Cattle - The real menace on Indian highways

[Santoshbhat]

Not just animals, I've even experienced people jumping out from behind the bushes that's grown on the median. I remember one evening it was just around twilght and I was driving towards Bangalore on NH4. Somwhere near Tumkur, I came on to the right lane to overtake a slow moving car and all of a sudden a drunk moron jumped out from behind the bushes to cross the road. I narrowly missed him and the car adjacent to me as instinctively me hands turned the steering towards the left.

I wish NHAI changes the median design on the highways. I really like the median that's seen on the NICE road in Bangalore. It gives the driver a clear view out ahead and there can be no nasty surprises.

Image courtesy : The Hindu

[swiftnfurious]

A good topic. And yeah, add dogs also to the list please. I had once a similar experience with a buffalo when the stupid lady owner beat the buffalo for NOT moving in the right direction. I guess I was doing 80-100 kmph was freaking close to the animal (in terms of distance and was driving in the middle lane). While beating, the animal just jumped straight into the road, almost into my car and all I remember is a sudden swerve to the right and slamming the brakes hard. Could feel the car's rear stepping out but thankfully the buffalo also went back to the side of the road. I could hear my own heart beats for sometime.

Thinking about it now, I didn't check for anything while swerving right - it happened in a split second with absolutely NO time to think but act! Had there been a car behind or on the right side, things would have gone ugly. But as soon as I braked hard and the animal went away, I quickly moved off the block to make sure no one comes and bang the rear.

On the same trip I hit a dog, damaged my bumper (the dog was thrown into the side and was NOT killed), but on the return trip, I ran over a pup. I did NOT want to brake hard as I had an Indica with a family right behind me and they would have banged my car if I had braked hard.

What upset me was the love shown by another pup by running across the road to help the dying one! I was totally upset for a week after that and still makes me upset when I think about it. But the dogs were stray in both the cases.

I believe the government needs to take stricter action in curbing this menace. I understand they probably don't have enough space to keep all the stray animals, at least they need to make sure they neuter these animals to prevent them giving birth to more. Over a course of time, this will definitely be taken care of.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Let me ask a different question:
Can the North American / EU experienced drivers share their perspectives about deer (which are MORE dangerous) / moose / elk? Cattle is more predictable and slower in comparison, IMO.

That would be a useful consideration - just getting upset about it solves nothing. Let's generate / consolidate practical ideas!

Having driven in moose/deer/elk infested regions, I have encountered moose and reindeer running on the highway. They are fast, and they can come without warning.

But the good part is that there is warning. On narrow roads with trees on the side, where wildlife is a threat, there are signboards warning about moose/elk. In areas where dairy farming is common, there are cow warning boards.

However, I have never seen a cow or moose or deer etc., on the divided highways with fencing.
That said, even on those expressway routes, when you pass through a region with trees on the side, there are warning signboards, and traffic usually slows down. You have to be alert.

OTOH, in India, cow can come anywhere. In the city, on the expressway, on the country road. It can even be hiding in the bushes in the median

As the OP commented, many villagers drive old cows in front of trucks because it means heavy compensation for their aged animal which would go for free if left to die.

No matter how strong your reflexes, a stealth cow missile guided towards you will not miss. Its accuracy is more than the patriot, and destruction totally nuclear.

These are the most dangerous. A slow cow or buffalo will never run onto the road unless there is somebody there to light the fuse. Even wild animals are scared to run on the road.
Did you know moose now use road sides as day care centers as the risk of getting hit by vehicles keep the grizzly bears away? So they are not really as dumb as we think.

[noopster]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

OTOH, in India, cow can come anywhere. In the city, on the expressway, on the country road. It can even be hiding in the bushes in the median

Friend of a friend nearly had his Ritz totalled when a cow grazing on the median (and hidden completely from view by the same shrubs it was feeding on) lost its balance and fell on the road directly in his path. Miraculously there was no loss of (human) life. The poor guy extricates himself from the wreckage only to be faced with the sight of angry villagers demandsing compensation. This on the Pune bypass, well within "urban" limits

[ant_vas]

I remember that Couple of years back, there were 2 leopards killed on NICE road between bannerghatta road and kanakapura road. In both the cases speeding trucks were the culprits.

There was another incident of a male deer being killed after being hit by 2 vehicles.

NICE road authorities have erected boards indicating that there might be wild animals crossing the road. And i had seen that NICE road has barricades on both sides to prevent some stray animal from entering the road, in-spite of that these unfortunate incidents did happen.

But the good news is that we haven't hear any similar incidents after that.

[fine69]

I remember a thread where people were debating whether the green belt in the middle of the highway is a good thing or not. I think its the most foolish thing to do on Indian highways especially where there is no railing on the sides.

I've had a near miss with a calf & a dog running across the road in two separate incidents where I was doing high speeds but fortunately nothing happened. That was when I had newly acquired my Swift Diesel but it was lesson enough for me to not indulge into high speeding on our indian highways because the surprises are just so many, cattle's just one of them.

Moral: Drive slow and hopefully you'd be able to ward off such menace, hopefully!

[reswaran]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Let me ask a different question:
Can the North American / EU experienced drivers share their perspectives about deer (which are MORE dangerous) / moose / elk? Cattle is more predictable and slower in comparison, IMO.

That would be a useful consideration - just getting upset about it solves nothing. Let's generate / consolidate practical ideas!

I almost hit a deer somewhere in Kansas in late 2008. It was around dusk time, and I was driving a Hyundai Santa Fe, on a road trip with some friends. It's the most scary experience I've had on the road and I remember the incident frame by frame. Long story short, I was motoring down a state highway, these roads are two lane with broken yellow lines and no barriers on either side. I only saw a flash of the deer bounding across the road, super close to my front bumper. The traffic was very sparse, and nothing was obstructing my view. There were no deer crossing signs. It took less than 3 seconds for the whole incident to transpire and the deer to disappear. I was totally powerless against the thing. I didn't even have enough time to react, and I slowed down AFTER the deer had crossed my path. Give me a cow crossing the highway any day.

[GTO]

Added this very useful point to the opening post

Originally Posted by sunil8089

Move from the Cow's rear: If approaching a cow perpendicular to you, always drive past its rear. In nearly all situations, the cow will usually move forward (and not backward).

[avisidhu]

Something very unfortunate happened almost a decade ago near Abohar in punjab, having black bucks in significant number.

Some family was travelling in a car and hit the black buck head on. Somehow the impact was such that the buck entered the car from the front windshield, with it's hoofs facing the passengers. The entire family died as a result of his frantic kicking.

[sunil8089]

Originally Posted by nitinbose

I sometimes wonder whether or not someone would steal these animals if simply left to graze on the roads! I have come across several buffalos at corners, especially on very narrow lanes with dense population, making it really difficult to expect such animals.

Yes, in Chennai I heard of one such incident two three years back. A group was stealing stray cattle in the city for selling / slaughtering. But they got arrested by Police.
You can find the story in the following link.
www.hindu.com/2010/02/22/stories/2010022260670400.htm

[DRIVE_ADDICT]

Guess almost every Driver who used our highways does experience the menace caused by animals. I once hit a dog on highway and lost my car's bumper, But thankfully nothing happened to Dog and it managed to ran back. It was a totally unexpected scenario, that this stray dog ran across the median and came into my path in no time, everything happened in mere seconds. I guess the dog might have been chased by something or someone threw a stone at it.

In another situation a human ran across from nowhere (almost similar to the stray dog above) but i managed to avoid by swerving to left and stopped the car. It took 15 mins for me to gain back my skipped heart beat and resume my drive. The reaction from the human, a toothpaste advertisement worth smile.
I still wonder whether its a human or ghost (pun intended), cos usually I slowed down considerably whenever i cross a village/town in a highway, but this lady jumps out from nowhere and that too in a deserted land.

I guess animals are more composed than humans on road. They are one among the menace , but not as much as the fellow citizens on road.

[Kaumad]

I am very surprised that nobody has spoken about ownership of cattle found on Indian highways!! [apologies if I have missed it]
So, here is my take on this.

At least half of the cattle you see on the highways are owned by someone. It is the owners who should be made responsible for their animals. If owners herded them to their rightful places - either to graze or well, do whatever, these poor animals would not be loitering on the highways.

I live on the IT Highway [O.M.R.] in Chennai and I am appalled to see cattle sitting bang in the middle of the road - and not 1 or 2 - entire herds, numbering 20-30!! I am very sure these cattle have owners - I would be very surprised if they were stray. These owners must be bloody flogged for letting the animals sit / sleep on highways. I have seen truck drivers getting out of the trucks, physically shooing them away to make way for their trucks.

All the arguments about shrubbed medians being the culprit on the highways - I am not sure about it! I think the problem lies elsewhere as explained above.

[dass]

I travelled from Sagar to Bangalore after attending a marriage yesterday afternoon. I see hordes of cattle (Sheep, Cow, Goat) occupying almost all of the NH between Sagar and Shimoga that they were causing huge traffic pile ups and frustrated drivers either at the begining of their long journey or the end of a long journey. Once these were cleared, the dogs kept popping up to commit suicide one after the other. I missed three of them and was thinking if my car had suddenly become attractive to animals.

After avoiding all these animals,there is a different kind of animal on two wheels which added to the frustration. I dont know what on earth are people thinking, when cars are doing 60-80kmps on NH and these morons enter the high way from the left side on their two wheelers at great speed, turn into the highway and go to the extreme right and come back to extreme left, only to take a right turn at the next intersection. I saw atleast two of them missing being hit by a car in front of me and it makes me wonder, may be they were better off with cycles, atleast they cannot ride this fast on them. But then, who am I to tell them what to buy, they have the money to buy what they want, only wish is they had the brains for their safety too.

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Cow can even be hiding in the bushes in the median

As the OP commented, many villagers drive old cows in front of trucks because it means heavy compensation for their aged animal which would go for free if left to die.

No matter how strong your reflexes, a stealth cow missile guided towards you will not miss. Its accuracy is more than the patriot, and destruction totally nuclear.

Well, sometimes cows can give a near miss! Or one may be real lucky!


This was a narrow hit right at the beginning of Jaipur bypass - a cow like shadow appeared outta the bushes in the median - took out my bike's front end, gave me a rather painful forearm, but nothing else. Mind you - this was a fast curve, I was going around 60-70, accelerating as I came out of the left hander.

As near a miss as they come!

[Tgo]

Originally Posted by sunil8089

Recently I was traveling in NH45 near Thindivanam along with my family. Car is around 90kmph and going through the fast track. That area, the high way got good greenery at the median and suddenly a cow jumped from the bushes, which is hardly 10-15 meters in my front. Somehow I turned the car to left and by God’s grace I don’t even touched the creature. I feel it’s an amazing and it’s a miraculous escape.

On the same day, I saw a similar incident at Kallakkuchi in Ulundurpet highway where an Indica hit a cow. The carcass is lying in the road, also the car (which was parked within 150m after the spot), the front of the car is totally damaged and local folks were surrounding the vehicle.

But one sad thing in India I heard of is, people near highways do this purposefully to make money. They take some old cows / bull to the highway bushes and drive them to the speeding vehicles. I don’t know it’s reality. Readers please comment.

I have been through the same incidence three years ago it was a scenario 2 type hit bu the animal rolled over from the bonnet totaling the vehicle in the process and killing itself too.

You can read about it here:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street...ml#post2318549

And as for your speculation of people doing it on purpose to get some cash I highly doubt it. The animal would earn them a greater profit in the long run if the owner is actually into dairy farming. As per my experience from that incident it was clear that the cattle left out for grazing in the day is rounded up and forced to get back home before dawn. That is the time when such accidents are likely to occur.