Driving big expensive cars in city traffic? Tips from an S-Class owner

These suggestions apply to pretty much anyone who loves to drive without incidents.

BHPian androdev recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

As someone who drives the gigantic S class in Bangalore, there are some basic rules to follow to avoid fender benders and scratches, etc.:

1. Always give way to the other vehicle, a bit like holding the door open for your girlfriend. You can stop reading after this if you are in a hurry.
2. Stick to the right-most or left-most lane to avoid being squeezed from both sides, especially at traffic signals, etc.
3. Either completely block the gap on the sides or ensure a generous amount of gap for other vehicles to pass. Indian drivers need just a 70% gap open to believe that they can squeeze through. Your job is to keep the gap either at 0% or 120+%.
4. While turning in busy sections, be like the pier of the bridge on a flowing river. Let the bikes and autos flow forward like the river water and move slowly in their wake. You will feel like Neo of Matrix.
5. When coming to a stop, do a fake (pilot) brake to alert the absent-minded/aggressive drivers behind and then do the actual braking. Many drivers accelerate when the signal turns amber, you need to alert them in advance that your time is not as valuable as theirs.
6. Don’t park in weird spots – request/tip/bribe to get a better place or pick another location to park and walk.
7. My favourite tip: if Google Maps or some road blockade diversion takes you into the middle of a narrow market street while staring at the inevitability of a kiss of concrete and metal with no hope left inside, there is only one thing to do. Take off your goggles, roll your window down, look pleasant and wait for the rescue squad. You will soon see a few angels in the guise of auto drivers, etc. clearing the obstacles for you and guiding you with 360-degree precision. You will fear nothing and hate nothing after this.

I hope what I have said doesn’t give the impression that it’s a pain to drive these cars. These suggestions apply to pretty much anyone who loves to drive without incidents. People suffer the wrong notion that driving a powerful expensive car should translate to some kind of priority-lane privileges.

Here’s what BHPian JoshMachine had to say on the matter:

Right said, Fred.

In fact, I feel that notion is like the antithesis of driving a luxe barge. The more expensive the car, the more vulnerable one can be on the roads.

Here’s what BHPian Axe77 had to say on the matter:

Incredibly written but true. Honest to god, I actually do follow points 1 to 6 above, regardless of which car I am driving. Works well most of the time. I don’t flash brake but do start braking a little early so the brake light lights up well in advance.

Here’s what BHPian IAmGroot had to say on the matter:

Perfectly said, all points are valid. On specific point 7, I was in a similar situation coming out of a temple parking and got stuck in a narrow lane with a queue of vehicles behind me, looking at my reluctance to manoeuvre my new Tata Safari (No 360-degree) the folks behind me came out to help and created an inch-perfect path.

Here’s what BHPian ritedhawan had to say on the matter:

I drive a Honda Accord 2008 and used to drive its previous version, cumulative experience on both is more than 10 years. Primarily my car is driven in a congested city with ‘no holds bar’ traffic like New Delhi. I consider Noida less congested than New Delhi where I reside. The highway driving would include Haryana, Chandigarh and HP.

I would beg to differ on point number 2.

I would rather emphasize the importance of sticking to the middle lane. The right lane is not for me because it’s a highway or city. This lane is for those who are bent on surpassing the existing speed limits and one who is not in the habit of surpassing the speed limit would rather take chances in the middle lane, or left lane.

If the traffic slows down to a crawl when all lanes traffic speed is relatively the same. Being on the right lane is not beneficial as this lane usually consists of people who are in a hurry and would honk endlessly as if that’s a way to push people in close bumper-to-bumper situations to get them moving onwards, additionally following the course of the last paragraph, these people usually have less patience. In this situation, being on the left lane is also asking for trouble because usually on the left of this lane there is for some reason space which the two-wheelers think is enough to get past the traffic. Then there is one odd two-wheeler driver who in his attempt of getting past your car may very well clip the left wing mirror! and that would be an unforgivable sin to me as without wing mirrors I am blinded when it comes to flank clearance.

Now one may get into a situation where you feel one is being “squeezed from both sides”, well in that situation I will slow down and play that “pier of the bridge on a flowing river” as you said. That card wins all the time.

On the free-flowing highways, being on the middle lane has its benefits. Let’s assume who ends up confronting an unforeseen obstacle in the middle lane. You always have the option of moving to the left lane or right, depending upon which one is open. Let’s stretch this a bit, and add to the fact that the right lane already has a vehicle while I am being confronted with an unforeseen obstacle in the middle. I still have the benefit of moving to the left lane and vice-versa. This option will not be available to those who are in the corner lanes.

Wing mirrors are of vital importance for a big car and losing one for me is equivalent to driving with a handicap.

I couldn’t comprehend the situation in point number 7.

“I hope what I have said doesn’t give the impression that it’s a pain to drive these cars.”

-> It’s not a pain to drive big cars. It’s just that one needs to be extra vigilant.’

Here’s what BHPian manishk123 had to say on the matter:

Very eloquently summarised!

I follow your instructions almost to the T while driving my sedan. However, I am a bit more aggressive with my X7. Its barge-like proportions are quite intimidating to other drivers and bike riders, which I feel gives me a little leeway to pull away aggressively from a stop light and also while changing lanes. I feel in India big SUVs have a little advantage as compared to sedans. No wonder they’re flying off the shelves so fast.

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