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If the visibility is impaired, isn't it a basic common sense to drive slower, so that one can get sufficient stopping distance.

Well, that common sense is among very few like U and me and many others on our forum. Most of the general public takes pride in breaking law and the attitude of others will save me is a mass pandemic. Don't we see so many people driving 100+ when it's raining. Same goes when it's Fog here in North. Visibility is so poor you can't make out 10m in front and still people are happily gunning the accelerator. The only thing keeping us safe on Indian roads is self awareness of your surroundings and treating everyone else as a moron on a race track.

What gets me is these same individuals when on a foreign trip will abide with all rules and regulations and behave like a law abiding citizen. Because law is enforced strictly there with huge penalties and even jail time.

I like your post a lot. Respect to you, and big respect to your dad, who helped you to think and act the way that you do.

/aside...

re another recent incident in the thread, baby pigs are called piglets.

Pigs are actually very clean animals. If they are not, that is because of the way humans are treating them. They are also said to be very intelligent. But not all intelligent creatures have road sense. Hmmm... Humans often lack it! :cool:

- It’s your mistake that you looked away from the road. That does not mean similar behaviour by others should be excused
- Speed limit does not depend on the car. It depends on the road conditions and is usually the same for all cars. At 120kph the car will take 70 m to stop after initiating full braking. The reaction time would be roughly 1.5 second since he was not expecting people on a flyover. Total stopping distance would be 70+50= 120m. This too if he was focused on the road. It’s utter negligence to go beyond 80kph on an unlit road in India at night


- This is not misfortune. It’s stupidity- of the people on the road and of the Jaguar driver

Wrong side driving and wrong lane driving are the bane of any driver here in India. I'm from TVM, Kerala and just the other day, I barely missed mowing down two idiots on a Dominar bike, going the wrong way on on a 4 lane highway, just because they wanted to avoid going about 100-200 metres the right way to make a U-turn. The jackasses weren't even wearing helmets and it was just luck that I spotted them in time, and as I was driving at about 90 and could react in time and give way.

It's sad that the plethora of AI cameras and the MVD's all out efforts aren't doing anything to put a complete stop to this trend. Going the wrong way intentionally should be a zero tolerance area, with severe fines and license suspension.'

Lane discipline would also make driving a lot safer. I can't understand this urge to hog the overtaking lane when you're driving a vehicle, be it a scooter, car or truck. Basically every one will be passing you on your wrong side, and personally, I get really uncomfortable and uneasy if someone tries to pass me on the left side. I imagine it must be a lot worse when you're on a scooter and are riding on the right most lane. Plus, you're making everyone violate traffic rules by forcing them to overtake you on the wrong side, and putting them at risk because they have to pass you on on their blind side. Still, it seems that for every driver who sticks to the correct lane, or moves over to the middle to let you pass, there are 5-6 who adamantly stick to the wrong lane.

I came down to Kollam for visiting family, and had to take autos and cabs, they just turn the hazards on and drive the wrong way! I've noticed this relatively less in TVM but thanks for the heads up. Will be scary to suddenly spot a bike zooming towards you head on.

I absolutely agree that they should use AI cameras to enforce lane discipline/wrong way etc. as well. Would improve stuff massively. Overspeeding, seatbelts etc has noticeably improved.

These fellows who hog the fast lanes;
1. Don't know the basic rules - they simply hop on to the vehicle and drive wherever they find space. This is the same reason why/how they end up in front of you while waiting at the traffic signal. (They will happily jump the line by using Right only lanes etc to crawl in front)
2. Road etiquettes are unknown to them.
3. Pure ego - Won't budge from my their path purely based on ego.
4. Finally, pure selfishness. They care only about themselves, be it safety or convenience.

As you and many others have mentioned here, Zero tolerance action against these fellows are the only way to drive in some sense. If MVD finds a person incapable of following basic driving rules, their licenses should be revoked.

That's the main problem in our country. It always seems to me that most drivers in India apply for a driver's license as a second-hand indulgence, since gun licenses are hard to obtain. 95% of our population drives/gets on the road like they're out to get someone/kill themselves. The other 5% who're sane are supposed to be on a constant lookout. My mantra when I get on the road is to always assume that everyone on the road is an idiot (or they're insane, including me) and that they're bound to make mistakes. This has gotten me safely out of a few situations where I wouldn't have otherwise, had I taken things for granted.

Why were there people on the road at 1am? Because...

Rather be safe than sorry. The eternal cycle no matter what the era is that people are born to be cluckin stupid. Never hurts to keep this in mind especially when on the road surrounded by death machines.:sadface

I saw a young veena artist in instagram, showing off her new 2-wheeler. When I next met her, a couple of days ago, I congratulated her, but told her off for not wearing a helmet. "If it's not far enough for helmet/seatbelt, you should be walking."

I ended up talking to three young beginner drivers. One thing I told them is that there is nothing wrong with having a vivid imagination about what can happen. It helps us to do our best to prevent it.

Then I was on the receiving end. One of my rasika friends is an anaesthetist. He was telling me that he works mostly with trauma patients, very often road-accident victims. Only that day he'd attended surgery where a guy had their smashed hand removed. About as grim as it gets. But we should be reminded, from time to time.

:Shockked:

A few observations on the whole incident, from someone who has been driving across India and some western countries for more than 20 years now.

1. The speed limit on the road where the accident took place is 70kmph. Apparently the car was doing 160.
2. There have been several accidents in that neighbourhood over time, and the reason why some of that road used to have triple speed breakers.
3. There is no excuse for driving in a fashion that could result in an accident. If you drive recklessly you get charged for culpable homicide with upto 10yrs imprisonment. Driving fast is not for public roads, go to a track or a private road. This is coming from someone who, when younger, drove from Udaipur city to Prahladnagar in a little over 1 hour and 45 mins.
4. Slightly off topic, but Vismay Shah was released yesterday after serving his sentence for having killed 2 people.

Very specific to our Indian highways, there are a few reasons for this phenomenon:

People who drive much higher than the speed limit (Type A) - They think it is much easier to stay in the overtaking lane because pretty much everyone else is driving slower than them. Unfortunately, more times than not, they are also the ones that need to weave in and out of the adjacent lane to do overtakes if the lane is not free.

People who try to simplify (wrongly though) their constraints (Type B) - Buses, trucks, minis, tractors etc. For them, it is one less side of the road to worry about. Chances of hitting a pedestrian, 2 wheeler or encountering turning vehicles is lower, as is the need to slow down or accelerate much.

People who drive much slower than the speed limit (Type C) - Slow 2 wheelers, autos, sometimes other cars - These are the ones that cause much of the strife. They hog the slow lane and/or the middle lane while driving at, say, 30-50kmph on a highway with 90-100kmph speed limit. They move much slower, relatively, and are so numerous that other vehicles who are in the correct lane and closer to the speed limit constantly need to weave in and out of the overtaking lane.

People who drive at the speed limit, sedately (Type D) - These suffer the most. The left lane is littered with Type Cs, right lane with Type As and Bs. At some point in time, they prefer staying on the right lane since it is much less stressful.

Type Ds have a lot of options in dealing with other types and we all know it.

I am not justifying the behavior. But we see this happen all the time. City roads are no different too. Everyone drives everywhere. Highways need to be regulated for speed, power of vehicles and overall awareness/driver education needs to be improved. We have a long way to go on all of these.

It's really sad to witness the jaguar accident. Even if the speed limit was 80, in the last minute when the headlight barely touched the people, it defied the fact that he could have hit a few individuals. Maybe if he had braked earlier, the number of people affected could have been reduced from 9 to 4. However, it's puzzling how such people end up on the highway, especially on a dark pitch road. It's truly disheartening to see.

Since I saw Rich and Irresponsible in the same sentence I was reminded of a short talk a few months ago. I am new to UAE and in the process of getting the coveted Dubai Driving license.

After a few weeks of becoming friends, my ustaad' : a veteran Bangladeshi instructor was narrating his pitiable story. His 16 yr old son took dads car (a simple Nissan Tiida Hatch) out for a joy ride while parents were away at work and toppled it turtle on a flyover ramp.

Used old Car - total loss
Police fine on the car - dont even ask how much
Court case + legal work - hmm! no comments
Medical - Manageable (fracture, and back home safe!)

He was crying that his next 4-5 years will be spent on repaying the mistake of his teen kid. I could only feel sorry for him and remind myself to bring up my next generation with some fear instilled in their heads.

Dark Flyover, late hours of the night, unexpected crowd on the road, an overspeeding Jaguar and the ego and sense of a 19 year old.

As a young driver myself I would say that this was tough to prevent however not impossible. If the driver was overspeeding, he should have reduced the speed after coming into the dark section of the road which he clearly didn't. Having said that, the driver's mistake ends here. Rest of the part lies with the police, civic authorities and the crowd standing there.

Also I would like to clarify a point regarding young drivers. I have been driving since I was 18 years old and have driven more than 120,000 kms in the last 4 years of driving in various kinds of vehicles ranging from a Hyundai Santro (2006, CNG) to BMW M340i (a particularly fast sedan) to Porsche Cayman (an entry level sports car) and three things which remained constant during the driving experience were understanding my limitations, understanding the limitations of the vehicle and understanding the limitations of the road. Not mentioning the basic things such as not overspeeding, saying no to drink and drive, etc.

Though understanding the limitations gets better with the experience and age but it is not impossible to start at an early age. A person has to understand them himself/herself or it needs to be inculcated by the parents/trainer or in some casses both. A thing which a lot of people fail to do in this country.

Reportedly this boy was caught overspeeding 25 times since last month, jumped multiple lights, drove recklessly, and was involved in damaging a private property wall earlier this month. Until the revelations unfolded, I was under the impression that the boy was just unfortunate, sadly that's not the case anymore.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/.../102091846.cms