The new highways..shudder

[tsk1979]

There are times when you see beautiful new 6 lane roads at places you least expect them, and then just floor it. Well i learned from my expirience that appearances can be deceptive.
On a trip from ooty to bangalore(It was the first time i was doing it) I tool the ring road which was marked "Mysore bypass" to bangalore. The road was smooth wide, gentle curves. With pedal to the metal i coaxed my DLS to stay in the 120-130 band. It was sheer fun taking the curves and hearing the light whine of the tyres. After around 30kms of driving the road started on an incline i downshifted into 4th coz there was no way i could go up in 5th. At the crest i saw something which made me shiver and grow white. barely 50 meters ahead of me the highway turned right. a 90 degrees right with lovely palm trees welcoming me into their fold. Instinct took over as i slammed the brakes with all my might and yanked the steering to the right. Luckily a feeble voice in my head said, "you got no abs dude, you going down". Sense prevailed, i shifted into third and let go of the brakes and floored the accelerator. But the palm trees were still coming at me and growing larger and the tyres were still howling at the torture i was inflicting. Luckily the tail suddenly swung and i was facing the divider, but still going sideways, the divider finished and could actually feel the car trying to gain traction. Barely a couple of meters from the road edge the tail swung more and i was now in a controllable oversteer, which i though. It wasnt anyway near controllable and was now again travelling sideways on the single road with a bus coming down at me. i applied opposite lock and the tail swung the other way, again a bit too much. In panic i had left the accelerator pedal. I dont know what came over me as i floored again and could bring out the indica in a straight line. Speedo=70kmph. the moment the car straigtened i slammed the brakes though not too tight this time. And coasted to a semi skid stop. My knuckles had grown white and throuh the A/C vents i could smell burnt rubber. I turned off the car and got out, barely able to stand. I could see the smoking tyres and a good deal of rubber i had layed on the road!

Moral, never trust our indian highways. Esp new ones. There are absolutely no signboards. I heard that there is a section on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, which sees an accident almost every alternate day coz some poor soul coming at 3 digit speeds suddely finds the road turning. Autocar(Or was it overdirve) had pics of a twin accident. A palio and skoda slammed into the wall barely minutes from each other!. I wonder when will these guys remember that signboards are necessary!!

[shravan316]

Well written tsk1979!
Scary experience u had there! Yup i agree, never trust our Indian highways! we have all sorts of things on it......... right from cows, dogs to two wheelers doing snail pace at the middle of the highway, and tractors cutting across the highway!

[Shan2nu]

Boy, you should drive the B'lore-Tumkur highway at night. There are no street lights anywhere and those villagers walk on the road as if it was a footpath, had 3 near misses and the only reason why those 3 didn't end up dead was bcoz i swerved really hard to avoid them, they didn't even move a finger.

Shan2nu

[Rudra Sen]

Originally Posted by Shan2nu

Boy, you should drive the B'lore-Tumkur highway at night.
Shan2nu

Been there. Done that bit a few times.
No matter what car you're driving..you'll feel so drained after that stretch.

[speedsatya]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

absolutely no signboards. I heard that there is a section on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, which sees an accident almost every alternate day coz some poor soul coming at 3 digit speeds suddely finds the road turning. Autocar(Or was it overdirve) had pics of a twin accident. A palio and skoda slammed into the wall barely minutes from each other!. I wonder when will these guys remember that signboards are necessary!!

good that you got saved.but that must have been a spectacular one

the tumkur stretch and the belgaum bypass -khanapur is one of the most accident prone places on the NH4.

reagrding the expressway,
yes you are right .there is this section at the end of the mumbai -pune expressway ,when suddenly the road turns right.its on a bridge.
but in reality there are rumbler strips just at the start of the bridge.almost everyone is doing 100+speeds hroughout the expressway and u just fly over these rumbler strips.they are there to warn you about the curve .

it may be a design flaw,but its simply written in bold letters that 80kph is the limit that u have to maintain.and no one maintains that .
if you adhere to this limit there is no way that anyone can crash into that place.

also u can tires placed throughout that curve ,to help cushion a crash and still u will find black marks on the wall.

also heard that after 500,the police have stopped counting the number of vehicles which have crashed at this place.

but more than the design ,its the foolishness of the drivers that causes these accidents.

[Shan2nu]

Does that curve on the xpressway have a banking of some sort. That way the cars will get a better turn in, like the NASCAR guys. LOL

Did we go through this turn on our way back to B'bay from Panchgani? Coz i don't remember taking any hard corners.

Shan2nu

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by speedsatya

good that you got saved.but that must have been a spectacular one

Yes it was. It took about 4 seconds, but i can exactly replay it in my brain! Heck i even remember the smell of burnt rubber and see the smoke in my rear view mirror.
[quote=speedsatya
reagrding the expressway,
but more than the design ,its the foolishness of the drivers that causes these accidents.[/QUOTE]

Thats right, but all it takes is a big sign indicating a sharp right/left whatever. I have seen such signs on many roads, why is it not there on the expressway.!

[speedsatya]

Originally Posted by Shan2nu

Does that curve on the xpressway have a banking of some sort. That way the cars will get a better turn in, like the NASCAR guys. LOL

Did we go through this turn on our way back to B'bay from Panchgani? Coz i don't remember taking any hard corners.

Shan2nu

that curve is right on the bridge .even if there was a banking ,ther is no way that u can take that as it just drops to the right.the yellow walls have become black due to the numerous scraps.but the red and blue tires kept on the curve look interesting

[drifter]

Originally Posted by Shan2nu

Does that curve on the xpressway have a banking of some sort. That way the cars will get a better turn in, like the NASCAR guys. LOL

Did we go through this turn on our way back to B'bay from Panchgani? Coz i don't remember taking any hard corners.

Shan2nu

No that particular curve is not banked...even i've never noticed a warning for that curve, a signboard should be there for the drivers...but like its been said before if you mantain the speed limit, there is no way you can crash at that curve.

Drifter

[Tarun]

Last year, approaching Jaipur on the delhi- Jaipur highway around 21.30 with 95-100 kmph on speedo. Now as soon as the toll road ends (indicated by a signboard), there is one huge speedbreaker without any markings. And just after the speed braker the road takes a turn. cant remeber L or R. ( no signboards here too).
It was very dark. I approcahed the breaker around 95-100 and could not figure out what was it ? The bulge of breaker almost blinded me and i could not figure out where the road was leading to. Stepped on the brakes with all might, but still hit the breaker hard. Would have won an olympic medal for high jump in car category. Parked
at a safe corner, moved out and checked what had happened. The braker, the turn and my zen.
Just prior to this i was thinking and praising abt toll roads and how they had made the difference connecting to cities. And now i was like, "Since you are no longer on a toll road we do not owe you any signboards, divider markings or white markings on road, all the best."

Therafter, drove slowly and checked for any tweaking sounds from my zen, luckily none. The speedo now read 60.

Tarun

[vinsanity]

Jesus Christ, careful guys..... Man, you are lucky to have escaped unhurt.... Just a little misfortune is all that it takes... All fun, but could have a really sad ending.... Just be extra careful guys... All this is so scary!! Ya it's thrilling, but just cant trust any roads here.....

_Drive Safe_

[Technocrat]

Mee too had asimilar experience but i was goin arnd 140kph & thats when i saw a stupid truck driver who was coming from opposite direction suddenly overtaking the bullock cart in front of him which was arnd 100-150 mtrs from me, i slammed thebrakes & svereved to left but then there is no more space in left & hence downshifted & eased on brakes which helped me to halt the car.. boy the moment he overtook the cart me & my cousins wer so scared but gladly my guardian angel gave my senses back & we were safe.. phew, even i remembere the burning rubber's smell

[vance0712]

villagers and cows man we really need to explain the difference between highways and footpaths to them

its like they always think the oncoming vehicle can never touch them

regards

[islero]

tsk1979, your narrative grips me, man!!!! Its bloody hell scary, much more than a few horror books I've read!!!
Careful, mate, the authorities, as our friends have said, just dont give a damn. Its we who have to be careful and responsible.
Happy driving,
Cheers
Islero

[cream]

aren't you the guy with the new (more or less) indica?

you better watch those speeds man - however good those roads look - there's always some danger lurking around the turn.

as for me, i always make sure my car can handle the emegencies that the speed brings - it's easy to take cars to top speeds, but what happens when you need to brake, swerve or turn in an emergency. the way i look at it, your presence of mind saved you.

drive safely - you will live longer - besides speed is not the only way to enjoy a car and a drive!