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Looking at the damage and with my limited knowledge of the airbag sensors being fit near the front bumper, it is unlikely even an airbag would've saved them.

The impact seemed to be with the windshield first, then the bumper looks to have hit the tyre or something. Unless our cops double up and fine these people for not having under-run protection, Air Bags aren't going to help us in anyway. :Frustrati

Looking at the Polo accident, the passenger cabin looks relatively intact. Probably not wearing seatbelts proved fatal.

Saw this wreakage near Hari Nagar Depot.

Link to the accident.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/...-accident.html

Caught on Camera: Mumbai Woman Hit and Dragged Several Feet by Car

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHz-h4l6ZQU

source : NDTV

Date: 25th December 2014

Time: 04:30 AM

Place: NH-5, Dora vaari satram – Between Sullurpeta and Naidupeta.

The Alto car had two folks in it. Vishnu was driving the car. Hemabhushan was in the navigation seat. They were returning from Chennai airport after sending off Vishnu’s parents to the US. They had no sleep at all. They started from Nellore at 8pm the previous night; reached Chennai airport around 12 midnight; sent off the folks to the US and started driving back to Nellore immediately as it was only 3 hours from there.

Apparently (we do not know for sure), Vishnu slept for a moment and ended up grazing the median of the highway at around 100kmph near Doravari Satram on NH5. The front right tire burst and the car got pulled onto the median immediately. At that speed it was airborne for a few moments before landing on the oncoming lanes.

The truck driver coming from Nellore towards Chennai, suddenly saw a car flying into his truck. He slammed the brakes. But of course he could not have prevented the head on collision. The car was thrown back 100 meters. The truck’s front axle broke and the truck hit the median. Truck driver was not injured. He immediately rushed to the car to find both of them spot dead.

The car was so mangled that they had to use a crane to get the bodies out of the car.



Hemabhushan was a dear friend of mine. I am yet to recover from the shock. (Just back from cremating him) But keeping aside those emotions, here’s my opinion on what they should not have done.

1. Driving back at 2am is risky – no matter how good a driver you are and how good the highway is. Also in this case, the driver had very little highway driving experience.

2. They own a Ford Figo Titanium. Instead they took the Alto for this drive. Reason? They didn’t want to put a “carrier” on the Figo for carrying luggage. I am skeptical whether a Figo would have saved them from meeting their maker in this particular case but still it is definitely a safer car than the tin foil Alto.

3. 100kmph in an Alto is asking for trouble.

4. This part of NH5 has newly been paved and lane markings are yet to be done on this stretch. When the oncoming traffic has their high beams piercing your eyes, you won’t know if the road is straight or it is turning left/right. You should drive slowly in such circumstances.

5. Put some identification on you all the time – including some emergency contact numbers. We got to know about the accident three hours after it happened.

Rest in peace Vishnu and Hema. In your next life, don’t drive at nights. Have fun.

I cannot imagine the condition of Vishnu's parents when they get to know of their son's terrible fate. You have rightly pointed out. Driving in the night requires utmost concentration. Regardless of which car you drive, driving beyond 100 is a recipe for disaster.
Last night i drove from Chennai to bangalore in my santro along with my wife, 7 yr old son and 10 month old son. I left chennai at 6 PM and reached home by 12:15 AM. Not for a moment i crossed 85 kmph. With so much of lorry traffic and considering the high beams from the opposite lanes, this can take a toll on your eyes.
With the speed that i maintained consistently, i was able to judge other vehicle speeds and accordingly take actions like brake or slightly reduce your speed during overtaking. Moreover this speed did not tax me.

My advice to all will be please don't drive rash. Your destination is important but let this drive not lead to your final destination(Graveyard).

Had to rush to Nellore from Hyderabad this Christmas because of this development. Maintained 80 throughout. (Hyd - Narketpally - Miryalaguda - Addanki - Ongole - Nellore). I hope I don't forget this episode ever. My normal speed is around 100/110.

(And was pleasantly surprised to see my XUV500 giving 18 kmpl average on this drive)

This is what i want to emphasize. Driving consistently say at around 80-85 kmph speed is way way too good than going at 120+.

Benefits include better car mileage, less mind taxing, good judgement of other vehicles.

The 4m-wide median with bushes planted on it on the GQ roads is meant to prevent this hazard. In my home state Kerala, nobody seems to realize the need for this - they all claim that it is a waste, and if skipped, we can develop highways with a lot less land acquired.

Sorry to hear about the loss, but the learning from the accident is more important. All of the points mentioned by you are valid and travelling in an Alto at 100 kmph on a highway which has no lane markings (have driven in similar conditions and I know how difficult it is to judge), depraved of sleep is no joke. A blink of an eye can result in catastrophe. If you see the hypnogram here, you can see the usual pattern that our body follows and there are a couple of deep dives during 2-3 AM and 3:30-4:30 AM. Usually, people advise on taking power naps during these time as it is very difficult for our body to keep awake, if you are used to sleeping during this time. Better not to drive during this time; if you have to, then take regular breaks, get a powernap, so that you are awake and responsive.

I felt really bad thanking your post but it needed to be done. It couldn't have been easy for you to type that post and I wanted to appreciate the strength it must be taking to accept what happened and learn from it. Let their deaths not go in vain- if even a handful of people change their driving habits for the better after this tragedy, that is a good thing.
We had a wedding in the family in Pune over the weekend and some of the attendees drove back to Mumbai after the reception around 10 pm (or later). We insisted that whatever relatives of ours attended stayed over (almost all of them at my place, just 2 km from the venue) and drove back this morning after a good night's rest. I feel better about this decision now; how I wish your friend had given it a thought. RIP.

Very sad to know. RIP.

1. Opinions can differ. With a decade+ driving experience, I have found night driving to be the best and safest. You wouldn't find too many two wheelers, people on road and all the other stuff that you find during day. Whats most important is preparation for any drive. Having adequate rest before a drive based on one's body is a must. A person who hasn't slept well can fall asleep even at 2PM. I know many people who fell asleep riding a bike in day time too.

2. If it was a high speed and tyre burst and the car toppled over to other side and got hit by a truck, its sheer luck whether one survives or not, nothing much any car can do :(. Also, they may have been at a much higher speed if it was a Figo.

3. Lack of preparation for the drive actually. Alto and 800 at speed of 100 feels pretty fine. Driven a 800 for 50k kms and have comfortably done 90-110 speeds on several drives including many night drives on single carriage roads in the past.

4. Agree. It really irritates the eye as well and stresses the driver.

5. Very good to do that. Keep some emergency contact numbers in glove box, door pockets and on self in wallet.

By writing my opinion, I mean no offense to anyone. Just my thoughts based on experience.

No pics available, but on the Bangalore- Chitoor road, somwhere between palamener and Chitoor, we passed an Alto on the right side of the road, with the right side of the bonnet, A pillar and most of the front door badly crushed.

A hundred meters ahead, on the left of the road, a Palio with very heavy damage to the whole of the front. And on the windshield, towards the top, were two bumps in the very cracked glass. Both passengers seemed to have had no belts on, and crashed headlong into the windshield. I shudder to think the speeds they must have crashed at.

Another unfortunate late night accident that resulted in death of 2 precious lives and incidentally in this case, they are someone who a BHPian is a friend of. May their soul Rest in Peace.

Time and again and I have lost count on how many threads we have discussed on how unsafe it is to drive at night, (Wait, I am not done )….How unsafe it is to drive at night when you haven’t got a good sleep, when you are stressed, when you have not got enough experience to drive at nights, when your natural eyes take time to adjust between Daylight and artificial light.

Sleep is the most vital aspect that can be your life saver whether it is driving by the day or night. It all boils down to your “ability to react” for untoward and unwarranted situations prevalent on our country’s roads to be precise.

• We are a country where people believe in keeping their high beams on and putting on the Hazards and driving on the wrong side of the road
  
• We have drivers who would not know how effectively to use flashing of beams to overtake and yet install LCD screen in place of rear view mirrors
  
• Lack of driving experience on single carriageway roads can often make it too difficult for one to adapt to dual carriageway roads without markings – This can be effectively witnessed when you see them zoom past at high speeds and struggle later when the road becomes single lane whenever an oncoming vehicle passes and he is unable to judge the shoulder of the road
  
• He is on high beam, why would I lower my beams??
  
• We feel proud that we took a U turn legally at the next available break in the median but how many even know that your indicators are useless to oncoming traffic when you are on high beams? (I switch to fog lights only in the Ertiga or low beams in my WagonR in such situations). The indicators are housed as part of the headlight unit and it becomes too difficult to distinguish the indicator blinking separately.
  
• We are safe when we install 100-90w bulbs over the OE Bulbs (I have) but we still fail to understand the use of Headlamp leveller- How you illuminate the rain drops or fog rather than see the road right ahead of you!
  
• We think remaining on the rightmost lane next to the median is safe – Ever imagined a stationary truck right at the apex of a right handed curve and you doing even 80kmph? – There is zero room for escape as there is only one thing next to you – The Median
  
• We are OK for Pedal to Metal at night on roads that we are driving for the first time – while others will see mangled metal at the next curve
  
• 8 out of 10 drivers I have known don’t even know how important it is to wash the windscreen (on regular basis during a single night drive)
  
• Keeping the headlights and tail lamp clusters clean is a detailing task for them which they will do when they visit a showroom next time!
  
• A clean, fresh windscreen reduces so much stress from your eyes. A clear set of headlights will make your beams more effective and focused

I am one of those who has driven mostly at nights than day time - Perhaps one of the reason I may never be able to suggest a good hotel for an overnight stay where I may have driven.

• At nights you don’t have miscellaneous traffic
  
• Multiple Reflectors installed all over the road surface and around the roads help a lot in hinting a trucker of your approach
  
• These days, due to RTO Mandate, almost 95% trucks have reflective vinyl stripes even if they don’t have a functional tail lamp (next time you get closer to that truck with a Horizontal red reflective stripe, read what's written. Most likely it will be a logo of a particular state's/region's RTO)
  
• You average almost the same every hour even without crossing 100kmph

All of the above advantages fail miserably too – Lack of sleep, driving experience, getting carried away with empty stretches etc.

What matters most at night is steady and sedate speeds and a very good amount of concentration – Something that can happen only when you are less stressed – Something that is a possibility only if you have slept well!

EDIT - This was the same stretch (Chennai - Nellore - Ongole - Vizag) that we did last October. Was raining very heavily and the road work was still in progress. Similar case with no lane markings (often becomes difficult to judge the median or shoulders).

We were in a Palio MJD and we knew that the dual barrel headlights were not focusing well. We pulled over soon after one of the toll booths, with rain downpouring, we managed to set the beams right to focus well on the road (both High and Low). The patrolling jeep came rushing towards us with its blaring siren and asked us what were we doing. When we told them that we were adjusting the beams), he just continued.

I had another encounter with a herd of cattle in similar conditions (Rains, unmarked roads) while driving back from Pune last June at around 7pm in the evening too. Can very well imagine the hazards!

Totally needless loss of precious life that could've been easily avoided with some precautions. Condolences to you and the family left behind.

All said and done, most mishaps come down to the difference between what people think they (and their vehicle) are capable of, and what they're actually capable of.