[Chetan_Rao]

A bunch of these happen every winter in North India, and everyone just shrugs and continues as before. Complete absence of driver training, unsafe driving practices and treacherous road conditions with no warning systems.

Unnecessary loss of lives and no lessons learnt, EVER.

[sourabhzen]

I think such incidents also happen because of lack of rear fog lamps in cars. The tail lamps are invisible in foggy situations whereas blinkers just confuse the drivers behind. Though, main reason still remains over speeding even in low visibility scenario.

The owner of the truck that broke down in the middle of the road must be charged under criminal negligence.

[im_srini]

Originally Posted by virgopal

Fog causes 30-car pile-up at Karnal, 4 dead:
KARNAL : Poor visibility led to the collision of 25 cars on the National Highway-1 in Haryana that killed at least four people on Wednesday.

Originally Posted by airbus

I am sorry to say, but when the visibility is so low, why can't the drivers reduce the speed for their own safety.
I am wondering how 25 drivers make the same mistake

While the driving style in low visibility of some drivers is indeed questionable, it may be that one finds oneself in the thick of things too quickly to do anything about it.
To illustrate, consider the following YouTube video from Russia, one of the prolific & infamous "Crash Compilations" as they're called ( watch from 2:40 to 3:50 ).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byGYVIabix0

By the time one realizes that they're in trouble, it's too late to do anything about it.
The road ahead is blocked, so you can't even drive around any obstructions.
The sound of speeding cars just before they crash is chilling to say the least.

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

Complete absence of driver training, unsafe driving practices and treacherous road conditions with no warning systems.

Yes, early warning & enforcing significant reduction of speed is the only way in such conditions.
But for that, the authorities have to get off their behinds & put barricades in place or something on the affected stretches.

[honeybee]

Aren't the safest of the cars supposed to protect the morons inside? Then why drop speeds?

[Thad E Ginathom]

Due to fog...

Reduced Visibility caused...

If only the media would stop printing these things it would be a small start in the readers not taking for granted that it is true.

[rohansachar]

Originally Posted by honeybee

Aren't the safest of the cars supposed to protect the morons inside? Then why drop speeds?

Sorry, but I don't really understand if you meant this sarcastically or you're actually serious.

Either ways, just my 2 cents, there is no 100% safety guarantee any OEM can provide, it's just a degree/level of safety. One could literally own a tank, but driving it off the cliff will still result in the person being dead.

Owning even the "safest" car doesn't make one invincible; moreover, it doesn't give that person a right to risk the life of someone else.

[sourabhzen]

Another sad incident reported on NDTV today:
http://www.ndtv.com/chennai-news/cau...-lateststories

[honeybee]

Originally Posted by rohansachar

Either ways, just my 2 cents, there is no 100% safety guarantee any OEM can provide, it's just a degree/level of safety. One could literally own a tank, but driving it off the cliff will still result in the person being dead.

No kidding! Really?

Of course I was being somewhat sarcastic. I see a lot of comments focused on why we should buy "safer" cars, why manufacturers always focus on profits instead of safety and blah blah blah. There are just about one handful of members trying to emphasize that a safe driver will always outweigh safety features.

The rant about additional safety features sometimes makes me feel we really don't know how to use the basic safety features in every car - the brakes, the mirrors, the signal lights. There are thousands of drivers out there who need only these basic safety features and manage without a single accident by applying their mind to driving. Safety features cannot replace what you as a driver must do behind the wheel.

It's all very well to blame all other factors, including the vehicle and the manufacturer, when one doesn't want to take into account that a little bit of caution and safer driving could have avoided the accident.

[Gannu_1]

Witnessed a terrible incident yesterday.

I woke up to an extremely dense and foggy morning yesterday and decided to take the day off since it was foggy at 9:30 AM as well. This was the situation outside our balcony:





I wanted to give the car for servicing this weekend so decided to give it yesterday having taken a day off. Went to the service center around 11 AM and hung around there. The service center is located on the service road adjacent to the 6-lane NH-8, just after a flyover descent and the service road joins the main road.



Around 12:30 PM, we hear a bang and crowd gathers. A truck descending from the flyover had hit a Honda Street and did not bother stopping. All of us - the sales guys at the dealership, the technicians, the service advisor, security chap and I run towards the spot to find the vehicle downed with broken pieces, oil/fuel leaked on the road and a senior citizen couple downed - an old man aged 65-70 years, no helmet, injury in the head, blood on the road, right leg twisted and unconscious lying on the road, an old lady (60+ years old), was in a state of shock, sitting on the road with the legs spread. People started clicking snaps and videos to be shared through WhatsApp but not a helping hand! :(

Finally, we (i.e. the VW guys) came to help them - one guy called 108 and passed them the location and co-ordinates. I am scared of blood so I attended to the old woman while the others lifted the old man from the ground. The woman was very heavy and 4 of us could barely lift her. She was murmuring something asking about her husband - told her he is being attended to. Couple of guys were routing the traffic. One rickshaw was passing through the service road and he did not want to stop. We stopped him forcefully and the lady was seated inside along with a technician chap. In the meantime, the 108 ambulance arrived and the others helped him to the stretcher inside the ambulance. The rickshaw went behind the ambulance.

The only pic I took after sending them to the hospital:



The damaged vehicle was later parked besides the fencing (can be seen above) and some sand from the roadside used to cover the blood.

Came to know in the evening that the lady passed away because of some liver disconnection (or something of that sort; might have been due to the fall). Felt really bad!

Drive safe guys and keep an eye out for speeding trucks among other vehicles. And always wear helmets no matter how short the distance of travel is (nearby khirana store, haircut, drop/pickup from bus depot/rly station etc. - classic response these days).

[rohansachar]

Originally Posted by honeybee

No kidding! Really?

Of course I was being somewhat sarcastic. I see a lot of comments focused on why we should buy "safer" cars, why manufacturers always focus on profits instead of safety and blah blah blah. There are just about one handful of members trying to emphasize that a safe driver will always outweigh safety features.

The rant about additional safety features sometimes makes me feel we really don't know how to use the basic safety features in every car - the brakes, the mirrors, the signal lights. There are thousands of drivers out there who need only these basic safety features and manage without a single accident by applying their mind to driving. Safety features cannot replace what you as a driver must do behind the wheel.

It's all very well to blame all other factors, including the vehicle and the manufacturer, when one doesn't want to take into account that a little bit of caution and safer driving could have avoided the accident.

You're definitely very confident on your linguistic skills, but I recommend you brush up on the basics of sarcasm at least. Lack of empathy from your end would simply make it a statement. Only the 'moron' mention doesn't makes any difference.

Secondly, what you generalised, only handful of members saying about a safe driver vs. buying a car with additional safety features, I'm now SURE you don't understand that either. However, I'd like to hear more about your theory of everyone buying a 'non-safest' car, and just be good drivers instead.

Did you see what I did there? My moron definition here is similar to you, I terms of your safest car remark, good clear play on words. There's no right grammar in 'a non-safest car' string.

Going the extra mile to help you understand, got it Sherlock?

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

Witnessed a terrible incident yesterday.

You have been a daily driver on this stretch so you know it all now. I am frequent and have always felt that the stretch of NH8 right from Vapi till you enter NE1 at the end of Vadodara bypasss is the most Dangerous stretch for 2 wheelers that I often felt that they should not be allowed here at all.

I say this because the density of trucks, Buses and Cars on this road is so much. That these 2 wheelers which are driven all around in all 3 lanes, cutting across right ahead of heavy vehicles, riding in wrong direction is only to be seen to be believed.

There are so many arrow straight stretches that even trucks manage 100kmph easily. But now comes the biggest Part - From Vapi all the way to Vadodara, the complete highway is dense with Population and Industries along the corridor. So expect a lot of local traffic all through the day and specially at peak hours during the opening and closing of these factories.

The highway in itself is very dangerous as there are lot of places where there break in the medians and that is exactly how they have built it instead of providing underpass to local traffic (or an overbridge for the NH Traffic).

My condolences to the departed Soul but to be honest, these accidents on NH8 are too common for all the above reasons and that is a sad state of affairs.

And always wear helmets no matter how short the distance of travel is (nearby khirana store, haircut, drop/pickup from bus depot/rly station etc. - classic response these days).

And buckle up too. I have a colleague at work who took me on a stroll after lunch to his parked Duster to show me a cracked windscreen. When asked for the reason, he said he had made his daughter sit in front and he braked hard that she flew and hit her head on the windscreen and it cracked !! Luckily nothing major happened to the kid and reports were clear after a scan as well.

When I took him to task for having made a kid sit on the front seat without a belt his answer was that he was heading to buy some grocery that was only 0.5 kms away and this happened .

So your advise on wearing the safety gear all the times no matter how small the distance is very apt.

I have a lot of colleagues working in my earlier organization unbuckling themselves as soon as they enter the campus. Morons don't know that they can still be T-Boned inside the basement and that can injure them too and they laugh at me when I keep my headlights on while driving in the basement every time.

[sourabhzen]

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

Came to know in the evening that the lady passed away because of some liver disconnection (or something of that sort; might have been due to the fall). Felt really bad!

Drive safe guys and keep an eye out for speeding trucks among other vehicles. And always wear helmets no matter how short the distance of travel is (nearby khirana store, haircut, drop/pickup from bus depot/rly station etc. - classic response these days).

This is very sad. News like this, however small, should be shown on national channel just to create awareness.

Additionally, it is high time government take some concrete steps to check these truckers nationwide. They kill more than any epidemic or natural disaster annually.

[mallumowgli]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

I have a colleague at work who took me on a stroll after lunch to his parked Duster to show me a cracked windscreen. When asked for the reason, he said he had made his daughter sit in front and he braked hard that she flew and hit her head on the windscreen and it cracked

Do you by any chance have a photo? Would help in showing people who refused to belt up or insist on seating kids in the front seat (I know any cracked windshield photo is sufficient - but a real story would be more convincing to narrate)

[Mohan Mathew A]

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

Witnessed a terrible incident yesterday.

Finally, we (i.e. the VW guys) came to help them - one guy called 108 and passed them the location and co-ordinates.

So sad to hear this and so good of all of you to help them. Many a times people turn the other way. I hope the gent is ok.

We can't ever be too careful.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by mallumowgli

Do you by any chance have a photo? Would help in showing people who refused to belt up or insist on seating kids in the front seat (I know any cracked windshield photo is sufficient - but a real story would be more convincing to narrate)

No I do not but the crack was linear and on the co-passengers side.

If he hasn't really replaced the windscreen and if he is in, I promise you the photo in some time from now. Else on Monday.

The reason I brought up that incident is to highlight the fact that how one can ignore safety by passing the buck on short distance to travel and yet face the untoward. Not sure if you are doubting the whole incident, anyway will try to get a snap of the same.

I have also written elsewhere on multiple threads on how even today after 6 years, my daughter has never even asked to sit on the front seat even when we have a proper child seat to buckle her up. That is exactly the way we have ensured to travel with her all these years.