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The issue is corruption and poor enforcement by traffic cops and also by RTOs (Regional Transport Officers). Not much is spoken about the corruption by RTOs in India.

Each state has their own motor vehicle rules in place. For a Goods laden truck, there are clearly defined penalties for offences like no uniform, over-size loads, no fire extinguishers, no first aid box, over weight loads, defective plates, etc. The RTOs, especially along state borders, utilize this opportunity to extract bribes from truck drivers instead of levying stringent penalties. The bribe money and commissions eventually go to the RTO inspectors and bureaucrats who had paid bribes to get such lucrative postings and to the ministers, who have to recover their expenditure incurred during the previous elections.

Precisely. I don’t understand why they bother checking everyone for seatbelts and helmets when there are so many heavy vehicles plying the roads without working tail lamps or tail lamps that are covered in dirt, without under run bars and carrying unsecured loads. Fine the heck out of these guys already. :Frustrati

Absolutely. This is ladder on frame SUV. Cannot push it like a Porsche 911. It shows immaturity in India. People have got money to buy the cars but no brains yet.

Buyers are not clear about their requirements while buying a car, expecting them to be aware of their vehicle's limitation is a long shot. :)

Maybe wishful thinking, but it is a necessity to have a unified/integrated RTO with unified rules and framework throughout the nation. Even the BH series should be made open for all and vehicle registrations also centralized.

If the issue/concern is about revenue loss by states (which can be a genuine concern by some states who are getting more revenue in the decentralized model), the centre and states can sort out revenue sharing policy and conclude this with the highest priority.

There is a dire need to have a unified central database of all drivers and vehicles and make it hard for offenders to escape from the law.

Hope there is a genuine drive to streamline, simplify and unify all the RTOs in India (sadly unlikely).

13 people died on the spot and four others were injured after the tempo they were travelling rammed into a parked lorry. The accident happened around 3.45 AM, 28th June on the Pune-Bengaluru National Highway near Gundenahalli Cross in Byadagi Taluk, Haveri District.

The victims were coming from Chincholi Mayamma Devasthana and heading to their native Yemehatti village in Shivamogga district. The lorry was standing on the side of the highway. The tempo traveller hit the lorry from behind.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GhglbVFlcs

Source: https://www.newindianexpress.com/sta...k-in-karnataka

We have noticed that time and again, a moving vehicle rams into a parked vehicle on the highway and results in loss of life.

Is this a good reason to stick to the right most lane on highway, especially during night time? During day time, atleast the parked vehicle is visible to the driver of moving vehicle. During night, lack of sleep, fatigue, poor visibility etc cumulates into such an accident.

Again, we could argue about the truck not flashing his parking and hazard lights while parked on the side of the highway. We could also argue that proper truck / bus bay should be provided on all highways at regular intervals to facilitate such parking in night. Those things are good to discuss on our forums, but not going to happen with the average truck driver in India anytime soon. That needs better maintained trucks, better educated drivers etc and that's a far call now.

The point is, Is this a case study to put forth the view that driving on the right lane is safer during night time & we should consciously stick to the right/speed lane while driving on highways in night?

You know what, there are two places that I have driven extensively on the Highways. The Kanpur-Lucknow stretch and highways in Kerala. While wrong side driving is prevalent on both these sectors, in Kerala I have not seen trucks do the wrong way. In the Kanpur-Lucknow stretch I have encountered trucks doing the wrong way and, guess what, they head the wrong way on the right lane (often):Frustrati. At least on two occasions (night time) I had to reach a complete stop facing the truck and with some difficulty switched lane to the left lane and move on. The truck drivers logic seems to be that he is keeping left :eek: all the while driving wrong side.

So right lanes are not safe either. The only saving grace is that the truck is more likely to have a head light than a tail lamp but then we are talking about head on collision.
Moral: Avoid night time driving and if you do make sure to have a prayer in your mind (even if you are an atheist).

The more important takeaway is - drive to the limits of our headlights. If your headlights illuminate a clear road ahead, assume that only that stretch is clear, and don't make assumptions about the road beyond. (Of course, if there are other vehicles plying ahead, they will also serve as guidance).

Don't assume that because we're on a highway, the road ahead is clear. It could very well have been washed away in a flash flood, or have a jet-black buffalo snoozing across two lanes.

I agree that the left lane may well not be the safest especially at night. But, to this, a thousand times yes...
Do not drive faster than you can see.

Accident in Hyderabad, sad to see a poor municipality worker injured.
https://youtu.be/C0AVYHncNx8?feature=shared&t=5

For a sleepy driver, lane doesn't matter. So is a day or night.

A "driver" (in true spirit), should never act in a way that will jeopardize lives of people with him (inside his/her vehicle) or around him (on the road). Only when it is inscribed in every drivers' mind and heart, we will cease to see drivers over speeding, cutting lanes, sticking onto incorrect lanes, parking irresponsibly, failing to use indicators appropriately, jumping signals, letting kids pop out of Sun-roofs, watching Youtube or texting on phone, eating while on the wheels (recently this trend seems to be growing). Also, he/she should have the courage to say "NO" to drive if he/she feels sleepy, tired, could not concentrate, disturbed or unwell. Only then we shall get to see a more matured civilized future.

There could be any reason the tempo traveler driver missed the parked truck. But if you have followed such accidents, then following are the things that are involved in such accidents.

1) People try to save time and cover maximum places in least possible time. Hence they do all sight seeing during day time and travel in the night which is risky in the first place.

2) Sometimes, in case of same day return, the drivers do not get sufficient rest and they fell asleep during night when they are returning back.

3) Sometimes, they have another trip scheduled next day. So to get sufficient sleep, they drive fast to reach back as early as possible.

4) Someone responsible from the travelers should sit on the co-driver seat and remain vigilant during night traveling.

5) That person should check and ensure that the driver is driving within safe speed limits, he has good observation of other vehicles whether oncoming of going in the same direction.

6) The driver is not driving in a rash manner and should not seem to be in hurry to return back to the originating place.

7) That co-driver person should be in continuous conversation with the driver so that he does not fell asleep due to fatigue or drowsiness.

8) Many trucks do not have taillights in working condition. Those are not visible during night on the highways. If you are driving very fast, you won't notice them till the time you are very near to them. This causes ramming of your vehicle into them as you don't get sufficient braking time.

Exactly, we are human and if there are signs of fatigue, better to take a break. Additionally, at night we need to adjust speed of the vehicle based on visibility and must not assume that road ahead is obstruction free.

Not sure if it was also raining ?
Last week while driving back to Bengaluru, there was heavy rain near Tumakur with low visibility. Majority of the vehicles did not turn ON their lights !

DRLs might help on the front side but you need turn ON all lights to be visible. Turn ON lights when you turn ON wipers :disappointed