Team-BHP - Accidents in India

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Originally Posted by pkulkarni.2106 (Post 4554648)

While I agree to most of your points, I think this is too much of a statement (no offense please:). Even that auto-rickshaw has paid the road taxes. It has every right to be on that highway.

Hey I totally agree with you.

But I can see why the others are against slow and overloaded vehicles on the roads.

We need either of the following for all-around safety -
A) Cars need to be driven at a slower speed on roads with slower vehicles plying about, or
B) There should be no slower vehicles allowed on the roads!

You can't have a huge difference in speeds and have road safety.

Minimum speeds are specified on expressways elsewhere for this reason; developed countries have taken option 'B' above. If loaded to specified limits, even load-bearing trucks are able to give cars a run for their money, and their roads are very safe as a result since no one is a slowpoke.

What some of us do here in India is that we take option 'A' above; we maintain a decent speed differential vis-a-vis the slowest object out there. If the slowest Tata Ace on the road does 50 Kmph, we cruise at 70-80 Kmph. If we see a cow ambling at 5 Kmph across the road (but 0 kmph with respect to us in a perpendicularly approaching car), we drop it down to 30 Kmph or 0 Kmph, if needed. Most of us get by with no drama in this manner.

Option 'A' was needed to be followed by the Baleno's driver IMO. But he seemed to be doing 100 Kmph in the video...

How did I bash up an auto despite following option 'A', you ask? (Since I had mentioned this earlier on this topic) I took a moment to rubberneck and watch the scene of another accident on the other side and bashed the auto up. 2-3 seconds of distraction is all it took...

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These stupid auto's have no business being on a highway.

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These so called 'share autos' have no business being on a highway but with what is a highway being highly debatable in our country and there are bigger issues like these highways being the 'only' roads connecting many villages with towns.

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Most of the highways are filled with stupid bikers, cyclists, bullock carts. One has to be super careful when you spot some of these. In these cases I slow down and start honking.

India is a country of over 1.3 billion people where 1% of the population holds 51.5% of the Nation's wealth and 60% hold 4.7%. Everyone has a right to live and use the roads. This 60% use share autos, bicycles and bullock carts, and probably don't own them. We can't wish this away.

As long as we, as the people, don't take part in social issues, vote with our minds, and question the government and its intentions, this disparity will remain.

This is not meant to belittle or criticize anyone and that's why I have only posted quotes without tagging anyone. I too feel the same many times.

Let's give others a thought too, slow down a bit and enjoy our travel. Stop by villages and join them for a cup of tea and you will remember that the true joy and wealth of this country lies in its rural areas. They are simple-minded and warm-hearted and their means and wants are too little for them to think of cars doing 100 kmph on the highway.

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But saying that, these share auto drivers are an unruly bunch.

While travelling in Madurai, I was cut-off abruptly by an auto and narrowly missed hitting him. I lost my cool and yelled at him. My father who was sitting beside me told me to calm down and said "If the auto driver could think as much as you, why would he still be driving an auto?". It was one of the most valuable lessons learnt in judging people.

It is a myth that other countries have minimum speeds for highways. My mother country, at least, does not. GB does prohibit certain kinds of traffic on motorways. I have forgotten the list, but it includes horse-drawn vehicles, pedal cycles and pedestrians.

There is no minimum speed. A car proceeding at walking pace might attract official attention. But consider: it might have broken down. Trucks with huge loads may crawl but anything exceptional probably has special arrangements with police escort.

I'd be asking the first to acknowledge the difference between driving in India and in what we call "developed" countries. All of us who have the experience would. But beware of assumptions. Many of them are as wrong as the assumptions foreigners make about India.

(I am not saying that there are no roads anywhere with minimum speeds. )

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Originally Posted by discoverwild (Post 4555159)

India is a country of over 1.3 billion people where 1% of the population holds 51.4% of the Nation's wealth and 60% hold 6.4%. Everyone has a right to live and use the roads. This 60% use share autos, bicycles and bullock carts, and probably don't own them. We can't wish this away.

Following rules and road discipline has nothing to do with economic prosperity. An auto driver who spends most of his time on the road should ideally be more aware than you when it comes to driving rules.
The income disparity exists in all countries, A googling can show that not much a dissimilar graph exists for income disparity in USA. That does not mean that you follow your own rules on road.

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Originally Posted by poloman (Post 4555415)

For that we need proper education and a system that's foolproof to ensure that those that drive do so with ample knowledge of the rules and regulations. Till date, the RTO that my village belongs to entitles a drive of 35 kms or two buses with a journey time of two hours one way. There are villages that are even farther off, that are linked to the same RTO.

Like I said, you can't wish them away, just because we are educated in traffic rules and they are not. What would you tell a cyclist or a bullock cart or a cow for that matter? Why do you think bikers get beaten up for speeding near a village? I have narrowly escaped a mob of frenzied villagers, when a speeding car ahead of me hit 4 people from the village who were crossing the road. The mob chased and damaged all vehicles that were moving that way. Let's acknowledge the fact that things will remain the same unless we are more aware and correct the system.

It pays to be cautious.

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Originally Posted by poloman (Post 4555415)

Following rules and road discipline has nothing to do with economic prosperity.

Exactly. They didn't ask me how much I earned when I took my British driving test. Nor were they bothered by how long it would take me to save up to go through it all again when they failed me first time.

(And I was not especially poor)

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Originally Posted by discoverwild (Post 4555427)

What would you tell a cyclist or a bullock cart or a cow for that matter?

Let me take the liberty to correct your statement:

What would you tell a cyclist or a bullock cart or a cow or a BMW for that matter?

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Lack of traffic sense is a national integrating factor in our diverse country. No section of society is exempt from it and it creates a feeling of togetherness or oneness towards fellow country-persons. :D

Reporting myself on the thread :mad:

Minor fender bender. A car 2 cars ahead of me braked suddenly due to pedestrians, the car in front of me was also able to brake and I also managed to bring the car to a halt but the cab guy behind me hit me and I hit the car in front as well.

The body shop guys say its a bumper replacement at the rear and some minor alignment issues at the front. Opened the engine bay and checked, nothing looked bent or broken.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deWvfz85JlE

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Originally Posted by arvind71181 (Post 4555674)

1. Cab drivers usually own the lowest/ entry level variant of a car, hence there is a huge chance that cabs don't have ABS, EBD.
2. Cab drivers are also on call, hence low alert level. I leave an extra level of space around cabs.
3. Pedestrians crossing the road outside zebra crossing, is the root cause of this accident.
Autonomous emergency braking will be very useful in India. I can't wait for non-Volvo cars to come up with this here.

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Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom (Post 4555362)

It is a myth that other countries have minimum speeds for highways.

Myth busted! You are usually right with what you mention, however, in this case, I'm afraid that you are wrong, Thad. I distinctly remembered this from my Belgian driving theory exam :)

In Belgium:

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The minimum speed limit on highway is 70 km/h.

In France:

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The movement on highway of vehicles with maximum allowed technical speed that does not exceeded 60 km/h is forbidden.

In Germany:

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Vehicles with maximum speed (because of the technical characteristics) up to 60 km/h are not allowed to move on highway.

In The Netherlands:

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The minimum allowed speed of driving on a highway is 60 km/h. In case of offense the fine is €360.

Source

The British like to do things their way, but I'm quite sure that these minimum speed limits apply to all other EU countries as well.

Cheers

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Originally Posted by Arwin07 (Post 4555727)

add to that - Cab drivers will not change the brake pads till they have a few accidents like this. :Frustrati