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Do you think that the crane was not a hazard? The results say otherwise.

It was a tough situation, and all those oncoming main beams certainly contributed. Even loosing vision for a second or two could lead to such an accident. I have a lot of sympathy for that car driver. But I still have to say it: all the circumstances that are headlined in the video say that he should have slowed down.

Not exactly but yes the driver seems to be a very patient fellow, soldiering on with low beams despite being blinded by oncoming vehicles. I may be wrong but having high beams on could've helped in this particular scenario.

Whenever I am waiting at a signal for the light to turn green and when the light turns green and if I am at the front row, , I have consistently noticed that I start off, a few milliseconds earlier than everyone. By the time, other vehicles realise that the lights have turned green and start moving, I am already 20-30 feet ahead. This has happened most of the time with me. (Ofcourse l am careful to see, if any one from the other side wants to rush through in the last moment and could potentially crash into me. That aspect is also very important to consider)

The reason I mention this is, your reaction time to an external stimuli is very important to stay safe on road. The above mention of starting off from the signal as soon as the light turns green is not to gloat about my driving process or how quick I am, but to stress that other drivers take a second or two or more, even to realise that the signal has turned green and then start off. There's a lag in people's reaction to an external stimuli or environment (in this case, the light turning green).

When I saw the video, I personally felt that if I was in such a situation, I could have perhaps braked earlier and avoided that collision, or, if the collision was not avoidable, then atleast the impact would be much minimal.

Why am I so confident in stating so? Well, I ride motorcycles and I have practiced panic /sudden braking on empty unused road stretches multiple times, again and again at different speeds so that reaction time to an external stimuli comes much faster to me. Call it muscle memory over years of braking, cornering practice..

I always stress upon people who drive / ride to practice emergency/panic braking, reversing in narrow road etc multiple times so that it becomes muscle memory and almost reflex action on our part. We don't have to think about braking when the emergency need arises (as in this video) instead, we just brake instantly and that millisecond quickness could be the difference between a collision and safe stop.

I feel we should drive with a defensive mindset, have good anticipation and lightning reflexes and we could be much safer on the road. And above that, practice and more practice, the art of panic braking on empty safe roads. See, how your car behaves when braked suddenly. Note how far the car moves before it stops completely. Practice again, observe, learn, make it a muscle memory and a reflex action.

Of course, few incidents such as someone colliding my car from behind or some oncoming vehicle jumping into my lane and crashing head-on with me etc can't be avoided. We can't control what's not in our hands. However whenever and wherever we can avoid a mishap, we should definitely master the techniques & hope for the best.

Note: Next time when you are at signal, do observe, how quick or delayed, the vehicles start moving as soon as the signal turns green. You will be surprised at your findings. That lag, that lack of alertness, that lack of observation is what needs to be addressed to remain safe on the road. Again, I repeat..Look out for the last minute dash of some oncoming lane vehicles who overrun their red/stop light (and your green signal) and want to squeeze past you. Be aware of such law breakers and be safe

Yes, I do notice this almost every time I’m at the traffic signal. Most of the time people are busy on their phone and do not notice the light turn green. I know this is a different situation and not directly relevant to the point that you’re making here, still a contributing factor to a slow reaction time. :coldsweat

It really gets on my nerves when I see a car with high beams driving in city roads. Even a stand still car will have their high beams on, blinding the other drivers.

I have a theory:

The car manufacturers should provide white lights as low beam, but yellow lights for high beam. This way, cars with high beam will not blind the other drivers as much as the white lights do.

Secondly, govt. should make use of high beams within city as punishable. The yellow lights will make it easy for cops to distinguish such cars as from others driving with their low beams.

It will ruin the aesthetics of the car, you say? Well…

White lights in low beam will not work because it's ineffective to cut through fog/rain. So is putting on high beam - They also won't work in rain/fog irrespective of the wavelength.

Penalising heavily is one practical way out of the madness. With Govt regulations, they mostly end up contradictory. For eg, nowadays every two wheeler have their high beam on, even during day time.

My new Honda Dio & Yamaha Aerox doesn't have a headlight ON-OFF switch. The headlight is ON by default. So, when I start the scooter the headlight comes ON and there's no way I could switch it Off.

However the scooters come with High beam - Low beam switch and default position is Low Beam.

What happens is many such 2 wheelers who don't have a headlight ON-OFF switch, while riding in the night, switch to High Beam mode. After returning home, many fail to revert the high beam to Low Beam and hence next day morning when they go out, the headlight is in High beam mode and the rider is not even aware of it.

The issue with the missing headlight ON-OFF switch on all new two wheelers is funny. The European spec 2 wheelers don't have an headlight ON-OFF switch since many years. The reason for the same is weather in Europe is different from that of, in India.

In Europe, The sky is cloudy, and the weather is cold and bleak for longer periods of time that DRL ( day time running lights) in 4 wheelers and Headlight always ON (without any On-OFF switch) on two wheelers became a norm and a necessity there, because without the DRLs in cars & headlight ON in two wheelers, they become difficult to identify on the road, owing to the bleak and cloudy daily weather conditions.

To put it in simple words, DRL & Headlights ON suited European vehicles for the nature of weather they are used in.
In India, we have bright sunny weather most of the year, The vehicles can be identified from a long distance, there's absolutely NO NEED for DRLs in cars and Headlight always ON in two wheelers..

But, Indian vehicle manufacturer likes to emulate the Europeans. We blindly want to follow them without looking into the merits or otherwise of doing the same. So, our cars started getting DRLs and the headlight ON-OFF switch disappeared from the 2 wheelers. DRLs became a very sought out feature in the cars. Every car owner wanted a DRL on his car, larger and brighter, the better. Off-market fittings became a norm for smaller / entry level models that don't come with factory fitted DRLs. Everyone loves DRLs on their cars and it became a 'Must have' feature on the car.

I remember in earlier days, if my 2 wheeler headlight is ON during day time, lots of people on road called out to say the headlight is ON. Police even stopped me to ask why the headlight is ON. ( I used to keep the headlight ON during long rides with a group of riders to identify each other on the road as only our group 2 wheelers kept the headlight ON those days) This was in early 2000 time period.

So, today we have created this new monster of Two wheelers plying with head lights ON in high beam (for reasons already mentioned above) and the two wheelers manufacturers have to be blamed for the missing headlight ON-OFF Switch and Govt is responsible for not making it mandatory by law. The riders may be excused as anyone could easily forget the beam mode that one switched to, the previous night and continued with the same model next day.

So this happened earlier this morning , was travelling on a single lane highway at around 5:30 in the morning, it was drizzling slightly and as a result , windshield had a little buildup of fog , as the defroster was doing it's work , an oncoming truck with it's highbeams on blocked my view and suddenly i hear a loud bang and unfortunately , i hit a stray cattle standing in the middle of the road . Thankfully everyone in the car had their seatbelts on and no one suffered anykind of injuries but the hit broke my headlamps and foglamps with damage to bumper , hood and RHS fender . The damage is limited to RHS side only and since it was sunday and my local TASS have their weekly off on sundays , i had to drive back home on a car with broken front , fortunately the damage only seems to be cosmetic and the car is driving fine .



And for the time being , ive taped the damage area with a garbage bag to keep it safe from rain . Will take the car for insurance claim tommorow . Also i would be glad if anyone can give me a rundown on claiming insurance since this is the first time im going to do so .

Be safe and happy motoring !

Protecting the damaged part from rain was a clever thing to do but I would suggest you to remove it completely just before you drive into your service center. Insurance surveyors like to see the damages as it is, if required the service center will take necessary precautions to prevent further damage from rain/dust after consulting with surveyor. Also here are the basic steps for a claim:

1. Take pictures of the damages at the accident spot exactly where it happened if possible, else you can take the pictures later too if the circumstances don't allow for it.

2. Make a mental (or written) note of the accident narrative since you might have to write it or type it or describe it to the surveyor, needless to say it should be consistent everywhere. You can just say that you were driving yourself and you hit a stray cattle and there was no further issue from anyone.

3. Inform the Insurance provider ASAP or within 24 hours of the accident. Tell them that you want to claim insurance for own/self damage and there was no one else involved, if they ask. You can decide the day and time for dropping the vehicle but the earlier the better.

4. Depending on your insurance provider and covers, you might have pick-up/drop facilities, 3rd party garage repair clauses etc. I would suggest you to drop the car on your own at your preferred brand owned body shop and if the insurance company (like Acko/Digit) suggests to get it repaired outside, it's up-to you but I'd always recommend to opt for authorized service center (equipped with body shop).

5. Be ready with documents like Insurance copy, ID proof, DL copy and photos (digital) of the damages. For new-age Insurance providers like Acko/Digit, you have to use their App to upload all the required documents and photos.

6. Assess the damages yourself if possible and make a note of work to be done, it'll be easier to discuss the work to be done and timelines with your advisor if you have done your homework. This ensures that nothing that needs repair/replacement gets left out. Your advisor will give you the initial estimate within a day and meanwhile the surveyor will inspect the vehicle and release the initial work order based on which the service center will start the work. The advisor will inform you the timelines and you might have to follow up if the duration quoted in longer than a week to make sure your work gets done on time.

7. Finally you will get the intimation when vehicle is ready for delivery and the final amount that you will have to pay which excludes the amount paid by the Insurance company. Mostly we have cashless claims these days, so you just have to pay your part of the amount directly to the service center. If cashless is not there then you will have to pay the total amount up-front to the service center and the Insurer will reimburse you the agreed amount from their behalf once the vehicle is ready.

This all may seem little complicated but it's pretty straightforward and streamlined these days, you might have to follow only 2 or 3 points from here. Wishing your car a speed recovery!

I am a surveyor, albeit a Marine Hull Surveyor (a ship surveyor) and not a motor surveyor, and so, let me add a bit more here.

Let the protecting plastic remain on the damaged part when you take it to your authorised service centre. It's alright. The insured, that's the car owner has to show due diligence in protecting his car from further damage and covering the damaged parts with plastic indicates due diligence is being exercised. So, it's fine to take the car with the plastic cover and remove it in front of them.

Every correspondence, every interaction needs to be stated / confirmed via email to both the surveyor and the insurance company. This mail trail is very important as that is the proof that might come handy if need be. So, every correspondance has to be followed by an email to the surveyor with CC to the insurance company confirming the discussion / interaction with the surveyor.

For example, you meet the surveyor and discuss the claim matters. Immediately on returning home, shoot an email to the surveyor with CC to insurance company mentioning the interaction in full details like what surveyor said and what you replied. Do this everytime you interact with your service center, surveor, insurance company. Suppose the service centre says your work will take 2 weeks. Immediately shoot an email to the surveyor, insurance company and the service centre mentioning the same. so, you get the drift of what I am saying here.

The immediate task is, You need to get a claim form from the insurer (the insurance company) and fill it up and return to them.. Take a photo copy of the same for your reference.

As s surveyor, I always stand for 'Honesty is the best policy'. State the facts as they happened and stick to it. Write down the chain of events as precisely and clearly as possibly on a paper. Humans tend to forget quickly and many times a few section of the events gets altered or deleted in subsequent queries. We remember what we had for breakfast yesterday, however if I ask you what did you have for breakfast last wednesday, most of us wouldn't be able to recall correctly. That's how human mind forgets over time with newer happenings overlapping the older ones.

Remember to have a copy of every document, bill, invoice, correspondance that you share with the surveyor / Insurance company. We often notice that the insured ( the car owner) says that all documents have been submitted to the surveyor and they dont have any copy with them. Don't get into that situation. Always keep a copy of every document, bill, invoice with you in a separate file for reference. This is useful incase if you have a dispute with the insurer, at a later date.

Rest, it's a simple claim. Mostly the insurance company will send it's own officer. For claims less than Rs. 50,000 the insurance company need not appoint an independent licensed surveyor but can send their own officer and get the inspection / survey done.

It's a fairly simple straight forward claim. Shouldn't be an issue.

I remember from April 2017, the government made it mandatory that all new two wheelers must have their headlights always turned on. Please see an old news item below.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...w/51246454.cms

I welcomed this move wholeheartedly because it will ensure good visibility of two wheelers (especially the wrong side ones) in dark and dusk conditions. However, the high beam issue exists and is something everyone must rigorously follow irrespective of the number of wheels. The new LED ones are the worst with blinding lights, not to mention the higher power/luminosity after-market ones. I feel the government must do something to regulate the light maximum power and luminosity, and enforce strict rules for high beam offenders.

Earlier there was a regulation to have a black dot sticker on the headlight (fondly called a bull's eye) which also works I guess!

Adding to this, an utter disregard to level the headlamps appropriately, even from the factory.

Europe is big, and extends from places where the ice never melts to places where summer can be hotter than Southern India. It also has half a year with daylight hours far longer than ours. I remember one of my wife's biggest surprises, on her first visit to England, was daylight even after 9pm! So I think that you overestimate the influence of climate on car lighting.

Now, I am rather old, and I remember the days when folk would drive using only "sidelights" in areas with street lighting. Some time later (Sixties, I guess) the advice was to use dipped headlights in lit-up areas. Much later, it was realised that a lot of accidents involving bikes occurred because car drivers simply didn't see them. There was a campaign, "Think Bike!" and bikers were advised to keep their headlights on at all times of the day.

I haven't driven in Britain at all since about 2010, so I don't know the current regulations or how cars are supplied, but I remember, in '70s or '80s, always-on sidelights was a Volvo innovation. I remember a driver of one of the first such cars telling me that he was fed up with people telling him that his lights were on. That conversation introduced me to always-on sidelights. True, in those days Volvo was Volvo, so came from much further North --- where the summer days would be even longer!

Coming back home to today, India, it seems we have bikers whose headlamp blinds us in the rear view mirror or bikers who don't see any reason to turn the lights on ever :Frustrati

I agree with you Thad and thanks for correcting me. I perhaps generalised the whole Europe and that was incorrect. I have relatives and friends in Germany, Switzerland and UK and I keep hearing from them about the cold sub zero temperatures there and how cloudy and bleak the sky is and how difficult it is to drive without headlights on for safety of the rider/ driver.

I also read that 2013 EU law requires that motorcycles have daytime running lights or Automatic headlights ON to be more visible in low light conditions such as rain and fog which is more prevailant in EU countries compared to Indian condition.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mdeiIXVZkI
Accident that happened in Kerala last weekend. The bus was being driven aggressively. Nevertheless, the white Liva driver could have done a bit of defensive driving to avoid the accident, I think.

Ideally, yes.

No doubt that the KSRTC had no business driving like that. But we know that is how they drive and will continue to drive like that.

Looks like the white car wanted to overtake the auto and had a minor shift in lane but failed to see the behemoth approaching on his side! :disappointed

Our roads, our drivers...sigh.