[srishiva]

On top of Agara flyover a two wheeler guy hits my right rear bumper. I ask him what the hell is wrong and he says "you braked the brake". I asked him what are brakes to be used for ? Then he says, "but I was behind you". I didnt even brake suddenly since the traffic was stopped and any movement could have been very slow. I didnt check but later at office I find that the tail lamp is broken.
I am not sure if some (or most?) two wheeler riders undergo some mutation that makes them lose their common sense. Really upset and will make sure I will stop anyone in future and check the damage.

[AltoLXI]

Originally Posted by srishiva

I didnt even brake suddenly since the traffic was stopped and any movement could have been very slow.

Once my Access was was hit from behind by a car when I stopped behind the stop line when the signal turned Red. When I asked the driver, I got this classic response - that I braked suddenly. He thought I would go over the stop line and stop somewhere in the middle of oncoming traffic.

I do not know why people do not understand that there is a reason to maintain a distance from the vehicle in the front. All owner manuals have the safe distance to maintain mentioned in them. What makes the blood boil is the absurd excuse "you braked suddenly" - as if I should care more about the idiot tailgating me rather than braking hard to prevent an accident in front of me

[john.gt]

Since we are on rear endings today, I got rear ended by a bike today at the pedestrian crossing signal on Hosur Road beneath the elevated tollway EC1 exit. I'd say partly my mistake as I almost missed the red and had to brake hard. I saw the biker zooming in the rear view mirror and stopped a feet before and then moved a feet when he was in close range.
Fortunately no dents on the car or any injuries to the biker. He managed to hit the car and stop the bike without falling down.

[balenoed_]

How is the NICE road? Any better? Traveled two weeks back and it was in a bad shape at certain stretches. No justification for the Rs.105/- they charge diligently. It is scary to drive when you have a speed limit of 100 kmph in such roads.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by balenoed_

How is the NICE road? Any better? Traveled two weeks back and it was in a bad shape at certain stretches. No justification for the Rs.105/- they charge diligently. It is scary to drive when you have a speed limit of 100 kmph in such roads.

Patchy now. They have covered those potholes with their typical style of workmanship - Ugly.

Since it hasn't rained heavily in last 10 days it's not gone bad with pebbles and sand spreading all over endangering 2 Wheeler riders.

Last I drove was on Tuesday this week.

[jkrishnakj]

The stretch between Bannerghatta Road to ecity remains patchy with just the 'bandaid' work done. The sudden surge in truck traffic over the past 3-4 months isn't helping either. Towards Tumkur Road side , the downward sloped stretch between BG Road as Kanakpura Road , where the cars actually gain momentum continues to be tough and can give quite a thud and shake when driven at 100 km/hr. Clearly the toll rates doesn't justify the quality now.

[mpksuhas]

Something which gets discussed here often, as per article the deadline for ORR metro is pushed to 2022.

Going by past adherence to deadlines, it's anybody's guess when this section will be done.

Link

The Metro line on the Outer Ring Road (ORR) that cuts across the densest IT corridor in the City is set to get delayed by four more months, thanks to the financial troubles dogging the Hyderabad-based infrastructure group, Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Limited (IL&FS). Retendering of the contract notified in March is set to take place.

[dailydriver]

Last Sunday, on an early morning drive from Chikkamagaluru, I passed the Nelamangala Toll Plaza at 7.15 AM. From there to Rajajinagar, a distance of about twenty odd kilometres, it took me just an hour extra .

It was a Sunday morning and yet the roads were jam packed. Shudder to think of the travel times on weekdays.

But the secret to exiting and entering Bengaluru from that side has always been to handle the Majestic to Nelamangala-NH 75 intersection with care and caution. So, I can only blame myself for trying to enter the city at the wrong time.

(Yeah, I can see some of you hard core Bengalureans smirking - thinking that 20km/hr is actually an achievement!)

[Midas]

Originally Posted by AltoLXI

I do not know why people do not understand that there is a reason to maintain a distance from the vehicle in the front. All owner manuals have the safe distance to maintain mentioned in them. What makes the blood boil is the absurd excuse "you braked suddenly" - as if I should care more about the idiot tailgating me rather than braking hard to prevent an accident in front of me

Concept of safe distance is alien to most Indians. By trying to explain it to them, we'll a make a fool of ourselves. I'm wondering whether we should start painting "Power brake, Keep Distance, Air conditioned Car, No hand signal" on our cars, like how several buses have this on their rear

[Nalin1]

Originally Posted by Midas

Concept of safe distance is alien to most Indians. By trying to explain it to them, we'll a make a fool of ourselves. I'm wondering whether we should start painting "Power brake, Keep Distance, Air conditioned Car, No hand signal" on our cars, like how several buses have this on their rear

Just to add to that. This is always my fear when on our roads (not necessarily Bangalore, but anywhere). What if the person behind me is not able to stop in time?

There was an incident that I remember a few years ago in Namma Bengaluru where a cab rear ended a bus because the bus suddenly stopped/slowed down or whatever. The cab driver became wild and got off to start the blame game. But the bus sped away, maybe because he did not even realize or did not bother. The cab driver started running behind the bus, but in the melee that followed had a fatal accident!

In the urge to shift the blame to the other party even those who rear end say "you braked suddenly"!.

What can we do to potentially avoid such incidents?
Keep glancing at the rear view mirrors to be aware of exactly what the mood (ability) of the one following behind is. That will give us a much better idea if we spot something in front of us and react suddenly. We will not just react, but will react keeping the tailgater also in mind. Of course, there are exceptions when you slam the brakes and there is no time (Pray to God).

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by Nalin1

In the urge to shift the blame to the other party even those who rear end say "you braked suddenly"!.

It happened to be. I had actually stopped and a call centre Sumo hit my car a second later.

"You braked suddenly!"

Driver calls his supervisor who demands that I pay off. I refuse.

This happened opposite the police station. They walk in there to complain. i give them 10 min and walk in. The cops ask me what happened. Straight away, the cops tell these guys that they are in the wrong. Inspector pulls me aside and asks what do I want to do.

I told him- no way these guys can pay for the damage. I tell him to detain the car for a day and he lets me go.

It was another matter that I had just bought the car from Mumbai and was yet to begin the transfer process.

[arunphilip]

Originally Posted by Nalin1

What can we do to potentially avoid such incidents?

You know the old saying "Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer"?

Well, in a four-wheeler on Bangalore's roads, the mantra to use would be "Keep the idiots ahead of you, not behind you".

If you find you're being tailgated by a) a yellow board b) someone way too close for the speeds that you're doing, then the safest thing to do is to let them past. Move aside by at least half a lane to begin with, so that get's their attention that they can overtake you.

If you can't let them past, then slow down carefully (you don't want to cause the very thing you're trying to avoid). After due honking, they'll get frustrated and will overtake you.

In either case, you get the danger ahead of you, where you can better avoid them, rather than continually looking over your shoulder.

There are risks with other approaches - e.g. keeping a larger distance ahead of us to cater to a tailgater means that in the city, two- and three-wheelers will sneak in there, making the problem worse. The other alternative is to pay more attention to a tailgater in our rearview mirror; conversely means our focus ahead is dropping (and the worst outcome here is that we end up rear-ending someone!).

[for_cars1]

Originally Posted by Nalin1

...This is always my fear ... What if the person behind me is not able to stop in time? ...

In the urge to shift the blame to the other party even those who rear end say "you braked suddenly"!.

What can we do to potentially avoid such incidents? ...

There is no denying the fact that the driver of the vehicle has to maintain adequate braking distance at ALL times. The responsibility to stop without rear ending is totally on the driver behind, no matter however suddenly the vehicle ahead comes to a stop.

My personal observations and experience are:
1. The probability of being rear ended is much higher when you are new/unfamiliar with the vehicle that you're driving. Every type of vehicle reacts differently to your braking inputs. Until one gets a good grasp of the vehicle braking ability and braking distance, the braking action tends to be defensive and clumsier. The hurried braking action leads to higher chances of being rear ended.
As the familiarity with the vehicle grows, the braking action becomes smoother and the probability of getting rear ended correspondingly reduces.
Preventive measures to be followed are:
1. Always anticipate the need to brake earlier, keep your braking smooth and gradual, gently coasting to a halt.
2. Most cars these days have high torque that results in effortless quick acceleration. If the vehicle ahead of you has moved, consciously accelerate slowly leaving lot of gap so that if the vehicle ahead stops abruptly, you can gradually come to a halt utilising that gap you've created. Make it easier for the person behind you to stop. Almost all cars have booster assisted brakes and that clubbed with all wheel disks makes short work of braking distance. The two wheeler behind you may not be be able to stop in the same distance, his/her fault no doubt but the more important thing is what can the vehicle in front do to avoid this in the first place.
3. If you have no choice but to halt abruptly, sound horn or momentarily use the hazard lights to alert the driver behind.
4. If you have stopped at a signal and there is no vehicle yet behind you, keep your red light ON by either continuing to press the brake or turn ON the parking lights momentarily just to increase your chances of being identified as stopped (people easily identify red as stop). Once you have vehicles stopped behind you, you can disengage your red tail lights.

[n.devdath]

Originally Posted by locusjag

I keep shooting down all these job offers from Bangalore. Why God why? Why did all these job offers only have to crop up in the city of traffic jams?

To me, this is the typically keyboard way of assuming things.

Bangalore is home to 10 million plus people and all of us hit the road for varying durations and frequencies. Traffic jams are a part of urban life in any big city and there is no point in being so dramatic about it.

In fact, it is much, much better than Bombay local, Delhi ring roads and a few roads at Chennai that I have traveled on.

For the record, I commute 60km every day through the usually dreaded Bannerghatta Road, Silk board, Marathahalli and ITPL and haven't lost my senses or health.

Every office locality has accommodation options of all kinds within 5-8 km, even lesser at most places and a cycle/bike/hatchback can easily make your commute easier not to mention new age modes like carpool, quikride, office shuttles, metro, Ola/Uber etc.

Don't fret about a place going by what the internet says, it is usually overhyped anyway.

[sbkumar]

Originally Posted by n.devdath

For the record, I commute 60km every day through the usually dreaded Bannerghatta Road, Silk board, Marathahalli and ITPL and haven't lost my senses or health.

I wish I can be like you. You must be like those people with special talents who are part of the XMen series, in your case who can handle any amount of traffic chaos !! May I know what is your mode of commute ?
My office is on ORR and I try all sorts of things to just reduce the distance I travel on ORR to reach my office.