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While this unequivocal condemnation of the ambulance driver will have takers, I for one believe that one must look not just at the direct but also at the contributory causes for the accident - else, air crash investigators world over could simply write "Pilot Error" in every file and be home in time for an early dinner. All those other things - the road quality, presence of the cow, waterlogging - are worth studying; so that lessons could be learnt and future accidents could be prevented (which is the purpose of this thread).

For sure, I too believe, there must be takers for drawing parallel with air crashes and its complexities till the early dinner point.

I also agree with the points contributing to such scenarios worth studying. However, since, there are enough studies and analysis already available in many platforms about these parameters, my limited understanding of the situation along with surfaced video proofs of the speed and momentum with which that vehicle crashed, makes me wonder, what makes a person approach the toll at that speed, that too when road conditions are not favorable. And this behavior is not uncommon.

Yes, if, the driver was having some health issues or the vehicle ended up with some unexpected mechanical issues which led to this, that's unfortunate. Else, whatever may be the reason, it is driver's responsibility to adapt and drive defensively, even more when road conditions are not favorable due to whatever reasons.

RIP those who lost their lives for no fault of theirs.

I don't think there is any abbreviation that will help if one is aquaplaning, because there is no contact between wheel and road. Tyre condition, though, might be a factor, as the purpose of the tread is to clear water.

And no, I can't see anything or anyone else to blame but the driver.

I missed your post, even though it was just before mine saying much the same thing. Sorry.

The authorities have made all the efforts in this stretch to alert the drivers. There are lots of warning signs about this being accident prone zone and once I remember there was even a voice recording that keeps repeating to GO SLOW.

The stretch has good wide road and looks deceptively easy and that is possibly a reason for so many accidents here.

This makes a good case to follow the road signs and slow down in accident prone areas which are generally marked well on the highways.

This angle gives clear clarity, even though his job demands him to take risks, it should always be a calculative one. As the lane is not in straight line, how on earth the driver was doing that speed? Doesn't he have basic instinct of reducing his speed? For sure it's drivers mistake, however our infrastructures are, you as a driver should have control over it; else you are not fit to drive.

No doubt about it. Unless hit by an asteroid, all errors are caused by one driver or the other.

There is a video clip going around on YouTube with the injured driver blaming the cow for losing control.

In rushing to the hospital to save one, injuring and killing a few on the way :Frustrati

Before the driver is berated further, please keep in mind the Human Factor.

Having driven a stretched, stiffened accident victim in my friends Honda City with the victim's legs protruding out of the rear doors and they not closing fully, and his wife crying vehemently on the rear seat, I can surely tell, that it is so easy to pass judgements on bad driving, over speeding in such situations. The real, in the ambulance situation, would be completely different. There were four family members in it and it was raining.

I salute the driver for his efforts, however I also feel that he was OVERSPEEDING. As mentioned in my earlier post, he knew the protocol and must have driven through this toll section multiple times at similar speeds.

One cannot predict hydroplaning, I once hydroplaned at 100 km/hr on a water logged road. I decided to drive at reduced speed near water logged sections, but I again hydroplaned, this time around 50 km/hour.

I don't think we can expect an ambulance to drive at less than 50 km/hour. I don't know what is the minimum speed at which hydroplaning will not occur. If anybody knows, please help me with it.

Sir, with due respect, you need to respect the road conditions while driving. Driving 90 km/hr on a normal day is totally different than driving on a rainy day. Again I reiterate, his job demands him to drive so and he is driving to save a life, but it shouldn't be blind. EOD Ambulance is also a normal vehicle and infact some may have 0 star ratings as well. So the consequences should be thought upon.

We have driver's statement to the police now.

"The ambulance driver, Roshan Rodrigues, who sustained injuries, told media persons: “There were emergency gates for vehicles (such as ambulances) and as I came across, the staff were removing the barricades and I saw a cow in the middle of the road. I applied brakes and the vehicle toppled after skidding.”

https://indianexpress.com/article/ci...-8043990/lite/


A cow came in front of the emergency gate and he had to brake. Not sure if this is the truth. Police to verify the claim.

You are not a professional. This is what such a driver should be trained for. They have to bear with such scenes, and worse, every day.

:thumbs up
This is the fundamental difference. If people have seen what you have seen then, they will not be defending the kind of driving that was seen in the video. Emergency vehicles do not have a free pass to fly through intersections or gates like this. They slowdown, observe and move after ensuring that the path is clear.

You DO NOT enter a toll plaza at that velocity and especially not under wet conditions. The risks far outweigh the benefits. The below video might help you understand.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMPBPSyJ0H8


You think they are trained for it? Far out, man. No way they get trained.

It doesn't help when people are fed with stories of how brave Ambulance drivers drove courageously (fast) to transport patients/organs between cities. Its possibly different when there's a police escort vehicle ahead of them but not always.

This again a unwanted race gone bad. A Thar and BMW car got into a race, the Thar driver was DUI, not sure about the BMW driver, but the end result was a total disaster resulting in a death.


https://www.onmanorama.com/news/kera...er-killed.html

https://youtu.be/9ggVgqBvVks

Even as I wrote that I had my doubts.

But those who drive the ambulances every day at least have every day experience of the emotional stress involved and must be more able to deal with it than we would be if we are driving our own family member.

Others have, no doubt, followed the news in more detail, but I did notice, in a newspaper article, the assertion that the driver had been told he had to reach within a given time.

I read in the forum in a thread, where someone had so aptly said, " Only the driver must decide, how fast he should drive according to the conditions, no matter the urgency".

Quite often, when we travel in private cabs/other vehicles, we tend to ask the driver, to drive faster; which is wrong.

2-3 years ago, when my kid was 1.5 year old, we are traveling in an Innova to a distant place. Due to heavy traffic, the journey took long and kid got bored and started crying a lot.

Everyone in the car forced the driver to drive fast and he too got confused with the persistent crying by the kid, he started hitting 100kmph speeds and I was tensed and looking at him from the front passenger seat.

There was a left hand curve and with a lake on the right side and there's no support walls too. He took the curve at that 100 speed and almost veered till edge, balanced and straightened back. I had my heart in my mouth on that day.

That's the last trip we did with kid on a private car and I had decided that, only I will drive, when my kid is traveling with me. I don't take my kid even on my bike except for school, which is close by.

This is the curve and we can see the lake with algae on the right.

Road undulations, bridge connectors, entry and exit ramps with heavy curves, unscientific banking, water logging on highways due to clogged drainages etc are factors that could throw a driver off guard. These can be managed by a driver only if he/she is equipped with knowledge of 'how to drive'.

To an extend, all these can be still mitigated if the driver follows the road signages, signboard warnings, speed limits etc. But a majority of the drivers don't do most of this, purely due to the fact that they are not aware, which again leads back to the basic problem of improperly handing over license to drive to every one who turns 18.

Driving license is seen as an entitlement than a real 'license'.