[VKumar]

Originally Posted by BoneCollector

• The KTM was speeding and cutting corners on a zig zag hilly road.
• The Baleno was overtaking on a blind curve on a 2 lane road.

The above accident is a classic case of an idiot behind the wheel. And even worse is aftermath when the Baleno guys would have denied their fault (especially if it was a family) and would have blamed the biker for being fast.

Originally Posted by Axe77

1. 99% baleno fault. He is overtaking on a completely blind turn and driving squarely in the lane of oncoming traffic.

2. The randomly parked white jeep on far right doesnt help matters by reducing road width on a dicey curve.

It was my father's chauffeur who taught me driving and I learnt it on a 2.2 tonne SUV. The man always told me one thing (from his past heavy vehicle experience); "Learning the controls is a one day task, it takes years to learn how to move on the road"

Three rules he always taught were (Thad sir may smile at this):

• Overtake only when the route is clear
• Overtake only when you know that there is nothing on the road that may force the other driver to change his lane
• If a ball crosses the road, a kid will follow!

IMO, the Baleno driver is not 99% at fault, it was all his fault and he gets a 100/100 from my end for being plain stupid. First of all it was a turn, secondly the road isn't very wide, thirdly he could still spot that pick up truck on the road - he definitely knew that Scorpio driver needs to move to his right for avoiding driving into the pick up truck.

If the KTM was leaning, that doesn't mean he was driving zig-zag. I wish it was a UTC bus though; that would have been a good lesson for the Baleno driver. I have a first hand experience of the braking potential of buses while coming downhill.

I had a similar crash near Narkanda in 2018, the bus was overtaking a truck while coming downhill. Neither was there any space for me to pass after I saw them both rushing towards my puny Ecosport just in a blind turn, nor was the bus driver able to brake at all.

[Turrrb0]

Originally Posted by BenjiRoss

The school bus driver does not check carefully enough before he crosses the road. The car tries to brake but cannot stop in time.
Two people in the car were injured.
Both these news articles are in tamil and only talk about the overspeeding car. While the car should have slowed down before this junction, the bus driver too could have exhibited more caution when turning. The curve of the road and the barricade itself may have obstructed the drivers visions and ability to see each other.

I don't know when the HD will realise the need for grade seperated intersections. When will we move away from this stupid barricades and speed breakers on a NH nonsense ..
In almost no other country have I seen such breaks in the median and side village roads just directly joining a highway.

[swissknife]

Originally Posted by Turrrb0

I don't know when the HD will realise the need for grade seperated intersections. When will we move away from this stupid barricades and speed breakers on a NH nonsense ..

There are morons who drive/ ride in the opposite direction on grade separators. I had posted a pic of one such rider on the kathipara grade separator in the bad drivers thread.

[luvDriving]

On the Baleno-KTM accident I tend to concur with those here finding the car driver at fault. Some of the fault can also be attributed to the Bolero parked in an unsafe manner and to the store owner for not ensuring that the Bolero is parked safely. But the cause of the accident is the rash, impatient Baleno driver overtaking the Scorpio at a blind curve while another vehicle has blocked half of his lane.

The school bus- car accident is more due to the bus driver not showing caution while crossing a highway and taking his time in doing so. Maybe he was talking with someone in the cabin or on the mobile. Most vehicles will come to a partial or full halt before attempting to cross over but this one just turns right. It can also be the case that due to the curve, the car driver failed to gauge that the bus will turn and the bus driver failed to gauge the car speed of didn't see the car at all.

The Nashik bus-rickshaw accident is indeed horrific. What must have been the speed of the bus such that on tire burst it rammed into the rickshaw pushing it into the canal and then depositing itself on top of it !! Such a horrible way to die.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by Turrrb0

In almost no other country have I seen such breaks in the median and side village roads just directly joining a highway.

Check Britain.

If you limit your translation of highway to just motorways, then what you say is true, but that would not paint a true picture. Britain has many, many miles of dual-carriageway, divided "A" roads, on which the speed limit, unless otherwise shown, is the same 70MPH as it is on the motorways. You can find junctions. You can find right turns. You can find traffic crossing one carriageway to turn right onto the other. I can remember an emergency-brake situation where somebody did this in front of me.

[Turrrb0]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Check Britain.

If you limit your translation of highway to just motorways, then what you say is true, but that would not paint a true picture. Britain has many, many miles of dual-carriageway, divided "A" roads, on which the speed limit, unless otherwise shown, is the same 70MPH as it is on the motorways. You can find junctions. You can find right turns. You can find traffic crossing one carriageway to turn right onto the other. I can remember an emergency-brake situation where somebody did this in front of me.

Yes, I meant our national highways, which are I guess equivalent to the motorways in the UK, of course we can't expect A/B roads to have the same.

[Sarvodaya]

After Pollution Test ....

https://www.facebook.com/sreekumar.k...4801305634665/

[JithinR]

Originally Posted by Sarvodaya

After Pollution Test ....

Attachment 1962445

Would request members to see this till the end. There is a twist in this story.

To the OP, Thanks for sharing man.

[for_cars1]

Originally Posted by rajendra2278

...without knowing what could be coming in the opposite lane, Baleno decided to overtake the scorpio.

Technically, the biker is not at all at fault. He was well within the middle of his lane.
However he has paid the price for not riding defensively.
He should have been a lot more slower at the blind curve in addition to sounding his horn to let any opposite vehicle behind the blind curve to know about his presence well in advance.

The Baleno driver is 100% at fault, unfortunately this is exactly how a lot of drivers drive into a blind curve by going into the opposite lane.
Even if the opposite lane is clear, it is always a good practice to stick to your lane especially on curves.
It may sound like fun to venture into the opposite lane on a curve when its empty and when its not a blind curve. Many drivers do this as it makes negotiating the curve easier (less turning). This habit of going into the opposite lane on a curve should be stopped otherwise it tends to become a dangerous habit.

Originally Posted by Sarvodaya

After Pollution Test ....

A very unexpected twist at the end indeed. Its a dangerous situation for the elderly man, but one of the most hilarious scene in this thread.

[McLaren Rulez]

Originally Posted by BoneCollector

The KTM was speeding and cutting corners on a zig zag hilly road.

In literally every other country, this is an open and shut case. The biker is 100% correct and the Baleno is 100% wrong.

Even a parked car blocking the lane is no excuse - the meathead driving the Baleno is overtaking the Scorpio into a blind curve.

[GutsyGibbon]

Originally Posted by for_cars1

He should have been a lot more slower at the blind curve in addition to sounding his horn to let any opposite vehicle behind the blind curve to know about his presence well in advance.

You are absolutely right about being defensive, but isn't it a moot point to sound horn? Cars are getting better at sound insulation, people have music playing and are immune to the sound of the horn(when they hear it). My parents live at a T junction, and the sounds of the horn can be heard 24/7, with pretty much everyone being immune to this honk. I am going to get flamed for this, but unless you need the attention of an animal sleeping on the road, or to get a drunkard off your path, honking is useless. I know honking has been the norm, but for future, we should discourage everyone from using the horn. Hopefully in the next 20 years, when EVs reduce/eliminate noise pollution, people will eliminate this practice of honking for attention.

[honeybee]

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...w/73750954.cms

A family returning from Nashik loses the father-son duo, as their car rams into a stationary police patrol vehicle, barely a few kms from their home. Driver fatigue suspected.

Very unfortunate.

[swissknife]

Originally Posted by for_cars1

He should have been a lot more slower at the blind curve in addition to sounding his horn to let any opposite vehicle behind the blind curve to know about his presence well in advance.

I am one that prefers not to honk. I would rather ensure that I am aware of my surroundings and take appropriate actions. Warning other people and expecting them to take action is not as defensive as one taking their own actions. Yes, one could say that the warning could help the other to be aware, but at times I have found it to be distracting and annoying as well. With everyone honking, one may miss the crucial one as well.

[locusjag]

Originally Posted by GutsyGibbon

My parents live at a T junction, and the sounds of the horn can be heard 24/7, with pretty much everyone being immune to this honk.

Originally Posted by swissknife

With everyone honking, one may miss the crucial one as well.

I agree. If the streets were strewn with Gold, it wouldn't be worth it at all. A thing has to be rare for it to be valued.

A honk on the road in some countries will get everyone within earshot to stop what they're doing and double check to ensure they haven't done anything wrong or unsafe. That's how a honk ought to work.

Honks on our roads are just background noise for most of us because everyone honks all the time with no rhyme nor reason. Hell, those who aren't paying attention to a live situation around them on the road aren't going to pay any attention to ambient background noise are they?

[Rahul Rao]

Originally Posted by blackwasp

The report mentions on the reduction in fatalities as the talking point. The 43% figure is just the fall in number of people dying, not total mishaps.

This started with the cops penalizing trucks in the RHS lane, but that actually messed up the traffic, with one slow truck blocking 20 others and 2 lanes at dead halt.

Then they changed it to truck constantly in fast lane for more than 500M, and along with that penalizing the cars that cut lanes just ahead of the truck.

Lastly is the liquidity crunch every business faces, previously small business people like me never thought of driving to Mumbai alone Expenses like Diesel + toll about Rs1500 once a week and 40k for a set of tires end of every summer was no issue. Today these expenses count, so most of us ask around if some one else we know is going and share vehicles. So today truck to car ratio is very much in favor of trucks, and trucks do drive properly when there are no cars and bikes (not applicable to exp way) zipping around them.

Originally Posted by Vik0728

Man, that is one of the freakiest mishaps I have read...sends chills down my spine to even imagine the final moments of the occupants, especially the ones in Auto!!

Unless the bus was zipping through some by-lanes, why would an open well be near a roadway is just beyond me

If you see closely the well parapet wall has also been taken down by the bus pushing the Auto with it's 8 occupants ahead of it.

Rahul