This is for everyone who thinks or thought, Figo is a replacement of the Fusion. A more detailed ownership report of the Fusion is here

Looks

Barring the nose, the rest looks an awful lot similar to the Fiesta MK5, hugely popular as also what the Fusion and Fiesta Sedans in India are based on

Keeping in mind that both are based on the Fiesta MK5 platform, looks are pretty similar, except that the Fusion is about 15% larger in almost all dimensions. But that apart the Figo warms up when you step inside. The clay console is a little strange at first (tested the Titanium) but it grows fast on you specially with the matching Coral displays on the ICE and the DTE. Seating position is low and seats are a lot smaller if compared to Fusion. They are a lot firmer as well.

The usual Ford bits are expected, headlamp control, switches and knobs are borrowed from Fusion and Fiesta and that’s clearly visible. The cubby holes placed strategically are also welcome. It probably has one hole for every possible electronic gadget that you may wish to carry.

Space

The general footprint of the car from outside is small, but its not. It definitely has better space for front passengers as compared to Punto and a much larger boot only comparable to Jazz. We are not talking Fusion here, and I don’t think anyone wants to carry Futons and Cots in their Figo’s either. Headroom felt a little short for tall fellows. I am 5′7″ and it had scope for 3″ more in my opinion.

With front seats going all the way back, you can easily fit 2 and a 1/2 children at the back (Clarkson lingo)

Boot

One word sums that up. Gigantic for the price you pay to buy this car.

From the side and back, it has a strong resemblance to the Fusion and Fiesta MK5 as well

Ride

Here it completely shows its colors, compared to the Fusion (first gen 1.6 +) the ride is very soft and the engine noise is well contained within the cabin. The engine racket that comes into the Fusion cabin has been eliminated from this one and things feel a lot more quieter unless you start revving the motor. But that happens in a City as well so we are not going into that.

Handling

The plasticy steering wheel is not great to hold, but it’s direct for sure. The car turns and moves like a Ford, just with a flick of a finger. The steering weight was neither Honda – Video gamish nor Fusion – Truckish. Adequate would be the ideal word. Putting two hands on that small thing felt like a waste. Gear shift placement and operation is a breeze. There is one gripe though, the softer suspension and the Apollo Accelere standard on the Figo makes it a little too soft for enthusiastic inputs, in this department the Punto scores better with its harder suspension, but then that chap lacks  the motivation in the motor itself.

Gear Knob

The aluminum wrapped gear shift is a usual Ford. Just hard enough to assure you and soft enough not to annoy you. Shifts very well. In comparison to the Punto, it’s a delight to drive with this.

Power 1.2

Neat is best described. If you plot it on a graph it probably would be a straight line going up just like any other petrol. There are no surprises. Compared to the 1.6 in Fusion, its boringly sluggish but drop a gear and it gets moving (with AC all the time). Having driven the Punto 1.4 petrol, I would say this one is miles ahead. Press the pedal a few times and you know that you Can take that turn in second or climb that slope in 3rd. Engine noise is smooth and only gets annoying when you cross the 4000 RPM mark. Shoots well after crossing 3000 RPM just like the Fusion 1.6 but the lack of Torque is evident in low RPMs. Dances very well after that, rock and roll style. But I am pretty sure it wont do that with a full load.

Power 1.4 Diesel

This starts off much more sluggish than the petrol. Takes time to move and the car feels a lot heavier (well it is heavier by a 100 odd Kgs). The AC in the Diesel works a lot better and faster, same as the Fusion. Given a smaller volume in the Figo, it’s more efficient in cooling as well. Get moving and the usual diesel lag is evident (though not as much as other cars but compared to the petrol). You will need to change into first for the both the version to take a nice slow U turn. Punch the pedal and things slowly warm up and as soon as it crosses 2000 RPM, it’s full on Disco time. The car shoots off like a rocket only to die out of steam soon after, there was no redline on the Tacho so I refrained from pushing it like the petrol, but at 4000 things got really noisy. It still lacked the “I want more” of the Fusion 1.6 (unfair comparison, I know)

Verdict

I would take the diesel since it can dance so well after hitting the 2000 RPM mark. Though its not as fast as the 1.6 but nearly there and the lesser weight surely does help. Overall, way ahead of its competition, the car has just the right amount of power, handling and gizmo for the Indian Road.

The Ford Fusion merges well with India.

This was prevalent a few years back in and around Bangalore but not so much now. The strategy involved in more than one biker crowding around a car boxing it in and forcing it to stop. In most cases the bikers started up with a petty fight on how badly the driver was driving and how they were almost hit by the car. In truth, it’s just a delay tactic to buy time and get their associated to gather.

Once the whole team is assembled they move into action by taking money, credit and debit cards and the car itself with all belongings like laptops and bags in it.

How to avoid?

1. Well there is no set practice to avoid such a thing but it is best to avoid getting boxed in by bikers or cars on empty roads. How you do it is completely up to you.

Strategy 2

In a dark alley you may find a person lying on the road with a cycle and another asking for help claiming that they were hit. In most cases the person lying down will be moaning and shouting as if injured. If you do happen to stop, there is a chance that you would be sprung on by their accomplices and robbed of your car and another valuables.

How to avoid?

1. Do not stop, just slow down enough to judge the situation up close and then move forward. Set enough distance between yourself and the scene and then look back to confirm.

What if they are genuine?

It is possible that you land up neglecting a genuine victim in the process of saving your own skin. If you wait at a distance and look back, and the streets are empty, the fake fellows will regroup and re-strategize after you have passed them. If they are still down, then they are probably genuine.

No need to take a chance, you can be a good samaritan when you see someone in broad daylight. This time, just drive on and report to the nearest traffic constable.

If you are reversing out of a parking lot and suddenly see a paper stuck to your rear windscreen, chances are there are car jackers lurking around. You will probably notice the paper after starting the car and then looking in the mirror. In a hurry you would get out of the car to remove that paper as it’s obstructing your view. This would be the moment they car jackers would pounce and take your car away.

In all probability you would have left your wallet, purse, cellphone etc. in the car and by now they will all be with the car jackers leaving you completely stranded.

How to avoid?

1. If possible, park reversed so that you do not need to reverse out when leaving the lot. It will cost a lot of time but will help in the longer run.
2. If at all you have to reverse and there is a paper at the back obstructing your view, lock the doors and do not get out. Reverse and drive away and stop somewhere else to get rid of the paper.

Strategy 2:

People may throw eggs on your windshield when you are driving by. In a hurry you many want to use the wiper water spray to get rid of it. But, the warm water and egg white will invariably create a paste that would completely obstruct your vision and force you to stop and clean the mess. This is the time the car jackers can attack and take control of your vehicle.

How to avoid?

1. Do not use the wiper spray until you are certain that you are in a safe area to get down and clean the mess.

(Via Security in Wipro)

The problem would look like this

1. The person filling asks you about the capacity of the tank. If you intend to fill full tank (about 37-38 litres when the orange warning comes on) do not disclose how much might go in.
2. There are too many people around to distract you. People asking Cash or Card, Windscreen Cleaning, Whats’s the Mileage, etc are all distracting tactics. They will fill your tank for more than what it can take!!
3. The person filling constantly keeps tinkering with the nozzle lever. The constant release – re-release of that lever disrupts the flow of fuel. Since the pump does not react that fast, it keeps on counting.
4. You ask for fuel worth Rs 1000/-, they fill for 200/- and claim miscommunication. What they actually do is, they pretend to fill the balance without reseting the counter. Result, you get Rs 800/- worth fuel while paying Rs 1000/-.

Chances are that the vehicle is giving good mileage but you are filling less gas. Fact.

How to counter this? Simple…

Just follow the simple tactics. Or develop your own counter tactics.

1. Dont get distracted.
2. Chance on them, ask for Rs 1500/- worth of fuel or full tank and ask to stop at 1000/-, decide and change your mind suddenly. (a friend suggested recently)
3. Check the counter at all times.
4. Ask the guy filling (politely) to not touch the nozzle while filling. Clearly tell him. “Don’t touch till it reaches 36 litres” (if filling full tank).

Given all the above, many pumps do have their counters rigged, in that case, look for sudden drop in mileage as a tell tale sign of less fuel in the tank.

A simple illustration showing the effects of ABS and ESP

ABS or Antilock Braking System allows you to stop the car without having to lock the wheels. Which means, you retain steering control while the car is under hard breaking. Needless to say, it will increase breaking distance under normal circumstances but an important safety feature to have.

Traction Control has a different purpose, the idea is to stop the drive wheels from loosing traction on slippery surfaces thus giving you better control over the car. It works by distributing adequate amounts of power to each wheel to retain traction at most times.

ESP or ELectronic Stability Program is something that actually saves your life in case of emergencies. Working with ABS and Traction Control, ESP allows fractional braking on each wheel to reduce the chances of spin and slide. It works by detecting a loss of control of the car, which is then compensated by applying brakes to individual wheels to steer out and regain control. Similarly, it also compensates by increasing power to a wheel if needed.

The link is to a video which illustrates the importance of each, and in fact shows how it’s no use to have ABS and Traction Control without ESP.

Enjoy this. And, it’s on Ice.

The Ford Fusion merges well with India.

In 2005 ford India started marketing the same here, in an almost un-changed avatar to what was available in Europe. The car suffered from terrible marketing from Ford’s side in India hitting way off the mark for the Target Audience. They tried their “Hum to anything karega” and “The No-Nonsense Car” campaigns, with the later gaining some ground.

The Car is at its best on the Highways

The price and positioning of the car put it directly in the league of mid-weight sedans like the City and Ford’s own Fiesta and the lack of perceived value buried the vehicle and only a select few landed up buying it.

Looks good next to the sea as well

The Pros

1. The car is not small, in fact the inside dimensions are huge with ample leg and head-space for everyone. The car looks like a hatch but it’s more like a Mini-Estate. Once you open the rear hatch, you realize how much space this fellow packs in. With rear seats completely folding in to create a flat bed, storage options are endless.
2. The car comes with all the goodies that are expected in a car. It comes with reading lamp for all 4 passengers, things that are unheard of in the Japanese and Korean makes. Seat heigh adjustment for the driver. Coin holders at the right places, fog lamps for front and rear built in even on base version.
3. Comes with a stereo with 4 large speakers in its ‘+’ version. The dash has the provision to put in a dual-din as well. If you want to amp it up, there is plenty of space under the front seats to put amplifiers of your choice.
4. The ‘+’ version also came with 15″ Alloy Wheels, Tubeless Radials, and ABS + EBD if you opted for it. Sadly though, the airbags never made it to India.
5. Even the petrol version is economical. The car gives anywhere from 10 – 12 Km/L in the city and 16 – 18 Km/L on the highway. For a motor that produces 100+ PS power, and a car that can hit the 100 mark in just over 11 seconds, it’s quite an achievement. Not to mention, it has enough space to carry a cow as well.
6. Handling is the other best part of this car. It handles just like a hatch should, has an incredibly small turning radius for its size, does not roll much for it’s height. And when thrown into corners, it does not threaten to roll over either. In fact, it is possible to do some drifting with this one (see video), although not really recommended for the weak hearted. The 198 mm (3mm more than a Safari) ground clearance ensures that you don’t rub your belly anywhere.
7. At higher speeds, the car is still at peace. The 100 Kmph comes up quickly, so does the 150 kmph mark. Ford claims a top knock of 158 Kmph in the manual, but it has been proven otherwise on many occasions. The car comfortably sails past the 165 mark even with a full load. Now these are not numbers from proper equipments, and external factors are at play on such claims. Nevertheless, the car has enough muscle to master the highway and that too with style and stability.

And here are some bad bits that may need some patience to live with, specially if you are looking for a car that’s Not This.

The Cons

1. Not many people buy this car, and as a result, not many mechanics know what’s inside. This directly results in shoddy service even at Ford’s own centers. There are very little or no accessories available for this car as well. Not that you would need any, most things come pre-fitted in the ‘+’ version.
2. The engine is loud. If you like a snarly noise from your car, something like a sports exhaust would make, you will be happy. Or else, you will be wondering if anything has gone wrong with it. The rev happy Duratec Engine happily snarls away when given the leash.
3. The ride quality at low speeds are appalling. This is the direct result of having harder suspension to compensate body roll in the car. Once you cross the 40 Kmph mark, things suddenly become a lot – lot smoother. The low profile 195/60 R15 tires are also to blame partly for this.
4. The looks are not to the liking of many. It’s not a sedan, or a regular family car, and it really does not make effort in that direction. The looks are butch is a more “run things down” manner.
5. The plastic and general quality of interiors were not that good in the first version. It has improved with the second version, but still far behind competition. Things generally tend to fall apart after a few years in a typical Ford Truck kind of fashion.

With the vehicle, what you get is the confidence to carry 5+ people from point A to B with luggage in probably the most un-cramped manner. The car also has enough steam to beat the rest from the start line, when you are not carrying humongous loads. Drive it sedate, and you will get highway mileage that can put an Alto to shame (in Petrol). The Diesel is ultra economical and we are not even talking about that. And you can carry your pet Cow to the Vet as well without breaking a sweat.

In Total, if you plan to have just one car to run around in the city and take the village roads to that camp ever so often, this is India’s official Compact Bad-Roader.

The Fusion TVC from Europe

Doing the Drift

The Fusion Crash Test (Note: This is with Airbags)

Relevant Links

• Ford Fusion UK Website
• Ford Fusion India Website
• Ford Fusion on Yahoo Groups

The city traffic actually sees more braking and acceleration in a car than highways. Its when the car accelerates or decelerates, the G- Forces put pressure on the infants neck which is vulnerable under the age of 1 year. A rear facing child seat helps negating any effects of sudden braking on the child’s neck.

A rear facing child seat fitted on a car seat adapter.

If the child were to face front and sit, while braking, the child’s head will be thrown forward putting enormous pressure on their neck and can injure them fatally. In a rear facing seat, every time the car stops, the child is pressed against the seat instead of going forward, this way the chances of injuring their neck is minimized.

Note: A child’s head weighs a lot more in comparison to their body than an adult’s head.

Choosing a child seat for your car.

Some manufacturers sell their own brand of car seats to fit into their vehicle. There are other third party manufacturers that specialize in manufacturing of these seats and often supply to car companies as well.

The seat you choose should have the following.

1. It should be rear facing for any child below the age of 18 months.
2. The seat should be adaptable to multiple cars, get one with a car seat adapter, this way either the adapter or the seat itself will fit in your car.
3. The seat should have at least 3 point seat belts. Babies are ingenious and observant, they can get out of almost any tied up situation.
4. Get side restraints to stop the head from moving side to side when the baby is sleeping and the car is turning.
5. Un-buckling the child from the seat should not take more than a few seconds. Imagine yourself in emergencies, where every second may count.
6. Get a seat that is washable in a washing machine, these tend to get very very dirty. The child will throw up, defecate, eat, drink, spill, do everything in this seat.
7. Get danglers to hang from the seat, this keeps the child’s attention focused away from the seat belts.
8. In warmer climate, a towel or cloth is needed over the seat to minimize sweating.

Where you can buy these? In Bangalore?

If you want to buy one off-the-shelf in Bangalore, you can head to Shopper Stop on Banerghata Road, or Lifestyle in Oasis, Inner Ring Road, Koramangala. You can also get them at Mothercare, 12th Main, Indiranagar.

If you are ok with buying them online, then there are more options available.

How long a child can sit in a child seat?

A child can travel sitting in a child seat at a stretch for 3 hours. It is always better to give them breaks every 100 km or so. The seats can get very binding and hot for a moving child.

A front and rear facing child seat which can be used even after 18 months.

Booster Seats

When the child is above the age of 18 months, he or she can then use a booster seat to sit on. By this age, the kid’s neck is strong enough and can tolerate more forces on them. A booster seat faces the right direction and lets the kid watch out of window while traveling. The main purpose of the booster seat is to assure that the kid is snugly held by the seat belts. Using a booster seat to just increase the kid’s ride height is not a good idea.

Booster seats are available in many form and sizes and can be used by a kid for the next 4 years.

A booster seat for older children.

Do not place a child of under 18 months on a booster seat unless directed so by it’s user manual. Most children under the age of 18 months should be placed in rear facing child seats.

Child seats and airbags

Most modern cars have airbags for both the front seats. Child seats are to placed only on rear seats unless the child needs attention or the parent is traveling alone. In such cases, switch off the passenger side airbags for the safety of the child. In a rear facing seat, an airbag will do more harm than good in the the event of an accident.

If your car does not have a airbag override control, place the child seat only on the rear seats.

Addresses in Bangalore

Shoppers Stop

Commerce@Mantri, N.S.Palya, Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore, KA. 560076. Phone:080 – 5121 5681-4. Store timings:Weekdays: 11:00 – 8:30 Weekends: 11:00 – 9:00

Lifestyle

Adarsh Opus, W – 76,  Door No. 1, Campbell Road, Austin Town, Bangalore – 560 047. Tel: 080 – 2556 4555

Lifestyle Koramangala

Oasis Centre. #30, Salarpuria Tech Point, Inner Ring Road, Koramangala. Bangalore – 560 095. Tel: 080 – 4027 6400

Mother Care

Icon-Mall, 12th Main, 5th Cross, Indira Nagar, Bangalore. Tel: 080 - 25213009

Some illustrations that may help you decide on a car seat.

Source - http://stokes.chop.edu/programs/injury/

Source - http://stokes.chop.edu/programs/injury/

Source - http://stokes.chop.edu/programs/injury/

Visit here for more information and detail.

Not that anyone is complaining, if it gets here in its complete 4×4 form, it will probably be the only 4×4 in India to actually fit in the city and be in the wild. Let’s see if Skoda moves faster this time than what they did for Fabia, which was a horribly long wait.

Not too bad a looker one may say.

Some articles related to this are here. This one is from Merinews.

• Other links.
• Autoindia.com.
• Indiatimes.com
• Techwhack

The Skoda Auto page that describes the Yeti. Not much technical information is available though. But the page has lots of great pictures and desktop items.

Likely Plusses and Minuses to be expected!

• Good engine.
• Great cabin and interiors.
• Good pedigree from WRC
• Sales & service, not so good in India

They may change. Hoping for the best.

Decided to put this up as there is simply no documentation available on the web of this apart from some signage jokes and some crude scanned versions that have blurry texts. This is Version 1.0, there are more signs that are not included in this post.

The entry restriction signs.

No Entry. Or entry restricted for oncoming traffic only.

One way. Entry restricted for oncoming traffic.

One way. Entry permitted for oncoming traffic only. In other words, no-entry.

These are the top three suspects. The first one says no entry for whatsoever reason, the second and third permit vehicle movement in only one direction at a time. There are advanced versions of these that

The turn restrictions.

No U-Turn allowed.

No Right Turn

No Left Turn

U Turn is allowed. This is normally accompanies by a No Right Turn sign.

These are essentially turn signals. No left turn, no right turn, no U-Turn, and U-Turn allowed normally accompanied by some other restriction like no right turn.

Stop restrictions

No Parking

No Standing. No Stopping.

Then there is No Parking and No stopping- No standing. Parking is when you stop the car, lock it and go away, where as Stopping can be for any reason, like picking up someone, getting down and checking the tyre pressure etc etc.

Speed restrictions, as shown below or variations of the same.

Speed Limit. (In KM per Hour). This one says 80 kmph.

The dimension restrictions.

Vehicle width restrictions. This one specifies 2 meters.

Vehicle Height Restrictions. This one says 3.5 meters

The load restriction signs.

Weight Restriction 5 Tons

Axle weight restriction. 4 Tons. Normally found on old bridges.

The ones above are various types of restrictions. Essentially these are a number printed within a red circle, specifying the restriction amount. The speed limit is denoted always in Km/h (Kilometers per hour) and not mph (miles per hour) in India. The width restriction comes into play on starting of roads that may have a narrow bridge as a bottleneck somewhere. Same goes for the height restriction as well. When traveling on national and state highways, it is best to watch out for these and take evasive action, it may not be possible or feasible to take a U-Turn later.

The weight restriction applies to the whole vehicle weight, whereas the Axle Load restriction applies to load distribution per axle. Really doubt how many of us actually know whats the Axle load while driving a heavy vehicle though, but these are mostly intended for Truckers.

Stop

This one is a universal one. It simply means Stop, for whatever reason maybe. These are mostly found at unmanned or manned railway crossings and intersections.

Give Way

Give way. This is not a very common sight on flat roads, but it essentially means to give passage to oncoming heavy traffic. (Other’s who know more about this may comment on this)

No Overtaking

This is very simple, no overtaking. For whatever reason maybe, do not attempt to pass the vehicle in front of you. Rarely followed though.

No traffic allowed. Also, No Entry from both directions

A very dubious sign which specifies that traffic is not allowed in either direction. Wonder what the purpose of that can be!! A simple no-entry sometimes is more that sufficient than complicating matters. Unless, one is the smart one that thinks of reversing into a no-entry may be legal. Well it’s not.

End of Restrictions (as specified in the earlier sign)

This is the Happy sign. It means, end of all restrictions that were applied in earlier signs. A very very rare sign. But when you do see one, feel free to step on the gas.

White petrol fumes and black diesel fumes are common sights in our cities. Diesel being more prevalent.

Many will simply say, Diesel obviously, since it emits much lesser CO2 and goes more kilometers to the liter of fuel. Other’s will say Petrol, it does not give out that black smoke which to many is perceived as direct pollution.

Here are some bare facts.

First about petrol. The white or no fume from a petrol vehicle contains twice as much CO2 in it than the black one that comes out of a Diesel vehicle. In return, you get a vehicle which is low on Torque (needed to move from inertia) and high on Horse Power (needed to move faster). Different gearing helps a petrol vehicle overcome the Torque shortcomings. Apart from this the petrol motor is less noisy, has very little moving components requiring lesser maintenance, lighter, and technologically old and settled.

• Cons

1. More CO2 emissions, hence bigger hole in the ozone.
2. Lesser torque.
3. Mostly older technology, as very little is wrong with it and it can’t get any better.
4. Higher taxes in India and Europe over Diesel.

• Pros

1. More horse power, so you have a much faster mark to the mile.
2. Less noisy, it can be very very silent.
3. Has very little moving components inside, requiring very minimal service, hence more reliable.
4. Less components translate to lighter engines, and lesser weight overall for the car.

Now the Diesel, the motor our green brigade loves so much to entertain as the fuel of the future, after biogas, ethanol, biodiesel, hydrogen etc. Petrol comes a dirty last before paraffin maybe on their lists. A Diesel motor is built for the pulling power, the technology is compression based and not ‘fire in the hole’ what’s prevalent in Petrol. The Diesel motor has more Torque and hence its easier to pull larger loads with it, it has less horsepower so you really won’t be beating anyone to the finish line. It has much lesser CO2 emissions and much more particulate matter in its emission (which no one really bothers about as yet), the technology is developing and almost every other day you get a new version out. Diesels are much noisier than their Petrol counterparts and the Fuel enjoys tax benefits in most countries including India.

• Cons

1. Lesser horse power, means lesser speeds as compared to petrol of similar capacity.
2. Very noisy, again when compared to Petrol.
3. The engine has a lot of moving parts and that generally translates into noise and maintenance in the long run (newer ones are getting better by the day).
4. Still developing technology, what you buy today is outdated in the next one year.

• Pros

1. Humongous amounts of Torque, to pull elephantine  loads.
2. Usually cheap as it gives 30% more kilometers to a liter.
3. Fuel is cheaper and enjoys tax benefits, as most load carrying vehicles run on Diesel.
4. Less CO2 emissions.

Now some hidden facts.

1. Diesel needs 25% more oil to manufacture than Petrol. So, even though the end user runs lesser to the gas station, he is getting almost same mileage to a liter of Oil as Petrol.
2. Diesels produce more particulate matter in their exhaust. Only high end expensive vehicles have particulate filters that contain most of these inside, the average road going sedan and hatch do not. These particulate matter are what we see as Smog and Dust in highly populated cities.

Quoting a more detailed website here (I am no scientist or researcher anyway):

There are three size categories of soot particles: Source: http://www.grinningplanet.com/ and http://www.ucsusa.org/

• Large soot particles (>10 microns) deposit from the air into your nose, throat, and lungs, causing coughing and irritating your throat, and are ejected from your body through sneezing, coughing, and nose blowing.
• Coarse soot particles (~10 microns) are inhaled into your windpipe and settle there, causing more irritation and more coughing.
• Fine and ultra-fine soot particles (less than 2.5 microns) are the most successful at invading your body—they’re small enough to travel deep into your lungs. Once there, these soot particles can irritate and mutate the most sensitive tissues in your lungs, your alveoli. These air sacs exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide from the air you breathe with blood in your capillaries, thus allowing your circulatory system to carry oxygen to the rest of your body. Soot particles, however, make this task more difficult because they cause inflammation and scarring of the alveoli. This also strains your heart because it must work harder to compensate for oxygen loss.

There is more.

Soot also finds other ways to harm your body, including:

• Chronic Bronchitis,
• Asthma,
• Reduced ability of respiratory system to fight infections and remove foreign particles, and
• Cancer.

Petrol engines give out particulate matter too, except that the amounts are negligible as compared to Diesels.

Originally designed to pull loads and get more miles to a full tank, Diesels are best suited for trucks, buses, long haul trains, and the highway cruiser and SUVs. In a city, it’s not as much of a Saint as it’s made out to be. In the end, you just pay higher to deplete the same amount of Natural Oil, create more particulate pollution and enjoy lesser fuel prices.

Particulate matter are not permanent pollutants like CO2, they do settle down, they just need time. But when you use a diesel in the city, you simply do not give it enough time to be ecologically viable.

Moral of the story, use it where it makes more sense, for the long haul.

Polluted Cities

Trucks on a highway, diesel delights.

Most cities now look like this.

On any given day in Bangalore, or for that matter, any city, you will see a lot of drivers using their high beams to drive in traffic. Legally, this is not allowed by traffic regulations. But if one sees closely, many use it more out of compulsion or need rather than intension.

A factory fitted High Beam Throw

Using High Beams to avoid eminent danger

Here’s a list of situations where it is legal to use the high beams or brights.

1. When there is little or no illumination on the road. Like an empty stretch of highway with no illumination and higher speed limits. Use of High Beams are necessary here to ensure safe driving. Lower your beams to let oncoming traffic pass without blinding them.
2. To alert oncoming traffic to lower their beams, only once or twice. This is a nuisance that we face almost on a regular basis. Most under maintained vehicles like Cabs, Buses have inadequate Low Beams compelling their driver to use the High Beams to view the road ahead. You can blink at them with your high beams to ask them to lower theirs.
3. Signaling a slow moving vehicle in front of you to give you way so that you can overtake. This can be done only once or twice and not repeatedly. If the vehicle still does not move, you can conclude that the driver of the vehicle is not alert and can use the Horn to alert them. Large and heavy vehicles, with well sealed cabins can only be alerted by the use of high beams to blink once or twice.
4. When traveling on a high speed limit highway with clearly divided lanes for oncoming traffic. Higher speeds translates to crossing longer distances in lesser time. You need longer reaching lamps to see the road ahead and ensure safety.

Newer technology has brighter lamps that does not blind the oncoming traffic.

Many modern cars are fitted with HID (High Intensity Discharge) lamps and lenses to ensure that the driver gets to see the road without blinding the oncoming traffic. However, use of HID lamps without lenses results in lesser illumination than their Halogen counterparts and just provides white light with very bad throw. Car headlamps are designed to be used with a specific type of bulb, and changing that to a higher wattage, brighter bulb does not always result in better illumination. Such modifications should be avoided or carried out under expert supervision.

A set of projector headlamps

HID high + lo beam in action

In India, the wattage allowed for headlamps are a standard 55 W (known as a 55/60 in open market).

Anything higher that this is subject to scrutiny by traffic police. Though many people upgrade their headlamps to 90/100 or 130/100, these are not legal to be used on paved roads. These lamps are specifically created for extreme condition use only, like forests, muddy terrains, etc. (although many of our Highways qualify in these categories). Use of higher wattage lamps blind the oncoming traffic, and increases chances of traffic accidents.

More details are here if one is interested.

The Ferrari F1 machine

Contrary to popular belief, F1 cars are actually very Fuel Efficient for the amount of speed and performance they have. At one point of time, a few years back, Honda actually Won races back to back just because they had to carry lesser fuel in their energy efficient cars to complete the races. Less fuel translates to lesser weight, and lesser weight translates to better efficiency and speed. We can all see how that learning has translated into much efficient street cars from Honda.

The Honda F1 car, one of the most fuel efficient in the game

Rear of a Renault F1 car

Top view of a Renault F1 car

Some F1 numbers.

Race fuel consumption rate is normally around 75 liters per 100 kilometers traveled (3.1 US mpg – 3.8 UK mpg – 1.3 km/l). Nonetheless a Formula One engine is over 20% more efficient at turning fuel into power than most small commuter cars, considering their craftsmanship.

Source: Wikipedia

Many argue about the Carbon Footprint of each race, but they fail to imagine the reduction in Carbon Footprint of all vehicles benefitting from these races. Yes F1 is a testing ground for engineers (the best of them) from around the world.

It’s not quite the same type of hybrid drive-train you’d see in street vehicles, but in an exciting announcement, Max Mosely of F1 has announced that all cars will become hybrid by 2013, along with other changes to the vehicles.

Source: gas2.org

It’s not all that bad, but having them not to consume any fuel will be a real challenge.

No we are not here to argue weather the Nano is a good, bad or ugly idea. We are going to think slightly larger, as to why we are so deprived of Hybrids in India where the world seems to be heading everywhere with them.

Case in Point, the Honda Civic Hybrid. The car is a gem, the Hybrid is a darling, yes it does not have the power and torque to match its complete gas burning twin, but sure does a lot for the environment. And because of that, one would think that the authorities should actually stand up and promote such an effort, but we don’t really see that happening. The car costs a whopping 75% + over it’s gas burning counterpart.

The Honda Civic Hybrid, Green.. but at a price.

Why this double standard? Why ask people to get PUC certificates, Bharath III and Euro III and at the same time sell something that is 10 years ahead in terms of emission standards at astronomical prices?

I don’t have the answer for that. Probably our babus sitting in the Parliament do, or probably they are too busy to just sit around and fight elections on grounds of “Communal Harmony” to even sit up and notice. Or probably they are governed by larger money burning oil and gas giants who think it’s completely against their gains. You and I are smart, and we all know which option is True. Electric and Hybrid vehicles came about a long while back on this earth, but they never took off largely because the economy was run by giants pumping out tons and tons of oil and natural gas everyday. Our government depends on it, governments all over the world depend on this as well. Wars are fought over this, dictators are overthrown, cold wars are dissolved to give rise to new ones, etc etc.

The Electric and Hybrid Automobile scenario in India

The Reva. A lovely cute car which is a good effort. It's in need of dire transformation to actually survive as an Automobile.

We just have an excuse of an electric car in the form of Reva. The idea to replace personal transport over short distance with an electric vehicle is good, but severely lacks in Styling, Power, Personality and everything else a Car stands for. We have been harping around over it for almost 10 years now. People abroad have loved it, hated it, destroyed it pitted against an office table on TV shows, placed it as props in Hollywood movies and many things but drive it.

A Car is a mode of transport to carry more than one person, in an environment of his choice from Point A to Point B, regardless of the distance between these points.

The Reva, the only available electric car in India, does not fulfill that equation completely. It runs out of steam in about 60 Kms. And then you have to wait an agonizing 4 hours before it can get you back. You may say that its meant for zipping in the city, that’s true, but with ever-expanding limits of our large cities, taking a Reva from south Bangalore to the Airport can be impossible. Needless to say, the vehicle does not have a potent AC, any safety, no luggage space and barely enough space for 2 grown ups. The lesser we dwell in this area, the better it is, after all, it’s a good effort and it’s just that. A start.

That’s also the problem, it’s a start that we got stuck with. It’s same Ambassador which was a start that we got stuck with for generations. And for a long time we were stuck with Mahindra’s version of the Jeep as well, while the world went on galavanting in gas guzzling technological marvels.

The situation has not improved even today. We do have the latest (and not so latest) vehicles being ported to India, but we still shy away from the cutting edge. Somehow it is too sharp for our own good.

A Tesla Roadster does the same in style, but then it costs prohibitive. Not for the technology, but for it’s design, presence and performance all put together. The problem is, it’s no style factor and it does not enjoy any rebate in taxes being an electric, hence no one gets it here. But this does mean that the technology exists out there no push a car to the stratosphere just on electric power, and surprisingly, no one is willing to tap that in this country.

A non gas guzzling electric wonder which can put many petrol and even nitrous counterparts to shame.

Probably the Tesla Roadster is a bad example, after all, over the Reva, it scores only in the area of a larger range and a better personalized environment. Does not make much of a case.

So we focus out efforts on the “we love you so much” SUV sector. The vehicle in question is the Ford Escape, a version or variant of which is available to us in its diesel avatar. Not many of us know this, but Ford Escape was the world’s first Hybrid SUV back in 2005 (source) and till date they have sold more than 100,000 of these worldwide making a sizable dent in that CO² chart. Yep, and we have been encouraging the sale of Sumos, Taveras and Innovas to our IT companies to card their people around in hysterical quantities where a perfectly eco-friendly solution waits to be invited in the sidelines.

The Ford Escape Hybrid, although a Hybrid and it still relies on fossil fuel, it's a correct step at attaining a balance between the feasible and the dream.

Its time our so called “Green Brigades” woke up and promoted the right approach to alternative fuel. Probably Pro-Active Change is the approach to be taken instead of Active Protest.

Note: All interested in the debate of why Electric Cars never became popular, you can watch the Film Who Killed the Electric Car.

The rest of us, lets get together and get “The Technology” here.

So.. here we are following a white corolla on the Airport Road and nearing Manipal Hospital Junction. Now, we all know that it’s a notorious place even with the Airport now shifted out, and in those days.. it was pure chaos. One would actually calculate the approximate time and add 20 minutes for the junction while heading to the airport.

Banerughatta Road, on a rainy night.

So.. where were we.. ah yes, following the white corolla, in the center lane and more towards the left. There are 2 rows of vehicle on our right waiting for.. well to turn right or to take a U-Turn, or whatever. The left side traffic is free to go straight or turn left.  Here’s when this corolla chap does the unthinkable, he spots a gap between two cars on the right and tries to get in.

The corolla being huge, heavy and largely un-maneuverable stops with its bum sticking out. This effectively blocks the 3rd lane with vehicles piling up behind us by the second. I wait, the patient me thinks that the corolla has other plans, probably he will reverse a little and give it another try as I can see that it’s possible for him to move out by at least 2 more feet. He does not.

I honk.

People behind us Honk. And the whole line of vehicles honk.

The corolla meanwhile has all it’s windows up. Has the stereo on loud so that we are largely benefitted from it. And the driver is oblivious to the whole Tamasha he has created behind him. We go for the next option, lets get out and ask him to move. But the vehicles are so close together it’s not possible to open the doors. We roll down the windows and scream, no use.

With about 10 minutes left for boarding to start, I do the only thing left to do. I move our car and ever so slowly bump the toyota.

“Dhunk”

This gets his attention, he rolls his window and stereo down to give us an earful. The moment his head came out, an onslaught of abuses were hurled towards him from almost 15 cars behind him. It was needed, suddenly the abuses made the toyota much lighter, more maneuverable and he neatly tucked himself into the center lane. We passed giving him the stares, in my ORVM I could see that others were not so polite, they spoke a lot with their hands outside the window.

We reached the airport with about a minute to spare.

Just another day in the traffic. And kindly maintain lane discipline, it makes life a lot easier.

A fender bender

Road incidents result in the deaths of an estimated 1.2 million people worldwide each year, and injure about forty times this number

A 1985 study by K. Rumar, using British and American crash reports as data, found that 57% of crashes were due solely to driver factors, 27% to combined roadway and driver factors, 6% to combined vehicle and driver factors, 3% solely to roadway factors, 3% to combined roadway, driver, and vehicle factors, 2% solely to vehicle factors and 1% to combined roadway and vehicle factors.

Drive safe.

Don’t.

I know this sounds funny, but for the person who is new to Indian Highways, this is one suggestion he should follow. This would help is conserving fuel and energy for the trip.

Put down your foot on the gas only when you know that you don’t have to take it off.

This is a normal (also nominal) distribution of traffic on Indian Highways. Cars on the right. Trucks on the left. Two wheelers that are not too fast on the extreme left shoulder. But it's equally possible to have someone come right at you on the wrong side of the road in a Tractor.

What about trucks and buses?

Overtake them, in all likelihood, they will be on the outer lane and the inner lane will be free for you. If its not free, just signal with your high beams and you will be given way. It’s the other variety, the private cars and cabs that you do not overtake.

Why?

Simple. A cab runs these routes more often than you or I would. As a result, they will be more accustomed to the twists and turns and hidden speed-breakers and bad patches. Get tucked in behind such a vehicle doing speeds that you probably would like to maintain. Follow this fellow from a safe distance and you will suddenly see that you are more relaxed, and you are doing better time. The brunt of road traffic get sliced through this ‘Pilot Car’ which you are following, including people and animal traffic. If you are traveling at night, only follow the vehicle if it has all its tail lamps and braking lights in place.

Airbags are set to deploy based on sudden vibrations caused within a car as compared to their weight. The smaller the car, the larger the vibration, and the more likely its is that the Airbag will go off to loud music, well very Loud Music.

This is a nightmare for for people with longer cars which have very little Ground Clearance. What is exactly “Ground Clearance”?

No, its not the available ground in front of your car to cruise on. It’s much more complicated, and I must say important than that.An average road car has the wheels, which touch the ground, and then the rest of the stuff that do not touch the ground. Its the minimum difference between this ‘rest of the stuff’ and the ground is what is called “Ground Clearance”.

As illustrated in the diagram.

The actual ground clearance that is available to a vehicle.

The perceived ground clearance. Although it's not the actual GC, it is the part that is important in crossing over a Bump. The higher the height, the better are your chances

The first figure shows the actual distance between the things hanging from under the car and the road that it is on. The lowest point of any car is always between the wheels. This is the part where a numerous protruding components jut out (called suspension arms) to give you a comfortable ride.

The second figure is an illustration of the perceived idea of ground clearance that we get when we see a car. This is not very important while going over large objects but it is very important while going over speed breakers. If the height available to your car is less than the height of the speed breaker, chances are you will scrape the bottom of your car, and that’s not good.

So what do you do?

Simple. You avoid this by minimizing the chances of this happening.

Approaching the speed bump head on increases the distance that your car's suspended body travels over the bump

The angular approach to a speed bump reduces the distance that your car's body actually travels over the bump.

The two figures above do the explaining themselves. In the first, you approach the speed breaker head on and hence increase the distance your car travels suspended over the Bump increasing the chances of a scrape happening.

In the second figure, given traffic situation, you can approach the bump at an angle so that the distance your car travels suspended over the Bump is reduced to a bare minimum. In fact, if you have a shorter car, you can manage to have one wheel on the bump at all times negating any chances of a scrape.

Speed breakers on Indian highways are mostly unmarked and appear suddenly. Caution is needed while driving at night and even in daytime. It is tough to spot a moderately high speed breaker if the road is partially shaded with trees. These speed breakers (or Humps as the locals would call it) are made for truck traffic and sometimes can be as high as 30 cm.

Going over them at high speeds can be catastrophic.

The results are as expected. Most people walk on the road, probably thats why.. even when there is a perfectly Ok footpath available, people prefer to walk on the road. Needless to say, there is always this nagging danger of falling into a ‘Hole’, open drain, garbage dump etc.

Having a proper footpath can actually help decongest this city.

For example: Banerugutta Road

From the beginning of the road near Ayappa Garden till about Dairy Circle, there is no consistent footpath on either side of the road. Coupled with the fact that the road varies in width (which we will get to later), it becomes a tricky situation for anyone to actually walk anywhere.

From Dairy Circle till Jayadeva Hospital, the road is fairly consistent with some sort of walking space available on each side. But, these are mostly utilized for parking, having shop decors, hoardings, electrical installs etc. The road still varies in width which is annoying. At some places the road extends beyond trees that are right on the road (a phenomenon also noticed on Koramangala Ring Road).

From Jayadeva Hopital till IIMB the road sees many avatars. The part next to shopper stop is very well finished with proper footpaths on both sides and even a service road on one side. The road again becomes narrow right after this till the beginning of IIM campus, it gets extra wide from here on till HSBC and then gets extra narrow till you pass Arekere gate. The road is fairly consistent here after.

Why the ‘Mayhem’

A s a result of this size, width, footpath, no-path mayhem, the road sees a regular chaos.

Traffic is like fluid flow. Most developed and developing nations have understood this long back. It works in the same manner as liquids or gas (not the bad food one). Its that one bottleneck that controls the flow and not the rest of the road, that’s basically a Tap. You open the Tap fully and you will still get as much water as the Pipe carrying it would allow.

Similarly, having wider roads in sections of 500 meters to 1 Km do not serve any purpose. Vehicles just speed up only to get stuck where the narrow section begins. It is actually preferable to have a consistent width road for better and more efficient way of transit.

Following this simple logic one can pinpoint where all the traffic will accumulate.

Ideal road Cross Section for wider sections of the road. Maintain footpath and use available 3rd lane for parking. This would encourage people to park at a distance instead of right at the doorstep.

Suggestion.

• Have footpaths so that people can park / get down from a bus at a distance and enjoy the walk.
• Have a more or less consistent road width, it helps maintain a consistent traffic flow. A two plus two lane is ideal.
• Use extra width wherever available for specified parking and busbays.
• Provide the option for parking, before putting a No-Parking sign.
• Provide legitimate and safe options for people to cross roads.

May help.

1. A Compass. This is absolute necessity on highways as detours are almost always un-expected and are always through narrow winding village roads. A compass will help you in these situations to maintain bearings. A GPS may or maynot help, as most of these by-lanes on the highway are uncharted, and mostly un-paved.
2. A Windscreen Wash and Shine. These are available at almost any local auto dealer. And they are helpful. A lot of mud will be thrown on your windscreen from Trucks in front of you and Passing Vehicles. If you have a washer fitted in your car, chances are that will run dry in 200 Kms. Carry extra and refill, specially if you are driving through Dusk or Dawn.
3. One small set of folding table and chairs. Not an absolute must, but if you do want to experience the occasional Alu Puri from a nearby dhaba. This is the best option to have along. Just unfold and you have your own private eatery right next to the highway.
4. Tubeless tires and a puncture repair kit. This is just a matter of choice and peace of mind. Tubeless tires are more resistant to the occasional rogue nail and thorn than the regular Tube Tires. A puncture repair kit allows you to fix that nail easily without running to a repair shop.
5. Water. Carry lots of water when you travel. Either filtered or mineral. Ideal way to carry is in a Plastic Jerrican. A 20 Liter or 2 x 10 Liter is enough for a 1000 Km trip. Water available locally may or may not suit everyone’s city stomachs easily.
6. Get a Local Newspaper. If you are venturing out from one state to the other, get a Local Newspaper of that area as soon as you enter. It gives a good idea of any Political disturbance or Bandh that may foil your plans for the day.
7. Cash and Change for Toll. Any major highway in India is Toll Operated. You will pass at least one Toll Booth in 100 Kms. The Toll value ranges from Rs 30 to Rs 70 one way for a four wheeler. Having change speeds up the process, having cash is mandatory. Calculate about Rs 50 for every 100 Km you travel. Also be prepared to surprise RTO tax collection booths on the highway. This is not necessary for vehicles passing through a state, but it never hurts to be prepared. Tax Value is based on the weight of the vehicle and can vary from Rs 600 – Rs 1200 for a four wheeler.
8. A Map with Highway Numbers clearly marked. It is not necessary that the Map has to be accurate. But it is necessary to have a map with all the road names and numbers marked clearly. Indian Highways are named in Single digits for main roads and three digits for its Bypass or tertiary roads. (Like NH7 and NH207 here). TTK Roadmaps are good to navigate around cities.
9. A Torch. Absolute necessity if you are traveling in the night. The highways do not have any illumination what-so-ever. If anything does go wrong with the vehicle, you will definitely need one to get to the bottom of the problem. Its also a good tool to attract attention in case of trouble.
10. Cash for Gas. Although ATMs and Gas Stations that take credit cards are common in city limits, on highways they are very rare. Maintaining the same brand of fuel is necessary to maintain a better mileage and overall sanity of the engine. Carry some cash extra for those emergency fills. Do not carry too much extra. The chances of theft are very real as well.

Carry a Camera to capture all the moments. Most highways have 80% picture postcard value during ideal weather like Monsoon. Enjoy the drive!

Here’s how you can minimize the damage to your time from the Notorious Bangalore Traffic during the daytime.

Approach from NH7

A little outside of Bangalore is Chikka Ballapur, leave NH7 at this junction and get on to the regular (non 4 lane) NH207. Created as a bypass long back, the NH207 runs alongside Bangalore touching NH4 at Hoskote and through Sarjapur finally touching NH7 again at Attibele after Electronic City. The road is fairly well maintained and has very little traffic during the daytime.

Turn into NH207, at Chikka Ballapur and continue till Attibele to get back on NH7 avoiding Bangalore completely

Approaching from North – West on NH4

If you are approaching from NH4 in the North, chances of avoiding traffic completely is minimal. However you can minimize the damage by getting on to the Ring Road right after crossing Peenya Industrial Area. Continue on the Ring Road till Marathalli Junction. Take a left here and get onto NH207 to avoid the Hosur road construction zone completely and get back on NH7 at Attibele.

Turn on to Ring Road after Peenya Industrial Area and continue straight till Marathalli Junction. Take a left to get on to NH207 near Varthur lake. Areas marked in dark circles are heavy traffic zones.

If you do have to get into the city. The recommended time will be before 7 AM and after 11 PM. Anything in between can cause a lot of time, specially if the roads are unknown to you.

Any other tips on avoiding and bypassing Bangalore are welcome.

I am parked next to a busy road.

There is an absolutely walkable patch after the road ends. Which can be called a footpath. Although, years of ‘no one walking’ has left some overgrown shrubs and bushes on it.

And then there is this long row of cars parked right next to the footpath.

After that is a 3 lane wide road (thats minus the parking) where vehicles normally cruise at break-neck speeds as thats one of the few breathers you get on this road to overtake the slow-going tractors, autos etc.

Bangalore Traffic.. much like this actually

We are again deviating, sorry for that.. the Note is about the people who walk this side of the road. It has been my observation (I have been observing for past 7 months) that most people prefer to walk between the parked vehicles and right into the traffic.

The logic is unknown. Is the safety of a perfectly safe footpath undesirable? (which is shielded from the traffic by the parked cars). Or is it more like “Need that Buzz” and prove a point by walking right into an oncoming 3 ton truck at 60 Kmph.

On further observation one may note that the educated (so called) lot prefer the traffic side while the under educated prefer the footpath. Groups of laborers walking actually take the footpath while the IT crowd masquerading with their Collar IDs like the close brush with death.

I have pointed to a few fellows of the alternative available. Was not really taken that well.

Bottomline, I guess if you desire to be a roadkill, no amount of good sense can prevent that.

PS. The IT crowd part is just an observation, I am not necessarily generalizing on a whole bunch of IT people here. Not to mention, I do fall in a similar category.

1. If its a single cow (I mean number and not marital status), try and slow down, honk, thins usually stuns the cow and it will stop moving. Once this is achieved, navigate from the front of the cow keeping safe distance. Cows in south India have sharp horns than can dent your automobile.
2. If its a bull, avoid at any cost. They do not move, they may charge at you if you honk. A bull easily weighs close to a ton, and taking them on is not a wise idea.
3. If its multiple cows, come to a dead stop. Honk once, this will stun all the cows and they stop moving. Hence, don’t honk, just put the vehicle in neutral, and rev the engine. The growl of the engine usually gets them moving out of your path. If you have a noisy diesel, even better.
4. There is a Donkey in your path, static. Chances are, it will remain that way and won’t budge with any of the above techniques. The best is to slow down, and navigate around it.
5. If you are traveling though a wild life reserve, and you have a Deer in front of you. Stop, wait for the animal to pass. Under no circumstances, hit it, if you have enough bad luck, it could be a Black Buck.
6. Chicken, no issues, chances are they will move out of the way.
7. Goat, this is a tricky animal to pass as it has a habit of making sudden movements. The goat can actually jump forward and backward, hence, apply caution while passing a goat from any direction.
8. Do avoid dogs at any cost on a lonely stretch of the highway. Dogs will avoid your vehicle and given a chance they will chase the car.
9. Elephants, avoid from a distance. Specially if you are in a small black hatchback.
10. Cats, very unlikely you will see them on the road. They are fast animals, and chances are, they will manage to cross the road weather you see them or not.

Just thoughts.

The usual sight of cattle occupying the available road

How do you decide on which vehicle to give pass and which one to not?

Largely depends on how many hours we have been driving. We do give pass to vehicles that honk less and use their lights more. It’s kind of irritating to have smaller vehicles with no patience for a truck.

Tail Board graphics

How many Kilometers do you cover in a day?

Depends on road conditions. A truck usually averages around 25 Kmph during the day, that makes it about 200 – 300 Kms in a day with stops and breaks.

Where do you eat?

We eat mostly at Dhaba’s, but sometimes that can be expensive as one can get stuck at an Octroi Gate for a day or more. We carry a stove and basic ingredients to cook anywhere possible actually.

I did see some of the truckers utilizing the time they are stuck in traffic on the highway to cook, eat, take a bath.

What do you have to say about private vehicles and smaller cars on the highways?

They are irritating. They have much powerful lights and they tend to drive on high beams always. (we did check out the lamp brightness of our car against the 4 lamps on the truck, the car was anyday brighter, even with stock 55/60 W lamps) What the small cars do not understand is that its very difficult to maneuver a truck. It takes a considerable amount of effort to change lanes. With bright lights shining in the face, it gets near difficult.

Take on overtaking from the left?

Ask a truck to give pass. Blink a couple of times, then honk. If the truck CAN change lanes, probably it will and let you pass from the right. If it cannot then it will give the indicators on its left, and you are free to pass from the left. Sometimes they may not have working indicators, in this case the truck wont stray from the inside lane and you can pass from the left. But do try, blink and honk. A truck driver has near to zero visibility of things coming from its left.

Also

Do not follow a truck to closely. The vehicles are not made to class and sometimes they may stop without even a brake light glowing. Even if we gear down, the reduction in speed is quite a bit for a car to manage. Maintain a safe distance, if a car hits the rear differential, its the differential that will win.

If you see a tilting load, try and tell the driver about it, as the driver might not know that his cargo is tilting and becoming off balance.

The Indian truck is a unibody of sorts. The cabin is physically connected to the loading bay to give the driver the idea of what’s happening behind. If its a cargo that is shifting around, the driver is able to judge it by the movements of his cabin. Newer trucks, which have separate cabin do not allow this and often the driver is oblivious to a shifting cargo.