Accident in Chennai (T-nagar)

[anandtheleo]

Just now witnessed a horrible crash in the shopping area of T-nagar in Chennai. The vehicle involved was a Bajaj Pulsar 220 DTS-Fi. The accident took place on Venkatnarayana road just opposite my office.

The other vehicle involved was Harayana registered Tempo, the pulsar guy took a illegal right turn and came under the back wheel of the Tempo who was coming from across a signal as he wanted to cross the signal before it turned red. Even though he was wearing a helmet his head was the one which came under the tyre (really really horrble) and he did not survive.

The rider was a young guy, around 24-26, it was such a terrible waste of young indian. I am just shaken to the core.

Anand.S

[diabloo]

If the Pulsar guy had restrained himself and his bike for a moment, his family would have been very very glad.

[dadu]

always refrain from putting yourself into a dangerous situation, no matter what the temptation is.

Originally Posted by diabloo

If the Pulsar guy had restrained himself and his bike for a moment, his family would have been very very glad.

[herculesksp]

The helmet actually cracked under the tempo's weight? Was the tempo speeding to get out of the signal? Else, if it was just starting off then ideally his head should have been dragged in front of the tyre as the tyre might not have been able to climb the helmet.
But seriously... too bad for the (dumb) biker, and an unnecessary and haunting sight for you to witness.

[Nitin]

may his soul rest in peace!

[nitroxx]

man the poor guy lost his life just for a few seconds of wait..which reminds me about one thing, always buy good quality approved helmets..

[Nitin]

I remember seeing a lot of people buying helmets from the roadside,especially along the KR puram /ORR towards Kammanahalli. Those things looked so cheap,and when I tried pushing from both sides of the helmet,it actually caved it.

These helmets won't take the weight of a bicycle..how do they expect holding a person's brains intact after going under a bus?

[skandyhere]

Unfortunate. When people like this survive a potentially life-threatening situation, one gets so cheesed you'd want to snuff the life out of them. Even worse is when he doesn't survive it - it's heart-wrenching and highly disturbing to witness it. Other road users seldom learn from gory lessons like these.

[anandtheleo]

@herculesksp- The helmet did crack under the back wheel of the tempo, it was a green Ninja helmet. The tempo was indeed speeding to get out of the signal and the biker took the illegal right turn.

This illegal right turn is taken by almost 20% of the traffic flowing through that road. My daily route to office too makes me go through this road, but I always take the long way to office avoiding this right turn. But many in my own office take this turn. Others in my office were witness to the accident too as it was around lunch time and they were out for a smoke. They promised they would never take the illegal turn again. Let's see how long they intend to keep it.

I dont think any good quality helmet would have saved him here, as the primary purpose of a helmet is take the primary impact of the crash of the head on the asphalt. It is never designed to take the weight of a vehicle on it. But yes avoiding the dubious roadside helmet is good as it won't prevent serious head injuries during a crash.

I stopped my bike to check him, but he was gone, also spoke the traffic constable to ask him to inform the guy's home by checking his cell-phone for numbers or his wallet, but the constable refused to do anything until his seniors came. So the guy was lifted and put on the sidewalk and covered with a tarpaulin.

The abruptness of the whole situation, which shook me the most, on Burkit road (a road in chennai) the pulsar guy was alive, thinking about something, the moment he took a right turn he was dead, and just another road kill statistic in our ever increasing road accident deaths.

I seriously hope everyone reading this, thinks twice before trying to take the wrong (short & easy) way on the road, its just not worth it.

Anand.S

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by Nitin

These helmets won't take the weight of a bicycle..how do they expect holding a person's brains intact after going under a bus?

No helmet is designed to protect you from such catastrophic situations. Please wake up.

[esteem_lover]

Yeah, the popular misconception that a helmet will protect you from under the wheels of a truck. You might need cast iron helmets for that. But very sad that a young man lost his life while committing a silly mistake which 99/100 times people get away with.

Was he coming from panagal park side or from nandanam side ?

[bblost]

take 2 potatoes.
one boiled, one raw.
place both potatoes on sandpaper.

using your hand push potatoes sideways with a top down force.
boiled potato gets mashed,
raw potato will skid on the surface for sometime till it breaks.

A helmet even in such a crash will give a little bit extra chance of survival.

[bblost]

anandtheleo's post appeared after my last post.
I wonder what to make of my potato theory.
but I stick with it.
A helmet allows impact to slide over and gives the head a much better chance of making it.

In this case, I think the speed of impact might have caused the tempo jump up and...give up, I dont wanna discuss this.

Ninja is modular helmet manufactured by Studds India.
Studds Accessories Ltd. - Products - Motorcycle Helmets

I have used this helmet a couple of years back.
Found it to be quite strong and secure.
however, lucky me no situation arose for it to be put to the test.

There a few things to be noted, no helmet manufacturer in India provides the saftey specs for thier helmets.
for instance, the max psi it can withstand and so on.

Also people need to be aware that the helmet needs to be replaced every 2 years or so.

Feel quite sorry for this rider who died.

[anandtheleo]

@bblost- I agree 100% with your theory, I have first hand experience with it. I once slid on a major junction as there was oil on the road and I could not do anything to prevent myself from falling down and my helmet took the brunt and I felt as if i was in a motogp race, both real and arcade game. In the game and in the real race they give a in-camera account of the fall and it shows how at one point the rider is seeing the road and the next the camera is focusing on the asphalt. Boy it was scary and I escaped unhurt as there was no heavy vehicle behind me at that time.

I changed the helmet as, even though there were only big scratches and not broken, I figured when we spend/earn 1000's of rupees there is nothing wrong in spending a 1000 every now & then to change the helmet.

From what I heard you have to change a helmet after a bad crash as it may not have the structural integrity to take another crash.

Anand.S

[vnabhi]

"Also people need to be aware that the helmet needs to be replaced every 2 years or so."
Really? Why so? I rarely use a 2-wheeler, but when I do, I still use my 23 year old Studds helmet---never had any impact so far. Only got the inner cushions changed a decade ago, as the original ones had worn off.