[swissknife]

Originally Posted by autocrat

Overtaking (passing) from left is not a good practice

It is not without reason that I refer to it as "undertaking".
It's just lucky that no one was injured.

Drive safe.

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by NKN

This happened with us on 15th Feb.

I'll not repeat more what others have already told but I'll actually thank you for posting this. This is a wonderful lesson for people on highway driving.
Till date my wife has around 10000kms of driving experience in Bengaluru. But I've not yet let her drive on highways. She has been telling me that she is confident of driving but I'm telling her to gain more experience. I've told her many times that city and Highway driving are very different. I'll show her this video for sure to show that and educate her.
The speeds of all vehicles here are rather less. Had it been higher, your car would've toppled.Had this been in city speeds, the case would've been very different IMO...Either your wife wouldn't have attempted that move or the hit wouldn't have sent your car on a spin. I'm actually sorry for the Tata truck guy who collided with your car for no mistake of his. If he has not asked you for compensation, you are lucky on that count too.

Originally Posted by paragsachania

all our overtakes, you may never be able to comply with that here.

True. The same applies to NECE road in Bengaluru. Actually, a colleague asked me "is it NICE Road?" as soon as he saw the video.
Considering this sad reality, the person driving from the shoulder and joining the legal slow lane has to be extra careful while doing that. He/She must make sure there is more space...much more than normal.

[KL01toKA03]

https://www.manoramaonline.com/fastt...-accident.html

This is not an accident only because of the presence of mind of the fire truck driver. Despite the flashing lights on the fire truck, I'll be surprised if the water tank on the truck was full. The fire truck seems to have stopped immediately after it saw the car/lights of the car.

A bad choice for the location of the bus stop seems to be the primary cause of this "almost an accident". It is a common occurrence in India, but I'm still amazed at what the car driver did. He seems to have valued 2 or 3 seconds of his time over his life.

[earthian]

First of all, very glad to hear that you and your family are safe. Yes, it must have been a great shock and probably spoilt your holiday, but luckily no one was injured.

I travelled on this road on the same date 15th Feb going from Ahmedabad to Surat and back again on the 16th. The 3 lane road of NH 48 is woefully inadequate, and truck drivers are loathe to use the left most lane since there are umpteen scooters, m/cs and rickshaws which use them, particularly near a town or when crossing a village/town. Thus, the big vehicles use the centre lane and the rightmost lane, sometimes boxing up the road. Under such circumstances, one has no choice (*) but to overtake from the left and sometimes use the emergency lane in the Expressway (N-1).

I used to get righteously offended, in fact angry, when anyone overtook from the left or used the emergency lane. That was when the roads were not so heavy with traffic-maybe a decade back. Yesterday, when coming back from Surat, i may have used the emergency lane quite a few times for passing boxed up lanes. My wife, who like me used to get righteously angry and irritated as such practice earlier, was also quiet. What does one do? The slow moving traffic must keep to the left, but they don't. And there is no police or authority which enforces this-at least in our neck of the woods. Thus, after venting your spleen on multiple occasions-without any result- one does what everyone else does.

i am not justifying my using the emergency lane or over taking from the left- that was and is wrong- just narrating how in the absence of effective policing, people would resort to what ever means to achieve their ends-within moral limits, of course. Recently, when we were pulled up for speeding by the Rajasthan police on NH 58, we pointed out to the slow moving traffic on the right lane and the police were genuinely surprised at our umbrage- But sir, the trucks are only going at 60 kmph! was the policeman's comment.

Let's face it. The whole system needs to be overhauled thoroughly. The licensing process, educating all, including enforcers, about safe road usage, rights and courtesies, enforcement and quick penal action. Oh! Did i miss our corruption?

It can be done. Recently when we were at Bali and moving around by a chauffeur driven car, we were pleasantly surprised to see the patience, courtesy and compliance to rules by nearly all road users-only the tourists who hired vehicles-mostly scooters- were non compliant.

(*) Of course we have a choice-of going slow and patiently following the road hogs.

[BoneCollector]

Situational Awareness , a very common thing which almost everyone misses. It is something that should be inculcated and made into a habit. I've had many a discussions on this with my brother, how there are many accidents/incidents/situations that could have been avoided by a person being situationally aware of his surroundings.

Originally Posted by NKN

This happened with us on 15th Feb.

Glad to see that you guys escaped unscathed. Everyone has pointed out the mistakes and I'm not going to delve into the circumstances leading to it.

This incident reminded me of another one where a senior of my brother met with an accident in his Accent. He had graduated from a Santro and was driving the Accent like one. He overtook a truck from left and cut across before the car would have completed clearing it. The first hit was on right side boot and his car spun out of control. When it finally stopped, it had turned into another hatchback! Thankfully, he also did not suffer any major physical injury except to his driving confidence. He has been driving sedately since then, more cautiously.

Originally Posted by KL01toKA03

This is not an accident only because of the presence of mind of the fire truck driver.

The video has been sped up. It appears to be happening very quickly.

He seems to have valued 2 or 3 seconds of his time over his life.

Like I said earlier, lack of situational awareness.

[KL01toKA03]

Originally Posted by BoneCollector

The video has been sped up. It appears to be happening very quickly.

I watched it again, and have to agree with you.

Also, it does not look like this is from a CCTV. Why would someone record a seemingly uneventful section of a road?

[sairamboko]

Originally Posted by NKN

Prima facie, from the dash cam footage it looks like a tight squeeze, but my wife mentions that the traffic pace was slow, there was enough space for the car to get through and the truck would not have hit had he not turned. Anyways, there is no point going that rout since the damage is done.
Any pointers in dealing with the claims process will be helpful and I hope the entire process will be smooth. Any fellow members who is from this area and can provide any assistance please unicat. Thanks for reading

Hi NKN ! First of all , thank god that nothing happened to you or your family. As multiple t-bhpians said, we know who is at fault here after viewing the dashcam footage. First, relax and try to see how to get your car fixed. Insurance claim is straight forward and easy process. You got help quickly, which is good. Once the car is fixed, just show your wife the footage and ask her to correct her mistake in future. We all commit mistakes and we learn from it. Learn from this mistake and ensure we are driving safe All the best in getting in your car fixed soon!

[NKN]

Originally Posted by sairamboko

Hi NKN ! First of all , thank god that nothing happened to you or your family. As multiple t-bhpians said, we know who is at fault here after viewing the dashcam footage. First, relax and try to see how to get your car fixed. Insurance claim is straight forward and easy process. You got help quickly, which is good. Once the car is fixed, just show your wife the footage and ask her to correct her mistake in future. We all commit mistakes and we learn from it. Learn from this mistake and ensure we are driving safe All the best in getting in your car fixed soon!

Thanks All for your comments & wishes. My better half has already seen the footage multiple times and realizes the blunder. At least for today, she refused to take the wheel even within the city. I hope she regains her confidence and starts driving soon. Thanks again...

[NiInJa]

While waiting for my dad's car to be delivered after service, I saw a young woman and an old lady entering the waiting area. They were pretty shaken up, the lady's hair was undone and both were pretty messed up. The old lady was holding her arm with the other hand and hiding her pain. They were offered water and made to wait, while their Eeco was towed into the service bay. Apparently, the car/van had rolled over and slid on the right side. There was a lot of stuff (tiffins, a large water bottle ) kept in the boot and it had fallen on the occupants in the rear seat thus hurting them. Luckily everyone was safe, the driver wasn't at the service center but was doing fine as per the tow truck driver. He was saying that the driver swerved hard for some reason and caused the car to roll and slide.

I wondered how that could be possible, at what speeds does a Eeco roll over ? aren't these cars tested for rollover thresholds ? And wont the anti-roll bars help avoid such instances ?

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by NiInJa

....
I wondered how that could be possible, at what speeds does a Eeco roll over ? aren't these cars tested for rollover thresholds ? And wont the anti-roll bars help avoid such instances ?

It's a tall car on rather skinny tires, so not really hard to roll over, even at legal speeds if circumstances align. A sharp enough swerve is pretty likely to do it, esp. if bad weight distribution is a factor (e.g. unsecured cargo in the boot).

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by NKN

Thanks All for your comments & wishes. My better half has already seen the footage multiple times and realizes the blunder. At least for today, she refused to take the wheel even within the city. I hope she regains her confidence and starts driving soon. Thanks again...

Living and learning is the thing. Respect to your wife.

It's very important that she does get behind the wheel as soon as possible. They say that the longer one leaves it, the harder it is, and I can believe that. My mum used to say, "If you fall off a horse you must get straight back on again, or you will be afraid of riding ever again."

Best wishes to Mrs NKN.

[Zed]

Originally Posted by NKN

Thanks All for your comments & wishes. My better half has already seen the footage multiple times and realizes the blunder. At least for today, she refused to take the wheel even within the city. I hope she regains her confidence and starts driving soon. Thanks again...

Any accident you can walk away from is a good one!
Its a common human reaction to not want to get behind the wheel after such an incident. Im sure I speak on behalf of the T-BHP community when I say this : you just need to give your better half some time to get over the incident. And support\encourage her (only) when she is ready to take the wheel. We all learn and grow from our mistakes.

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by NiInJa

I wondered how that could be possible, at what speeds does a Eeco roll over ? aren't these cars tested for rollover thresholds ? And wont the anti-roll bars help avoid such instances ?

I once witnessed an omni flip over at about 30kmph negotiating a roundabout only because the driver came in shallow but realised he wouldn't be able to take the turn, so he turned sharper. It just flipped upside down and landed on its roof. Eeco is still higher, so I'm sure in capable hands in can do the same much better.

[drivingme.crazy]

Originally Posted by NKN

This happened with us on 15th Feb.

You should thank heavens nobody's hurt. Since fellow Bhpians pointed out the mistakes, I would like to add something that I noticed in inexperienced drivers. They forget to consider the length of car in these situations (same with taking U-turns. They start turning the wheel fully without judging the length of the vehicle). You need at-least two vehicles distance if you want to overtake a bigger vehicle and go in front of it. Cutting lanes, squeezing in and slowing down abruptly is equally dangerous. If there's not enough space, don't. If you can't judge with your rear view, don't. If I'm not wrong (feel free to correct), your rear view mirror should be set 15-20% to show your car's body and rest for the view behind.

[swissknife]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

skinny tires, so not really hard to roll over

At 195 or 205 mm, I don't think the tyres are skinnny. Unless the OEM sizes were changed.