[vinaydas]

1 more thing ,dont know if its been mentioned before.
Drive on low beam if there is oncoming traffic.

[Surprise]

Originally Posted by pranava999

1. While overtaking don't blindly follow/tailgate the vehicle ahead of you that is also overtaking. While overtakeing he/she would have assessed for enough space ahead for his/her vehicle to get back into the lane, but not for yours. Also if that person ahead of you has wrongly estimated the road and speed of the oncoming traffic you are in big troube!In most cases Kaput!

Have learnt this within my first few kms of my highway driving, I was behind a car, which is overtaking a lorry on a single state highway road & even before I realized, the car in front of me hurriedly cut back to its lane.

Screen got opened with a SUV, right in front of me staring at high speeds & my whole body has become light with heart dropped for a moment. I was stuck without knowing what to do next and Iam the only person in the car. The driver in the SUV should have been an experienced hand as he swerved to his left, almost getting out of the road in the process & flew past me. I would have been a history, if its a heavy vehicle at good speeds.

Here due to the mistake or ignorance, I have created trouble to the other driver. This also explains the importance of other point- Have seen many accelerating inspite of knowing, two vehicles in the opposite direction taking the full road, with the vehicle in the right lane on the opposite direction trying to overtake the other.

We close in to create pressure for the overtaking vehicle either to quickly pass or to get back to its lane by withdrawing the overtaking process. We never knew the "EGO" count of the driver trying to overtake, keep in mind, there are few who never mind ending up in crash rather than budging down. Also there might be an ignorant driver just tailgating the overtaking vehicle blindly. You wanna have fun by letting the first overtaking vehicle cut closely to you to its lane, but remember that you will be welcomed with a sudden surprise by the tailgating ignorant driver.

Generally the overtaking vehicles prefer to complete rather than withdrawing esp the heavy vehicles. Hence if you see them pass even 1/4 in the overtaking process, safer way is to slow down and let them pass. Iam sure this will minimize lots of head on collisions. If its a LMV, understand the mood of the driver and move accordingly
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When I did explained this concept to my friend, who was termed as a rash driver in my books, he performed such overtakes just to prove me Iam wrong & its a skill to know when to do and when not. Iam in an another car following him & could see whenever he gets in, the vehicle on the left side brakes and allow him to get back to its position. We might get away with it 99% of the times, but that 1% will be........

Originally Posted by Jaggu

When speeding up once you enter highway from city, try increasing the speed in smaller increments (say 10 kph every 2 kms), so that your body/physical system also adjusts. Same while entering slower city traffic, your system will take it as "ok" to maintain the speed and your brain will have to force kill the command

Thanks for this very important tip, Jaggu. The way you set your initial few kms of driving mood plays a crucial role for the whole trip & always I prefer stay at 50-60-70 kmph ranges for the first 15-20 minutes depending on the traffic conditions.

[Guna]

I had created a thread dealing with blind spots on highways
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street...vertaking.html

[Glass]

1) If there is a cycle on the left of the road ahead, slow down. The cyclist will definitely take a sharp right swerve just when you are a couple of meters away from her/him. Especially true if one or two girls are riding the cycle.
2) Do not focus eyes on specific objects on the road; rather have a wide view so that the peripheral vision is best used.

[gopinathann]

Yes. This is a real confusion.
I usually put my left indicator signalling the vehicle behind me to overtake. I thought that if I put the left indicator the person behind my vehicle knows that either I will go left or allow him to overtake. If I want to overtake and another vehicle is behind me how do I signal the rear one.

Originally Posted by abhayshanu

What you do is completely uneccessary during non-rainy days, this is very useful during rains. Also many people think that during rains or in tunnels you are suppose to turn on your hazard lights, which can be very hazardous, as these lights are made for only when your car is parked and is not moving, using these lights on a moving vehicle may cause people to think that the car is actually not moving or think that it is causing a accident. Please people, if you are driving in the rains do not use the hazard lights, turn on your normal lights, not high beam, low ones, it really helps other people see the vehicle and can in no way lead in any confusions




Yes it truly is, but what i do is that i just slow down my car, give the right signal and move to the left so as to give him space and speed to overtake me, and when the window is rolled down, i go the truckers way, use my hands.

Unni.ak - no dude cant be 'To each his own' this is what causes problems, it should be universal, if my way then only my way, if your way then only your way, it is because it differs that the confusions arise

[straightdrive]

Originally Posted by Glass

........Do not focus eyes on specific objects on the road; rather have a wide view so that the peripheral vision is best used.

Yes, that's true. When you aren't rigidly focused on a specific thing, you can sometimes both look in front and sense traffic movement in your RVM without moving your eyes. Difficult to keep it up for long periods though.

It's helpful to look ahead as far as possible every few seconds and not only concentrate on the vehicle or road immediately in front. Helps you brake well in advance in many situations. Sounds simple but a lot of people don't follow it. Many rear-endings in city traffic happen because people look only at the vehicle immediately in front and not further ahead and can't anticipate it when the vehicle in front brakes.

[karthik247]

1. Always watch your mirrors and if someone's coming fast from behind, change lanes and just let him pass

2. Dont overtake from the left, and if u do horn/flash lights to signal the car your about to leave behind

3. Dont stick behind and follow a vehicle which is overtaking another vehicle unless you are absolutely sure there is no on-coming traffic

4. Avoid zig-zagging at high speeds

5. When you brake hard, just watch your RVM's and brake/steer accordingly so that the guy behind doesn't rear end you

6. Always tank up from a good pump only, no matter what and make sure the guy fills petrol/diesel correctly. You wouldn't want to be stranded in a petrol car with a tank full of diesel

7. Don't throw stuff out of the window without looking if any vehicle is coming from behind

8. Follow a car doing a speed you are comfortable with and keep a very good distance away from him while you are trailing. This helps you know where all the potholes, humps and all are and gives you enough time to do whats needed

[theEnd]

I just got back from a week of driving around in the Scottish Highlands. Its certainly interesting to contrast the highway driving experience there with what we go though in India. Some of the rules they follow religiously:

Never overtaking unless they can see the entire stretch that will be used for the overtaking manoeuvre is clear. No overtaking on curves. No overtaking even if the only oncoming car is a speck in the horizon.

Always giving way to any vehicle approaching from the right.

Flashing lights to show the oncoming driver that you are giving him/her the right of way. (yes that's right.. giving somebody else the right of way)

Pedestrians and cyclists are kings and queens of the road. I remember driving more than a kilometer behind another car that was trailing a cyclist because there was oncoming traffic in the other lane!

Only once in over 600 miles of driving did I get rashly overtaken. When I passed the same car (parked on the side of the road) a few minutes later I noticed that the driver was of South-Asian origin and had Bollywood music blasting from his open windows! It was a rental car (just like mine). Draw your own conclusions.

The differences were more stark in the city, but I will leave that for another thread. All I can say is that while such driving habits may take decades to reach our country, we can all at least try to take a few steps in that direction. Getting to your destination twenty seconds later is a small price to pay for being a decent driver (and human being) and giving way to another car or not cutting somebody off.

Originally Posted by Glass

1) If there is a cycle on the left of the road ahead, slow down. The cyclist will definitely take a sharp right swerve just when you are a couple of meters away from her/him. Especially true if one or two girls are riding the cycle.

Glass... You sound like the Oracle from the Matrix. I shall certainly watch out for this bicycle with one or two girls on it.

[Glass]

Originally Posted by theEnd

Glass... You sound like the Oracle from the Matrix. I shall certainly watch out for this bicycle with one or two girls on it.

Well, it was about 7 years back I had two girls on a cycle take a sudden swerve from the leftmost margin onto the right on a highway, with just a few metres ahead of me to save from crashing into them at about 70 kmph, with my fully loaded small car. My sudden braking left me facing the exact opposite direction I was driving, and inches away from a 10 feet deep ditch on the right edge of the road; yes there were no oncoming vehicles that could have altered this scenario a bit. Interestingly, guys who gathered around were questioning why I braked and took such a risk than ram into the cycle and be safe myself first!

The memory is too fresh though and yes, gives me the oracle sense each time I see another cycle on the left margin.

P.S.: Wow, aren't the Scottish highlands great - lucky you!
And speaking of driving in UK, I remember the cars wait forever until the pedestrain crosses the street first, the driver frantically signalling the pedestrain to cross.

[Thad E Ginathom]

The headlight-flashing thing is the single most confusing thing about driving here after UK, but oddly, all UK drivers use it to give right of way which is not according to the UK Highway code at all! I forget the words, but the code says it is to be used just like the horn, to draw attention to your presence --- which is closer to the way we use it in India.

[ariendj]

Originally Posted by gopinathann

I usually put my left indicator signalling the vehicle behind me to overtake. I thought that if I put the left indicator the person behind my vehicle knows that either I will go left or allow him to overtake. If I want to overtake and another vehicle is behind me how do I signal the rear one.

i do the same to allow a car to overtake me. and when im overtaking another car and have one behind me i just signal to the right so that the person at the rear knows that im taking my car to the right and wouldn't try to overtake me simultaneously !!

[theEnd]

All this about signaling your intention to be overtaken is quite dumb.

The indicators should be used to indicate which direction your car will move. If you're the overtaker, go ahead and signal right before you pull out to overtake and then signal left when you've completed the move and want to pull back in.

If you're the overtakee, and I come up behind you, I dont care if you want to be overtaken or not. I will assess for myself if there's enough room to pass (its my life on the line after all) and I will make the move. I dont need your approval. So if you intend to continue driving in a straight line please dont indicate anything!

[Guna]

Originally Posted by theEnd

All this about signaling your intention to be overtaken is quite dumb.

Very true. Just imagine a situation, where there are three cars and the car in the middle puts on the right signal. Now, is he telling the car behind to overtake him or is he telling that he is about to overtake the car ahead of himself? Same signal used for exactly opposite actions which can lead to a potential disaster.

[username]

Very good thread... Thanks to the thread starter. I just came back from a day long trip to Mysore from Bangalore...

My addition from yesterday's trip... Always do a thorough research of the road to be traveled. Never trust your past experience on the road. The roads are not always the same.

The Bangalore-Mysore 4 lane road is supposed to be one of the best quality roads. Unfortunately, today there are a lot of humps at unexpected places, without any signal of a hump at some points.

I had to move out of the road to stop short of crashing with a car in the front, which again stopped short of crashing with a truck by taking a left, all due to a hump, without any sign board. Thankfully, there was space in the left side of the road.

Unfortunately, more than 50m of space wasnt enough for me at 80-90kmph.

[Thad E Ginathom]

I had to move out of the road to stop short of crashing with a car in the front,

You should never be closer than comfortable stopping distance from the vehicle in front.

Of course, in city driving, this is hardly possible, as somebody else will fill up the gap. I've even had people shout at me for leaving a gap! But at highway speeds, that distance is essential, and if someone comes too close behind you, increase your distance, as you now have to allow time for the person behind you to stop as well.

This is interesting: a stopping-distance calculator. It tells me you should have been 80 to 100 metres away from that car*.

Mind you, I'm not much good at estimating distance in numbers anyway, but playing with that calculator is interesting.

I'm even worse at memorising numbers --- and we have to be able to answer questions on stopping distance for the UK test. I know people who can do the calculation in their heads, but I'm even worse at working numbers out than at remembering them.

EDIT: the UK Highway code says 53m for 80kmh, so according to that, you were, in theory, pretty-much right. Here's the UK chart (PDF)