Team-BHP - Accidents in India

Two accidents reported above, two high end big cars from the Top German Brands BMW and Mercedes which are known for sturdy and safe builds were involved in them, people traveling in them died.

Then hey people, stop feeling proud of those tinny Tatas, VWs, Skodas and please stop taking the driving for granted. Pay respect to the traffic rules, care for yourself and other road users.

And off-course, please get rid of your obsession with your mobile phones and those big screens fitted in your cars while driving, please drive with fully conscious mind and do not leave the driving on the mercy of the sub-conscious mind.

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Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom (Post 5393742)

A 20 year old has the experience to drive a BMW at high speeds? Of course, he thought so.

This is a problem with youth everywhere.

This is tragic. I am 20 years old and this behaviour gives youth a bad name in general. It’s very important to be aware of a car’s limits as well as one’s own. Progression is the key. I got my manners sorted early in my humble Honda city before I went onto faster, more powerful machines. May his soul rest in peace.

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Originally Posted by MT_Hyderabad (Post 5394089)

In the end, if you didn't hurt anyone, or even bad, killed someone, you did a good job.

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I have shared a similar video of mine in the past, the situation was exactly the same. Had I braked, I would have killed the biker behind me and may have killed the biker in front too due to tyres getting locked.
https://youtu.be/GP-sLTYCoDM

Sorry to say but in this video you should have braked. Does your car not have ABS? Why are you scared to brake and swerve at the same time? Btw if some biker was tailgating you it’s his fault and he’d have paid for it. Don’t make an error of your own in trying to correct for an error of someone else.

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Originally Posted by throttleflick (Post 5394217)

Don't you think the seat belts might be removed to rescue the occupants and transfer them to a medical care facility post the accident? How can one ascertain non usage of seat belts in that case?

I did consider this earlier. Belts are usually cut to take out occupants in some scenarios. But, then I saw the position of the co-passenger belt and loading on the front seats. A clear indication of lack of belt usage by 3 occupants. Not sure of the driver (no clear photos yet).

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Originally Posted by deetee (Post 5394219)

From the photos shared on social media, that is not a divider but concrete barricade at the beginning of a bridge. The road shoulders near the spot are all wet, seems due to a recent rain. Car was seen lying at an angle of about 30deg to the road, impact being on the front left-middle section. Intial impact may be in a straight line but Car might have bounced and moved into that position after the impact.

Thanks for sharing the photos. Looking at the traffic flow and the vehicle's final positions my guess is that the vehicle crossed the median and hit the wall at the edge of the opposite direction. The vehicle trajectory could be a result of avoidance.

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Originally Posted by StopUnderrides (Post 5394231)

Not so. If you don’t sterilise needles there’s a 1 in 1000 chance you’ll get infected with HIV. So because 999 times you won’t get infected will you stop using disposable needles? The purpose of defensive driving is to not be “lucky”. It’s to be safe inspite of the uncertainties the road throws at you.

Sorry to say but in this video you should have braked. Does your car not have ABS? Why are you scared to brake and swerve at the same time? Btw if some biker was tailgating you it’s his fault and he’d have paid for it. Don’t make an error of your own in trying to correct for an error of someone else.

I don't know how the needle thing is related to this situation. But taking your example, if there is a 1 in 1000 chance of saving a life (whether it is his mistake or mine, I will take it).

We can easily hide behind defensive driving word and berate the driver for driving at 108 km/hr on an Indian highway, but this is not the solution. Moreover swerving is also a defensive driving technique. Not as per your rule book, but I shared a link below.

In the cow instance, if the driver braked and swerved at the same time, the auto was gone. See the video again. We need a simulation here, like aviation investigations. :)

My rule of thumb: if it is safe to avoid impact, avoid it. Braking or not braking is very much situation based. I do not have a rule written in stone, that always brake when this happens.
For example, if it is a dog on the road in place of that cow, I would have braked in a straight line, holding the steering tight with a blaring horn.
When there is a cow, a 300 to 400 kg moving mass, I will look for opportunities to avoid impact.
My mind will decide in that moment what to do, given the limited info it has. After seeing the video and knowing the outcome, it may tell me different thing or the same thing.
A helpful video below:
https://youtu.be/qt7TsZLV3i4
You can also go the link below for more info on situations where swerving is acceptable (especially with large animals)
https://www.wawanesa.com/us/blog/avo...akes-or-swerve
My request to you: Please appreciate people who saved lives, even if they did not go as per your rule book. They may have done what was the most correct thing to do in that situation. Remembering the movie "Sully: Miracle on the Hudson"

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Originally Posted by CEF_Beasts (Post 5394188)

When will kids and their parents understand that a 340hp car is not a joke!! With great power comes greater responsibility…

The M340i puts out 387 BHP in stock form itself. So not a joke by any means. I know adults who take it easy even with the regular 3, and use mostly the Ecopro mode until they get to know the car better. That level of maturity comes with only age and experience. Would also help the cause if it was not Papa's wealth but hard earned by self.

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Originally Posted by MT_Hyderabad (Post 5394289)

In the cow instance, if the driver braked and swerved at the same time, the auto was gone. See the video again. We need a simulation here, like aviation investigations. :)

I don’t agree looking at the video.

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Braking or not braking is very much situation based. I do not have a rule written in stone, that always brake when this happens.

Makes sense. I never asked not to swerve. I’m saying that it doesn’t need to be either, or between braking and swerving

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My request to you: Please appreciate people who saved lives, even if they did not go as per your rule book. They may have done what was the most correct thing to do in that situation. Remembering the movie "Sully: Miracle on the Hudson"

These incidents are not at all comparable. 3 min 10 seconds elapsed between the bird strike and the Hudson ditching. Sully had over a minute to decide the right course of action.

In this case the driver had to make a split second decision. If you are saying in that split second he logically reasoned out stuff I don’t accept it. In this case it was mostly the “primal” response to “looming” which turned out to be correct.

We should not appreciate something which went well by chance-just because it went well :Frustrati. One needs to understand the deficits and train oneself so that we don’t need to rely on chance next time. By the way even his steering response was quite delayed. Braking would have allowed him to steer even more without rolling over or sliding across.

https://www.researchgate.net/publica...king_responses

Cyrus Mistry Killed in Highway Crash
A Doyen of Indian Business community gone too soon. RIP Sir

1. Mercedes High end Car
2. Driven by a Gynaecologist Lady doctor
3. Wrong side overtake at speed
4. High speed crash hitting concrete railings on Bridge
5. Front occupants survived whilst backseat occupants both died(Not buckled up??)

Such a dangerous maneovoure is extremely risky even for a race driver on our roads with its scant protection around bridges/dividers. Usually these bridges on national highway have an additional lane for a false sense of security. But that additional lane disappears as suddenly as it appeared. Remember a similar incident from one of my drives a few years back. Thankfully I was doing lower speeds in the 80s and the big fat tyres did the rest to protect me. The bridge railings were nearly invisible as its out of sight when doing a wrong side overtake(necessitated by Trucks hogging the overtaking lanes all along the highway)

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Originally Posted by SuperbNavigator (Post 5394471)

...
I have one query regarding this accident. It seems it was frontal impact with divider. But front row passenger and driver survived by gods grace but unfortunetely not the back seat passengers. How could that happen in a mercedes can someone explain?
...

Simple - They weren't wearing seatbelts at the rear. When crashing with stationary reinforced objects like a bridge / divider the 'G' levels are way higher than when crashing into another vehicle where the energy is absorbed by both the vehicles.

In this case there would have been an abrupt impact causing the unbelted rear occupants to be thrown on the front seats at very high G levels thus proving fatal.

Mercedes or any other equally safe car, the result would be very similar for this type of accident. The car has actually taken the impact very well and the front passengers surviving is proof of that.

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Originally Posted by MT_Hyderabad (Post 5393749)

Anyways, another Indian Highway; Another Cow running across. Luckily, this guy had what it takes to avoid a head on collision. No panic braking, kept the car under control and saved a few lives.

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Originally Posted by StopUnderrides (Post 5394053)

He did not brake at all. I don’t think his response was ideal. He was lucky that the cow did not cross over to the left.

Looks like he could have seen the cow jumping across the median a second earlier if the speed was less. May be if he was around the legal speed limit of 80? I see that guy as lucky, not as an experienced driver.

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Originally Posted by SuperbNavigator (Post 5394471)

Very unfortunate accident and may god give peace to decesed.

I have one query regarding this accident. It seems it was frontal impact with divider. But front row passenger and driver survived by gods grace but unfortunetely not the back seat passengers. How could that happen in a mercedes can someone explain?

https://www.onmanorama.com/news/indi...-speeding.html

Apparently, not wearing seat belts and the high speed at time of impact. Wonder how they figured out that the car covered 20kms in 9 minutes. Speed cams?

WARNING: GORE