[srini1785]

RIP.

Originally Posted by kiranknair

If the folks knew some basic swimming (probably some months of pool practice), they would have survived if they maintained composure. They need not have to be strong swimmers, just had to have some basic surviving techniques like floating on the back, bobbing, treading etc - to buy in more time for the actual rescuers.

When panic sets in, you can't float in water. Floating needs you to hold breadth and be calm. I have seen many beginners who panic even at 4ft depth of the pool because of water fear. Besides, the feeling of being in an open water body with no clarity on depth is a different feeling altogether. Visibility is near zero in such lakes.

Originally Posted by kiranknair

Slightly off topic - for people who don't know swimming and planning to learn - please read/ search Youtube about drown proofing practiced by the US Seals. That would inspire some confidence in beginners.

As other members have pointed out, life guard skills are totally different. Its like knowing how to climb stairs and being a mountaineer.

I was also wondering had the air bags deployed , would it have given the couple enough time?.

[Samurai]

Keeping quick-inflatable flotation devices in the car is a good idea. These couple had time to get out, which means they could have used such a device.

Yes, expecting just any swimmer to conduct rescue is not reasonable. I learned swimming at age 46, so I am not a strong swimmer. I mainly learned it to be able to swim to the nearest bank if I found myself in open water some day. I don't think I can swim while dragging some non-swimmer along. This may be true for most people who can swim.

[androdev]

That's such a tragic accident. Very disturbing to see such visuals. Presence of speed breakers and absence of guard rails - art of Indian road building! Did the driver swerve instead of slamming the brakes? Or did he completely miss the speed breaker? With a car like S-class (excellent brakes and collision protection), maybe swerving increases the risk of fatality compared to just applying brakes? Missing speed breakers unfortunately is an occupation hazard in our country and I find google maps with traffic view provides a very good "hints" about speed breakers on fast roads.

[Gansan]

Oh God, that is shocking and sad.

I may know how to swim, but that does not mean I can rescue a drowning person. It requires special skill and training. But I can't understand why would someone record it on camera.

The car seems too far out for someone to try and throw a rope or something to them.

[roy_libran]

Sad!

Judging by the rough distances involved, it'd take at least 2 very good swimmers to rescue both the victims. I have twice rescued drowning guys in a swimming pool with dive pool, and know first-hand the difficulty involved.

On another note I wonder if they would have had a better chance of survival and eventual rescue had they stayed put in the car without opening any doors, windows or sunroof, until help arrived?

[NiInJa]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Yes, expecting just any swimmer to conduct rescue is not reasonable..

True, When I learnt basic swimming back in my college days, my coach taught me three aspects: 1. Simple Swimming from one point to another 2. Floating belly up if tired mid-way 3. Rescuing another person
All the above don't apply to strong currents so one should not just jump in a river because one knows how to swim.

Of-course, I have forgotten the third one after learning it 15 years back. But it requires a lot of strength and is just not possible without any practice. The person who is drowning is in panic because he fears he won't be able to breathe, so one must know how to get under him (without getting hit with his flapping hands/legs or he gripping you tightly) and push him up out of water for some seconds so that he can breathe and not panic, then he can start thinking a bit clearly and start cooperating. The next part is very tough where you have to pull him and yourself to the shore. If the water is flowing, even seasoned guys can get disoriented and start losing it.

I just wish if both victims knew how to swim, they would have saved themselves. It looks like a lake so they would have ended up at the shore any way.

[McLaren Rulez]

The lessons here are:

1) If you are reading this post, there is no excuse to not learn how to swim no matter your age, gender or social status. It is a very basic and essential life skill. People make all sorts of excuses to not learn but they are nonsensical excuses. If you ever end up in a body of water, there will be lots of people to video you but whether you live or become a YouTube hit depends on your swimming ability.

2) Don't drive at stupid speeds. If you fail to spot a speed bump, you should end up with a busted alloy at worst, not with a car in the middle of a lake adjacent to the road.

[mazda4life]

RIP, makes for very sad viewing. As a experienced swimmer myself, its very difficult to save someone who is drowning and its human instinct of the person in danger to panic and thrash as much as possible, I have had this experience of getting guys out twice ... once in Panambur beach in Mangalore and the other in a deceptively placid Kaveri and both were touch and go and somehow both the times the guys were lucky.

[Jeroen]

Incredibly sad and disheartening to watch. On the matter of saving a drowning person:

Every kid in the Netherlands learns to swim from a very early age onwards. Very often as part of the primary school curriculum. We have several swimming diplomaas. And from very early onwards one of the criteria to pass is to be able to rescue a drowning person.

yes, there have been a few cases where a drowning person created a problem for the rescuer. But in most cases, if you are taught from early on, what to do, what to say, how to act it goes a long way.

Lets face it, these people were not that far out from the shore. Anybody with just average swimming skills should have been able to drag them to the shore. I am not sure how many people, other than the person video-taping, were watching. It makes it all the worse thinking their were able bodies people just watching doing nothing. Unfortunately, this is not unique. We see similar cases around the world. Bystanders doing nothing else, but video-ing

Jeroen

[anjan_c2007]

A very sad ending for a young couple. It is evident that the car was being driven at a breakneck speed and the driver lost control, the car flipped and landed there. It had landed presumably almost at the centre of the lake, as the video would have been shot some minutes after the car had landed there. Because, the time between landing and drowning during such mishaps is very less.

By seeing such gory scenes, we all as drivers need to augment our levels of awareness about things that are done wrongly and callously where we end up hurting ourselves, sometimes greviously or even sometimes lose our precious lives. As it goes "such accidents end up as only statistics for the government, but for us and our families, it is the end of the world" !

[Sanidhya mukund]

May the departed souls RIP.

Looking at the number plate of the car, it just struck me that I had recently seen this car listed for sale in Mumbai for about 30 lakhs. It must have been a new purchase for them, so it could be that the driver wasn't used to driving such a powerful and heavy car.

[GutsyGibbon]

Originally Posted by srini1785

I was also wondering had the air bags deployed , would it have given the couple enough time?.

Airbags have holes in them. They start deflating within half a second after deployment. They have a purpose that is very narrow in its definition, and deployment criteria.

[landcruiser123]

RIP to the poor souls. This incident just reaffirms that driving too fast in India can be disastrous due to the surprises on Indian roads.

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Folks on the shore had the time to take a video but not the time to jump in and try and save them...

I don't know about the specifics on how easy or difficult it is to help people, but I've seen apathy in many Indian. Most people will just whip out their phone and start recording to share videos on social media/whatsapp.

I happened to call the police & ambulance for an injured cyclist in Bangalore. He told me that none of the dozen people who passed by offered to help. Most people were busy shooting a video of him struggling.

[McLaren Rulez]

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

I don't know about the specifics on how easy or difficult it is to help people, but I've seen apathy in many Indian. Most people will just whip out their phone and start recording to share videos on social media/whatsapp.

I happened to call the police & ambulance for an injured cyclist in Bangalore. He told me that none of the dozen people who passed by offered to help. Most people were busy shooting a video of him struggling.

Indeed, the number of good citizens in India - and by good I mean those with basic civic sense, respect for laws and a modicum of common sense and helpfulness - is extremely low. The bystander effect is global but the extent to which it occurs in India is ridiculous.

That said, smaller villages are a little better in this regard. The second video showed people who seem to have swam out to try and help. Sadly they appear to have been too late.

[Axe77]

My few takeaways from this incident which individually are unrelated:

1. Roads: This is another example of the perils Indian roads throw -unmarked speed bumps. These are specially prevalent around villages where villagers sometimes put them up for their own safety. There needs to be some ability to control these mushrooming all over or at least have them marked to a consistent standard. It is understandable self preservation mode by villagers, but still. I recall a senior citizen and industrialist who had died on a Kawasaki ZX 10R near Khopoli less than a few years ago. Apparently very familiar with the route but an unmarked speed bump that was recently put up caught him unawares.

2. Driving: Even if the bump is unmarked, common sense dictates that drivers slow down around villages to a very safe speed. Remember, there is bound to be lots of across the road movement - its like driving through a residential colony - people are usually off guard when near their homes. Slow down regardless of everything!

3. Driving Experience: Everything that I have said above are learnings from years of driving on varied roads. You can acquire good driving skills very quickly, but a lot of times your life will be saved by your driving "mentality" and presence of mind from experience. Driving skills with the wrong mentality give a false sense of confidence. Any youngster learning to drive must also be constantly be drilled with defensive driving, specially in our country. How to / when to slow down, risks around particular areas. Why else do so many youth riders have accidents on their two wheelers. They are very skilled but take a lot of risks while riding rashly displaying their so called skills. Lady luck is bound to run out for them at some point, which it inevitably does when they crash - the only luck they can count on is the extent of injury from such an outcome.

4. Swimming: Its a life skill. You MUST know it. Period! In the west, most people learn it as kids. Its not so common in our country. What is also important is some basic rescue skills which definitely NO ONE is taught. If you are a swimmer chances are you will be in water with other people from time to time. Even a fellow swimmer could be drowning for many reasons (cramp, sudden health issue, whatever). Learning basic rescue techniques is a must along with learning to swim because approaching a rescue right will be critical when the occasion arises.

5. Rescuing: It is absolutely correct that rescuing can be equally dangerous. Even for a swimmer, being in deep open water can cause a panic attack -I mean a PROPER PANIC ATTACK. Multiply that manifold for a non swimmer who's just been in a car accident, that too in a pair where he is ALSO worried about his partner. Way to go about is to catch a drowning person from under his arms and from BEHIND so you can simply keep him afloat, WHILE having control over your own arms AND also prevents him / her from grabbing you face to face rendering your own arms unusable. This also allows you to talk into his ear, calming him and instructing him from behind on what to do. Hopefully a few seconds of keeping afloat by the rescuer will be time enough for him to calm down and follow instructions. You can even hold up to two victims like this provided you have the time to calm them down, hold them from behind and give them some basic instructions like frog kick into the water if it helps.

6. Bystanders: It is indeed a pity no one helped. If two swimmers had jumped, both these lives could have definitely be saved. But as in point 5 above, a rescue gone wrong needs very little time for things to go horribly wrong for everyone - less than even a min / two maybe. Equally it takes only a limited amount of knowledge to try and approach this with some safeguards - but I admit the risk is there nevertheless in a panic situation like this