[ashwinds]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

Looks like the sudden appearance of the police barricade for the Aura driver too played spoilsport.

Yes. Totally the Aura's mistake but both vehicles encountered a barricade squeezing them together. The Aura went blind though by tailgating.

[sarathlal]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

Looks like the sudden appearance of the police barricade for the Aura driver too played spoilsport.

Yes.

Unlike when we see these barricades in the videos or pictures, them appearing literally out of the blue while driving on highways can quite startle the drivers. The issue amplifies because, any one of the driver driving in any of the three lanes can cause a pileup because of this. (As we see here, three lanes suddenly becomes two and these barricades make the two lane into one - lane markings given least of botheration here)

I think due to the color scheme of these barricades, from a distance these appear like hand rails on the road sides or something like that. And traffic personal arranges them with lots of 'variety' adding onto more confusion.

[epiccross]

I hoped never to be part of this thread... and here I am Brand new car, just been ~3 months and this

Context: Was returning from the gym, driving sedately. There are a couple of reasonably steep curves. I was completely within the lane (as you can see) and moved further towards the left once the KSRTC bus was approaching. Shockingly after the front passed, the rear just hit my side door and panel! The driver came down and although he didn't apologize, he was calm and polite enough, which is a miracle these days. He claimed that somehow since the road is narrow they have to drive over the lane a bit and there was no space.

I didn't press it enough although I was sure I was completely within my lane. I always second guess myself, so assumed maybe I didn't give enough space (I didn't have to and he's 100% at fault). Dashcam footage revealed I left acres of space for this guy and he still did this.

Defensive driving and low speed saved me from a bigger impact, thankfully. The side panel tore off completely, driver door got banged up, headlight got cracked. But didn't feel a thing in the cabin except for the metal scraping noise. No damage to the engine compartment either thankfully. Drove the car slowly to my home which was 2-3 km away and called and reported to Kia RSA. The truck reached within an hour. But the body shop is a bit too far from my place, might have to go there with signed papers.

PS: Here I guess 360 cam helped me more than dashcam, clearly shows the lane markings and how the KSRTC driver hit my car.

https://youtu.be/Eh0Rnkdckrc

[Nalin1]

He encroached a bit too much when he could have easily taken a slightly wider turn. But who knows, from his position he would have spotted something which forced him to encroach. A typical India style driving scenario which needs all of us to adjust to avoid an accident.

As the bus was halfway through passing you, scrapping was imminent. You should have swerved a bit more, but you just continued. On huge buses and trucks, after the halfway mark, the driver and his focus is totally ahead and it is up to others on the road to save our souls and vehicles from them.

[epiccross]

Originally Posted by Nalin1

He encroached a bit too much when he could have easily taken a slightly wider turn. But who knows, from his position he would have spotted something which forced him to encroach. A typical India style driving scenario which needs all of us to adjust to avoid an accident.

There was nothing ahead of him. He came down and mentioned since there are electric posts etc. he had to be over the lane. You can see my rear 360 recording as well.

As the bus was halfway through passing you, scrapping was imminent. You should have swerved a bit more, but you just continued. On huge buses and trucks, after the halfway mark, the driver and his focus is totally ahead and it is up to others on the road to save our souls and vehicles from them.

I feel I was riding very close to the border of the road as is without crossing the line. I was not confident making that swerve towards that wall - more importantly, I was a bit shocked that the bus hit me. If you see the footage, he was out of his lane, and he seems to have made a swerve to get in lane without considering that he just cut in my lane and has not passed me completely. And as the rear cam footage shows, no vehicle that's approaching either. Neither did he make that excuse, that he had to swerve owing to something.

I mean you could do a ton of stuff in retrospect. The bus had acres of space in his lane and mine, just had to slow down a bit and make the turn. Buses do stay in lane there, I don't buy his excuse at all.

[Street_Smart]

Not huge buses and trucks, even in our Indian scenario, we have to be mindful of our unique three-wheeled auto-rickshaws. As long as the driver can squeeze his front wheels between the vehicles, it is up to the other people to make space for his remaining bigger back, especially in city traffic.

Mod Note : Please avoid typing with excessive dots.........like................this.

Thanks.

[epiccross]

Originally Posted by Street_Smart

Not huge buses and trucks, even in our Indian scenario, we have to be mindful of our unique Three Wheel Auto-rickshaws.... As long as the driver can squeeze his front wheels between the vehicles, it is up to the other people to make space for his remaining bigger back... especially in city traffic...

What pisses me off so much is that there was barely any traffic. He clearly saw me and still managed to hit me with his back! Did he seriously expect me to go off the road and hit the wall?!

And after all this, the attitude was very cavalier, asking "What should be done now" and justifying how there was no space. For godssakes, at least admit your mistake and apologize! I guess nobody would as it'd be deemed their fault (which it is) then. Had I been even a bit towards the center, he could have really rammed me in front, now that I think of it.

[manjubp]

Originally Posted by epiccross

What pisses me off so much is that there was barely any traffic. He clearly saw me and still managed to hit me with his back! Did he seriously expect me to go off the road and hit the wall?!

And after all this, the attitude was very cavalier, asking "What should be done now" and justifying how there was no space. For godssakes, at least admit your mistake and apologize! I guess nobody would as it'd be deemed their fault (which it is) then. Had I been even a bit towards the center, he could have really rammed me in front, now that I think of it.

If it is government/private bus, file a complaint with the transport corporation and police, with so clear evidence. Certainly a black dot on the driver profession, he will come to you to settle.

I did the same with Toyota factory bus, some 4 years back, hit was hit and run. With video I was able to confront and called up toyota transport help desk, next day morning driver was more than willing to settle.

[asmr]

Originally Posted by epiccross

I hoped never to be part of this thread...
...
PS: Here I guess 360 cam helped me more than dashcam, clearly shows the lane markings and how the KSRTC driver hit my car.

I noticed that the bus is navigating a slightly uphill S curve. I also see the lamp post that the bus driver is using as an excuse. But I think he was passing a cyclist too and came in to your lane to put a bit more width in between and simply did not expect to see you on the opposite lane.

This is another common attitude we see. When navigating S curves, many drivers try to drive straight, cutting across the middle lines, in order to compensate for vehicle length, but also to preserve speed and maybe avoid huge body rolls. This plus the overtaking of the cyclist meant the bus was simply in your lane too long. And the gradient meant that he didn't take his foot off the accelerator and hence braked late.

You were already close to your left border on the road and anything more might have scraped your left side too on the earthern walls. Yes, both could have honked, braked sooner and all that. But there was no way for you to judge whether the gap will be made or not at that instant.

The bus driver, on the other hand, has a better view and could have stopped or swerved immediately. Instead, he went on to finish his turn. And here we are.

Thankfully you are safe. Hope the insurance covered the repairs fully.

[epiccross]

Originally Posted by manjubp

If it is government/private bus, file a complaint with the transport corporation and police, with so clear evidence. Certainly a black dot on the driver profession, he will come to you to settle.

I'm in the middle of shifting to southmost part of kerala (TVM), was going to take my car and go on a long road trip and well, this happened Last thing I want right now is being called up by cops frequently and KSRTC involvement. Had I been staying here, although I really don't have any hope of outcomes being positive as it's KSRTC, I might have lodged a complaint/asked driver to settle. Now I don't have the time or energy to pursue this. Insurance should cover the damage fine.

Originally Posted by asmr

You were already close to your left border on the road and anything more might have scraped your left side too on the earthern walls. Yes, both could have honked, braked sooner and all that. But there was no way for you to judge whether the gap will be made or not at that instant.

The bus driver, on the other hand, has a better view and could have stopped or swerved immediately. Instead, he went on to finish his turn. And here we are.

Thankfully you are safe. Hope the insurance covered the repairs fully.

Thank you for understanding! I'm tired of explaining, these things happen in a matter of seconds, and you tend to make judgment calls that may not be 100% right always. People have the benefit of hindsight now, but most often not it's a reflex decision that's made in a few seconds. I absolutely didn't want to hit the pseudo wall/trees out there by swerving, I was driving just inside the white line and there's barely any space after that - it's even less than what it feels. The dashcam footage at first gives a decent idea about this lack of space. 360-camera view may have given people the wrong idea.

I should have honked, I have consciously reduced honking, especially around residential areas etc. - but honestly, at curves, I will do it now as a rule. This was truly a shocking encounter, there was hardly any traffic and I never expected the bus to cut in so much into my lane! I mean at 5 seconds, the guy is practically entirely in my lane!

[manim]

Originally Posted by sarathlal

barricades...appearing literally out of the blue while driving on highways can quite startle the drivers.

(As we see here, three lanes suddenly becomes two and these barricades make the two lane into one - lane markings given least of botheration here)

Just posted this on another thread (USA: Boston city streets to get 1,500 speed humps to help improve road safety):

Hope they also put up "Metal-Barricades" every kilometer, like here in Tamilnadu (sarcasm).

These barricades are put up in every type of roads like two-lane, four-lanes, etc. In two lanes they force opposite vehicles to have a mini race where both flash their lights on who goes first! (and thus causing road-rage accidents).

Sometimes these barricades are "multi-level", where you have to zigzag between them. Me on my power-steering and low-profile tyres have fun zigzagging, but I pity the big trucks though!

[Yieldway17]

Originally Posted by manim

Hope they also put up "Metal-Barricades" every kilometer, like here in Tamilnadu (sarcasm).

I despise the barricades prevalent in TN but the police deploys them in massive scale because of poor road design in high traffic and pedestrian places. Ultimately it saves lives and injuries at the expense of few bruised cars and trucks and it's an okay compromise in the eyes of the Police department.

Tambaram Police even managed to put barricades in the new four-lane each side GST Road near SRM and at Maraimalai Nagar to make it effectively one lane. I hate this setup but the NHAI just paved over a 300-feet road without any consideration of people living there. How are they supposed to cross even by vehicles with traffic flying by at 100-120kmph? Pedestrians are even more discarded from their planning. This should have been access controlled with service roads and pedestrian bridges at minimum. I don't blame the TN Police department at all for placing the barricades, they are doing what they can do to save lives. Blame NHAI and HD department for the poor road designs and for ignoring the local people.

[ScrabbleMan17]

Driver decided to test Glanza G AMT it's off roading capacity by pressing accelerator instead of brakes!
Happened just now

[Yieldway17]

Originally Posted by ScrabbleMan17

Driver decided to test Glanza G AMT it's off roading capacity by pressing accelerator instead of brakes!
Happened just now

I think the fall off without any warning signs is also a concern. Happens to the best of us. I have been to this place many times including when the road construction was going on. The Food Street admin can put some cones or stones to indicate where not to go and guide towards the ramps.

[oh_maan]

I caught a heart breaking accident ony dashcam today near Krishnagiri. A young guy on a bike came under the wheels of a lorry. I was about 50m behind when it happened and caught it on my dashcam. I got down to help, called 108 for ambulance and also informed his mother. On site, it looked like he got pretty badly hurt in his lower half of the body but the upper body looked ok. The lorry ran over the bike and broke it into 2. The front wheel and the handle bar got separated from the rest of the bike. When the ambulance took him away I was hopeful for him. But when I called his mom later to check, she informed me that he had passed away in the hospital. Looks like he had severe internal injuries.

No parent should ever have to face this situation. It was heartbreaking to listen to her cry on the phone. I was caught in two minds whether to put this up. I thought it was an invasion of the family"s privacy. But then I thought that if even one parent rethinks to decision to buy their young kid a bike, if even one thrill seeker reevaluates his decision on how we rides on the road, it is probably worth it.

I am sad to say that the dashcam footage showed that he was riding rashly, weaving in highway speed traffic without a helmet. He moved in front of the lorry without building sufficient gap first. The lorry driver probably never saw him and ran him over.

As a parent, I urge you not to buy your kid a bike until they cross mid twenties and are not so hormone driven. If you must, then please sensitise them on the dangers on thrill seeking behaviour. Teach them tricks to get out of peer pressure. Our roads, esp the highways are not two wheeler friendly. Teach them safe road behaviour. As a two wheeler driver as well, if you can afford it, don't do it. Get a car. Even if you are careful, all it takes is one mistake from the other party. Is it really worth it? I am not interested in a debate on the relative safety of car vs bike. If you had heard his mother, you wouldn't either.

Note from Support: Trauma trigger warning. Please use discretion before watching.

https://youtu.be/kgI_rh4YHz8