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That was so close. There is absolutely no room for such errors on hills/ghat sections. A loaded bus is pretty much unstoppable on such roads once it goes out of control. Those battered guard rails won't stand a chance against the sheer mass of the bus. I can only imagine the plight of passengers seated at the window seats.

On a side note, don't you think your overtake move was also a bit risky? Or maybe it's due to the dashcam view.

He realized that he hit something and came to a stop. So I overtook. I braked when he started scraping the wall.

The rider was lucky not to come under the wheels of the tempo.
Helmet was not strapped and it rolled away from his head as he fell.
I couldn't see any RVM on the motorcycle.
He wasn't even aware / looking at the tempo as he veered towards it unknowingly.

He was lucky..Hope he learnt his lessons..

The truck that fell on the bike is oversized - beyond the permitted 4m height I think. Had it not been that high, the center of gravity will be lower and there's a relatively lesser chance of toppling. RTOs and traffic cops take bribe and ignore these hazards!

Like many who posted, my initial thoughts too on watching this video were on the lines of “the car driver braked late; didn’t do a good job of braking; I could have stopped without swerving or hitting the auto” etc.

But after repeat watching the video, especially at 0.5x speed & taking into consideration the comments about time-lag of the video etc, I tend to agree with the OP that the car driver seems to have done a good job, given the situation he was in. :thumbs up

Another day, another accident, reminding us, to respect our visual limits and adherence to fundamentals:
https://www.indiatoday.in/india/stor...848-2024-07-19

As per the local newspapers, the family started at 7 PM in the evening from Dabwali, Haryana, for a pilgrimage to Salasar (a distance of about 310 KMs). Made almost halfway, when the car went under a slow moving truck ahead (at a great speed, as the newspapers) !!

One another freak accident. Man dies from falling from bike after his mobile explodes in his pant pocket.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/.../111919571.cms

The car at high speed crashing/going under a slow moving truck ahead is one of the recurring mode of accident that I often hear/read.

I understand that during night drive on highway, many drivers tend to over speed as the traffic on the road generally tends to be leaner than day time, the cooler weather makes it tad bit more comfortable in night over day. I have always preferred driving in the night as I find the driving conditions praceful and being a night owl, I tend to remain alert during the duration of my drive.

Why is that many drivers misjudge a slow moving truck ahead? Many are unable to gauge the distance of the truck ahead of them and their speed, that by the time they realise that they are too fast and close to the truck, it's too late to take any evasive action.

However, the point is (if it's a multi lane highway, which most of our highways are now) why didn't the car driver switch lane much earlier as soon as he spotted the truck ahead in his lane? I did some math here. These are ideal figures (not real world figure)

Suppose a car is traveling at 100 Kmph. That's 100 kms covered in one hour/ 60 minutes. It equates to 1666 meters in 1 minute /60 seconds. That further equates to 28 mtrs per second. So at 100 Kmph speed, a driver covers 140 mtrs distance in 5 seconds (28 MTR x 5 secs).

Now, an average throw of the headlight of a car in night is between 250 feet to 450 feet (76 to 137 mtr). So, the best of headlight can throw the visibility upto about 140 mtr that takes 5 seconds for the driver to cover

Now the truck is also moving in the same direction but slowly. So let's add another 2 seconds to the car driver's reaction time. So, technically the driver can see 7 (5+2) seconds of his drive time ahead in the night (at 100 kmph) and that's an extremely short duration of time to take evasive action from the moment he spots the truck ahead. If the car driver is even slightly distracted say due to a conversation, listening to music or lost in his thoughts for a moment, he has no time to take any evasive action. He just plows into the truck before he could even realise what happened.

So the solution, drive slow. Perhaps at 80 Kmph or even 70 Kmph. Be very aware/alert in night. Keep to middle lane as much as possible so that you have wriggle room to both sides, ease your accelerator pedal as soon as you spot some slow moving vehicle ahead..I don't say you press the brake, but just ease the gas /accl pedal, give a pause so that you are ready to overtake safely.

Don't drive if you have night blindness. In the night it's very easy to miss the contour of a vehicle ahead when their tail lamps are not glowing (sometime even if they are glowing). Indian trucks many times rarely have working tail lamps and only the reflectors on their back reveal their presence on the road (sad state of affairs but true). Prior knowledge of the terrain/road is desirable as there are many road sections where cattles laze on the highway and it's extremely dangerous for an unsuspecting new driver on that road. So terrain knowledge is also important.

Night driving is different from day driving. I for one, enjoy night driving/riding and I factor all risks and possibilities in my night driving.
Again, it's not for everyone. I have a cousin who falls asleep at 10 PM every night no matter what or where. Night driving is definitely not for such persons. If you are not a night person, if you haven't done much night driving earlier, then be extremely wary or atleast be extremely careful, alert and drive tad slow below your limit. That way you could possibly make it safely to the destination.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2f95b6MO5oE

Another accident in Pune involving a speeding car and a 2W. Both the parties are at fault here, car is overspeeding and the bike rider made the turn without due caution.
Glad that the 2W riders survived.

https://x.com/DriveSmart_IN/status/1815333723082207384
Delhi - Meerut.

Wrong side driving; I've no words.

I believe, the biker also is involved in this unfortunate accident.

Sure, the driver is completely at fault, but the biker, upon seeing the car being driven in the opposite carriage-way, doesn't even slow down a bit to avoid having a head-on.

It is quite easy to say it by looking at the CCTV visuals and replaying at convenience, on what actions one could have taken in such situations.

But on ground, at night, on a supposedly one way, with relatively good speeds, and the sudden appearance of an oncoming car can trigger a startle response, which causes the body to freeze momentarily before the brain can initiate a more deliberate action.

On such staight highways, it's impossible to identify whether the car that you are seeing is actually on which side of the divider.
Believe me, even in broad daylight, it's really difficult to make that distinction. We will realise the reality only when the vehicle is really close to. But by then the relative velocity would give you very little chance to do anything.


And ofcourse this too will happen after we really understood what's happening; There's very little that biker could have done, other than being not on that shoulder.

Can't stress this enough. The biker is at no fault whatsoever. Even if he/she tried to brake, the scooter would simply not stop, becuase the relative velocity here is velocity of bike + velocity of car. The reaction time available, and consequent braking is massively reduced given he had lesser time to respond.

In reality - the bike is in the perfect lane (the left most lane, meant for slower/2 wheelers). It is not expecting a car hurtling towards it, not in it's wildest dreams (although it should've, given it's India). The car driver is a criminal, who is driving on wrong side to probably save 100rs of fuel, and ends up taking 2 precious lives. The car driver must be tried for murder, no less and punished accordingly. This reckless behaviour of driving on wrong side is rampant everywhere, endangering thousands of lives everyday.

I think the motorcycle rider thought that the car driver will veer to his left and allow the bike to pass. And the car driver thought that the biker will veer to his right and allow the car to pass.

Every video that I see is making me concerned more and more. I mean there's no way a road user can survive even after following all the road rules. There are always some rogue drivers around the corner. Some are drunk, some don't care for the rules, some drive recklessly,

So, the left most lane is not safe anymore. Perhaps the middle lane is better. I don't know. This is totally screwed. Nothing appears safe on road now. How do we ride safely now?