safety = s l o w l y

biglzz

it may seem like stating the obvious,but if you ride a bike please be very careful wether it's a 125 scooter or a 500cc enfield.

Indian drivers drive like lunatics, on either side of the road and like to over take on blind corners.you really do take your life in your hands when riding a bike out there and if you do have an accident as a friend of mine did ,which wasn't his fault he had to pay for the damage to the maniacs car who crashed into him,as well as for treatment for a broken femur.To add insult to injury he got no justice as a forigner from the police .if your gonna ride about like fast,stoned be prepared to reap the consequences.

reduce the risks go slowl

be love be peace be happy
peace always

Nick-H

True anywhere in the world.

If anyone wants to get stoned and drive fast, please go somewhere else. Indian roads are bad enough without you.

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Just one member of the IndiaMike Mod Team

beach

...or people can take a crash course on driving here

phobal

I worked as a bike courier for 1.5 years. I like risk. I think risk is over rated a lot of the times. However, I would never opreate a motor vehicle in India. Unless I'm a lifer like Nick , but otherwise, I won't. I'll stick to grand theft auto .

....unless someone can convince me otherwise?

Hey, they should make Grand Theft Auto: Mumbai, or something. That would be sweet.

Nick-H

Driving in India is something I really want to do! But I'm not ready for it ...yet.

A few more months of being a pedestrian and then a few local driving lessons, then a bit of suburban pottering. After a few weeks of city driving then I might venture on a Highway. On the other hand, the first experience might put me off the whole thing!

My problem, I know, is not that I'm going to hit anything, but that I'll cause accidents by panic braking as some guy cuts an inch in front of me, resulting in a pile-up with me in front

crvlvr

Most Indian road users observe a version of the Highway Code based on a Sanskrit text. These 12 rules of the Indian road are published for the first time in English:

* ARTICLE I: The assumption of immortality is required of all road users.

* ARTICLE II: Indian traffic, like Indian society,is structured on a strict caste system. The following precedence must be accorded at all times. In descending order, give way to:
Cows, elephants, heavy trucks, buses, official cars, camels, light trucks, buffalo, jeeps, ox-carts, private cars, motorcycles, scooters, auto-rickshaws, pigs, pedal rickshaws, goats, bicycles (goods-carrying), handcarts, bicycles (passenger-carrying), dogs, pedestrians.

* ARTICLE III: All wheeled vehicles shall be driven in accordance with the maxim: to slow is to falter, to brake is to fail, to stop is defeat. This is the Indian drivers' mantra.

* ARTICLE IV: Use of horn (also known as the sonic fender or aural amulet):

Cars:
o Short blasts (urgent) indicate supremacy, IE in clearing dogs, rickshaws and pedestrians from path.
o Long blasts (desperate) denote supplication, IE to oncoming truck: ``I am going too fast to stop, so unless you slow down we shall both die". In extreme cases this may be accompanied by flashing of headlights (frantic).
o Single blast (casual) means: "I have seen someone out of India's 870 million whom I recognise", "There is a bird in the road (which at this speed could go through my windscreen)" or "I have not blown my horn for several minutes."

Trucks and Buses:
o All horn signals have the same meaning, viz: "I have an all-up weight of approximately 12.5 tons and have no intention of stopping, even if I could." This signal may be emphasised by the use of headlamps. Article IV remains subject to the provision of Order of Precedence in Article II above.

* ARTICLE V: All manoeuvres, use of horn and evasive action shall be left until the last possible moment.

* ARTICLE VI: In the absence of seat belts (which there is), car occupants shall wear garlands of marigolds. These should be kept fastened at all times.

* ARTICLE VII:
o Rights of way: Traffic entering a road from the left has priority. So has traffic from the right, and also traffic in the middle.
o Lane discipline (VII,1): All Indian traffic at all times and irrespective of direction of travel shall occupy the centre of the road.

* ARTICLE VIII: Roundabouts: India has no roundabouts. Apparent traffic islands in the middle of crossroads have no traffic management function. Any other impression should be ignored.

* ARTICLE IX: Overtaking is mandatory. Every moving vehicle is required to overtake every other moving vehicle, irrespective of whether it has just overtaken you. Overtaking should only be undertaken in suitable conditions, such as in the face of oncoming traffic, on blind bends, at junctions and in the middle of villages/city centres. No more than two inches should be allowed between your vehicle and the one you are passing -- and one inch in the case of bicycles or pedestrians.

* ARTICLE X: Nirvana may be obtained through the head-on crash.

* ARTICLE XI: Reversing: no longer applicable since no vehicle in India has reverse gear.

Nick-H

Thanks crvlvr

I particularly loved the Marigolds

Auntyji

Good luck! I'm sure you can drive in India...it's not so bad once you figure it out. When I first began driving in Madras, my friends used to joke that people walked faster than I drove.
I still drive in Madras every time I go back. It takes me a day or two to get comfortable with it, then I'm fine. I hate the constant beeping of the horn, that's the only thing that bothers me...cows, dogs etc are OK!!

Tigminx

Hey thanks crvlvr

It suddenly has become totally clear.

goangoangone

Must add.....if you buy a new car,remove the offside headlamp bulb immediately.
Also,don't indicate.It spoils the chance that other drivers have already guessed correctly which way you're going

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