[TheARUN]

I knew that this was waiting to happen.

A Mysore-Chennai VOLVO met with a ghastly accident near Chittor.

As usual, the accident took place when the VOLVO was trying to overtake a truck, saw a STC bus coming in the opposite direction, thought the STC would brake and slow down to let the VOLVO overtake, the STC driver did not brake, it was too late for the VOLVO to pull up behind the truck and it could not squeeze in. This resulted in a head-on collision between the VOLVO and the STC bus.

TEN PEOPLE DIED ON THE SPOT

The VOLVO got telescoped, the main reason being the rear engine. In normal buses, the engine is at the front, it bears the brunt of the impact, but in a VOLVO since there is no engine, when there is a head-on collision, the other vehicle has a free entry with no engine to stop it.

Moral of the story:
Rear engine busses only work in places where there are two separate carriageways with a median in the center. On a single road, it is always safer to have the traditional front engine layout.

[Ram]

Originally Posted by TheARUN

The VOLVO got telescoped, the main reason being the rear engine. In normal buses, the engine is at the front, it bears the brunt of the impact, but in a VOLVO since there is no engine, when there is a head-on collision, the other vehicle has a free entry with no engine to stop it.

Moral of the story:
Rear engine busses only work in places where there are two separate carriageways with a median in the center. On a single road, it is always safer to have the traditional front engine layout.

In a head-on at 100 km/h, it's not the engine that stops the oncoming vehicle from killing passengers. It's the speed itself.

Haven't you heard of m1v1 = m2v2?

The Volvo weighs 16,200 kg. How much does the passenger weigh? 75 kg?
If the entire 16-17 ton mass is travelling at 100 km/h and stopped by a stone wall, individual human beings (assuming there are 45 of them) will go ballistic smashing into obstacles at 480 km/h. What happens to flesh and bone then?

And in a head-on collision it's worse.

Please remove from your mind, that the traditional front engine layout is somehow safer.

[raj_5004]

i think ram is right. you have mentioned that the volvo was "telescoped" but you dd not mention the state of the STC bus. i am sure equal or more number of passengers would have been injured. infact i feel these buses (tata/leyland) are basically a body bolted onto a truck chassis are the most unsafe and uncomfortable for passengers.

arun, the engine in front does not mean you can protect your passengers. infact, if you notice, volvo in their cars/SUVs (they pioneer in safety) place their engines transversely and not longitudinally as is the usual practice even though it involves a fair amount of complications. this is done so that the cabin does not intrude into the passenger cabin in the event of a collision and the impact force is distributed evenly by the stuctural beams.
so i definetely think volvo knows more or atleast thinks more about the safety of the passengers than the tata/leyland truck/bus...

[Spitfire]

Originally Posted by TheARUN

Moral of the story:
Rear engine busses only work in places where there are two separate carriageways with a median in the center. On a single road, it is always safer to have the traditional front engine layout.

I am quite surprised that in this day of information availability we still think primitively.

It was a human error, the driver thought he could bully the other driver by jumping in his lane. What does that have to do with engine on his head or below his tail.

Road discipline was lacking - remember we have the highest deaths in accidents in India?

RIP to all those in that got killed and a quick recovery to the injured.

Hopefully this will be a lesson well taught to the KSRTC drivers(quite a good lot otherwise and this was a surprise) to understand that everytime they take to the wheel, that from the start till the end of the journey atleast 45-60 lives are dependent on them.

[Guna]

Looks like the other bus hit the at an angle and all the passengers sitting on that side in Volve suffered serious injuries/some died (including the driver).
Impact seems to be letter on the other bus.

[amitoj]

Originally Posted by TheARUN

IAs usual, the accident took place when the VOLVO was trying to overtake a truck, saw a STC bus coming in the opposite direction, thought the STC would brake and slow down to let the VOLVO overtake, the STC driver did not brake, it was too late for the VOLVO to pull up behind the truck and it could not squeeze in. This resulted in a head-on collision between the VOLVO and the STC bus.

How do you know that?? According to Hindu:

"The driver of the Bangalore-bound bus was trying to avoid a crater on the highway, which is being widened, when the accident occurred. "

Here is the link:
The Hindu : Front Page : 10 killed, 23 injured as KSRTC buses collide near Mulbagal

[Glifford]

Originally Posted by amitoj

How do you know that?? According to Hindu:

"The driver of the Bangalore-bound bus was trying to avoid a crater on the highway, which is being widened, when the accident occurred. "

Here is the link:
The Hindu : Front Page : 10 killed, 23 injured as KSRTC buses collide near Mulbagal

True! I too was saddened to read bout this earlier today on the TOI.

See: Article Window

Clearly mentions: "The impact of the collision was such that the right portion of the Volvo was completely ripped off and the angle at which the bus ploughed into it caused grievous injuries to those seated by the window. Most of them are either dead or seriously injured, he said.
Lakshmaiah, the driver of the Volvo, was among the 10 killed."

Nowhere does it mention the bus was Telescoped! Pic can be seen clearly in the Hindu article as well!

That kind of accident can happen on any bus! Let alone front or rear engined!

Sad nevertheless!

[TheHorse]

i guess buses like Volvo or Mercedez should be restricted to well built highways like Pune-Mumbai expressway. I've seen numerous volvos being driven with aggression, only that road being expressway, saves lots of accidents. And then again imagine a driver who has driven TATA/Leyland buses for many years and suddenly with only a month's training they step on Volvo..I am sure they must be inching to overtake every possible vehicle with their swanky mean machine

[Mpower]

Wonder how many would have survived if seatbelts were made compulsory in buses....at least they would'nt be thrown forward. As engine power and speeds get higher and higher, maybe this is something we need.

[mjothi]

Originally Posted by raj_5004

i think ram is right. you have mentioned that the volvo was "telescoped" but you dd not mention the state of the STC bus. i am sure equal or more number of passengers would have been injured. infact i feel these buses (tata/leyland) are basically a body bolted onto a truck chassis are the most unsafe and uncomfortable for passengers.

Actually only one died in STC bus, whereas 9 died in Volvo.

[maddy42]

Why do people still prefer to stick on to old technologies and greet everything new and advanced with comments like old buses only should remain etc etc. If this was true i would say only ambis should remain as the roads here are pretty sad.

Well with great power comes great responsibility. Use it judiciously. I feel Volvos have been a boon for people like me. Imagine your journey being cut by close to 6 hours from other options other than flight???
RIP for all those who lost their life.

[laluks]

Originally Posted by maddy42

Well with great power comes great responsibility. Use it judiciously.

Very true. When 60 odd life is in your hands, the thought itself is good enough to scare you.

[n_aditya]

Originally Posted by Mpower

Wonder how many would have survived if seatbelts were made compulsory in buses....at least they would'nt be thrown forward. As engine power and speeds get higher and higher, maybe this is something we need.

Volvo's are equipped with seat belts for every seat... at least the one i travelled in to Blore long back was equipped with seat belts. But alas, most of them were not functional.

[Blue Thunder]

Originally Posted by TheARUN

...As usual, the accident took place when the VOLVO was trying to overtake a truck, saw a STC bus coming in the opposite direction, thought the STC would brake and slow down to let the VOLVO overtake, the STC driver did not brake, it was too late for the VOLVO to pull up behind the truck and it could not squeeze in. This resulted in a head-on collision between the VOLVO and the STC bus...

TheARUN, where did you get this info from? Based on the newspaper reports, the Volvo doesnt seem to be at fault.

DNA - Bangalore - Accident on B'lore-Chennai highway claims 10 - Daily News & Analysis

..."The Volvo driver slowed down when he saw the speeding KSRTC bus come from the opposite direction; he even swerved to the extreme left to avoid a head-on collision. But the KSRTC driver drove right into the vehicle's side, killing the Volvo driver and eight other passengers," they said.
Though the other passengers in the KSRTC bus had a narrow escape, a 10-year-old girl died on the spot, they added...

From the picture, it appears that the Volvo was trying to avoid the collission by swerving to the left.

.

[hellstar]

Oh i had the misfortune of seeing this volvo bus being hauled back to the KSRTC depot in majestice day before yesterday night at around 2230 hrs , and boy was the sight gruesome , the entire top part of the volve has almost been shaved off and there was blood all round .

I had gone to drop my brother at the majestic for a a trip to chennai and the sight of this mangled bus sent a chill down our spines.... let the departed souls rest in peace....