Team-BHP - Accidents in India

Quote:

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007 (Post 5621996)

The poor lady perhaps unmindful of the approaching, oncoming car tried to cross over to the right side.

That looks like a traffic island/roundabout. That's not the way to take a right turn on a roundabout. She needs to go around and turn right, which would give her some space to slowdown, if the traffic is high.

Quote:

Originally Posted by binand (Post 5621251)

Oh OK. The Coimbatore bypass. It is single carriageway, though (the roads on either sides - coming from Salem and Kochi - are dual carriageway, but the bypass itself is a single carriageway).

I meant the dual carriageway becomes single carriageway and this is a choke point where all kinds of stunts are played by drivers. Same things happen at the many toll
booths that are lined up in this stretch where the road gets a bit wider.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Small Bot (Post 5621653)

As far as accidents and damages go, you're right in that what happened to you was relatively very minor. And by your own account, I'm not sure if there was anything you could have done to avoid it.

Chill out, claim insurance, get that panel replaced, get a new hub cap and move on. That's what we pay those huge premiums for every year. Hopefully the other person will be wiser for this as well.

Off-topic, that's a nice shade of blue on your car. Is that an Eon or a previous gen i10?

Thanks Small Bot. Was lucky as the red paint came off by using some polish also, the wheel cap was not broken/damaged therefore, insurance claim was not required. A small dent was seen on the fender which will be repaired along with other few scratches in due course.

It's Santro 3rd Gen.

Quote:

Originally Posted by chaitanyakrish (Post 5622417)

Yes rightly said, the lady made a very callous mistake and was at fault. When such cases come up before magistrates, since the court knows how it happened and how the lady miraculously escaped death, the question asked to the car driver would be:-

Q. Yes it's known that the scooterist should not have blindly moved right. She was wrong. What did you as the car driver do to save her? You should have slowed down at the intersection as Rules of the Road, 1989, require you to reduce your speed at intersections.

Moreover, the car driver fled the scene. He will be punished for sure.

Just 2 pages back we were discussing mishap due to stopped vehicle on shoulder, we have this new incident.
7 women killed as truck rams stationary van on chennai-bengaluru highway

India does not seem to have a Shoulder concept at all. Personally seen on NICE/NECE road in Bangalore. Really crazy as how few drivers decide to drive on when they are unable to spot a vehicle or obstruction on shoulder.

Quote:

Originally Posted by vidyanand (Post 5622889)

Just 2 pages back we were discussing mishap due to stopped vehicle on shoulder, we have this new incident.

The article says the vehicle was parked on the right side of the road, near the median. And the people were sitting on the median.

The truck did not expect a vehicle to be stationary on the fast lane. It’s at 3AM, so I’m assuming visibility would have been poor as well.

This is not a case of vehicle ramming into a vehicle parked on the shoulder. More like the Scorpio N accident that happened with a TBHPian.

What India does need is better safety education. It’s not until people reach corporate that we actually learn safety drills and preventive measures. I don’t remember having a safety related education in my primary school or undergrad even! There should have been traffic cones kept at least 50m away from the vehicle guiding vehicles away and the highway patrol vehicle should have been called. The people should not have been seated there at all, they should have been on the shoulder, preferably under a well lit area.

Quote:

Originally Posted by krishnakumar (Post 5623124)

The truck did not expect a vehicle to be stationary on the fast lane. It’s at 3AM, so I’m assuming visibility would have been poor as well.

Whilst nobody expects such a thing, it is always possible. And one should drive accordingly, and always at a speed suitable for visibility.

Of course, it is stupid to just stop. How come the driver couldn't reach the roadside just a few metres away? He's responsible. But this doesn't absolve the truck driver that hit the van.

Quote:

Originally Posted by krishnakumar (Post 5623124)

What India does need is better safety education. It’s not until people reach corporate that we actually learn safety drills and preventive measures. I don’t remember having a safety related education in my primary school or undergrad even!

You have hit the nail. Safety starts from home & School, it’s a mindset, which needs to be set-in early in life. This is what we need desperately and starting from the growing up kids. I’m sure few generations down the line we will be a “safe society” in general. And this is just not only on the roads. There’s light at the end of the tunnel.

It really hurts to see such freak accidents (people losing lives) on our roads which could have been easily avoided and doesn’t require any rocket science or government/administrative interventions. This thread is a testimony for all the freak accidents happening on roads. I’m quite sure most of them could have been simply avoided with a little bit of common sense. Also, I have seen a trend on this thread in general, blaming someone, finding fault, pointing fingers. I guess it would be more beneficial if the person who shares/comments an incident, tries to emphasize on “lesson learned” so that common person knows about all the possible hazards.

Long long time back, when my father got me a bike, my mother took me for helmet shopping next day (I tired to convince her, give me the money and I will wear cricket helmet, which I already had:), as usual she outrightly disagreed) and my sister sponsored me for the bike leg guard. That helmet saved me from a near fatal bike accident(story for some other thread).

TBhpians and others - Be safe at home, at work, on roads ! Just need to inculcate this culture. Life is too precious & unpredictable to be lost in some freaky incident.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom (Post 5623144)

True, but in a 6-lane road(3+3), nobody expects a vehicle to be parked on the fast lane.

Just imagine a scenario, where the same vehicle is parked after a turn, it becomes tougher for the vehicle following to take proper actions, and that too a loaded truck. All these are hypothesis, but they can definitely occur.

Just curious, we had an incident which was covered before in this thread of ScropioN hitting a similarly parked Virtus from behind. That was too in the night.

A question arises, whether it is tough for the human eye to analyze relative motion during night hours?

Anyway, there is no justification for the mistake of the Van driver parking in the fast lane to change tires, he could have easily nimbled to the slow lane and then to gravel. Also usage of proper indicators(Red Triangle) helps. Sigh, we can only wish for, as said earlier education of traffic rules, manners and dispiline should be a must from the primary school level. At least we can correct the next generation, MORTH should take the necessary steps.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vasuki (Post 5623238)

True, but in a 6-lane road(3+3), nobody expects a vehicle to be parked on the fast lane.

Indeed. But what if it was a cow? Or an elephant!

Thus, the advice stands, that we should never drive beyond our visibility/reaction/stopping times. Especially on fast roads where the consequences will be more severe.

Quote:

Just imagine a scenario, where the same vehicle is parked after a turn

Believe it or not, I do imagine that. Quite often :)! It makes me try to follow the advice I have just given.

I hold, as first principle, that when a moving vehicle hits a stationary object, the moving driver is to blame. When a vehicle is stopped just around a corner, or just after the brow of a hill, or in a dip, then yes, some blame is attached to that driver.

Quote:

A question arises, whether it is tough for the human eye to analyze relative motion during night hours?

I don't think that is a question, I think it is a fact! I am over-cautious in the dark, because I know that I find it much harder to judge speed of other traffic.

Quote:

Anyway, there is no justification for the mistake of the Van driver parking in the fast lane to change tires, he could have easily nimbled to the slow lane and then to gravel.

100% agree.

I can imagine circumstances in which a heavy truck might grind to a halt and be imovable. But this was not a very heavy vehicle, even if it had had a mechanical breakdown, there were plenty of hands to push it. (which would also have been dangerous. Fast roads are dangerous. Especially when something goes wrong)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom (Post 5623702)

Thus, the advice stands, that we should never drive beyond our visibility/reaction/stopping times. Especially on fast roads where the consequences will be more severe.

Yes, we should be able to stop within the road illuminated by our headlights.
Driving faster than that is called overdriving headlights and more details can be read below.

https://www.mortonsonthemove.com/ove...ng-headlights/

We had a chance to reform in 1994. We missed it. We could’ve put laws in place that enforce proper road building, proper road discipline and proper licensing tests. But corrupt politicians, netas and babus who see people only as cash cows chose to do the opposite. And here we are 30 years later with horrible roads and pathetic road discipline. We just don’t have it in ourselves to make our roads better and safer.

Coming to the truck driver incident:
1) Did the truck driver have the intention to kill 6 people that day? No!
2) Can you blame the truck driver for not having common-sense? That’s the thing with common sense. We come from so many different backgrounds and experiences that somebody’s perception and understanding of common sense is vastly different from the next person.
3) Does this mean the truck driver is not guilty? Hell no! The truck driver is as guilty as the politicians, road contractors and RTOs for being corrupt, making the roads unsafe and not having corruption free stringent licensing tests respectively.
4) What’s the way forward? - I have so much to tell. But I feel like I live in a hopeless country with no light at the end of the tunnel.

PS: I said 1994 because that’s when our economy opened and exploded. Suddenly bikes and cars became affordable and accessible to the mass populace. But the infrastructure and road discipline never caught up because of rampant corruption, poor road planning and corrupt RTOs that gave licenses for a price.