Driving Norms

Hey folks most of us have cars and most of us drive ourselves. The number of drivers is increasing day by day. But in a country like India, which needs more development to come at par with other nations, nothing much is being done to spread measures about driving rules and safe driving techniques. All of us should take an initiative to teach and encourage proper driving skills for the ultimate benefit of every road user.

Here are some major things that must be taught:-
1. Proper use of mirrors- it isn't for display that car manufacturers provide three mirrors in the car. It is for the purpose of being used to good effect in order to get a clear of traffic from all directions behind you. But unfortunately, the door mirrors remain closed, and when asked, the drivers say that they donot need mirrors, with a certain ignorance in their tone.

2. Use of indicators- indicators are a must while changing direction, no matter how minor or how major the directional change is. But people rarely use blinkers while taking a sharp turn, and using them to change lanes is almost non-existent, posing a problem for others to judge your move.

3. Erratic lane movements- we often see that cars change lanes very frequently and erratically to move ahead of others. We also see that cars move slowly on the fast lane, i.e. the lane on the right side. These cars donot give side to other faster moving vehicles and encourage lane changing in the wrong manner even more. Drivers also donot bother to check for approaching vehicles before changing lanes, forcing the motorist behind to brake hard.

4. Lack of patience- most of us lack patience while moving on the road. All of us want to be the first one out of the signal and honk furiously. Most donot bother to leave earlier than usual to get to work and drive extremely rash to get to work. This makes the road risky for everyone. Driving impatiently also increases blood pressure, which, we all know, isn't a healthy thing.

5. Use of full beam while driving at night- It is very stressful to drive at night because of bad roads and poor traffic management. Another cause of irritation is the fact that most oncoming vehicles drive with their full beam on at night. This results to a lot of glare for the oncoming traffic, making that person nearly bling and helpless. collisions and other mishaps are common because of this malpractice. Facing such repeated glare is also injurious to the eyes.

We see that most driving schools donot teach these things. They only teach you how to move the car ahead and backwards. If, in the initial level, the above rules are followed, then driving will become much more relaxed.

I want to know all of your views and I hope that we have an extensive discussion on this topic and also take the initiative to educate others to make our roads much more safer..

Cheers.

Very nice thread dcargod. From the points you have mentioned, driving with high beam is the worst thing.

And also one more thing is to maintain a good distance with vehicle up front to have a safe drive. This also minimises unnecessary braking.

The less the driver makes sideways action(inclusive of lane cutting), the more safe the road is. Car drivers make more sideways action than bigger vehicles. This increases chance of accidents.

Lane decipline too is quyite a serious issue. On Mum-Pune Expressway, it irritates when a bus/ or truck cruize at 70kmph on the rightmost lane. Same with some carowners who too proudly occupy rightmost lane. Flash lights, no action, Honk, no action. Finally, You have to overtake from left.

Hey CC you are right about maintaining a safe distance from the car ahead of you. But the problem is that our roads are too small in space in proportion to the number of cars on them. So, though it is a very necessary practice, it cannot be implemented unless the government improves our roads and provides more space for the cars to move.

I'm not saying to keep a big distance. It should be well enough to avoid small small braking, say when someone comes into your lane, or some small obstacles can be avoided with just lifting of your foot from accelerator and no need of usage of brakes. It also prevents rear ending a car ahead, in case of emergency braking.

Why not use the "1000 count" rule to keep adequate distance between the cars??
Its works like this - Take any object on road, a street light for eg. and start counting 1000,1001,1002...and so on till the car in your front crosses it and if we cross that object (after the car in front has crossed) by "1003" that means we are maintaining proper distance.Hope you are getting what am trying to say. :)

yup vibhor thats a nice idea.. The only problem is that the motorist behind me will not wait for me and will try every trick in and out of the book to get past me..

It all depends on the way one drive. When we drive steadily without losing momentum, no one can cut you. It is only the drivers who drive hastily, rashly, etc.. The one who makes sudden movements(be it burst of acceleration or braking or sideways too), is more likely to stop the car and give way, no matter whatever the efforts he takes to stay ahead.

abhi_qpotsiavs wrote:Lane decipline too is quyite a serious issue. On Mum-Pune Expressway, it irritates when a bus/ or truck cruize at 70kmph on the rightmost lane. Same with some carowners who too proudly occupy rightmost lane. Flash lights, no action, Honk, no action. Finally, You have to overtake from left.

In my recent trip to Tirunelveli in South Tamilnadu, 4 lanes are under construction and nearing the final stage with some over-bridges to be completed. Last time when i went i could see the same scene like you said, with all heavy vehicles on right lane and some on the left. Sometimes they will be parallel without letting a way. But this time, a lot has changed. All the trucks, buses, tempos, autos were surprisingly on the left lane only. Even after overtaking, they move to the left lane soon. But the motorists were coming in the wrong direction and in the fast lane. Some times even tractors. Wish people gain some knowledge on this.

speaking about driving norms, mumbai police have come up with a new way to impart some sense to the mumbai drivers! an LED display on top of their vehicles which toggles between 20-25 messages, this is one of them.

What if we bump the vehicle front of you, while reading this? It'll distract the drivers.

yes, you are right Cc. it is indeed distracting.

similar thing happened to me during my visit to my native, 4lanes was under construction till half the dstance, then on the 4lanes trucks were going in different lanes, none of the truck guys were following lanes, nor the cars , everyone was driving in their own ways, specially the bikers , they always come in opposite direction and i dont know why

Yeah bikers in opposite directions is the height of stupidity. Only some serious accidents will teach them about the risk involved in it.

and those serious accidents can even cost them their life

[quote="Crazy cat"]

abhi_qpotsiavs wrote:quote]
In my recent trip to Tirunelveli in South Tamilnadu, 4 lanes are under construction and nearing the final stage with some over-bridges to be completed. Last time when i went i could see the same scene like you said, with all heavy vehicles on right lane and some on the left. Sometimes they will be parallel without letting a way. But this time, a lot has changed. All the trucks, buses, tempos, autos were surprisingly on the left lane only. Even after overtaking, they move to the left lane soon. But the motorists were coming in the wrong direction and in the fast lane. Some times even tractors. Wish people gain some knowledge on this.

Crazy cat i am with you on this ... i even had a situation when i was on a headon collison course with a tanker lorry and miraculous escaped with some braking tricks

You see the bikes are small vehicles and most people driving them are 18-30 with screaming hormones, so they think they can squeeze into any place, just like rats, trucks on the other hand think they own the road cause of their size, so problem isn't just the roads but also the psychology. Most truckers are uneducated so they really dont have the necessary understandings of the value of human life, which an educated bloke might have, but then again, there is a problem with the law enforcement, since its easy to bribe them and get away with just a slap on the wrist, people think they can do whatever they want, and in the present age most people including me are impatient, so really can't help it. No matter how wide the road or how good the safety features of the car, or whatever the govt norm, or how strict the local authority, people will continue to be brash just to get to point B from A, in the quickest time possible.

napster wrote:and those serious accidents can even cost them their life

Only after those serious accidents, they will come to know about risk involved. They go on wrong side just to save some kilometers, thinking that vehicles on opposite side will give way to them. But everyday can't be same for them. What if a speeding vehicle is overtaking a slow vehicle on a curve. Even if they see the bike, they can't slowdown. Because they come in an unusual direction and no one would be expecting a vehicle in opposite direction on a 4 lane road.

car-o-static wrote:You see the bikes are small vehicles and most people driving them are 18-30 with screaming hormones, so they think they can squeeze into any place, just like rats, trucks on the other hand think they own the road cause of their size, so problem isn't just the roads but also the psychology. Most truckers are uneducated so they really dont have the necessary understandings of the value of human life, which an educated bloke might have, but then again, there is a problem with the law enforcement, since its easy to bribe them and get away with just a slap on the wrist, people think they can do whatever they want, and in the present age most people including me are impatient, so really can't help it. No matter how wide the road or how good the safety features of the car, or whatever the govt norm, or how strict the local authority, people will continue to be brash just to get to point B from A, in the quickest time possible.

Most of the bikers, especially in rural areas are dumb minded. They don't know about any road manners. Many would just try to squeeze till the end. They can't judge a vehicle's speed, they will just try to squeeze and by the time when they realise it'll be too late and bigger vehicles will have to brake hard or hit them. My everyday's commute involves these morons too. They do the wrong things and will show hands at us.