[StopUnderrides]

As both the lanes were busy, he tried his luck to overtake both the cars by using the available space in bike lane

A similar incident happened with me in Bangalore within city limits. As you know on most city roads there is no space for 3 lanes. I was in the middle lane near the Peenya Metro station just before a break in the median where vehicles take a U turn. One is supposed to keep the right lane free here unless one needs to take a U turn. A Fortuner was attempting to overtake me by squeezing in from my right even though he wanted to go straight ahead. The road also narrows a bit after this point. Then looking at a couple of pedestrians (maybe he panicked) plus the narrowing road he chose to side swipe me from my right instead of braking and aborting the overtake. Thankfully I was in my XUV 700 which is also a large vehicle. There was a dent to the right panel above the mudguard to my car.
I can't help but be biased because most of the Fortuners that I see are driven rashly. There would typically be a politician in the back seat with some goons. One of the goons rides shotgun with the driver. The drivers seem to behave as if they are driving an auto rickshaw that can squeeze in anywhere.

Post this experience I'm inclined to now "hog" the right lane near unsignaled U turns to prevent drivers from trying out such "squeezing" in manoeuvres. Somehow drivers in our country feel that overtaking is a fundamental right and the car being overtaken has the job of creating enough space for the overtaking car

[MT_Hyderabad]

If one wants to protest, protest keeping safety in mind and always wear a helmet. Hundred bikers can't save one from accident; when it has to happen, it will happen.

https://youtu.be/BhwUJ53Lb-U

The other video is very unfortunate. It can happen with anyone. The driver of the lorry was too careless. God save us from these drivers.

https://youtu.be/KukU6eY3Lcg

[Maverick5490]

Originally Posted by MT_Hyderabad

The other video is very unfortunate. It can happen with anyone. The driver of the lorry was too careless. God save us from these drivers.

https://Youtu.be/KukU6eY3Lcg

Partly a fault of the car with the camera as well. He could have easily backed off and let him go instead of sticking to these stupid drivers. How different is his driving compared to the pick up truck?

[MT_Hyderabad]

Originally Posted by Maverick5490

Partly a fault of the car with the camera as well. He could have easily backed off and let him go instead of sticking to these stupid drivers. How different is his driving compared to the pick up truck?

I think he gave enough time for the lorry to make the move. As this guy didn't show any indication of coming to the right lane, he went into it. This would be done by anyone in this situation.
Some fast drivers will not even give this much time and straight away occupy the space behind the truck.
Had he slowed down further, someone would have overtaken him from the left and occupied this space. It happens so often with me and I end up cursing the 'enough gap from the vehicle in front' rule.

[StopUnderrides]

Originally Posted by MT_Hyderabad

The other video is very unfortunate. It can happen with anyone. The driver of the lorry was too careless. God save us from these drivers.

https://Youtu.be/KukU6eY3Lcg

Doesn't have to happen if one is a defensive driver.
The driver of the car coming behind the pickup had no need to fill the gap and move in parallel to the pickup given that there was a slow truck in front of it. This could have been avoided with defensive driving by not moving parallel to the pickup and thereby giving oneself an "out". The pickup driver is an obvious idiot.

Originally Posted by MT_Hyderabad

I
Had he slowed down further, someone would have overtaken him from the left and occupied this space. It happens so often with me and I end up cursing the 'enough gap from the vehicle in front' rule.

He could have honked enough to give the pickup driver a warning that he's occupying the right lane behind the truck. When in Rome behave like a Roman. Not sure why some Indian drivers in the modern era are reluctant to honk even when it's really needed

[MT_Hyderabad]

Originally Posted by StopUnderrides

Doesn't have to happen if one is a defensive driver.
The driver of the car coming behind the pickup had no need to fill the gap and move in parallel to the pickup given that there was a slow truck in front of it.

He could have honked enough to give the pickup driver a warning that he's occupying the right lane behind the truck.

I don't understand the lack of defensive driving in this situation.
This guy didn't accelerate. Kept a lot of distance from the vehicle in front.
Kept enough space for the truck to overtake even if the truck driver moves right gradually. Unfortunately, truck driver made a very sudden and very strong move without any hand signal and of course no indicators.
I wholeheartedly blame the truck driver alone for this incident.
I agree, honking would have saved the day for the car driver, may be he did. Some bus drivers and truck drivers do not entertain honks in these situations, they make their move irrespective of what we do. The smaller vehicle has to oblige.

[sravankrishnan]

Originally Posted by MT_Hyderabad

I don't understand the lack of defensive driving in this situation.

It's clear that the truck behind could see nothing of the road ahead because the idiot was too close to two trucks moving parallel. A defensive driver would not have tried to fill the gap as he then wouldn't be able to see anything ahead either. Also since the truck driver was blinded it was highly likely that he would have made some mistake or the other.

Sure, the truck driver turned abruptly to the right but someone sensible wouldn't have poked their nose in the gap in the first place. Also I can't see the brake lights on the truck on the front in the left lane despite it seemingly slowing down.

[deetee]

Originally Posted by MT_Hyderabad

The other video is very unfortunate. It can happen with anyone. The driver of the lorry was too careless. God save us from these drivers.

https://Youtu.be/KukU6eY3Lcg

I don't understand what triggered the pickup abruptly changing lanes. Can someone fill in please. It seems the pickup, while climbing divider, scraped the bumper of the car (from which video was shot).

[sravankrishnan]

Originally Posted by deetee

I don't understand what triggered the pickup abruptly changing lanes.

To me it looks like the truck ahead of the pickup slowed down a bit, judging from its position relative to the truck on the right. Since the pickup was already tailgating the truck dangerously close, he had to swerve to avoid crashing into the truck.

[MT_Hyderabad]

Originally Posted by sravankrishnan

To me it looks like the truck ahead of the pickup slowed down a bit, judging from its position relative to the truck on the right. Since the pickup was already tailgating the truck dangerously close, he had to swerve to avoid crashing into the truck.

They all were slowing down at the intersection. The moment they crossed that area, the big truck on the right accelerated quickly, making it appear that others are slowing down, which was not the case. The truck on the left on seeing the right lane getting cleared faster, changed lanes without observing for any other vehicle.

[sravankrishnan]

Originally Posted by MT_Hyderabad

The moment they crossed that area, the big truck on the right accelerated quickly, making it appear that others are slowing down, which was not the case.

That just doesn't seem reasonable. The truck on the right is a massive one and this is just a guess, it can't accelerate that fast be it loaded or not. This was well past the intersection as well. See how the car remains at the same distance to it. Also, watch how the distance between the left truck and the pickup changes. He swerved just as he was about to hit the truck.

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

Biker crashes into a KSRTC bus that is taking a right into the Mavelikara (KL) bus-stand.
The wet road should have made the biker slow down from normal speeds as braking & stability is affected.

Was unfortunate to witness an exactly similar accident yesterday 7PM on NH47 (it's a joke to call a narrow median-less road as NH) at Paravur (Alappuzha, KL).
I was biking from Kochi to Mavelikara & had stopped off the road to take a call.

I had just finished the call when I see a biker crash into a car that was turning right, just few meters from where I stood. The impact ripped off the car's bumper & the biker flew over the car & fell on the road.

It was dark, the road was full of traffic & the biker should have been slower & cautious. The car did have turn indicator switched on, but not sure if he looked enough for oncoming traffic before turning.

Helpful folks moved the biker to a hospital & ensured his belongings were safe till the cops would arrive. The car had to be pushed to the side - I guess it wasn't starting.

The impact of the fall would itself cause injuries. Hope he recovers. Nothing about it in today's newspaper.

[MT_Hyderabad]

Originally Posted by sravankrishnan

That just doesn't seem reasonable. The truck on the right is a massive one and this is just a guess, it can't accelerate that fast be it loaded or not. This was well past the intersection as well. See how the car remains at the same distance to it. Also, watch how the distance between the left truck and the pickup changes. He swerved just as he was about to hit the truck.

I am telling what is visible.
The truck on the right went passed the truck on the left. It was accelerating after the intersection.
The truck on the left was overloaded. If it had braked, it could not have picked up speed so quickly after the accident. See how both the trucks zoomed passed maintaining the same distance after the accident.

[jinojohnt]

Originally Posted by silversteed

Some factual errors in this post.
1. KSRTC buses (for that matter, all heavy commercial vehicles) sold after the mid nineties have power steering in India - it's mandated by law. This particular bus is less than 7 years old.
2. A bus steering is far easier to handle than that of some cars.

Thanks for the correction @silversteed, I was not aware of power steering in Kerala RTC buses. The drivers sure look strained when turning the steering when stationary, though. If they do have power steering, I don't see any reason other than arrogance and lack of empathy for this kind of driving.

[sravankrishnan]

Originally Posted by MT_Hyderabad

If it had braked, it could not have picked up speed so quickly after the accident.

Who said it lost much speed in the first place? The truck on the left did not have to hit the brakes too hard to catch the pickup driver out because he was tailgating very close already. A light tap on the brakes or even a lift-off for a downshift would have been enough. If you focus on just the two on the left you can clearly see the distance between them drop just before the swerve and that's what I have been referring to all along. That wouldn't happen if it was only due to the truck on the right accelerating, would it?

And this happened hundreds of meters past the intersection. You can even see the brake lights of the pickup coming on occasionally after it passed the intersection and it drops further from the right truck as well. That shows the truck on the right was only accelerating only gradually.

More to the point, see the frame instantly after the pickup hits the car. His brake lights are already on. Now either his reaction time is godly or more likely he was braking before the car hit him. If the latter was true then he was swerving to avoid the truck and not trying to fill the gap on the right.