Another bad accident on Nelson Mandela Marg - 1 dead, 5 injured

[suman]

Here's the link to the Times of India article - Speeding vehicles collide, 1 killed, there's been another nasty one on Tuesday night on Nelson Mandela Marg (where we are planning to meet on Saturday) - a 22 year old (with his two friends) lost control of his Honda City (he was overspeeding), hit the central divider, crossed over & went head-on into a Sonata that was coming from the opposite direction (elderly couple being chaffeur driven). The 22 year old died on the spot, the driver of the Sonata is not likely to survive.....

The point is, until we realize the limits of our vehicles & restrain ourselves appropriately when we are driving, there will be no end to such accidents . Adrenalin surge is one thing but we MUST REALIZE THE SHORTCOMINGS OF OUR RIDES. Lack of ABS, EBD or Airbags and reckless speeding at the same time - a sureshot recipe for disaster. Police haven't been able to determine whether the kid was under the influence of alchohol but it doesn't change things even if he was.

Guys, please bear this in mind particularly when you are driving late nights, early mornings and in fog. PLEASE DO NOT EXCEED LIMITS - it feels great to "let her rip" but that leads mostly to RIP if you do not exercise caution. Lets spread the word as a responsible forum shall we?

[rks]

The accident too place at 11-45 pm. Apart from rash and possibly drunk driving by the Honda City driver, there is another matter which needs to be highlighted. Road dividers are very difficult to spot at night in the glare of opposing headlights, especially on Indian roads. These dividers are often constructed in a very unsafe manner and are deadly for those who are prone to speeding on unfamiliar roads. Ironic that a safety measure like constructing dividers should lead to fatalities on our roads.

[suman]

Originally Posted by rks

Apart from rash and possibly drunk driving by the Honda City driver, there is another matter which needs to be highlighted. Road dividers are very difficult to spot at night in the glare of opposing headlights, especially on Indian roads. These dividers are often constructed in a very unsafe manner and are deadly for those who are prone to speeding on unfamiliar roads.

RKS, while I agree with you about road dividers construction in general, the road in question is a WIDE dual carriageway with an EXTREMELY visible central verge and is lit up as well. The road (unfortunately) is very well surfaced and TEMPTS people to floor the pedal. This accident didn't happen due to the divider not being visible I can assure you.....it was just overspeeding & losing control (and I'm pretty sure alchohol was involved).

This is the same road that we had a thread about a while back about another accident where a milkman riding his cycle & minding his business on the extreme left side of the road was hit by a schoolboy out with his father's high powered car without (supposedly) his father's permission or knowledge

[Ferrarimaniac]

The guy driving was my friend. Please everyone drive safe life is too precious. For our mistakes our families have to suffer..

[mclarenracer]

sad accident, but the new honda city is just not safe, look at the other post and every accident involving the NHC, the new honda city has been on the worse end of it.

[suman]

Originally Posted by Ferrarimaniac

The guy driving was my friend.

Jeez, I'm sorry to hear that FM, my sincere condolences

Originally Posted by Ferrarimaniac

For our mistakes our families have to suffer..

Your words are well spoken....wish more & more people would realize this and be cautious

[pow3r2dawh33ls]

What are the safest cars on the Indian roads in each segment? Thats a question that I find quite difficult to answer each time I think of my next car (should be a C seg car)

[finneyp]

Originally Posted by Ferrarimaniac

Please everyone drive safe life is too precious. For our mistakes our families have to suffer..

Just to add to that - Sometimes even other families suffer due to our callous driving! We need to really drive SAFE on Indian roads!

[wolfinstein]

What I wonder is that, Safety norms should not be offered on price standards..All Wheel Disc, ABS, Power Steering should all be offered as a normal feature..! This would considerably reduce the number of accidents that occur on loss of control...! But yes there is no solution to Drunken Driving..!

[theMAG]

The common thread running thru such accidents is the lack of experience and awareness abt high-speed car control. People simply dont realize that driving a car at lower vs. higher speeds is a world apart. While its all well that we need cars to come with active and passive safety feaures and expect better roads, there is a more urgent need for regular high speed driving schools to come up across the country. These should be RTO mandated and compulsory for all permanent driving license holders.

[white_punk]

i personally knew the guy who was driving the city and he was so not a rich brat so akroy please cut the "Ameer Baap ka bigra ladka" thing. Its was terrible thing that happened to him and can happen to anyone so PLEASE PLEASE drive safe !!!!

[Ferrarimaniac]

umm the car he was driving was not the new honda city but the OHC VTEC.

[msdivy]

Originally Posted by mclarenracer

sad accident, but the new honda city is just not safe, look at the other post and every accident involving the NHC, the new honda city has been on the worse end of it.

In most cases, NHC crushed itself and saved not only its occupants, but also the other parties involved in the accident.

Originally Posted by Ferrarimaniac

umm the car he was driving was not the new honda city but the OHC VTEC.

So the car in question is not NHC.

Whatever the car is, please be in control at all times, while driving.

[gunbir]

Originally Posted by Ferrarimaniac

umm the car he was driving was not the new honda city but the OHC VTEC.

I know the kids father through business... very sad... Lets pray God gives them strength through this tragic period. Nothing can bring back their son, or help the condition of the driver of the other car. But lessons can be learnt by us.

having been in a couple of major crashes, and having lost my kid brother due to one of them, I can tell you... you cant predict these things or be prepared enough. Accidents will happen, by your mistake or anothers (like in this case, no fault of the Sonata's).

Just drive safe. If you like to drive fast, dont save money on suspension, tyres, wheels, brakes or their maintenance. Wear your seatbelts. Keep your headrests (please dont remove them). Dont invite trouble. Rest is fate. Like they say... hope for the best but be prepared for the worst.

[lucksin]

well 15 days back only i met with a same sort of accident. was driving .. infact i was racing with a NHC was 2 at night.... was tryin to take a turn at a very very high speed don remember at what speed i was but it was more than 100 ... and then i lost control over the car... barged my car into the divider.. broke it and finally when the car came to rest i was in middle of the other road.. luckily there was no one on the other side of the road.....

i got out of this one without a scrach luckily ... but the car is still inthe workshop.. so for me its no more race,, and sensible driving...