[hrag]

Originally Posted by Surprise

If possible to take a different mode of transportation without compromising much on other aspects, traveling in cars should be given a second thought.

I completey agree with you. I gave travelling in cars a second thought.

And switched to an SUV

[sam003]

How you guys can say Public transport will be safe always. I feel my own vehicle more safer then that becuase I, myself driving it. See better we adopt safe driving principle. Its not just the case on highways. Even in cities I have seen people avoid right cut which is just 5 m away and take wrong side. Not only wrong side they come in middle of the road. Its not only with uneducated people, I have seen Merc and other high end cars owners too driving like that.

[thebagchi]

Patience is the virtue.

One can do no more than being careful and being patient on the road.

[hvkumar]

Agree with all points raised here, some thoughts here:

- High speed is always dangerous, whatever may be the car you are in, however good the road is

- It takes a nano second's mistake on the part of a driver who is not alert to commit a serious accident

- Most accidents may happen because of someone else's fault, you have to be on the watch for such situations all the time

- I do lots of serious so-called "intellectual" work in my career and personal life, but I have never concentrated more on anything else but on driving on highways. Long-distance driving is all mental, not just physical. I would put mental strength (reflexes, concentration) as being 70% and physical stamina as 30%. maybe that is why - despite my puny 56 kgs and lanky frame - I am able to drive faster, longer and safer!


And in the instances quoted by Surprise above, I was being very stupid and rash and the entire encounter with the Swift Dzire was avoidable and regrettable. The other 2 episodes were circumstance, and my sense of anticipation helped avoid what could have been a serious accident.

[watashi75]

I enjoy driving and I enjoy highway drives. I can't say I enjoy city driving but I don't mind it either. The feeling of independence and the feeling of being one with car and nature is, I think, worth the risk.

For people who believe in fate, you cannot change the inevitable can you? And for people who don't believe in fate, do you want to drive or do you want to be driven?

[GSMINC]

Originally Posted by thebagchi

An old lady in my apartment died while climbing down the stairs.
So we shouldn't use stairs.
And once i was stuck in Elevator for 5 Hours.

So what should i do to avoid accident, if i stay in top floor of an Apartment.

should i stay home?

There is no logic, to stop oneself for doing thing for the fear of accidents or failures.
People have measure Mt. Everest, because they dared, they developed necessary skills.

You can't live in fear.

+1 to that bagchi, my views exactly.

[aaggoswami]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

1) I do lots of serious so-called "intellectual" work in my career and personal life, but I have never concentrated more on anything else but on driving on highways. Long-distance driving is all mental, not just physical. I would put mental strength (reflexes, concentration) as being 70% and physical stamina as 30%. maybe that is why - despite my puny 56 kgs and lanky frame - I am able to drive faster, longer and safer!

2) And in the instances quoted by Surprise above, I was being very stupid and rash and the entire encounter with the Swift Dzire was avoidable and regrettable.

Sir,
1) Excellent point. Long distance driving is always more mental than physical. Good mood maintained in the car also helps. Ask me. Around 5'10", 90+kg bulk and after driving for long distance especially at night, I am over and out. It took me some time to understand that its more of mental strength and stamina that is more important than weight lifting power. If one is relaxed mentally, the stress taken, both mentally and physically, is reduces by a very very huge margin. But for most of the drivers, it comes with experience.

2) Sometimes the other road users are so undisciplined that one loses his temper. Its only after one night's sleep or one day that one who is disciplined resalized that he the incidence could have been avoided. I had many incidences like that. But learning from those experiences helped me.

About the public transport : I do trust my own driving more than a bus drivers. And its not that the bus driver is always bad. Its rather the poor condition of the bus that worries me. More over the Indian busses are just truck chassis with seats on that rigid chassis. Its too much of a stress.

Regarding trains, I do prefer them if I have travel for relatively short distance like A'bad. Why ? No need to worry about luggage, etc. But even then those who are regular commuters do a lot of anti social activities and this does lead to too much mental stress.

For long distance, I have observed that even security guards that are in the bogie of trains are not good. They all what is not necessary and do nothing what they are suppossed to do.
Its awful journey that is better avoided.

Journey by road is the safest IMHO. We atleast have control over the vehicle/machine in which we are travelling.
And the mental peace factor over rides every other logic.

[prince_pervez]

Judging by what has been written so far. I feel A/c coaches in trains or the most expensive coaches in trains are the least risky.
Less of antisocial elements. Average of fatal train accidents may be once every 6-7 months in the entire India (Mostly due to wrong signals).

[gops2009]

While I'm in full agreement on the feelings one has, passing by a smashed up vehicle on the road and do also understand the pain and trauma of the loved ones, I'm with Bagchi on the fact that restricting travel is not the solution to this problem.

I kind of believe in karma, what has to happen will, this ofcourse does not mean that we throw caution to air. Public transport while it may look safer may not always be so, moreover, then hiring a cab or sitting in a bus, you may be handing over your life in the care of Mr "High Spirits" with no gurantee of a safe journey. All we can do is to take precautions like obeying road signs, avoiding over speeding and having a defensive driviving approach ( the drivers around me are morons and I better watch out attitude) and not paying full attention to driving. Like someone said in this thread, driving is more mental than physical

Accidents do happen, and it takes less than a fraction of a second , you can be the best driver in the world ( recall how Senna crashed to death in F1?), and on highways you have other drivers who may be at fault , but then...there is a risk that is associated with any activity in the world, some risks are higher and graver than others. Life is package, if one wants to explore and satisfy ones love for the automobile and love for the road, this is a risk one should be ready to live with, staying at home anywhich way will not be a solution.

[venuraja]

The question finally boils down as to which is less risky?
Travelling by bus ,train , public transport OR by your own car?

If you know driving very well , that is if you have the skill to drive on high-way
it is better always to travel by your own car.
If it is full loaded with all your family members , it is cheaper than bus or train and maybe equal to air fares.
It is a lot of comfort,peace of mind and safe for the belongings to your family and children than any public mode of transport can offer simply because it is meant for a public transport and not for your own family , in other words it is not customized to
your comfort.

The important point is , if you have a skill for normal highway driving or not ? that is the question.
Highway driving is altogether different from city driving. It needs some skill ,good controll over the vehicle at high speeds because on highway you are not expected to travel at speeds of 60 kmph. You need to travel at speeds of 100 or 110 and you need to follow certain rules,take proper care of sleep and rest that is all.
No public transport can offer, what your own car can offer.

You can cover many number of places ,stop and enjoy good food on the highway dabhas,stop and rest wherever you want and more distance,more piligrimmage, more number places you can cover which is almost impossible by a public transport.

In one single trip by my car from Hyderabad , I covered Shani singapur,Tulaja pur(Bhavani mandir),shirdi (shiridi shaibaba),phandaripur (Sri Krishan) all in a two day trip,but actually all in 36 hours.
Compared to this earlier , when we travelled by bus from Hyderabad to Shirdi ,
it was a boring journey, we were completely tired ,exhausted and again that is a journey from point 'A' to point 'B'.
Life is diffrent with your own vehicle .

[breezydrive]

Originally Posted by venuraja

The question finally boils down as to which is less risky?
Travelling by bus ,train , public transport OR by your own car?

And the Air travel being the least risky is not in the list

[prince_pervez]

Originally Posted by breezydrive

And the Air travel being the least risky is not in the list

I feel Air travel is the most risky. Doesn't mean I'll never use this option. But the number of things that can go wrong in a plane is far far more than a train or a car. You really have to see 'Air crash investigations' on nat geo or YouTube to understand what I mean.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by hrag

I completey agree with you. I gave travelling in cars a second thought.

And switched to an SUV

Har har, you had me guffawing with this post of yours

[asr245]

About a month ago while driving towards D'Dun on the Merut bypass, I saw a truck (on the oppo side of the road) break it's rear axle and two wheels (of one side) with a long iron rod breaking away loose on the road. Fortunately, being early morning there was not much traffic so no casualty and the truck was going quite slow. Imagine if there was traffic or if it were a undivided highway - in which case the wheel would have headed straight for me (bypass was converted to a divided highway over the past year and not completely done yet).

Originally Posted by hrag

I completey agree with you. I gave travelling in cars a second thought.

And switched to an SUV

I think you should take a look at this -> http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/1324239-post2475.html. Add to that that in big SUV chances of a roll-over on a sudden maneuver is high. Happened to my colleague's Scorpio. The driver did a sudden jerky maneuver and it flipped.

And I dont think you would have been much safer in an SUV for what happened above.

Originally Posted by prince_pervez

I feel Air travel is the most risky. Doesn't mean I'll never use this option. But the number of things that can go wrong in a plane is far far more than a train or a car. You really have to see 'Air crash investigations' on nat geo or YouTube to understand what I mean.

I am a big fan of that series but I still feel they are the safest. For one - the aircrafts are manufactured in Europe or US. That is re-assuring to me as that would mean all checks/procedures will be followed with due diligence unlike in India. Since an air-crash gets world-wide coverage, most if not all manufacturers carry thorough investigation to find the cause and rectify it. If airline maintenance is the culprit, that too gets close to worldwide coverage and thus, most airlines too are very diligent about maintenence. Crashes still occur as someone somewhere got careless but there are a lot more careless people on road than in aircraft hangars (even if you take the ratio).

[hrag]

Originally Posted by asr245

I think you should take a look at this -> http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/1324239-post2475.html. Add to that that in big SUV chances of a roll-over on a sudden maneuver is high. Happened to my colleague's Scorpio. The driver did a sudden jerky maneuver and it flipped.

And I dont think you would have been much safer in an SUV for what happened above.

Swami, the point is:

Accidents can happen anytime and anywhere. If drivers jerk while driving, the chances of accidents increase.