How to drive in India (2015) • Hacker News Board

Re: How to drive in India (2015)

#51

Post by NTDF9 » Tue, Dec 04, 2018, 9:52 PM UTC

This really is a great opportunity for an enterprising youngster or a foreigner to start a consulting company to bring rules into the driving system.

The way to approach this is: 1. Create a company, build a small DB of rules in UK (the closest road cousin to India), Australia and US. Maybe Hongkong to understand dense cities

2. Get estimates of costs required to stripe lanes, put traffic lights, green road signs

3. Make a list of 10 rich cities/municipalities. Approach their roadworks dept and propose a plan

4. Profit

Developing countries these days are willing to throw money at this. They just want someone to do it efficiently and at low cost.

To see how this worked before, look at Jakarta, Indonesia.

Re: How to drive in India (2015)

#52

Post by mrath » Tue, Dec 04, 2018, 10:00 PM UTC

RileyJames wrote: post #41

> Expect potholes and unmarked speed breakers almost everywhere! A nice flawless looking asphalt road can suddenly surprise you with deep potholes , just like someone has thrown a hand grenades on a road. The more rural you go the more extreme it can get. You can even find yourself driving inside a pothole which has it’s own potholes in it. Haha, so true. I remember coming to skidding halt in taxi, in a rural area, a…

> Expect potholes and unmarked speed breakers almost everywhere

The worst part is people can build speed breakers at their will with their own spec. I know a person died because an illegal speed breaker was built with much more than standard height and no marking. The condition is bad, the accident rates are much higher and not all accidents are reported.

Re: How to drive in India (2015)

#53

Post by maDdj » Tue, Dec 04, 2018, 10:09 PM UTC

People bend traffic rules all over the world. At some point of time even the ones commenting has broken a traffic rule or two. With 1.3 billion population and 1/3 sq ft area to that of US, yes space is a commodity in India. I had been to Italy and driving there is chaotic as well.New york is another classic example. People in overpopulated areas develop a sense of competitiveness which evolves and pushes them to the way things are. If people understood the basis of the problem than just pointing at the problem, we can all make a better world together.

Re: How to drive in India (2015)

#54

Post by plussed_reader » Tue, Dec 04, 2018, 10:10 PM UTC

alistairSH wrote: post #47

dsfyu404ed wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I think in a lot of the situations, there's a simple rule that Indian drivers follow, which is like motor boats official rules: the biggest vehicle has priority. This is how it works everywhere in the world. In any given ship yard small fork lifts yield to service trucks which yield to semis which yield to large fork lifts which yield to freight trains yield to ships. It generally works quite well unless you ask ped…

Part of the issue with pedestrians, in the US, is they have priority over cars/buses/etc. I don't believe this is true in many other parts of the world. As the smallest, easiest to stop/start, and most likely to be injured, they probably should yield to other users.

It actually depends on the locality; stepping off the curb in Vegas or NYC is your ass on the line.

Re: How to drive in India (2015)

#55

Post by pthomas551 » Tue, Dec 04, 2018, 10:14 PM UTC

reaperducer wrote: post #49

Synaesthesia wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>3. Be prepared for squeegee men at traffic lights who clean your windscreen for coins even if you say no. 4. Most city parking spots are controlled by guys who "take care" of your car while you're away This so much in South Africa.

And New York. And Chicago. And Houston (the squeegee guys). At least in the 90's and early 2000's. Thanks to Lyft and Uber, I rarely drive when I'm in cities anymore, so I don't know if it's still a thing in the U.S.

It's not - one of the first things Giuliani did in NYC was get rid of the squeegee men, and other cities followed suit.

Re: How to drive in India (2015)

#56

Post by pthomas551 » Tue, Dec 04, 2018, 10:15 PM UTC

vivekseth wrote: post #25

rohit2412 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

USA also has chauffers and Uber drivers. So self driving cars are real? Your argument is as stupid as it comes. Not everyone is upper class and can hire a driver.

Are drivers in India limited to just the upper class? Whenever I visit India it feels like anyone who’s not lower class can afford to hire a driver.

If you are a typical American you are likely to be interacting exclusively with the upper class. Even if they don't feel upper class to you, by local standards they are at worst upper middle class.

Re: How to drive in India (2015)

#57

Post by LeftTurnSignal » Tue, Dec 04, 2018, 10:23 PM UTC

paulvs wrote: post #15

A couple more from around the world (esp. Paraguay): 1. To drop a passenger off where there is no street parking, just turn on your hazard lights and stop in the middle of the road. 2. In the seconds before a red light turns green, the cars behind you will honk to get you moving. 3. Be prepared for squeegee men at traffic lights who clean your windscreen for coins even if you say no. 4. Most city parking spots are co…

> 4. Most city parking spots are controlled by guys who "take care" of your car while you're away for notes (really your car would be better off without them, they sometimes scratch your car if you don't pay).

I've had this happen at a large city in the midwest US.

They basically said, "most people here will break into your car. give us a few bucks and we'll make sure no one does." I didn't want to, but I figured its a few bucks and gave them it.

I got out of the concert and went back to my car. They were still walking around. They ran up and talked to us a bit, said nothing happened, thanked us again for the money and offered us a hamburger from McDonalds.

I'm not sure if they were "good" guys or bad guys yet, but they are around.

Re: How to drive in India (2015)

#58

Post by stephenhuey » Tue, Dec 04, 2018, 10:24 PM UTC

Having lived in Nigeria while growing up (and specifically Lagos part of that time), I've always been proud of how remarkably exciting it can be to drive there. My pride swelled considerably when a friend who grew up in India and also lived in Cairo and other places told me after visiting Nigeria that Lagos had the wildest driving he had ever seen! As crazy as some find it to be, just like in many similar places, the drivers seem to find a rhythm to work together quickly, communicate whereabouts by horn frequently, and thus avoid accidents more than one might expect.

*edit: "find it to be"

Re: How to drive in India (2015)

#59

Post by truncate » Tue, Dec 04, 2018, 10:31 PM UTC

vmarsy wrote: post #28

I think in a lot of the situations, there's a simple rule that Indian drivers follow, which is like motor boats official rules: the biggest vehicle has priority. So when it comes to u-turns, cars won't do a u-turn if there's a van or bus coming from the other side, but a bus will have no problem starting a u-turn if there's only a flow of cars and motorcycles coming. Motorcycles are just expected to flow around, make…

Also, if a crash does happen, it is by default fault of the person driving bigger vehicle. Particularly, between car and motercycle. To some extent, I felt it also goes with who is driving more expensive car when it happens between cars.

Re: How to drive in India (2015)

#60

Post by truncate » Tue, Dec 04, 2018, 10:38 PM UTC

vivekseth wrote: post #25

rohit2412 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

USA also has chauffers and Uber drivers. So self driving cars are real? Your argument is as stupid as it comes. Not everyone is upper class and can hire a driver.

Are drivers in India limited to just the upper class? Whenever I visit India it feels like anyone who’s not lower class can afford to hire a driver.

I'm from a middle class family in Delhi, and we never had (or could have) afforded a driver full time. Maybe now, my father can, but it is still expensive and not worth it. Most middle class families don't have a driver IMO. Much more common with upper middle class. However, we did hire driver for couple of days in rural areas every now and then.