Team-BHP - Accidents in India

Quote:

Originally Posted by vishwas (Post 1926303)

India steadily increases its lead in road fatalities

India Steadily Increases Its Lead in Road Fatalities - NYTimes.com

"..A lethal brew of poor road planning, inadequate law enforcement, a surge in trucks and cars, and a flood of untrained drivers have made India the world’s road death capital. As the country’s fast-growing economy and huge population raise its importance on the world stage, the rising toll is a reminder that the government still struggles to keep its more than a billion people safe.

In China, by contrast, which has undergone an auto boom of its own, official figures for road deaths have been falling for much of the past decade, to 73,500 in 2008, as new highways segregate cars from pedestrians, tractors and other slow-moving traffic, and the government cracks down on drunken driving and other violations.."

Law enforcement is always a difficult and expensive task, i feel people need to change their attitude first. Those jaywalking on our roads do it for fun sometimes (believe me, i have noticed a big grin on their face when they are running across) without realizing the dangers of it. Most of them would have never been behind the wheels of a car and thus are totally clueless how difficult it gets to break/control at the last moment. Its not just people on foot, i feel two wheeler/auto guys too who have not driven a four wheeler before wont realize how difficult it gets when they cut across or make an abrupt turn.

I don't think there is any humanity left in most people out there when they are on the road.

Last weekend on a vacation to Madurai, missed a crash narrowly, saw two minor crashes.
While driving from Bangalore to Madurai some where between Krishnagiri and Salem we missed a narrow crash. It was our fault as we in Suzuki Swift got too competitive with another Hyundai Accent, that we forgot the limits of sane speed and other people's safety.
My friend was at the wheel and was first time Swift driver (He drives a palio 1.2). After overtaking the Accent from left (after repeated light flashing and occasional honking) we decided to overtake the car from left. As we were doing so the accent suddenly down shifted to accelerate and wanted to block us from entering the lane, he scraped against my right rear wheel cap and the bumper. We managed to steer back left to avoid any major consequence. He screeched to a halt and we pulled over. He came to us all shaky and angry and started to threaten us with dire consequences. I managed to convince him that it was our fault and partly his fault too. I guess he realized that and he ended it at that warning us to drive safe. Phew.It was a relief nothing happened. Thanked Lord for being there and we moved on more cautious than ever.
The other crash that we saw was while driving up the ghat from Madurai to Kodaikanal. The ghat roads are narrow and two way and drivers / riders roll down at insane speeds letting the vehicle sway all the way to the on coming traffic lane. A Hero Honda Splendour rider was riding down at high speeds and skidded off after panic braking sighting a bus going up hill. The bike went below the bus and hit the axle and he banged himself side ways to the front right tyre. Luckily for him, the bus driver was under 10Km/Hr speed due to uphill drive and a packed bus.
The best part is the rider and the pillion try to pick a fight with the bus driver. When the passengers got down to thrash the riders they got scared and turned submissive. In the course of this mayhem another bike TVS City does the same stunt luckily missing the bus's edge and crashing into the bush on the road corner.
It was funny seeing them fall and skid on their bottoms like on a water slide. I became extra cautious and honked like a S.O.S message at each bend/curve till we reached Kodaikanal. We observed all through, the drivers (Taxi and private) and riders drive like they decided to make the down hill drive / ride their last journey in life.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ron_9191 (Post 1916524)

I dont go through this thread very often but whenever I go through I go back with a really bad feeling. I mean we all go to admit that the cars that we all drive around have very minimal safety features, and sometimes none. For many of the cars that we drive around, our faces usually are the crumple zones. When I say this I mean 2 car companies 1. Maruti Suzuki and 2. Hyundai.

Both these manufacturers no matter whats the model they are just badly made. The quality of materials used, the chassis design and many things that are critical during an accident. Most of these crashes that are listed here aren't high speed collisions or may be they are. But when they are compared to international standards the impact speed may be much slower than cars that crash elsewhere. The cars that are involved here in India are damaged beyond recognition.

The point I wish to address here is that the government should be very strict with car companies when it comes to safety. There are many cars like the 800, Santro, A-Star, and many more that are horrible things to be in the event of a crash. And if there is an icing on the cake here, it has to be the Maruti Omni.

Our country still lacks a governing body that defines safety measures for cars when it matters, or may be it has and it may have a 1000 people getting paid for no reason. They should come up with safety standards for cars and other vehicles too.

Well I am no safety expert here, but its high time that our country realizes that safety is a priority and with more and more people saying yes to cars it becomes ever more evident.

I am just giving facts and not opinions, sorry if it hurts anyone.
1. first people please dont start blaming manufactures for not having safe cars without knowing the facts (i can agree omni is nota safe car at all)

2. Cars are designed for certain speed limits and certain applications
small cars are designed for more of city use and occasional highway use.
(howmany of us wear seat belts all the time????)
3. if u say santro is not safe then how did make way in to sales in europe ???? where they have stringent norms
4. the ARAI tests all the cars before homologation (how many people know that

from 1997 onwards they imposed lot of regulation for sales

1. Fr seat belts mandatory for all cars sold after this year
2. RR seat belts mandatory
3. High Mount Stop Lamps (HMSL) so that stop signals are very visible
4. RR view mirror with caution wordings (Objects are near than they appear)
5. Head Lamp Leveling Device (HLD) so that when the car is loaded the headlights doesn't glare for the oncoming cars
Guys these were not features offered by the companys but they are mandatory now

Many car companies show off that these are features???? interesting !!!!

How many of us know the use of head rests????
Primary use - They avoid the wiplash injury in the neck when the car meets with an accident and if the occupant has worn his seat belt

How many of use them even the people who own the costliest cars in the world use child seats for their kids??? ( i use it for both my kids???

How many of us know that the side guards and RR guards in the trucks are mandatory and comes factory fitted (many trucks remove it as soon as they get delivered).

The issue here in india for increased accidents are people dont care for their own safety then how do you think that they will care for others

Even educated people dont have road sense and the value of it

One instance in Kodai 2 weeks back there was a traffic jam on the narrow roads leading to pillar rocks i was not able to stand the indiscipline of car drivers going in double lane and blocking the traffic. i got down from my van and started regulating it and had to walk 3+ kms to clear the traffic.

SEE i think first we must use the safety features provided by the manufacturers and then follow safe rules to reduce the accidents.

Just don't blame the manufacturers and the administrative system alone (some times they are also the culprits)
Just dont wait for the traffic police to impose fine on not wearing helmets and seat belts ... see a police and then try to wear ... we must understand that its for our safety and not theirs????please:

Quote:

Originally Posted by prithvi_seln (Post 1929709)

i think first we must use the safety features provided by the manufacturers and then follow safe rules to reduce the accidents.

Just don't blame the manufacturers and the administrative system alone (some times they are also the culprits)
Just dont wait for the traffic police to impose fine on not wearing helmets and seat belts ... see a police and then try to wear ... we must understand that its for our safety and not theirs????

+1 to that!

i feel that we are lawless by nature (sad but true). we're impatient. we think the rules don't apply to us. we assume there is a loophole in every law! we break rules ourselves and then preach about how others don't follow rules.

lawlessness has penetrated so deep in us that God only knows if we'll EVER come out of it. i pity the future generations who watch and learn from us!

PS: there are always exceptions to the above, but maybe just a handful.

Quote:

Originally Posted by no_boundaries (Post 1928538)

[FONT=Helv][SIZE=2][FONT=Helv][SIZE=2]Last weekend on a vacation to Madurai, missed a crash narrowly, saw two minor crashes.
While driving from Bangalore to Madurai some where between Krishnagiri and Salem we missed a narrow crash. It was our fault as we in Suzuki Swift got too competitive with another Hyundai Accent, that we forgot the limits of sane speed and other people's safety.
My friend was at the wheel and was first time Swift driver (He drives a palio 1.2). After overtaking the Accent from left (after repeated light flashing and occasional honking) we decided to overtake the car from left. As we were doing so the accent suddenly down shifted to accelerate and wanted to block us from entering the lane, he scraped against my right rear wheel cap and the bumper. We managed to steer back left to avoid any major consequence. He screeched to a halt and we pulled over. He came to us all shaky and angry and started to threaten us with dire consequences. I managed to convince him that it was our fault and partly his fault too. I guess he realized that and he ended it at that warning us to drive safe. Phew.It was a relief nothing happened. Thanked Lord for being there and we moved on more cautious than ever.
The other crash that we saw was while driving up the ghat from Madurai to Kodaikanal. The ghat roads are narrow and two way and drivers / riders roll down at insane speeds letting the vehicle sway all the way to the on coming traffic lane. A Hero Honda Splendour rider was riding down at high speeds and skidded off after panic braking sighting a bus going up hill. The bike went below the bus and hit the axle and he banged himself side ways to the front right tyre. Luckily for him, the bus driver was under 10Km/Hr speed due to uphill drive and a packed bus.
The best part is the rider and the pillion try to pick a fight with the bus driver. When the passengers got down to thrash the riders they got scared and turned submissive. In the course of this mayhem another bike TVS City does the same stunt luckily missing the bus's edge and crashing into the bush on the road corner.
It was funny seeing them fall and skid on their bottoms like on a water slide. I became extra cautious and honked like a S.O.S message at each bend/curve till we reached Kodaikanal. We observed all through, the drivers (Taxi and private) and riders drive like they decided to make the down hill drive / ride their last journey in life.
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Now that's scary. Thankfully nothing happened. Yes, have been in those situations of trying to out race someone. The roads are quite broad between Krishnagiri and Salem. Hope you all came to your senses after this incidence.

Downhill driving by private taxis and two wheelers are downright scary and funny and sometimes tragic. Splendor probably has the thinnest back wheel tyre and it will skid very easily.

I think that the van that is shown crashed in TN is a Mahindra. Mahindra vans are very popular over there. The slatted grille and the color scheme is all Mahindra. It's horribly unsafe.

As for the politician's merc, I don't think we can confirm anything from the media reports regarding the speed. There is no mention of 150kph in the body of the report. They probably looked at the damaged speedo or something. But the impact was at a high speed, the condition of the Amby shows that. Side has completely caved in, all pillars have collapsed. That wouldn't happen at 50kph. It takes a lot of force to roll over a heavy car as an Amby.

I don't think that it's too far fetched though. Late night, open sports car, apparently empty roads... it's likely that the driver decided to open the car up a bit. 150 is nothing for a merc like that.

AFAIK, Amby is a monocoque, not body on chassis. Which is why it it so spacious inside for a car of that era.