why Ratan Tata thought of the Nano. Baby on board dozing off, the mother sightseeing and this person without even a helmet attempting a high speed left hand side overtake of an MSRTC bus. For heaven's sake, why put the child's life in danger on a highway?



Yes, the number plate is in Marathi. 25 is the number of the car.

Scene at Vazhuthacaud Junction. Waiting at the signal at the right lane. Auto on the left lane. [This is Kerala, that's the maximum number of "official' lanes we have]. Turns green, me and auto pull out of the junction.

When suddenly a blue eon takes the non existent third lane and moves to the right lane! Sure pull ahead and cut into my lane, i am okay with that. But pushing me onto the divider and moving without even a care is just plain crazy. White haired old man with a packed car :(

Me and the auto driver looked at each other and shook our heads in disbelief and moved on with our lives.