Yesterday, while going back home, I observed something interesting. I was about to take a right turn, and waited for the car in the opposite direction to pass by. The car was coming at decent speed, and the driver slowed down near me. I was wondering why he was slowing down, right at the turn, thereby stopping me also from taking the turn.
Thats when something completely unexpected happened. The driver yawned, then looked at me and grinned. Then he zoomed past me. Good Driver. It is better not to take risk of yawning and driving. 
This incident set my thought process thinking. What does a person do, when he gets an urge to yawn or sneeze while driving? Yawning atleast is ok. But all of a sudden you feel like sneezing. One second and you might lose the balance(If you are riding a 2 wheeler). Or bump into someone (especially in bangalore roads).
And what about formula 1 or MotoGP? I wonder how these drivers manage. If they get an urge to sneeze, while riding at 300 KMH what do those guys do? Kinda scary!!!
on 08 Jun 2005 at 8:09 am # curses
hmmm, that was a nice one!
good kostin!
on 08 Jun 2005 at 9:03 am # visithra
Ur yawn post made me yawn - seriously. Have you heard this - watching someone yawn will make you yawn back? SO that just happened :ppp
Driving on indian roads itself is suicidal what with the autowallas - don’t think the auto driver slows down when he yawns :ppp
on 08 Jun 2005 at 9:58 am # Prabha
endha maadhiri ellam yoschu romba kavalai padaadhe…not good for health
on 08 Jun 2005 at 12:49 pm # Jacky
I’ve seen pit crew cleaning DC’s visor a few times when he was driving a Mclaren. Probably the guy sneezes often and eventually ends up with poor visibility.
on 08 Jun 2005 at 12:52 pm # Praveen
Oru oru thummal-ku safety car eduthutu varalama? Namma Ejaman-la vara maattu vandi race maadhiri aagidum
on 08 Jun 2005 at 1:01 pm # Maverick
F1 la everything goes according to team strategy dhaan. So when the driver feels the urge to sneeze, he will radio in that to the crew and the team will analyse his race position and the number of laps to go for the next pit stop and decide on the best time to sneeze. Unfortunately, if he sneezes before this, his race strategy will be changed accordingly.
on 08 Jun 2005 at 1:08 pm # Maverick
In these days of everthing become automatic, F1 drivers yawning inside a F1 car is not quite ruled out. Gone were those days when manhandling the F1 cars was such an exhausting effort with no re-fuelling, no pit stops, no launch control, no traction control, no auto or semi gear boxes. As Niki Lauda said, even a monkey can drive a modern day F1 car.
on 08 Jun 2005 at 3:01 pm # Shyam
My goodness… if that driver slowed down just to yawn, he is probably due for some kind of award for being thoughtful! Not a trait you see in 99% of Indian drivers
on 08 Jun 2005 at 3:39 pm # shub
I have sneezed more than 10 times while riding so far! (not continuously! )
on 08 Jun 2005 at 4:08 pm # Smyta
Aha! all these days I never gave it a thought..And now that you made me realise what did happen..I am sure I would be crash prone when I sneeze!!
Where does you thought stem bud from?;-)
Cheers etc.,
Smyta
on 08 Jun 2005 at 4:26 pm # hari
Hey ferrari, you have really started meditating in motor racing. A very valid question. Let us atleast ask Namba Narain about that.
on 08 Jun 2005 at 6:12 pm # murali
it depends on the deepness of ur sneeze guys. if u can transcend ur sneeze and still continue riding undisturbed ! you are a zen master !. but if the sneeze is hard enough to distract u for a second , then do believe in destiny and fate !. the positive side you may end up pressing the accelerator even more harder ! (though fora second only). it will be recorded as an extra-ordinary effort by the team !.
on 08 Jun 2005 at 11:45 pm # Sriram
Prabhu,
I don’t remember which race, but I assume it was monaco, when Hakkinen had to be literally pulled out of his car because he was THAT exhausted driving it. Forget sneezing.. imagine an F1 driver having a series of continuous coughs near the speed traps in Hockenheim
on 09 Jun 2005 at 3:40 am # *
drivers should not have girlfriends. More people think of u, more chances that sneeze may happen.
on 09 Jun 2005 at 7:14 am # F e r r a r i
Curses,
I forgot to include cycle in the list
Visithra,
Auto Driver slowing down aa? Enna pechu pesarenega neenga??
on 09 Jun 2005 at 7:16 am # F e r r a r i
Prabha,
Makkal sevai magesan sevai. Idha padikkara atleast oru 4 peravadhu careful iruppaanga appadinu oru nambikkai dhaan. 4 peru nalla irukkanumnaa edhuvume thappu illai
Jacky,
Not just for DC. For many drivers. That is, if they try to go too close to some car ahead, the exhaust settles a bit on these guys helmet
on 09 Jun 2005 at 7:17 am # F e r r a r i
Praveen,
You remember last year Indianapolis grand prix? Which we saw in Park Sheraton. Ralf Schumacher crashed, and then safety car for more than 7 to 8 laps.
Maverick,
You shouldnt make fun of people like Montoya and Sato by calling them as monkeys
on 09 Jun 2005 at 7:18 am # F e r r a r i
Shyam,
Yep. I nominate him for Mr Careful award
Shub,
Congratulations. Very soon, you will be on the guinness record
on 09 Jun 2005 at 7:19 am # F e r r a r i
Smyta,
Thought bud stemmed from live action
Hari,
I really pity namba narain. This Jordan car doesnt seem to have any grip. Poor he
on 09 Jun 2005 at 7:21 am # F e r r a r i
Murali,
Zen, Alto, Swift whatever. In bangalore roads, every single moment on the road is the most religious one for people.
Sriram,
Coughing near speed trap aa? Avlo dhaan. There will be a pile up
on 09 Jun 2005 at 7:22 am # F e r r a r i
*,
Adhu vikkal illai?