17 people killed in road mishap NH17 Udupi

[balechaparka]

At least 17 people of a marriage party were killed and 25 others injured when a Maxi Cab, in which they were travelling, collided with a bus on the National Highway at Muloor, about 20 km from Udupi.
Police said the victims were bound for Muloor, while the bus was coming to Mangalore when the mishap occurred.

One of the horrible road accident on NH17

Deccan Herald - 17 people killed in road mishap

[Samurai]

Yesterday I was at a wedding, lot of attendees were delayed because of the road block created by this accident. When they eventually passed by the accident site, it was an horrible horrible sight to hold. All the dead bodies laid along the road, many guests were quite upset with what they saw. My parents who were also at the wedding passed by the same spot just minutes before the accident.

The main reason for accidents, stupid drivers in every possible vehicles who overtake in a blind curve. The oncoming traffic simply has nowhere to go when they suddenly see the overtaking vehicle coming towards them. While smaller vehicles try to squeeze back into their lane by slowing down, most buses don't. They somehow expect the oncoming traffic to simply vanish until they complete the overtake. I face this in NH-17 on a daily basis.

[benbsb29]

Reading these makes me dread the highways. :(

[greatDrive]

Originally Posted by Samurai

The main reason for accidents, stupid drivers in every possible vehicles who overtake in a blind curve. The oncoming traffic simply has nowhere to go when they suddenly see the overtaking vehicle coming towards them. While smaller vehicles try to squeeze back into their lane by slowing down, most buses don't. They somehow expect the oncoming traffic to simply vanish until they complete the overtake. I face this in NH-17 on a daily basis.

Its not only NH17 but all highways without dividers. and culprits are mostly Buses owned by State transports.

[Desert fox]

The eyewitnesses reported that the maxi-cab driver was talking on his cell phone while driving at high speed at one end and the bus driver had swung in to over take at the other!

[rks]

Originally Posted by Samurai

The main reason for accidents, stupid drivers in every possible vehicles who overtake in a blind curve. The oncoming traffic simply has nowhere to go when they suddenly see the overtaking vehicle coming towards them. While smaller vehicles try to squeeze back into their lane by slowing down, most buses don't. They somehow expect the oncoming traffic to simply vanish until they complete the overtake. I face this in NH-17 on a daily basis.

This is one reason. Another is overloading/rash driving of maxi cabs.

Originally Posted by balechaparka

At least 17 people of a marriage party were killed and 25 others injured when a Maxi Cab, in which they were travelling, collided with a bus on the National Highway at Muloor, about 20 km from Udupi.

I think maxi cabs have a capacity of about 16 passengers. In this case at least 42 people were travelling in it. Such overloading will obviously affect the handling and braking. I believe insurance companies will refuse to pay up in cases of overloading.

Originally Posted by Desert fox

The eyewitnesses reported that the maxi-cab driver was talking on his cell phone while driving at high speed at one end and the bus driver had swung in to over take at the other!

Looks like the maxi cab driver was overspeeding in an overloaded vehicle plus talking on his cell. Sad that such irresponsibility plus probably rash driving by the bus driver has cost 17 lives and injured 25.

[zoomingbhat]

Originally Posted by Samurai

I face this in NH-17 on a daily basis.

I too have faced a lot of problems in this stretch especially with the private buses,and the way they drive and overtake.

[Desert fox]

Originally Posted by rks

maxi cab driver was overspeeding in an overloaded vehicle plus talking on his cell. Sad that such irresponsibility plus probably rash driving by the bus driver has cost 17 lives and injured 25.

Exact same words were used in the local edition of TOI.

[nbr]

agree that buses are driven rashly.But, there are people who are indirectly provoking these drivers to reckless driving.For every 1 minute gap , there is an express bus betwen manglore-udupi which is the main reason for drivers to resort to such high speeds. The RTO, is still giving permits for new buses to ply b/w the 2 places and , hence , such mishaps are bound to occur in the future !

[spadival]

Some times I wonder whether competition among private bus operators is a boon or a curse. But then, govt bus drivers can be equally rash.

[msdivy]

Originally Posted by nbr

agree that buses are driven rashly.But, there are people who are indirectly provoking these drivers to reckless driving.For every 1 minute gap , there is an express bus betwen manglore-udupi which is the main reason for drivers to resort to such high speeds. The RTO, is still giving permits for new buses to ply b/w the 2 places and , hence , such mishaps are bound to occur in the future !

In south Karnataka, people complain of irregular bus service. But in coastal Karnataka they have different problem

[rks]

Here is a more detailed report of the accident with several pictures (warning: some pictures at the end of the page are shocking).

SahilOnline English Daily - Reflection of the TRUTH -

Looks like the maxi-cab was overloaded; it was carrying at least 36 people according to another news report (it is not clear if all the injured were from the maxi-cab, but most of them were). The fault was apparently the bus driver's, who, according to another news report, was speeding and overtaking a lorry. The maxi-cab has been totalled, with the front intact and the right side of the cab taking the hit from the front right portion of the bus. This suggests that the maxi-cab driver was trying to swerve to the left in order to avoid the overtaking bus. Of course with a grossly overloaded vehicle, his swerve attempt would not have been very successful.

According to another news report a bus passenger alleged that the bus driver was talking on the mobile while overtaking. It is not clear if the maxi-cab driver was overspeeding, but one thing is clear -- if the cab was not overloaded, at least the number of casualties would have been less.

[nbr]

Originally Posted by rks

bus driver was talking on the mobile while overtaking. It is not clear if the maxi-cab driver was overspeeding, but one thing is clear -- if the cab was not overloaded, at least the number of casualties would have been less.

it wasn't the bus driver talking on the phone.it was infact the maxi-cab driver,who was using the cel when the mishap occured.
Inspite of such a fatal mishap, the drivers of heavy vehicles haven't learnt a lesson and are still found driving crazily.

[rks]

Originally Posted by nbr

it wasn't the bus driver talking on the phone.it was infact the maxi-cab driver,who was using the cel when the mishap occured.

As per The Hindu it was the bus driver; see:

The Hindu : Karnataka News : 17 die as maxi-cab, bus collide on NH 17 near Udupi

A passenger P.K. Mayyabi from Karkala, who was travelling by the private bus, from Kaup to Padudidri, alleged that the driver was speaking on the mobile while driving. He narrowly avoided hitting an autorickshaw at Katapady village, he alleged.

But anyway even the Maxi-cab owner/driver was at fault. The swerving/braking maneuvers could easily take twice as much distance with such gross overloading, to the extent of taking 36+ passengers when the capacity was probably less than 16.

[Samurai]

KPCC president Mallikarjuna Kharge, former Chief Minister Veerappa Moily, Dharam Singh, IGP H.N.Satyanarayan Rao, Vasanth Salian and others visited the spot during the day.

Mr.Veerappa Moily was one of the attendee at the wedding, I heard he too was talking about the accident since he passed by the same spot on the way.

Today I drove 70Kms on the same highway, dodging the usual blind curve overtakers. Most of them have heard about the accident, but it was business as usual.