These are general tips and if you are driving for a long time you may know them.
In driving a car you are taking a responsibility of others on the road as well as people in your car. So being scientific or in other words to follow rules reasonably well is very important.
The following are scientific aspects:
1) Blind spot.
There is something called blind spot whereby you would not see a car or motor bike just coming from behind and which is most probably over taking you.
In this blind spot as the name tells you, the vehicle approaching from behind can not be seen in the review mirror hanging just above to the ceiling of the car or it may not be seen in the review mirror by your side. It may be that it may not be seen in both for a few seconds.
Blind spot is the greatest danger because a crash may occur on the sides of your car when you take a turn and at the same time the vehicle on the blind spot tries to overtake you.
2) It is more complicated and also risky to drive on the high ways rather than city roads!
In the high way vehicles ahead of you appear to be moving( because you assume them to be moving) but in fact they may have been parked and parked not properly with most of its body right on the road itself.
This will cause serious accidents because at the point of time you will be’giving in’ to the left for the approaching vehicle. And suddenly you will realize that the vehicle on the left is not moving one but a parked one.
3) When you crossing through villages on the highways(remember India is a big village) people cross the road casually and they do not’care’.
A) CHILDREN:
When a boy or girl crosses the road they’suddenly’ notice a fast approaching car( cars do not make much noise and it greatly depends on wind speed in the open) and with a’shock’ they turn towards the car with their face towards you in the middle of the road.
When your car hits with brakes on and sliding they will be hit on the forehead. Your car lifts him or her on to the bonnet and he will be thrown a few yards away because of their lesser weight. The injuries will be always to the front side of the body and 99% the child go unconscious immediately. Do not consider them as dead and do not your self go in to a shock. The boy or girl would come back to consciousness and first aid is immediate and necessary. Take responsibility and take them to nearest hospital if you want to avoid guilt complex for the rest of your life. After an accident a driver can not drive so somebody must be employed immediately.
B) ELDERS:
If they are elders their natural tendency is when they suddenly notice a fast car toward them in a shock they’turn away” from your car showing their hip and their back. Your car if on sudden brakes hits them on hips, your car movement’sucks them in”, which means they roll on your car bonnet and thrown on the road and straight they come under the back wheel if not the front left wheel.
So the injuries would be to their back, to their hips and thighs.
Generally this may cause instant death because of injury to the back side of their head which can be very fatal.
Other general precautions are
1) Slow moving objects particularly bicycle riders.
I have had very bad experiences with them particularly on the high ways. Much before you come near to a village girls or boys would cycle or learning to do so on the roads! This would be very dangerous when a vehicle is approaching from right and you have this zigzag, wavy bicycle on the left.
The car you drive should have good road grip and you should use brakes without clutch. You should completely slow down when the approaching vehicle is rash and negligent.
2) If you have habit of using clutch also along with brakes on highways, sooner or later you will be the cause of accident. You can not escape that hard fact.
3) If you do not know anything about a blind spot and changing lanes on a high way, you are in potential danger.
You should give sufficient time to yourself to avoid the blind spots. Blind spots can not be more than a few seconds.
You have to develop the habit of looking in to review mirror for the second time before taking a turn or changing a lane. In fact you might have noticed many experienced drivers doing this.
4) Do not use clutch along with brake on high ways unless it is required.
ii) The approaching vehicles.
The approaching vehicle sometimes can not be seen by us! Believe it or not this is true. If you think the road is empty and it is clear to the far off distance it would be clear to the far off distance! . You do not see the approaching car with great speed.
It is much truer when the colour of the car is silver colour. The entire world over silver colour cars meet with greatest number of accidents. I do not know why.
That is why it is all the more important to flash the lights of your car whenever you see an approaching vehicle including trucks. Truck drivers tend to doze off now and then and they do not notice your car coming with great speed.
In the same manner Bus drivers tend to stop the bus all of a sudden.
In the city:
In the city driving if you are a bike driver earlier some mistakes you might do.
You will try to get in to traffic gaps quickly and try to swim through the traffic. This is very wrong and you should often remember that you are not on the bike now. Whenever you find a small gap only you should immediately slow down your car and keep to the left so that you will get bigger gap to go through. You will be surprised to see that the traffic and approaching vehicle automatically adjust to your car. You should respect the fellow car drivers on the road.
The bike riders tend to come to your left side of the car. So whenever you take a left turn expect a fast rider coming from left and trying to over take you. Give enough room to the left side whenever you are meeting a Chow Rasta and you are taking to the left on Chow Rasta. Respect the bikers because even if your car touched their review mirror they’swing” and cause havoc to you and others.
If your car is on high speed keep a respecatable distance to the bikers. Your car’sucks’ the side by vehicle or’pulls’ the bike inward. And the bikers give a noticeable’swing’ leading to a great confusion and danger.
Follow the road rules and you will be surprised to see how they work.
For example if road rule says that you should go slow and speed limit 40 kmph only immediately you slow down the vehicle to 40 kmph obediently even if you do not see anything there and road looks like a desert. Suddenly you would escape a great danger from an approaching vehicle and you may even slow down below 40 kmph also. You will be surprised how in the world the road authorities know that a rogue would drive just like that on that spot. The truth is they do not know. And the truth is that so many accidents already happened there exactly on that spot and that is why they put a speed limit board there!
There are so many road mysteries and many road research institutes are yet to understand why certain places are’accident spots’