[audioholic]

Originally Posted by srishiva

There are also people who follow a vehicle closely and then switch lanes (or drag to left) to pass them. There can be lot of situations where there could be a lorry parked or people standing on the left lane. Our highways are really dangerous because of these things.

One of the many idiotic moves on the road. This weekend I was driving towards Mysore. Usually I have not taken the regular Mandya route these days but since it was not peak season, I decided to take it. There was some traffic until Ramanagara. It was mostly mini tempos driving on both lanes which led to traffic piling up in bunches. I was following on such tempo on the right lane, hoping he would move out and let me overtake. There was a good 3-4 car lengths between us since I was not above 40kmph and he was a little faster than me. The left lane was pretty occupied with vehicles at the same speed, as well as two wheelers. I spotted an upcoming U turn and the tempo ahead of me slowed down nearly to a halt to let a car take a U turn from the opposite side. Since there was enough gap and I had spotted this early, I began to slow down gradually maintaining almost the same gap. Since the left lane was free, vehicles continued at the same speed without slowing down. There was this Indicab to my left which was tailgating a bus ahead of it. As soon as he saw me slowing down, he cut into the right lane ahead of me within a flash at the same speed, just to see the tempo ahead of it just moving ahead after the U turn

I could witness what it means to 'stand on the brakes' seeing the behaviour of the Indica. No ABS and pathetic brakes made the front right wheel go to a skid, and the driver almost went on to hit the tempo and steered a bit towards the divider. The tempo got a hit on its bullbar while the bonnet of the Indicab got a dent. Some smoke from the tyre of the Indicab and sweaty faces(pants?) of the people inside while they stopped for argument . Thank god I had plenty of space in between, and I could slowly switch lanes without reversing and carry on thinking what kind of idiots exist on the road.

[sumitsinha0280]

Had an accident on the 14th of this month near Ranchi airport, when a speeding Maruti Omni jumped signal and hit our Ritz perpendicularly. The car was dragged for a considerable distance. Luckily we weren't injured as all were belted up.


The rear wheel arch was so badly damaged that it had rendered the rear wheel immovable. I used the wheel spanner to pull it out. The seam welding of the wheel arch was also torn.

We took advice from dealer workshop M/s Premsons Motor, but they gave us an estimate of Rs. 15k and 1 week of downtime. This particular workshop is regarded as one of the best bodyshops in Ranchi. However we decided to check our regular MASS as well, and we were surprised that their quote was 1/4th of the quote given by Premsons.

Special thanks to my MASS Maruti Automobiles and SA Mr. Dhiraj who got it repaired super quick and in the best way possible.

Total damage was Rs. 4,500. Jobs done were:
1. Quarter panel denting and painting
2. Rear Bumper painted completely.
3. Interior cleaning
4. Body washing


Mr. Dhiraj kept sending me regular updates. Hats off!!

The damage












The torn seam welding


The culprit



Denting started immediately after the car was given on 15th March.







Shape started coming back.



Final result




Paint matching, blending and finish was simply top notch. The rear door had scratches from previous minor damages, and we chose not to repair it for the time being as it wasn't going to be an insurance claim.

[dailydriver]

Although this could as well have been posted in the Directory section appreciating the work of the MASS, i am glad you decided to use this thread.

Reason?

Originally Posted by sumitsinha0280

The car was dragged for a considerable distance. Luckily we weren't injured as all were belted up.

Happy endings on the Accidents thread are hard to come by!

Special thanks to my MASS Maruti Automobiles and SA Mr. Dhiraj who got it repaired super quick and in the best way possible.

I do recall Maruti Automobiles and especially Mr. Dhiraj being referred to in really good terms by Leoshashi in his Maruti 800 restoration thread.

Good that your car is up and running and that it took the brunt and saved the occupants; like any good car is supposed to. And, congratulations on two other counts too:

1. Buying Zxi
2. Wearing seatbelts

[sumitsinha0280]

Originally Posted by dailydriver

I do recall Maruti Automobiles and especially Mr. Dhiraj being referred to in really good terms

Yes, he is truly the most ethical and knowledgeable SA I have ever met. Most of the BHPians from Ranchi appreciate his selfless service.

by Leoshashi in his Maruti 800 restoration thread.

Restoration?? Sir its just a LTR, and his car has been like that since the last 17 years. Its a pampered car, and cannot be termed as a restoration IMO.

Good that your car is up and running and that it took the brunt and saved the occupants; like any good car is supposed to. And, congratulations on two other counts too:

1. Buying Zxi
2. Wearing seatbelts

Thanks. Safety features surely help.

[haria]

Originally Posted by The Rationalist

Public roads are not the place to test your skills,period. Whenever some moron who violates law meets the end the whole crowd erupts that all racers and bikers are not law breakers, but the majority have no respect for laws and are overconfident of their skills.

+1 to this. Few weeks back when my friend and I were returning back to bangalore, in the stretch between Mulbagal and Kolar (just before Adigas restaurant), we had a close call with some of these idiots. We were going in at about 70 to 80kmph, when with a roar two superbikes roared past b/w the narrow gap between our car and the center median. My friend got a bit startled and moved slightly towards left and he found that two more bikes were screaming past his LHS making a sharp cut in front of our car. There were only cms between the car and the bike. For a moment, I thought he was a goner for sure. In a flash all had zipped past and the way we lost sight of them, they must be going at least 150+km/h . This incident scared the crap out of both of us and we pulled in at Adigas hotel to have a break. We found that there were more of this crowd (around 10 to 20 more fancy bikes) and guys were doing wheelies and high speed runs.

While sipping tea and watching these crazy idiots, the waiter was commenting that this was a regular occurrence in the week-ends and some 30 to 40 bikes come from bangalore, they halt for an hour or so at Adigas hotel and then they return back to Bangalore. The road/stretch being arrow straight, is a favorite haunt for these bikers for doing their high speed runs. Apparently, there was a horrible accident to one of these folks couple of months back, but still these idiots have not learned their lesson. All appear to be in the late 20s and quite well to do. Since we always consider that the bigger vehicle is at fault, I pity some poor bus / truck driver involved with an accident with one of these jokers.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by haria

+1 to this. Few weeks back when my friend and I were returning back to bangalore, in the stretch between Mulbagal and Kolar (een the car and the bike. For a moment, I thought he was a goner for sure. In a flash all had zipped past and the 40 bikes come from bangalore, they halt for an hour or so at Adigas hotel and then . Apparently, there was a horrible accident an accident with one of these jokers.

Yes, I was at golf at Zion Hills Kolar and could hear the roar of these super bikes constantly on that road.

If one goes along that road before dawn then one is ok. Once dawn breaks and natural light floods the world is when all these would be racers start doing their speed trials. Later in the day as it gets hotter and hotter it becomes less comfortable so this speed trial stuff peters out.

The most dangerous time is between 7 am and 11am. This is what I have observed. It is a lovely road no doubt, but definitely
not meant for racing!

In the same way the NICE road gets used by the Super car fraternity for their trials.

[hserus]

The cops make an example of such fellows often enough, seizing their cars for speeding

And then various forums light up with complaints and comments about heavy handed policemen, ducatis and lambos forcibly parked in police stations etc

[IronH4WK]

Originally Posted by haria

While sipping tea and watching these crazy idiots, the waiter was commenting that this was a regular occurrence in the week-ends and some 30 to 40 bikes come from bangalore, they halt for an hour or so at Adigas hotel and then they return back to Bangalore. The road/stretch being arrow straight, is a favorite haunt for these bikers for doing their high speed runs. Apparently, there was a horrible accident to one of these folks couple of months back, but still these idiots have not learned their lesson. All appear to be in the late 20s and quite well to do. Since we always consider that the bigger vehicle is at fault, I pity some poor bus / truck driver involved with an accident with one of these jokers.

I'm one of the jokers who heads out there once in a blue moon for a Sunday morning breakfast ride with friends, but my riding is a far cry from what you've described

That doesn't mean that the experience you've described doesn't happened. More often than not, it does. Adigas and the Cafe Coffee Day up head is usual hang out for bikers on weekends. Although many of them are safe riders (proper riding gear, lane discipline, sedate riding, not scaring the crap outta people), most of them are out there to push their two wheeled machines to their limits; some show off, while others race each other.

This one time we had finished our breakfast at Adigas and were gearing up for our return to Bangalore, we could hear someone on the highway ripping the wheels of his Kawasaki ZX10R (you could hear the rev limiter kick in); would have been doing easily over 200km/h! Eventually this fella rides into the Adigas parking lot and I was shocked to see that he was a squid (a term used for bikers riding without any protective gear)!!

All I can say is, while driving on that stretch during weekends (early morning to afternoon), be wary of what's coming up behind you and be extra alert.

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

The most dangerous time is between 7 am and 11am. This is what I have observed.

Yep, that's the time you've got to watch your mirrors and not make any sudden moves - for your own sake

[Gotham_City]

Originally Posted by sumitsinha0280

Had an accident on the 14th of this month near Ranchi airport, when a speeding Maruti Omni jumped signal and hit our Ritz perpendicularly. The car was dragged for a considerable distance. Luckily we weren't injured as all were belted up.


The rear wheel arch was so badly damaged that it had rendered the rear wheel immovable. I used the wheel spanner to pull it out. The seam welding of the wheel arch was also torn.

Please do check for camber in the rear wheel which might have set in after such a big hit.



The camber eats into tyre before your realize and can be potentially dangerous during long drives at highway speeds.

[sumitsinha0280]

Originally Posted by Gotham_City

Please do check for camber in the rear wheel which might have set in after such a big hit.

The dead axle and the rear wheels were the first things to be checked by the SA, and after a thorough inspection, he declared it fit. However I'll check with him again if he had inspected the camber values or not.

Thanks for the tip.

[sandeepsarma]

Saw this near Anup Shah Associates on Cunningham Road. The Cruze was parked on the road itself with hazards on. There was a broken Tree branch before it. Seems like the branch fell right before the car and it ran over the branch. Considering the size of the branch, damage is expected.

[ankan.m.blr]

What a tragedy! On NH-2, near Burdwan, A tanker carrying hot molten tar overturned on a car, killing all 7 occupants including 2 children. Local reports suggest that (some of)the occupants were alive after the crash but perished as they could not be rescued due to the car & occupants stuck in molten tar.

Details : 1. Car did not have registration, most probably newly purchased.
2. 7 passengers including 2 children inside
3. (As per eye witness) The fateful car overtook another car and came in front of the tanker in the next lane. To avoid rear-ending, the tanker climbed the divider but overturned on the car itself.

Regional news link.



From the image, the car looks like a ciaz. Wonder how 7 people managed to fit in it.

[jeepster_chd]

Originally Posted by Axe77

This is so sad. Th Fortuner is the least to blame. The truck too is practically tailgating the Fortuner dangerously. I think he was on a correct line with indicator on but had to brake as he sighted the pedestrian.

Really bad luck if the Fortuner driver passed away for the fault of two others.

If you watch the video closely, you would realize the Fortuner overtook the truck from the left while it was to take a right turn. And upon realizing that there was a man in the middle of the lane, this Fortuner guy braked right in the middle of the truck's path, giving the poor truck driver no time to react.

Just my two cents.

[blackasta]

Originally Posted by ankan.m.blr

What a tragedy!

There were actually 3 kids and 4 adults in the car.
According to eyewitnesses, the car in question overtook the bitumen tanker from left and then came in front and the tanker went out of control , climbed on the divider and finally overturned on the car.
The owner / driver was a RPF inspector living in Howrah and was (probably) travelling to his native place.
It was a new car as it had no plates, and probably had puja done as flowers, sweets etc was found inside.
The occupants died a horrific death, especially the boy (6 yrs) who could have been saved. He was alive after the accident, and died as they could not lift the tanker for 1-2 hours, and toxic fumes were released when the police/fire sprayed water to cool down the bitumen.
Sends shivers down my spine - such a sad ending to the entire family.

Detailed news: http://www.anandabazar.com/state/is-...campaign=daily

[sajo]

Did anyone see a completely charred Ford Fiesta on the Bangalore bypass , just ahead of the Audi showroom (towards Bangalore) ? Any idea if was in an accident ? Lots of cops and the fire brigade on the spot.