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How to drive in India (2015)

theforeignchallenge.com

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Re: How to drive in India (2015)

#71

Post by nojvek »

mothsonasloth wrote: post #27
jguimont wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And that is why when I went there for business, my company insisted on hiring a driver for the whole month. He was a phone call away and was driving me all over the place, anywhere I wanted. (that's also why most politician or people in high places get a driver)

Yea I had a driver when I was in Chennai, it was enjoyable being in an air conditioned Toyota Landcruiser. Was totally worth the extra £10 a day for the company expenses :D

Yeah India is a country where there’s so many people that sometimes it’s shocking to see when they don’t value human life and start squeezing out everything they can.

Definitely don’t drive in India, get a driver.

Re: How to drive in India (2015)

#73

Post by thisisit »

gruez wrote: post #43
virtualwhys wrote: post #34

I visited India for the first time last year, in early March. Spent 2 weeks traveling by train through the north of India, and then planned on settling in Rishikesh for 1 month or so. Rented a scooter and began to experience India roads directly (i.e. not as a passenger in a taxi/tuk tuk). Was chaotic, but certainly doable if you paid attention; that is, until a giant black bull cow came charging through oncoming tra…

>whereupon I was refused surgery at the local hospitals (3 in total) did they say why?

This happens quite frequently because hospitals tend to fear repercussions.

First, they fear the overzealous police who might ask for bribes because they admitted an accident victim.

Second, they fear mob violence. If even a small thing goes wrong people tend to go on a rampage - breaking stuff and harassing people.

Third, lack of awareness and general apathy of law. Most cases in India tend to run for years altogether. So, while there is a legal framework for such cases many hospitals are not aware of it or they just want to avoid making court trips for years.

Re: How to drive in India (2015)

#74

Post by thisisit »

oh_sigh wrote: post #45
thisisit wrote: post #5

Couple of things which needs to be added: Never get into an accident in India. First, if you driving a car mob will surround and harass you. Second, in case you get away from the mob, police will come and harass you. And things get worse if they perceive you as an outsider. Here's an anecdote which happened with a friend: While taking one of these mentioned u-turns and ensuring that he was honking constantly, a bike…

Why did he give these people his contact information, etc?

Under pressure and surrounded by 10+ people he was afraid for his life. And it was difficult to getaway without providing id and contact information.

Re: How to drive in India (2015)

#76

Post by test1235 »

thisisit wrote: post #73
gruez wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>whereupon I was refused surgery at the local hospitals (3 in total) did they say why?

This happens quite frequently because hospitals tend to fear repercussions. First, they fear the overzealous police who might ask for bribes because they admitted an accident victim. Second, they fear mob violence. If even a small thing goes wrong people tend to go on a rampage - breaking stuff and harassing people. Third, lack of awareness and general apathy of law. Most cases in India tend to run for years altogeth…

> police who might ask for bribes because they admitted an accident victim

I get that police look for any excuse to pick up bribes, but what's the reason for hassle over accident victims?

Re: How to drive in India (2015)

#77

Post by kkarakk »

virtualwhys wrote: post #48
alistairSH wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Was it risk of bad surgical outcome, or risk of non-payment regardless of outcome?

My death was the risk

yup. death of foreign national would be intl headline and affect tourism industry as well as medical tourism

Re: How to drive in India (2015)

#78

Post by vivekseth »

truncate wrote: post #60
vivekseth wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Do you guys hire other kinds of servants for things like cooking/cleaning/laundry?

Re: How to drive in India (2015)

#79

Post by maDdj »

kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #61
maDdj wrote: post #53

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…

> New york is another classic example New York driving experience: 90% of the trouble is caused by Uber drivers (T&LC plated), 9% is caused by yellow cabs. 1% is caused by everyone else. Those 99% are overwhelmingly immigrants importing their subpar driving culture into the US. Driving through the blizzard earlier this year was a dream primarily because the Ubers were gone.

This forum is to discuss issues and solutions rather than just pointing fingers at immigrants without no proof of data 99% :D LOL

Re: How to drive in India (2015)

#80

Post by jplayer01 »

onetimemanytime wrote: post #20

>> How to drive in India So don't drive, hire someone. The worst thing for a stranger is to have an accident in such places, between the family of the "victim" and the police you'll be royally screwed.

Even if you're not driving, you may be screwed just because you're a foreigner and you're in the car, but yeah, why would you ever drive in a place like this?
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