Team-BHP - Accidents in India

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Originally Posted by karansm4u (Post 3916790)

Today morning saw the pic of Maruti Baleno (brand new) in an accident at Faridabad.

The car looks nasty and the occupants are surely lucky enough to survive the crash from the looks of it. Good that the Airbags had saved the day, which once again stressed the fact that all the cars should come with dual Airbags as standard.

But I also doubt whether this has made the guy who was driving the car some sort of over confident. Some people think that with airbags they have an air of invincibility and deciding to check their luck. :banghead:

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Originally Posted by jpcoolguy (Post 3917271)

But I also doubt whether this has made the guy who was driving the car some sort of over confident. Some people think that with airbags they have an air of invincibility and deciding to check their luck.

In general, cars make us feel a lot safer than we actually are, and the vital safety features might increase that effect in a stupid driver, but:

--- stupid overconfidence rules out the possibility of accidents anyway: they only happen to other people.

--- after the event, it takes a very big idiot to want to do that to their car again!

Also, airbags do not necessarily make accidents painless. A friend described it as being punched hard in the face. Still, he was glad of it, because without the seatblets/airbags, he and his companion might have been written off as well as the car.

After the event? I hope that everybody that visits this thread gets the message that it-can't-happen-to-me is so, so wrong. We all need reminding. It is one of the reasons I'm here.

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Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom (Post 3916546)

Hope you are fully recovered now? And the bicycle?

Thank you for your kind words sir.
I do feel better now, but my leg injury might need at least a few more weeks to improve. As for the bicycle, the damage seems to be fixable. The chain had dislocated which I could fix, but there seems to be some issue with changing gears. The front suspension also seems to have suffered. Hopefully I'll be able to sort these things out.

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Originally Posted by for_cars1 (Post 3916687)

The fact as per statistics in India is cyclists (apart from pedestrians) are the highest risk group of getting hit by all other class of motor vehicles and ending up with serious injuries/fatalities.
I'm aware that cycling enthusiasts may have optimistic views but unless there are dedicated and safe cycling tracks, its better not to take cycling as a hobby for daily commute and increase the risk factor. The vast majority of cyclists in India are however doing it due to economic hardships and limited alternatives.

Its a different thing in Europe where there are dedicated cycle tracks and I've observed most people cycling on the foot paths/pavements in the UK which is safer compared to cycling on the road with all the fast moving vehicles zipping past.

Those are indeed some grim statistics you've shared sir. In fact, the first question that a friend of mine from abroad asked when I told her about this new hobby of mine was about dedicated cycling tracks. I had initially picked up country roads with less traffic for commuting, but the lack of any human presence on most of these roads, (just in case something happens) made me think again to switch to main roads. I thought I would be safe if I followed all safety precautions, but I was grossly mistaken!

Athirappilli(Thrissur): A speeding car fallen into a canal.

Seeing the car coming at very speed, the Police asked them to stop but they did not. Police then chased them and in the course of action the driver lost control and the car fallen into a canal and 4 students who were in the car sustained minor injuries. One of the student who was driving the car don't even have a License to drive a Car. Police registered a case against them.

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Originally Posted by GKR9900 (Post 3917341)

Don't be put off by this one incident. Irrespective of whether you drive on bike lanes, or on the highway or in your own society, there is always the risk of idiots. I have ridden a lot across multiple cities and across state (highways) in India and US, and I find the situation better in India - on a whole as a community, we are more used to seeing the cycles on the road, primarily because of the large user base. And are able to "handle" the cyclists better. Stats-wise we will always be the poorer because of our large population.

What happened with you is more to do with one idiot(s) which could have affected you even if you were on a car or a bike - as a country with relaxed laws, that risk is prevalent to all on the road.

Don't let this stop you from following cycling as a hobby.

Today at 3 pm a sonata speeding at about 60 kmph, driven by inebriated youth along with three of his friends, negotiated two sharp curves narrowly missed atm over corrected hit the lamp post on which a set of transformers were erected. A two wheeler driver jumped to safety. No one was hurt. The air bag got deployed. The youth were from same locality. They were taken to the station and supposedly set free.

Is it not illegal to erect transformer like this?

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Originally Posted by ravradha (Post 3917477)

3 pm a sonata speeding at about 60 kmph, driven by inebriated youth hit the lamp post on which a set of transformers were erected. A two wheeler driver jumped to safety. No one was hurt.
Is it not illegal to erect transformer like this?

It's electrifying that your worry is about the transformer. Let us completely overlook the absolute moron who was hammered at 3PM.

As an aside yes pole mounted step up/step down transformers are perfectly valid.

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Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom (Post 3917311)

Also, airbags do not necessarily make accidents painless. A friend described it as being punched hard in the face. Still, he was glad of it, because without the seatblets/airbags, he and his companion might have been written off as well as the car.

Experienced it a few years back in my Innova, when a agricultural tractor took a U turn in front of us to cross through a il-legal opening in the divider, when we were at highway speed. Luckily for us the tractor trailer got a twin hit with my car and a KSRTC bus we were overtaking hitting it in tandem. The punch from the airbag deploying is quiet hard, and the seat belt welts where flesh gets squeezed between the belt and your ribs is worse, and my driver who had a pen in his pocket needed stiches on his chest where the pen got squished between his chest and the seatbelt. others in the car in the second and third row were also belted, but my friends wife who was in the third row fractured her hand, as she tried to hold the seat ahead of her.

Rahul

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Originally Posted by Rahul Rao (Post 3917517)

... ... ... my driver who had a pen in his pocket needed stiches on his chest where the pen got squished between his chest and the seatbelt.

My wife would describe as pessimisitic in my thinking, as I try to forsee problems and dangers. I had never forseen, or even imagined, that one!

Quote:

others in the car in the second and third row were also belted, but my friends wife who was in the third row fractured her hand, as she tried to hold the seat ahead of her.

Until we get educated otherwise, I think we all tend to think of the seat in front of us as something relatively soft that would help us in an accident. Some people think that holding the steering wheel helps. Those seats are not soft, and our instinct to grip something like the wheel probably increases the damage.

Saw a minor tussle on the downward ramp of the Iblur flyover towards Silk Board. From the looks of it, an XUV500 could've rear-ended or brushed a Swift or one of the two-wheelers in a group of 2-3 riders. The scene we witnessed was of a few blows getting delivered.

https://youtu.be/8o2PAg8-SKA

The XUV's rear glass was broken and the front glass got broken with a helmet, as we passed it. Though I do not know who was at fault, I get a feeling from the two-wheelers seen at the scene, that it could be a case of road-rash gone wrong with the two-wheelers.

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Originally Posted by ninjatalli (Post 3917403)

What happened with you is more to do with one idiot(s) which could have affected you even if you were on a car or a bike - as a country with relaxed laws, that risk is prevalent to all on the road.

Don't let this stop you from following cycling as a hobby.

Thank you sir. I've been running this thought over and over inside my head. We can't make our roads idiot-proof. I might as well get back on my cycle as soon as I'm healed, physically and emotionally!