[Travelling_Monk]

A techie from bangalore and his family members were stuck in a gorge for over a day when their ford fiesta was involved in a head on collision with a truck and fell into a gorge. Two of the family members died on the spot while the others were stuck for about 28 hrs in dipping temperatures until help arrived. I wonder how they couldn't be found by police as the truck driver would've definitely noticed the accident. Something doesn't sound right in this scenario.

Source Link: http://www.deccanherald.com/content/520109/techie-kin-stuck-28-hrs.html

[lamborghini]

Originally Posted by Travelling_Monk

I wonder how they couldn't be found by police as the truck driver would've definitely noticed the accident. Something doesn't sound right in this scenario.

Source Link: http://www.deccanherald.com/content/...ck-28-hrs.html

Truck driver would have probably fled from the scene, as they always do!

@samaspire: your rim took a beating - look at that bend. Something must've hit it and the tyre quite badly causing it to deflate.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by hserus

The rule of thumb is being able to see the number plate of the car in front of you. ... ... ...

Originally Posted by silversteed

Search for the 3-second rule. ... ... ...

I wish people would forget the rules of thumb, at least until they have internalised the table of stopping distances which can be found from other countries road rules.

I agree that counting seconds takes some account of speed, but people forget that stopping distances are entirely speed related.

The most important thing that people forget to factor in is thinking time. Just about all of us probably overestimate our powers of observation and reaction. We all think that, at one level or another, we are good drivers, and don't think beyond that. Thinking time is probably responsible for the majority of city-speed rear-endings. Think Thinking time!

You must account for the trailing/tailgating vehicle's braking distance also.

Vitally important point. Like a pregnant woman, eating for two, if you are being tailgated you need stopping distance for two.

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

.... thinking time. Just about all of us probably overestimate our powers of observation and reaction. We all think that, at one level or another, we are good drivers, and don't think beyond that. Thinking time is probably responsible for the majority of city-speed rear-endings. Think Thinking time!
...

Aye Sir, that is probably as close a cut to the quick as it can get!
Therein lies the basic problem, and, sadly, it is not about to go away in hurry from this country! Education and humility are almost absent, when it comes to thoughtfulness and driving etiquette.
Our road fatality statistics are proof of it. We are right there at the top!

[pixantz]

Originally Posted by Lobogris

It is high time something is done to address the meance of stray dogs and animals on our roads. It is literally a matter of life and death as this incident demonstrates but no one in the country is concerned about this. Stray dogs run free and people happlily leave thier animals to wander on the roads. Many accidents are caused by this and due attention needs to be paid to this peril

I don't know about you guys but personally, I never swerve for an animal darting in between my cars path because logically I think my passengers/family persons' lives are much more important than a stray animal. Period. So that particular animal is automatically destined to become road kill. Even samurai has mentioned above that as per developed countries driver manuals, swerving is not advised. It has happened only once in my life so far with a dog. Most of the times I have developed a driving style to avoid the situation but in some places it might just become unavoidable.

Basically I would only swerve in two conditions:

1) for a human, and
2) for a larger animal like a buffalo/cow.

Because a larger animal could get thrown straight into the passenger compartment as a result of the impact and could cause worse situation, hence here swerving would make more sense.

On second thoughts I think as of today's road situations we need to adjust the above two priorities as below:

1) a cow
2) a human

for the main reason as that you are more liable to get away by hitting a human, but God forbid if you hit a cow, then what would happen to you can't be guessed by anybody. On the spot. Just saying.

[carwatcher]

Though I can clearly understand the context of your statement but I request you to kindly mention few examples where your suggestions hold true or you also are comfortable with getting carried away by our influential media. I hope that you have not started planning to migrate abroad too.

I would also like to add to the list started by you:

1) A Local Native of any State

Originally Posted by pixantz

On second thoughts I think as of today's road situations we need to adjust the above two priorities as below:

1) a cow
2) a human

for the main reason as that you are more liable to get away by hitting a human, but God forbid if you hit a cow, then what would happen to you can't be guessed by anybody. On the spot. Just saying.

Really Pathetic !!!

[mustysekhon]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

What other countries? There may be some, but, as far as I know (ten years away) there is no such thing in my native UK for private cars.

BMW - In US used to cut ft at 155 miles

[pixantz]

Originally Posted by carwatcher

Though I can clearly understand the context of your statement but I request you to kindly mention few examples where your suggestions hold true or you also are comfortable with getting carried away by our influential media.

There is no context. Politicians nowadays see contexts everywhere. And I'm not a politician. I'm a BHpian. I am not the media to give examples. The media has nothing to do with this by the way. I've seen it firsthand. To get a better idea, if you don't believe me, please go and ram a cow on any road which is not a metropolis or big city, and then stick around without running away to get a true taste of the results. Many big cities also can be used as an experiment. By the way, don't blame me for instigating you later. I doubt it will be very possible, by the way.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by mustysekhon

BMW - In US used to cut ft at 155 miles

Sounds like you are naming a car, not a country, and if you mean 155MPH, that must be vastly above any US speed limit, so I can't see it being imposed by law.

Returning to more recent conversation...

I was taught by my British, animal-loving father not to create danger by swerving or sudden braking for a small animal. However, hitting a decent-size buffalo must be equivalent to hitting a small car: forget that it is an animal, just think big, heavy object, and respond accordingly. I think that a buffalo, or even a big cow, is worth emergency braking and/or avoidance action for the sake of my car and self, more than the animal. And yes, I actually really like cows.

[vnabhi]

@samaspire---so sad that your new car got messed up. I'd got golden advice from my dad when I started driving. He said never swerve when an animal strays in front of you. But you can slam your brakes to reduce the impact.

I've diligently practised it twice so far. First one was way back in 1997 when a pack of dogs strayed across my Maruti 800 on NH5. The impact was at around 40 kmph after hard braking, and the only damage was the front right headlamp. I had to buy a new sealed beam after reaching a big town.

The second was on my Figo tdci. I was doing 90 kmph on NH7, when a small dog darted across the road a great speed. The impact was at 60 kmph approximately. All it caused was a dented bumper, broken number plate and a dented AC compressor. I've got all fixed except the compressor, which is running fine for 2 years after the accident.

It's good that you posted this case. At least many will get to learn from this.

[samaspire]

Originally Posted by lamborghini

@samaspire: your rim took a beating - look at that bend. Something must've hit it and the tyre quite badly causing it to deflate.

See the road picture just above the tyre. The rim started scraping the road from there. That tyre would be at this spot at the time of 1st impact. I could not find any other thing which the tyre could have hit before this mark. But I wonder how 1 inch of paving could do that damage to the tyre.

[Dieseldunk]

When I started to learn driving my guru told me a few tips.

Never try to save a dog else you will be left more damaged than good.

Big animals like cows buffalo and cattle in general move on in the direction they are headed unlike cats dogs and other fleet foot animals so try passing through behind the path of the big animal rather than cutting in front of it.
Pedestrians always are never predictable but definitely one predicted stuff that will happen is they believe the motorists to be more cautious.

Dear Mods
On a more technical note can we move these posts to a thread more concerned with driving rather since the thread is for accidents with pics.

[Vik0728]

Originally Posted by Dieseldunk

When I started to learn driving my guru told me a few tips.

Never try to save a dog else you will be left more damaged than good.

Big animals like cows buffalo and cattle in general move on in the direction they are headed unlike cats dogs and other fleet foot animals so try passing through behind the path of the big animal rather than cutting in front of it.

All due respect to your 'Guru' Dieseldunk but that sounds quite a bit sadistic buddy



From personal experience of driving cars for over 15 yrs and ~1.5L kms, I can safely say this:

- Whether fenced or not, many (if not most) of the indian highways are paved through small villages & towns. So animals barging onto the roads is a given. Just ensure you never hit silly speeds

- Always Always Always...look ahead of your immediate vehicle and as many veterans have advised, stay far enough to view the rear tyres of the vehicle ahead.

- When humans themselves are so unpredictable on highways, presuming an animal's actions/reactions can be disastrous. If you spot an animal/human on the median or shoulder, just slow down and stay alert, irrespective of the species.

All of the above have been discussed or mentioned in one form or other, so I am not going to dig in deep here. At the end of the day, I really believe that when I am behind the wheel of my car, safety is my primal responsibility, whether its mine or the other lives around.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by Vik0728

All due respect to your 'Guru' Dieseldunk but that sounds quite a bit sadistic buddy

Sadistic but it's the right advice. If you are able to avoid or brake hard in time it's fine but never do any emergency manoeuvre like swerving to avoid at the last second. This might save the animal but can end up with serious injuries to occupants of car.

All you have to do is slam the brake as much as possible, honk and then pray that impact does not harm the animal too much.

It may sound cruel but this is the harsh reality to save yourself and occupants.

[pratyush6]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

Sadistic but it's the right advice. If you are able to avoid or brake hard in time it's fine but never do any emergency manoeuvre like swerving to avoid at the last second. This might save the animal but can end up with serious injuries to occupants of car.

All you have to do is slam the brake as much as possible, honk and then pray that impact does not harm the animal too much.

It may sound cruel but this is the harsh reality to save yourself and occupants.

I don't know, if someone can actually plan to do either of them. I think instincts would simply take over, and that could be saving the animal or hitting it.
I would like to believe swerving at a decent speed would be disastrous and would not like to do it. However, I am honestly not sure if humans can be hard wired to do either of them. In case there is a method you can train yourself, I would like to learn not swerving (against my instinct of swerving). I have been in such situations but have always managed to save the stays so far without harming myself.

Don't get me wrong, I love dogs, but I love my family infinitely times more.