[Johnnny]

Glad that you have helped all and took right decision from your end.

Originally Posted by amods

In an CPR and emergency training, I have learnt that you shouldn't make an accident victim drink water in any situation. There may be multiple unseen injuries which may cause the water to enter the lungs - and the person can drown with that little amount of water entering the lungs.

A victim doesn't need water immediately - the first thing to ensure which is supplied is air to the lungs and the pulse is running. Water can wait and should be given only to calm the person down in case of minor injuries.

That's right! When i met with an minor accident few years back, i was offered water to drink immediately by fellow people and due to which my operation was postponed for some 8 hrs.

[BoothRoyd]

Thanks @Thad E Ginathom. I have no idea what happened to the woman on the scooter. Didn't really pay that much attention to her.

Thanks @padmrajravi. Oh yes, duly noted.

Thanks @DaptChatterjee. I will definitely try your suggestion.

Thanks @TorqueKnight. Honestly speaking I was not calm. I cannot stand the sight of blood and was literally shaking at my knees. As I said earlier, it was pure instinct. After one of the cab drivers started helping, I was able to collect my thoughts.

Thanks @amods. I seriously did not know that. Will keep in mind for future, although I don't really want to be such a situation ever again.

Thanks @srikrishna717.

[KSTejaswi]

Originally Posted by BoothRoyd

I have taken a vow today. Number of seatbelts fastened in my car will always be equal to the number of passengers. Whether they like it or not.

I had taken the same vow many years ago (thanks to knowledge gained right here, on T-BHP) and my family joined me willingly in spreading the message of the seatbelt as much as we could.

I've a close friend who lost his mom & grandfather because they weren't buckled up, and several people who think I'm madly insistent, and that "destiny" will anyway have its way.

Whatever people say, I don't let anyone travel in my car without buckling up. Even if it causes a fight (which did happen once when I turned off the ignition in 45degC Bhiwadi summer, to force a friend to buckle up).

I'm simply not ready to accept the consequences of injuries that could've been avoided if buckled up, in my car. People can do as they please anywhere else.

Sorry if I sound paranoid, but I either sit in front seats of cabs (if I'm alone) or try to get the cab driver to release the seatbelt from whatever cover its been hidden under. If nothing works, I force the man to drive very slowly (in the city) and if he gets pissed, I show him pics of what happened to my own friends because they weren't wearing seatbelts (two guys gruesomely injured in their faces, 1 guy injured his spine when the car rolled, while all those who were buckled up were safe). Surprisingly, many of the cabbies I've met actually do listen, especially when they realise the affected party is going to be their family members, the very reason why they drive the cab.

If it involves a highway drive in a cab, not starting without seatbelt. Simple. Tough to implement, but actually simple. Remove the damn seat cover if required. I want my seatbelt. period.

One more crucial point, please get your kid a child seat. This should've been done already, but better late than never. And like someone else mentioned, it would be better if you dropped her by car rather than 2-wheeler, if you could manage it.

I myself have a 3-month old daughter and we're getting her used to the child seat (installed facing backwards now), with my wife sitting next to her, although we're doing only intra-city drives for now. I've read that its easier when one starts early, I definitely don't have the experience to comment.

Several child seat options are available in the market, and they take hardly 5mins to install. The rear row middle seat lap belt is not really good enough for a kid.

Safe driving!

[BoothRoyd]

Thanks @KSTejasvi. I have already started looking for suitable child seats for my daughter. And yes, no seatbelts, no car ride is my new mantra too now.

[D'Ro@dSt@r]

Originally Posted by BoothRoyd

I have taken a vow today. Number of seatbelts fastened in my car will always be equal to the number of passengers. Whether they like it or not.

Drive safe, please!
BR

Kudos to you buddy. It takes a lot of courage to intervene and help out accident victims when you are not involved. And YES that is the right thing to do as human life is priceless.
I know the importance of seat belts :(
i. I lost my Dad in an accident, unfortunately he was not wearing his seat belts.
ii. Me and wifey came out without a scratch after a bus rear-ended our car on the E-city elevated highway and we were sandwiched in between a TT and that bus.

Now our son goes to his Child seat (And he loves it to the core) and we two are always buckled up even on shorter rides.
Drive safe..!!

[gururajrv]

Incidents like these can be so disturbing when kids are around. You kind of reassured there’s humanity left in this world. Thank you & any updates on the injured? Hope he’s fine by now. Sorry if I’ve missed any updates on this.

[BoothRoyd]

Thanks @D'Ro@dSt@r. I'm very sorry for your loss. A child seat is being looked for. I'm sure very soon there will be one in the car. The only thing is, I need to find and select something that is heavy duty. My daughter may be 5 years old, but is already 4foot3inches tall. Lol.

Thanks @gururajrv for your kind words. No updates regarding the injured as I have not followed up. I hope also, that he is recovering well.

[Miyata]

Originally Posted by BoothRoyd

Hi Fellow T-BHPians,

Very nice of you to step in and help out the way you did. One could clearly visualize the events reading through your narration.

Few points -

1> Folks entering onto main roads from peripheral roads without first checking - It's like an epidemic on Indian roads. Can't understand why it's so hard to just be cautious and be better road/traffic-aware. Wish the RTOs could incorporate this check in their road test for issuing DLs.

2> Instead of braking and waiting for road ahead to clear up better, folks tend to slip onto the adjacent lane. Another epidemic all around on Indian roads.

3> Over-speeding within the smaller lanes/roads where kids/animals/ or any random thing can get in the way at any moment to cause accident. Slower speeds here might have delayed the car driver at most by few minutes, possibly reduced the impact of the accident to a side-swipe.

4> The seat belts - Even with all the knowledge, why do folks skimp on it?

So many individuals and families have to suffer for such silliness and lack of maturity.

Glad there are folks like you that also limit the damage caused by so much stupidity all around.

[BoothRoyd]

Thanks @Miyata. While going through all of the responses I have been getting since yesterday, I have been thinking what could have been done to avoid this whole thing. The lady could have checked to her right, the truck driver could have been driving his truck a lot slower, the polo driver could have been a little more alert. Quite a few possibilities. On hindsight, when I go through your post I can apologetically say, I have been guilty of points 1 to 4 myself. But I also realise that instead of putting myself in harm’s way and learning from my experience it’s better to learn from another’s.
Also, I feel that as more and more cars and bikes have entered the market and more and more tech is involved in these automobiles, the driver skills have gone down considerably. Of course tech is good but it is only there as a secondary layer of protection and it is the driver or rider’s skill and alertness to the road conditions and road environment that are the most basic layer of protection. Earlier, the thought on the road was that the opposite person may not know to drive and may come and hit me so I must prepare and get out of his way, whereas today the thought is the opposite person must get out of my way. What’s the point in blaming the road conditions when we ourselves are at fault?
Yatha Raja Tatha Praja or in this case Yatha Praja Tatha Raja.

[itisravi]

Originally Posted by BoothRoyd

Thanks @Thad E Ginathom. I have no idea what happened to the woman on the scooter. Didn't really pay that much attention to her.

@BoothRoyd, you are a hero for coming forward and helping the accident victim. I wish always-on dash cams were made a mandatory factory fitting on all motor vehicles. That coupled with CCTV cameras on the roads can help find and penalize the true offenders in such mishaps.

Sometimes, I wonder if the loss of privacy is a fair price to pay if it enforces citizens to abide by the rules (not talking just about road rules but in general).

[Hayek]

Originally Posted by BoothRoyd

He was bleeding profusely. I did not wait for his permission and began helping him get off the car and I began consoling the child.

On the way to office, I realized that I was a Hero to my family. Aren’t we all? But real heroes don’t break laws, instead uphold them, don’t they?

I have taken a vow. Number of seatbelts fastened in my car will be equal to the number of passengers.

Thanks BR, both for your humanity and presence of mind which probably saved someone’s life and got a kid to safety, and for the detailed post. This holds multiple lessons for all of us - the importance of wearing seat belts, the importance of stopping to help others even when we have a small child to care for, and how to deal with a tricky situation. Hats off to you.

[somspaple]

My story:
This happened some 6 years ago. I was driving my humble Zen Carbon from Bangalore to Hubli on NH4. I strictly prefer night drives only. On this day I couldn't start from office early and ended up starting my drive pretty late at around 1.30 AM.

I have driven on this stretch innumerable times and I know this road well. As I passed Davangere, we could see feeble daylight. There was a Swift for the company on road - for most part I was trailing at a distance from it. As Swift started to drive at lower speeds I overtook it. As we move towards Harihar bypass from Davagere side, road curves a bit towards left - this is the stretch where opposite lanes of road snake through the industrial town away from highway. I was driving on the right most lane. As I was negotiating the curve at around 90kmph, I see a pair of headlights coming towards me right in my lane . It was a truck driving bang in the opposite direction. There was not much time to react, I braked hard at the same time tried to steer towards left. Wheels locked up and luckily[or otherwise] for me there was a slow moving truck ahead of me on the Left lane. My car now almost out of control crashed into the safety bar of the truck and came to a halt! For the impact, the safety bar of the truck almost dislodged at one end from the truck.

Luckily due to hard braking and not so loose tarmac, car had shed much of the speed. Car's front end, bonnet and aprons had taken most of the hit. By then the Swift had reached the place and they stopped to inspect/help me.

I emerged out of the car with not even as much of a scratch on me apart from the discomfort after a tight squeeze of seat belt on my chest holding me back with all the might.

In the end, I called for RSA for a tow-truck and parked the car at a MASS in Davangere with the help of a fellow forum member [different automobile forum]. After this I went on about the business as usual. Nobody in my family knew about the accident until I started quoting this as an example for wearing seat belts. After initial shocked response, now everybody complies .

PS: Neither the truck I crashed into or the one coming from the opposite direction stopped after the accident.

[Tassem]

Originally Posted by BoothRoyd

Then I remembered seeing a shiny little wheel on the steering wheel of the Polo. This was clamped to the steering wheel just above where the right spoke connects to the steering. As he turned left at the last moment, this wheel would have moved along with the steering wheel and would have been placed at that exact spot where he had hit his forehead.

That shiny little wheel is a Brodie Knob, also known as a Steering Spinner. It's banned in several places and has a fitting nickname "Suicide Knob". Exactly for the reason you saw happen.



I used to see this on cabs a lot and always urge them to take it off. A friend of mine still has it on his car unfortunately. I need to send him this article.

Thank you for being a good citizen and taking care of that child. God knows he didn't need another trauma after what had just happened.

Very sad this. I do hope the father survives. If there is a child in the vehicle, he or she belongs in the rear middle seat, in a child seat depending on the age and properly restrained. How difficult is that?! I have a 4 yr old who knows it's his seat and now insists on sitting exactly there even when alone.

[EvilZombie]

Originally Posted by BoothRoyd

Hi Fellow T-BHPians,

I did not catch his name as his mouth was swollen and a few teeth were missing but understood when he said he had dropped his older son to school and was rushing to drop his younger son to the day care center before going to work. Immediately, I went back to the car and saw a little boy, probably four years or less in the passenger side footwell.

Drive safe, please!
BR

This gave me shivers. Thank god the kid was unharmed, and kudos to you sir for the sheer presence of mind that you had. I can't imagine the nerves you would have felt throughout this trauma. I hope and pray the guy pulls through and comes back to his family safe and sound.

Thank you for setting the right example and sharing this experience.

[behaln]

Well done buddy. Appreciate your presence of mind and kindness to help an accident victim. Keep up the good work.