Team-BHP - Accidents in India

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vkap257 (Post 5512435)

Came across this unfortunate video on social media.

Is the grand vitara supposed to crumple from the top of A pillar to B pillar like that? This personally raises serious questions for me about the rollover protection provided in this car.

My opinion here . And to sensationalise something is what Vloggers do to gain views. If you've seen the video, you'll understand the mechanics involved and not what the video voice over says. I've been through a rear ending and trust me, it's all luck.

That's a freak accident. After watching the video several times, I thought of the following points:
1. The bus driver was overtaking a smaller vehicle, so the bus was slightly off the yellow middle stripe.
2. The Xylo was speeding at acceptable speeds on the empty road. (It was a small road, though).
3. Although two cars were parked next to the bus stop on the left side, the Xyle driver wasn't aware of the overtaking bus as they didn't try to move the vehicle toward the left until the collision. It felt like Xyle straightaway went to hit the bus. The Xylo driver didn't see or anticipate any vehicle coming from the opposite direction. I guess the same case with the bus driver.
4. Both cars were at slightly high speeds, so controlling the vehicles was out of the question.

Seeing such accidents on the road was sad, and I hope everyone was safe during this freak show.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MT_Hyderabad (Post 5512331)

@ shankarbn

I don't think we should be that rude to a person who is sharing what he learnt with others. Do you think he will repeat that mistake again?
If you cannot appreciate the effort or the intention of the post, at least don't depriciate. This discourages others from sharing their experiences aka mistakes.

When I drive my wife's car, I do adjust the seat. However, sometimes in a hurry (like kid's bus waiting at the society gate), I spend much less time adjusting it, which means that I do not do it properly.

There are people who view the road 'through' the steering wheel, as the seat does not have height adjustment, but they want 'big SUV'. They adjust according to this lack of adjustment. I reserve my rants for them. rl:

Thanks for your perspective. I appreciate it. Please re read your own post.

If ever I am in a hurry enough to make a mistake adjusting the seat which led to an accident, I would genuinely not drive for a while and introspect instead - this is exactly what I recommended as well. Getting out of parking spaces and petrol stations is where most such avoidable instances of accidents happen. I guarantee you would feel differently if you are in the car that got hit.

Quote:

Originally Posted by shankarbn (Post 5512637)

Absolutely, introspection is the best way to learn from our mistakes.

I know that sharing my mistake will make someone uneasy. That person may even go on to think that this person should not be driving at all, as he may endanger the lives of other commuters. Fair point.

But, sharing a mistake and the associated learning has far more reach than throttling the intention by reprimanding the person at fault. Value this thought and the benefit associated with it and you will stop reprimanding the defaulter.

I do commit mistakes, may be more often than others. I am not perfect.

No one wants to be involved in an accident, no one wants to miss a flight, no one wants to fail a test, no one wants to raise disobeying children, no one wants to shout at a family member, no one wants to get infarction points, but we all more or less end up doing some of them. I have made all these mistakes I mentioned, I am not proud of any of them. I am sharing, to let others know these things happen and all of them are controllable to some extent. They can learn from my mistake or experience themselves.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom (Post 5504496)

From an early age, I was taught a belts-and-braces method of starting a car engine.

1. Check that gear lever is in neutral (this is part of the British driving test)
2. Depress clutch
3. start engine.

I have never thought about it before, but step 2 would also tell us if the seat has been moved and our feet are not in the right place for the pedals. It is, in itself, a good reason to practice this extra-safe routine.

It is also part of my practice to use the mirrors a lot. That is another way to become aware that they and/or the seats have been moved.

Love your startup routine. It's pretty similar for me, but in the winters, my car is generally parked and left in 1st gear or reverse, to ensure that the handbrake doesn't freeze up. My sequence is therefore the following.

1. Pull up the handbrake.
2. Move the gear to neutral.
3. Test reach with pedals, do a check of all mirrors, and use wiper/mirror warmer if needed to remove snow/water/condensation.
4. Press down clutch and start the engine (clutch needs to be depressed to start my car).

Step 3 alerts me if either the seat or the mirrors need adjustments. I'm a very short guy by Nordic standards, so if ever any mech/technician needs to get in and drive my car,
it would always have the seat pulled all the way back. Though it happens so rarely, the fact that I do my checks everytime means that I never find myself surprised by the setup.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ketan007 (Post 5512566)

the Xyle driver wasn't aware of the overtaking bus as they didn't try to move the vehicle toward the left until the collision. It felt like Xyle straightaway went to hit the bus. The Xylo driver didn't see or anticipate any vehicle coming from the opposite direction.

This point has been clarified in various posts based on the tire skid marks and resulting smoke. Xylo was non-ABS and tires locked on hard braking. The driver tired to turn left but couldn't.

One such post is quoted below :

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuperGirl_Dad (Post 5511158)

Here the Xylo driver sees he is driving into a wedge between an oncoming bus and stopped cars. Starts to brake - puff of smoke on rear wheel.
Attachment 2428321

Xylo goes straight as expected in non-abs vehicle, starts swerving. See front wheel turning.
Attachment 2428322

Car still slides and collides with Bus.
Attachment 2428323

Quote:

Originally Posted by msdivy (Post 5512548)

The bus is driving as per the 6th Commandment...

There is "Super Fast" painted at the back of the bus.

This results in most passengers having an unrealistic expectation that the bus should somehow fly and reach their destination in super quick time buldozing everyone else on the road.
The driver is expected to be driving like that on that "super fast" bus and also gets reprimanded by the passengers if he is found to be driving sanely - sad reality.
Signs like "limited stop" are acceptable to indicate the bus has infrequent/less stops but "super fast" is a no-no.

All such non-sensical "super fast" tags must be removed by the bus company without further delay.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MT_Hyderabad (Post 5512655)

Fair enough. We are roughly saying the same thing. Only point we do not agree on is a suggestion of introspection being categorised as reprimanding or worse, a personal attack. Apparently I gained an infraction for that.

Abject disregard for rules, people with the emotional intelligence of a pea smashing said rules out of the stratosphere out driving on roads and KSRTC drivers on a mission to flatten structures on the periphery of the roads, these variables are not going to change in the near or medium term future. The take way from this is for me is, buy the best engineered, safest possible car your budget permits, stretch it if needed, but don’t settle for a car that showers you with gadgets but comes up short on the day you and your loved ones needed that extra bit of safety to walk away unscathed when the KSRTC driver decided he needs the other lane too to execute his kamikaze overtake manoeuvre. Peace:)

Quote:

Originally Posted by deetee (Post 5510536)

Haha, I wonder how the reactions would be , had bus not been KSRTC . KSRTC has become notorious and naturally biasing the opinions. I don't need a speedgun to understand that Xylo is over speeding. Xylo is at a speed which could not be controlled in emergency, that's enough to prove fatal for it.
If I were to be in place of XYLO driver , I would have driven slower within the limits of the vehicle am driving and my control capability. The arguments of what came in front , what crossed what - comes only after that. Period.

KSRTC driver is proving the notorious "I don't care" attitude by overtaking in a curve as well as crossing the yellow line. :Frustrati Xylo driver did a panic braking after seeing KSRTC in its wrong side and two cars parked in the left so that Xylo don't have an escape route.. Lack of ABS / Locked wheels made Xylo driver helpless and vehicle sliding towards middle of road...The initiator of accident is KSRTC...

Its definitely the bus drivers fault, he shouldn't have overtook a vehicle at turning and what aggravated the situation was there were cars parked on the left side of xylo which made the xylo driver move towards the center and once he saw the bus which was rather late had he been little slower may be could have avoided the accident but still the fault lies with the bus driver.

The main issue here is KSRTC drivers very well know no matter how much they are at fault they are nowhere accountable in any way. Usually the first dialogue they give once they meet with an accident is ok you can file a case and they go to nearby tea stall lol:. Since its a govt vehicle and most private owners don't want the hassle of court case they leave it there and if they go to court as far as i know it doesn't affect the bus driver in any way, he doesn't have to pay anything. Unless the drivers become accountable for causing accidents, there is nothing much that can be done to change their mindset.

I drive to Kerala every 3 months or so and while i'm there, I drive extensively in the Idukki, Ernakulam and Kottayam belt, with occasional trips to Kollam/Trivandrum. Agreed the private buses are bad, but the KSRTC drivers take it to a different level of arrogance! They literally overtake on curves with 0 visibility in the High ranges at crazy speeds. They dont give a damn whether you run off the road or fall into a gorge or whatever, they will decide a line and keep that line no matter what. Everyone one else needs to just give way, period. I'm extremely defensive while driving in the High Range area. Though from the video its clear that the Bus was wrong by crossing the double Yellow line, there could still be many opinions about who wrong. But, unmistakably, it was the KSRTC Driver's sheer ARROGANCE which caused this accident.

I believe any other car with better driving dynamics might have saved it self, but the pathetic boat that Xylo is couldn't do much, though the driver preemptively stomped on the brakes.