[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by Grand Drive

"Six die as coracle capsizes in Hogenakkal" - The Hindu

With due respect to the dead, I am not surprised.
In a country with zero safety consciousness - I wouldn't be surprised. We were the only people we saw using the govt provided life jackets, in our visit last Nov. For my wife when I asked a small size jacket, I was met with quizzical looks. Here's how the aam aadmi goes there!


I bet even today no one would have changed their behavior.

EDIT: Wasnt the coracle overloaded? Six drowned, three survived. There's no way there should be so many people in a coracle (see size above).

[Grand Drive]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Here's how the aam aadmi goes there!

Most of the people refuse to wear life jackets during coracle rides. Overloaded coracle, not wearing life jackets and going for the banned areas in the coracle for the sake of thrill / fun are always a common sight in Hogenakkal. Safety norms are always ignored by many visitors here.

[rm_arjuna]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

A grim reminder on the perils of tailgating, absence of underrun protection bars, and in general, not knowing how to drive.
Attachment 1408493

yesterday while returning from my in-laws place which is around 160 kms from hyderabad ,felt so frustrated with fellow road users driving antics , tailgating , over taking inspite of binkers being on from both sides even when there is very little gap between cars , continous honking to give way . All these i observed are from smaller diesel cars i10 grand ,i20,swifts and polo's ,while i am at 100 in my scorpio which is the limit in these roads these cars are zooming around at breakneck speed trying to outrun each other .

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Six drowned, three survived. There's no way there should be so many people in a coracle (see size above).

It was mentioned in newspapers that the carrying capacity of coracle is 6, while the ill-fated one had nine. Now, I guess 6 is excluding the boatman, which itself is an unsafe number in my opinion.

While we visited the falls couple of years back, we were 4 adults and a 5 year kid in the boat apart from boatman. I felt that was the maximum the boat could carry.

[curiousElf]

Originally Posted by normally_crazy

Driving back to Mumbai from Pune this evening at around 445 pm, this SX4 overtakes me and then angles his way into the median and flips over straight into my lane. The Skoda behind him is lucky too.

Strange, I witnessed one yesterday same route, around same time. But the damaged car was on the first lane so it could not have been this. Was this after the ghats? I reached an accident some couple of minutes after it happened. A car flipped over, smashed enough that I couldn't recognize the brand. People stopped vehicular traffic and there were 8-10 people helping him. My car was stopped right next to the accident car which had turned turtle. There was a man covered in blood and his eyes seemed to have movement. Some people stopped the traffic held it until the ambulance came and took him away. I hope he survives without major damage.

Only thing that was odd was a broken liquor bottle right under the car, it had broken into pieces but was large enough for me to see the brand (might not mean anything, could have been carrying)

I see too many accidents on that route, can never be complacent. Drive safe people!

[rav11stars]

Originally Posted by rm_arjuna

yesterday while returning from my in-laws place which is around 160 kms from hyderabad ,felt so frustrated with fellow road users driving antics , tailgating , over taking inspite of binkers being on from both sides even when there is very little gap between cars , continous honking to give way . All these i observed are from smaller diesel cars i10 grand ,i20,swifts and polo's ,while i am at 100 in my scorpio which is the limit in these roads these cars are zooming around at breakneck speed trying to outrun each other .

Around one year back, I traveled from Pune to my hometown via HYD. I felt more at ease on the two-lane Solapur-HYD road than the 4-lane HYD-BZA highway.
It was as if all hell broke loose. WagonRs trying to squeeze themselves between a 18-wheeler and my Punto, honking, irritating. Altos whizzing past by in zig-zag fashion.

Add to that I didn't think that state-run transport buses were so rash. I was a big fan of their drivers with all their's experience behind them. But it looks like it's all the past now. I was woken up to the reality when all sort of Super Luxurys, Indras and all sort of State Transport buses go so fast, so threateningly.
All of this while I was travelling at sane speeds and maintaining good distances. Wonder what gets into people's minds once they get behind the wheel.

[b16h22]

Originally Posted by SPEEDY_RACER

Came across news on today Hindu paper.

Two Wipro employees being killed in a road mishap.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nationa...cle7545414.ece

i wonder how did 13(news says 11 injured and 2 died) people managed in an single car.

Note: Its an Zoom car

I have came to know that one of the passengers escaped was my old time friend. He was tremendously lucky to not only survive the crash but also escape without a single scratch. I haven't asked him the details of the accident because he is still shaken. But a close friend of mine has met him last week. He said the car was driven very rashly with speeds touching 120-140 at times with all those passengers. The accident happened during an overtaking maneuver. The driver lost control of the car and the car flipped multiple times. He even remembers the people gathered to snatch valuable items from the accident victims.

The accident is a clear case of irresponsible driving coupled with a dynamically compromised car.

[VW2010]

Two Wipro employees being killed in a road mishap.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nationa...cle7545414.ece

Dont get me wrong but why bring Wipro here. If this was organized by Wipro i may agree?

I am sure none of the sane comapnies allow more than allowed employees to travel in these cars.

I am scared to ride at 120 in my Jetta let alone a floating chasis suv. I remember once getting out of my office cab quoting speed and the driver initially was talking rude till i introduced i was part of HR.

The driver got the sack next day and will never been seen in my office for sure.

Fact is the rest of the employees cared less inspite of each on holding on to the edge. Its a inherent cultural problem to stand up to something we dont believe in..or is it?

I even asked some of them why they were not vocal about it, they simply said they were not sure if they can say anything.

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by VW2010

Dont get me wrong but why bring Wipro here. If this was organized by Wipro i may agree?

I am sure none of the sane comapnies allow more than allowed employees to travel in these cars.

I am scared to ride at 120 in my Jetta let alone a floating chasis suv. I remember once getting out of my office cab quoting speed and the driver initially was talking rude till i introduced i was part of HR.

The driver got the sack next day and will never been seen in my office for sure.

Fact is the rest of the employees cared less inspite of each on holding on to the edge. Its a inherent cultural problem to stand up to something we dont believe in..or is it?

I even asked some of them why they were not vocal about it, they simply said they were not sure if they can say anything.

This is a fairly old news. Whether it is a Wipro employee or not, ultimately it is loss of life due to rash and negligent driving. First of all packing a vehicle beyond it's capacity is wrong. Plus driving fast cum rash while negotiating a corner is another blunder. When will people learn how to drive responsibly??

[chandrda]

Originally Posted by suresh_gs

I don't know how far this is true. Years back i came across this news that the coracle riding in Hogennakal is deliberately tampered with so that the occupants meet a watery grave.
The boatmen know the actual spot where the bodies would be. They would then charge an exorbitant amount from the relatives of the dead. The relatives would have no other choice as they want the bodies to perform the last rites.

I came across this piece of info when i stayed in Hosur during my bachelor days.

Yep, that's true. Though I don't have any proof, but I know many cases in Karnataka and TN where exorbitant amount was claimed to recover the body. There is a active net work or Mafia in place.

Couple of years ago, my close friend's sister's two daughters (aged 12 & 14) drowned in Hogenakkal Falls while riding on a Coracle. There were lot of clues to indicate it was deliberate. When the forest and fire officials failed to recover the body, the divers recovered it miraculously in 1 hour. They were so adamant and demanding, had little respect to the deceased. They started negotiating from 6 lakhs per body. Finally they Charged 6 lakhs for two and when the body was recovered, all the gold jewelry was missing.

Regards

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by chandrda

Yep, that's true. Though I don't have any proof, but I know many cases in Karnataka and TN where exorbitant amount was claimed to recover the body. There is a active net work or Mafia in place.

Couple of years ago, my close friend's sister's two daughters (aged 12 & 14) drowned in Hogenakkal Falls while riding on a Coracle. There were lot of clues to indicate it was deliberate. When the forest and fire officials failed to recover the body, the divers recovered it miraculously in 1 hour. They were so adamant and demanding, had little respect to the deceased. They started negotiating from 6 lakhs per body. Finally they Charged 6 lakhs for two and when the body was recovered, all the gold jewelry was missing.

Regards

Even I do not have proof but 100% agree with what you have said. The boatmen are the real goons. They know the spot whether the body would lie but create an impression as if they do not know the whereabouts of the body.
Imagine the plight of the family of the deceased especially if they are not from a well to do family. They cannot afford such a high amount to get back the body. At the same time they need the body to perform the last rites.
Terrible situation to be in.

[treadmark]

Originally Posted by b16h22

He said the car was driven very rashly with speeds touching 120-140 at times with all those passengers. The accident happened during an overtaking maneuver. The driver lost control of the car and the car flipped multiple times. He even remembers the people gathered to snatch valuable items from the accident victims.

The accident is a clear case of irresponsible driving coupled with a dynamically compromised car.

I remember reading this under FAQ session before taking a vehicle last year from Zoomcar. I think user will be charged a over speeding fine in case the speed is above 125 km/hr. Even they'll be blacklisted if found more than two over speeding cases.

Cheers!

[binand]

Originally Posted by treadmark

I remember reading this under FAQ session before taking a vehicle last year from Zoomcar. I think user will be charged a over speeding fine in case the speed is above 125 km/hr. Even they'll be blacklisted if found more than two over speeding cases.

This is news to me, so I looked it up. It is listed here:

http://www.zoomcar.com/bangalore/fees

So how do they know if you are overspeeding? They seem to have GPS hardware installed in the cars. Their privacy policy doesn't explicitly say that they track your speed, but what they have listed there seems to me is capable of doing it.

"Vehicles will contain hardware that gathers and transmits information about vehicle use" - "we track the location of your vehicle"

[Divya Sharan]

Originally Posted by binand

"Vehicles will contain hardware that gathers and transmits information about vehicle use" - "we track the location of your vehicle"

Not sure about the blacklisting part, but you do get a 500 rupees penalty for over-speeding. The sad part is, one instance or many, the fine stays at 500.

[alphadog]

Originally Posted by Manoj2268

I made it a point to always gear up whenever I'm riding my motorcycle. I've been called many names(showoff being the mildest) but I never care. I still know people who do not apply the front disc(riding a Karizma) saying the disc is harmful and will cause the bike to skid. Unless the mindset of the motorcycle riding crowd changes, expect more fatalities..

So true!.
The other day, I was donning my gear on before riding back home from work at the hospital (I am an Orthopaedic surgeon) and some blokes in the parking lot were looking at me with amusement. They asked me how far is my home. I said 7 kms. One of them, with a smirk on his face, was like - 'are you wearing all this for this short distance on the bike?'. My reply with a smile was, whether one falls 2 feet away or 100 kms away from home, a fall is a fall and I would rather protect my noggin, skin and bones than not.
They nodded their heads in agreement. I suppose they then saw the point.

I think most of the time, it is ignorance, a care a damn attitude and 'it will never happen to me' attitude that gets people into trouble.

I always try and do my two bits for road safety education. Some take it , some ignore. I have seen plenty and more of horrendous injuries, during my practise, to last me a lifetime.People should realise that when they drive or ride, they are on a machine which is very capable of causing serious pain or death, if full attention is not given. Most people regretfully do not think about this.

Cheerio.