[Fornax]

It's good that you came out trumps - but what happened to the cow? Did it make it?

Zen suffering so much damage is quite expected, the cow must be atleast 120 odd kgs, and that sort of weight at 100 - wow - you must really thank your stars and perhaps your tires.

[IQBAL VEERJI]

This happened about 5 years back on my way from Daman to mumbai.
There was a dog who was standing nicely with roving eyes on a bitch who was on other side of road, I was driving in around 90 kms speed , suddenly this dog saw another dog aproaching this bitch and in a fit of anger he just dashed across the road to attack this dog who was trying to be too close to the bitch.
Without looking left,right,again right , the traffic rule followed by all dogs all over the world this dog crossed the road only to be hit by my Old Honda City with full force I just softly applied brakes and he hit the numberplate and was flown in the air, But he got up immediately with embarassment and ran towards the same direction he came from ,forgetting that bitch. I proceeded furthur forgetting everything and with a ..Lessen learnt Keep an eye on dogs on the road with roving eyes on their female freinds.

[ashwin_seattle]

Originally Posted by Fornax

It's good that you came out trumps - but what happened to the cow? Did it make it?

Zen suffering so much damage is quite expected, the cow must be atleast 120 odd kgs, and that sort of weight at 100 - wow - you must really thank your stars and perhaps your tires.

The cow made it, although it was wounded. yeah it was heavy, and i still thank my stars that there was no truck/bus/car coming from behind at that time, as this happened almost in the middle of the road.
Had it been the case, i am sure i would not have been writing this post.

Cant emphasise on the importance of seatbelts since that day, and i make sure everyone in my family wears seatbelts when we drive.

There's nothing that you can do with wandering cows though!!

[gururaj r]

I was driving my Premier Padmini from Nashik to Mumbai after a small trip. I had parked my vehicle at Mukhti Dham and was in third floor.

When I parked the vehicle the previous day the vehicle was in good condition. The next day morning somebody should have had a (glass) cup of tea and carelessly threw it on the windscreen of my car thereby breaking it. We cut short our trip to Shirdi and was returning back after changing the windshield.

In the ghat road, there was thick fog and I was not able to see more than 20 mts ahead and was driving slowly. A lorry overtook at a great speed (compared to Fiat) and in one of the bends we saw the lorry overturned. This made me to be awake and drive very carefully.

[venkyhere]

something very embarrassing happened to me a month back :
we (2 families) went on a short trip from coimbatore city to marudamalai (nearby hillock shrine) on our two cars. Now, my cousin had just started driving in the city & she was afraid of a "ghat" section (however short it is). Me, acting the big brother, asked her to follow my "lead" car and copy everything i do while climbing up. Before the hill climb, there is a small toll booth on an upward incline. My cousin was stopped behind me while i was paying the ticket. Now, while starting up, I slowly removed my leg from brake; but suddenly noticed that my window was still down & tried to "save" a/c from being wasted, was busy buttoning up my window, in the process, forgetting to press my right leg on accelerator (while left leg was doing its proper job slowly releasing the clutch) ; what i heard next was "BLLAAARRREE" and two huge eyes pop out in my rear view mirror; just stopped inches from front-ending my poor cousin. Did not look straight in her eye for half an hour after reaching the top & neither gave any "advice" on how to drive downhill
So, beware of toll booths on an incline...

[ff1609]

This happened back in 2005 when I was a student in Ireland, I was driving a tiny 1l 1996 Suzuki cultus (Jap import) on an uphill road and suddenly a huge 2005 Sangyong Rexton SUV came out of a narrow lane on my left and drove straight into the middle of the road - right into my path, barely 2 meters ahead of me.

My bonnet caved in, bumper was on the road and front left head light broke and the Rexton suffered no damage, only some paint from my car peeled onto the Rextons bumper. A man steps out and asks me if I am okay and says " I am an undercover Garda (police) agent, I know it was my fault, it's best if we sort this out without involving insurance or police complaints". I was in shock that a policeman offered to "sort it out", this was new to me.

We shared our car reg, insurance details and numbers, I took my car to a workshop and the guy gave me a 2500euro repair estimate, I called up the cop and he said that was too much and he will pay for a new car instead, the next day he came and paid me exactly what my car was worth before the accident .

But the desi in me couldn't let go! Bought everything that was needed to repair the car, spent a weekend doing it together with an automobile engineer friend and the car was back in shape again after a DIY job, sold it a month later for full value to a German woman - went and bought a new car with double the money

[noidea]

Last big trip for me was the drive from New Delhi airport to Katra to visit Vaishnav Devi shrine.
Booked a Innova and was given a Xylo. Came along with a driver. Self drive was not an option.
The driver drove for about 13 hours with a occasional break in the middle. Since I had my daughter with me I was very worried he would fell asleep on the wheels, so I chatted with him most of the way. (not worried so much about my wife and my mom-in-law)
His trick to stay awake was to take Pan Parag. He inforned that most other drivers have their own tricks (most common being getting down for a comfort break - meaning to pee).
I find it best to have someone to talk to the person sitting on the passenger seat.
What do you do ?

[thenomad]

1. Take a coffee/tea break for good 15 mins
2. Listen to favorite fast songs
3. Stop the vehicle and take a quick nap before I start again.

[dot]

noidea, I normally roll down windows and let fresh air wake me up. Sometimes change the type of music or make it louder. Lastly, if nothing else works, stop for tea.

[condor]

1. Wash my face. And dont wipe the water away.
2. Stop & Take a nap. Makes a lot of difference.

As adviced by my dealer long time back: if feeling very sleepy & if you are alone, play the ICE at high volumes so much that it keeps you up.

[akshay4587]

I turn up the volume on ICE,and play trance.
and if its early morning i lower the windows.

[libranof1987]

When I was a kid, we once traveled in a Sumo to get somewhere. The vehicle had one of those idols of some god with bright LEDs of diff. colours flashing alternately; that was to keep the driver awake at night.

Some other time while travelling in a mini-bus, the driver played particular songs : eg. those by Altaf Raja, Pankaj Udhas to keep him awake. (Lol!)

About what I do, if I'm travelling with my folks, my mum will be the co-pilot and be wide awake and keep saying something once a while to ensure I don't get bored/tired/sleepy.

If I'm travelling with friends, most or rather all of them are shameless, they royally doze off! So I find ways to keep myself up,
1) listening to regular to slightly fast-paced songs (no soft ones on such occasions); and humming those songs
2) reminding myself how much I love my car!
3) wash face/drink water

Thankfully, I've never had the occasion of travelling and being extremely sleepy so never resorted to emergency measures.

Originally Posted by akshay4587

I turn up the volume on ICE,and play trance.
and if its early morning i lower the windows.

Dude, trance?! That'll put you in a nice state of nirvana!

[msupercool]

1. I have a cup of hot coffee or tea
2. splash soda on the face
3. both the options are not available then splash water on my eyes

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by msupercool

2. splash soda on the face

Soda?! How does that help? And how did you find out about soda being helpful?

[msupercool]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

Soda?! How does that help? And how did you find out about soda being helpful?

one of my friend who used to do mumbai-ahmedabad regularly used to splash soda on his face at night. It refreshes you, well you got to try it to experience it.