[shubhodeepdas@g]

Keeping the spiritual side aside. Two incidents in the past two weeks that took me by surprise while heading back home from work on the infamous NICE road in Bangalore.

Incident 1: Around 930 PM heading back from Hosur Road till Mysore road, somewhere near Kanakpur Road exit a giant tarpaulin flies out of the bottom of a truck and comes straight at me in a "Surprise, look I am a blue ghost" kind of a way. The truck was doing a good 80+ Kmph and I was leisurely overtaking at around 100. The car got a giant whack on the face but the Skoda maintained it's composure and continued on.

If this was to happen to me in my Figo, results could be different. Or worse, someone on a Bike then the results could be fatal.

Incident 2: Yesterday, around 430 PM returning back early from work after feeling a bit under the weather. Was following a long truck with at least 3-5 seconds worth of gap. And their emerges a giant block of stone measuring about 1.5 ft on each side. At 90 plus kph it was easy to avoid with full daylight available to react and an empty lane to my left. Took the 2nd exit and reported the matter to the NICE authorities who were hopefully "nice" enough to remove that.

Again, a direct collision with such an object at even 60 kph could have a huge impact depending on the size of the vehicle.

Observation: This is with reference to the Audi that got skewered a few post back. Noticed that all the guard rails had an overlapping joint with 50% of the overlaps facing the oncoming traffic. This essentially means that if a car is unlucky enough to hit a guard rail right before a Joining Point, the chances are that it will get skewered by the next segment of guard rail regardless of speeds they are doing.

Theoretically the overlaps should always be facing away from traffic for all such joining points.

Just some thoughts.

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by pixantz

Someone can die in an accident at 0kph just as easily as he/she can at 300kph. I've seen that happen. And then I wonder, how can anyone really blame speed as the reason for all accidents. Or any other thing singularly, for that matter. Man! I gotta write a book on this stuff :P

Before you write a book, do some research work on PROBABILITY & STATISTICS. Fact of the matter is that the probability of accidents increases with speed.

Somebody dying after a 10 kmph impact and somebody else surviving at 180 kmph impact - these are called OUTLIERS. You cannot use this as evidence to further a particular argument.

[vivek95]

Originally Posted by RavenAvi

Audi A3 skewered on a road side fence on the Mumbai-Pune expressway yesterday.

[center]Attachment 1560644

Hope you don't mind a small correction here - This gruesome crash happened on one of the diversions of Satara--Pune stretch of NH4 which is presently under construction for 6 lanes and not on Mumbai--Pune Expressway. Some people elsewhere , as expected , started jumping the gun and bashed the u/c highway for this unfortunate incident. Ofcourse it's shameful that it's taking 4.5 long years+ for 6 laning of this mere 136 km stretch.

[dark.knight]

We are all going off-topic here but it'll be the first and last post of mine here as far as the debate of speed versus safety is concerned.

I'm sorry if I've to be blunt, but most of the time in all sorts of places I see only a passionate attempt to justify speed, why speeds are good, and why speeds have NO relation to safety, fuel efficiency, global warming etc. The fact is it's connected to all three.. perhaps very remotely to the 3rd aspect but the other 2 are very close variables of various speeds.

Philosophically, yes nothing matters because anything can happen at anytime, I'm not even going to try to give examples here because the sky is the limit and one can as well argue that sneezing is dangerous. However I believe IF safety matters truly, that we must try to incorporate safe practices in everything that is being done by us and that includes not over-speeding, not recklessly thrashing the throttle and doing planned, predictive driving defensively. Speed and accidents have a love affair since the very days of the first automobile that was introduced. Another way to look at it is, in many cases an incident happens because the "other" driver was speeding but nevertheless wasn't it still about speeding? That possibly cannot give us the motive to drive however we want believing that, in any case, Murphy's Law (things that have to happen will happen when they are supposed to) reigns supreme.

People look at Murphy's Law in a one-dimensional way i.e looking only at the wrongness of occurrences, when we dig deeper we'd also know that any positive effect that can arise out of a positive action due to a learning experience/knowledge will also not only modify the same Murphy's Law but it's also Murphy's Law as a whole looking in retrograde. Whether one wants to take an autorickshaw, walk, ride or drive to a destination let them do so by all means.. yet the safest method is in knowing what is appropriate for that occasion based on personal experience or external factors or both.

This forum stands for safety unapologetically and I will as well. We are all only starting to get there as far as our country roads are concerned so I admit that none of us have all the answers yet, that's why its important to do the stuff that are simple - understand the limits, follow the rules and never lose control.

[Thad E Ginathom]

This is a thread all about accidents. A safe driver is trying to drive without having an accident. All the time.

[honeybee]

Looking at the Audi sheared by the guardrail, I noticed that the rear windscreen had almost been ripped apart, but the front has been clean sliced through. Was it the speed of the car that the guardrail didn't shatter the front windscreen?

Assuming that the guardrail was moving at 0kmph, at what speeds did the Audi crash into it?

[DRIV3R]

Originally Posted by honeybee

Looking at the Audi sheared by the guardrail, I noticed that the rear windscreen had almost been ripped apart, but the front has been clean sliced through. Was it the speed of the car that the guardrail didn't shatter the front windscreen?

Assuming that the guardrail was moving at 0kmph, at what speeds did the Audi crash into it?

That is because the front windscreen is laminated while the rear isn't.

[PrasannaDhana]

Location: Konalai, NH45 (15km from Trichy towards Chennai)
Victim: Ford Fiesta, 3 fatalities
Accident: Fieta driver seemed to have dosed off and rammed onto a stationary loaded lorry (30 tonnes) that was parked on the side. The lorry was parked safely (atleast not on the road)

I am surprised at the location of the accident. I drive on the same route every day. Traffic is moderate till this spot. Only a few kilometers from here, does the highway open up. From that point till Dindivanam, the roads are arrow straight, smooth and flat for 200 km. Regulars like us reach Dindivanam in 1.5 hours, or at max 1.75 hours' time. RIP the departed souls.

[arunphilip]

Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana

Accident: Fieta driver seemed to have dosed off and rammed onto a stationary loaded lorry (30 tonnes) that was parked on the side. The lorry was parked safely (atleast not on the road)

If that is indeed where the lorry was parked even prior to the accident, then yes, he's well off the tarmac. The Fiesta driver either dozed off as you've mentioned, or might have tried a daring overtake from the left.

A 1+ ton sedan vs. 30+ tons of lorry - it must've been like hitting a wall. Put another way, it must be like an infant and a well-built adult running into one another.

The fourth picture illustrates my concern with the current state of rules regarding underrun protection.

If you notice, the lorry had an underrun protection bar that has neatly snapped off and come to rest atop the rear wheels.

This is because lorry owners obey the letter of the law by welding on the bar to the end of the frame, with 4-6 weld spots. This offers no structural strength, particularly when an impact imparts a rotational force on the bar.

Ideally, the underrun bar should be intrinsically designed and built into the frame. However, this is not going to be possible/easy for the vast majority of aged lorries in our nation's fleet.

Hopefully the proposed programme to phase out older trucks will usher in a better designed fleet with better underrun protection on all sides.

[tharian]

Originally Posted by arunphilip

If you notice, the lorry had an underrun protection bar that has neatly snapped off and come to rest atop the rear wheels.

Agree with the protection bar, it would have helped in this case. However, like you mentioned the way they are fixed onto the truck will hardly help in saving lives or decreasing the chances of one.
I have noticed, they bend neatly on impact since they are just attached to the chassis rear end of the truck. This is how they come from the factory as far as I have noticed and not done by the owners.

In this case , I don't think the truck had the bar at all. The pipe like object on the truck wheel is the Fiesta's air box.

[chandrda]

Originally Posted by shubhodeepdas@g

Incident 1: Around 930 PM heading back from Hosur Road till Mysore road, somewhere near Kanakpur Road exit a giant tarpaulin flies out of the bottom of a truck and comes straight at me in a "Surprise, look I am a blue ghost" kind of a way. The truck was doing a good 80+ Kmph and I was leisurely overtaking at around 100. The car got a giant whack on the face but the Skoda maintained it's composure and continued on.

This reminded of an accident that I met in 90s in similar manner. What could have been a serious accident ended in a bit of embarrassment and smile on all the faces.

I was following a Red BTS bus on my RX100 on Bannerghatta Road and may be doing 60 KMPH in front of IIMB.

Suddenly the bus went over a red tarpaulin laid on the road to dry. Due to the speed of the bus and wind, the tarpaulin flew in the air as soon as the bus moved over it. I was next and by the time I could react, I hit the tarpaulin and got completely wrapped in it. Other motorist came to my aide and unwrapped me. I was in a bit of shock and was confused as to what exactly happened. I was not hurt and had very minor bruises.

Realized what had happened, by then all the people gathered there had a hearty laugh. I managed to smile back, took my bike and moved on.

Similar incident happened again few months later on Kanakapura-Mekedatu road. Again it was a Red KSTRC bus, my Yamaha rx100, my friend as pillion and the difference was that it was not tarpaulin this time but straw.

The villagers had put straw on the road to dry and remove the last remaining grain. I followed the bus and got buried in straw. I almost looked a scare crow with straw hanging from me all over the place. This time had lot of cut and bruises though.

Regards

[aparth]

A friend met with an accident today morning near Murthal. A WagonR decided to change his lane all of a sudden and my friend couldnt brake in time and hit this WagonR with his Creta. He was doing around 80 km/h and the WagonR suddenly changed lanes without any warning.

According to him the damage couldve been reduced if Hyundai had provided better brakes in Creta. He has always been complaining about the brakes and has had a few near misses recently because of the brakes but this time he wasnt that lucky.

[RavenAvi]

This happened at around 9:30 PM on September 30th.

The Marenga bypass (on the other side of the airport), currently under development, seeks to connect the Geedam/Sukma/Dantewada/Bijapur road with the road leading towards Odisha, bypassing Jagdalpur completely.

Note that I said "under development" - the rains have not subsided yet and as a result, the unfinished road is strewn with potholes, loose gavel and uneven patches galore. It still doesn't deter all sorts of vehicles to tackle it with speeds over 60-70kmph.

On this fateful night, five young guys piled into a Swift DZire and went out to party, possibly celebrating a birthday of one of them. Upon their return journey when they were nearing a turn at 70-75ish speeds, a speeding truck coming from the front driving on it's main headlight beams entered a pothole, lost control and hit the DZire from the front, just when the car was trying to speed past it on the turn itself.

The result? The DZire was flung from the road, rammed through a few trees on the side, and crashed on it's left side, just inches away from a Shiva temple on the side of the road.

The guy sitting in the center of the rear seat, a 31-32 year old ASI (only recently promoted and with an 8-month old daughter) was killed on the spot. The rest of the 4 guys, including the driver, escaped with minor scratches and skin peels.

None of the occupants were wearing seatbelts.

People from a nearby village came running to the spot and pulled the youths out of the crashed car and took them to the main government hospital in the city.

Anyone who has seen the crashed car in the flesh, has said that it was impossible for anyone inside the car to have survived. As such, the 4 survivors are thanking their lucky stars.

2 have been discharged from the hospital, other 2 were under observation - as of yesterday morning.

One of the survivors is an employee working under me. The following pictures were received from him on WhatsApp:

[KiloAlpha]

Originally Posted by aparth

A friend met with an accident today morning near Murthal. A WagonR decided to change his lane all of a sudden and my friend couldnt brake in time and hit this WagonR with his Creta. He was doing around 80 km/h and the WagonR suddenly changed lanes without any warning.
...

While it is very clear that the driver of the Wagon R is at fault for not checking in the mirrors before switching lanes - this distressing habit true of most drivers in India. Not bothering to check in the mirrors.

A defensive driving technique your friend could have adopted and avoided this accident is this.
On a multi-laned highway, either be significantly faster than the other driver, or be slower. So you are either overtaking, or allowing the other car to overtake. And under no circumstances should you "hang around" in another vehicle's blind spots.

[karts]

Originally Posted by KiloAlpha

While it is very clear that the driver of the Wagon R is at fault for not checking in the mirrors before switching lanes - this distressing habit true of most drivers in India. Not bothering to check in the mirrors.

A defensive driving technique your friend could have adopted and avoided this accident is this.
On a multi-laned highway, either be significantly faster than the other driver, or be slower. So you are either overtaking, or allowing the other car to overtake. And under no circumstances should you "hang around" in another vehicle's blind spots.

I have seen many drivers having this habit of swerving as soon as their body (Front half of the car) gets clearance, They don't account for the other half of the car while changing lanes. Same with bikes as well. Have had lot of near misses in such scenarios. Same with drivers moving from hatchback to Sedan (Happened to myself first time I started driving sedan), had a near miss.