[Dry Ice]

Originally Posted by arjithin

Found this Amaze inside Bandipur forest road yesterday morning. The place this accident happened is between 2 speed breakers which are just 500 meter apart and very sparse traffic and good visibility ahead, wonder how such a crash happened.

500m is a lot of distance for modern cars to attain good speeds.

Another possibility which is bugging me (experienced it first hand) -

A Maruti Van ahead of me suddenly braked from about 40 kmph. I had to slam the brakes and even swerve onto the opposite lane to prevent the rear ending (as there was no oncoming vehicle at that time). I was driving a rental and the brakes were far from perfect.

Reason for them stopping suddenly? They had spotted some wildlife and everyone was pointing in that direction.

[esoticoreventon]

Anyone who has the habit of driving/riding fast inside the city needs to do an experiment. They should alternate between going fast and driving sensibly within limits from point A to point B. The time difference will be negligible. I have done this experiment myself and even disregarding the safety aspect, driving fast still doesn't make any sense.

If you are on the highway, then yes, it makes sense to go fast as you will reach your destination sooner, but inside the city, there are just far too many speed breakers, traffic lights, turns, pedestrian crossings and far too much traffic for speed to make any tangible difference. Even if you overtake a vehicle the chances are that at the next signal you will both be stuck at a red light! Doesn't it make sense to just drive sensibly and reap the benefits of better fuel economy, increased time to react to any untoward incident and believe it or not, you will have a less stressful time on your commute if you just decide to take it easy, and ergo you will not feel tired when you reach your destination.

My commute to office is 22 KMs. I leave fairly late at night and so there is sparse traffic. If I drive fast, from the time I start from my office parking, to the parking in my apartment, takes about 25 minutes and I average around 6-8 kmpl. If I drive sensibly, I reach in about 30-33 minutes, and I average around 13-14 kmpl. So does driving fast justify in this scenario? of course not! The time difference in just 5 minutes, which is practically nothing. And because I am careful, I am more aware of my surroundings, I can react better and my stopping distance is going to be so much lesser at 40 kmph as opposed to 80 kmph! Sadly, anyone capable of processing thoughts this way is already careful while commuting and to those who are rash, 80 kmph is faster than 40 kmph. Period.

Pretty much all accidents can be avoided if the speed is controlled, or at best, the damage can be minimised, but how many rash people you know would accept that?

[prithm]

Originally Posted by esoticoreventon

Pretty much all accidents can be avoided if the speed is controlled, or at best, the damage can be minimised, but how many rash people you know would accept that?

Not only speed, but giving enough space between vehicles. Higher the speed, longer the distance. Anticipating that the driver before you will surely make a mistake and giving that error margin solves hell lot of problems.

Just my 0.02$ from what I keep learning each and every single day on road when I commute to office. It takes my mind off from stressful office work.

[Dry Ice]

Originally Posted by esoticoreventon

Doesn't it make sense to just drive sensibly and reap the benefits of better fuel economy, increased time to react to any untoward incident and believe it or not, you will have a less stressful time on your commute if you just decide to take it easy, and ergo you will not feel tired when you reach your destination.

It makes absolute sense but nobody sees it.

A quote I read somewhere related to the "Indian standard time" joke, which makes me chuckle every time - Indians are always in a hurry on the road and yet, no one reaches anywhere on time.

[Torqy]

Originally Posted by esoticoreventon

Pretty much all accidents can be avoided if the speed is controlled, or at best, the damage can be minimised, but how many rash people you know would accept that?

There are people who think "After spending so much money, with 100+ bhp on tap and paying for ABS, Airbags, Suitcase etc., i have to drive slow?"

[esoticoreventon]

Originally Posted by prithm

Not only speed, but giving enough space between vehicles. Higher the speed, longer the distance. Anticipating that the driver before you will surely make a mistake and giving that error margin solves hell lot of problems.

Adding to that, if you are not speeding, you are more likely to brake in case of an emergency rather than swerve.

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

It makes absolute sense but nobody sees it.

A quote I read somewhere related to the "Indian standard time" joke, which makes me chuckle every time - Indians are always in a hurry on the road and yet, no one reaches anywhere on time.

Originally Posted by Torqy

There are people who think "After spending so much money, with 100+ bhp on tap and paying for ABS, Airbags, Suitcase etc., i have to drive slow?"

Reminds me of our brilliant media that covers accidents. You always find "Car had airbags and the occupants still died". There are a lot of other factors that contribute to an accident that results in death! Airbags don't guarantee life! It merely increases you chances in the event of a crash, and considering our refusal to seat belt wearing population, they might as well not buy the airbag equipped variant! Even to this day I find toddlers sitting on the lap of the driver in an airbag equipped car. What does one do in this situation?

[hserus]

Originally Posted by esoticoreventon

Pretty much all accidents can be avoided if the speed is controlled, or at best, the damage can be minimised, but how many rash people you know would accept that?

Yeah like today :( bangalore - turning sharp right into a t junction and suddenly see a long tailback of cars with the last one a few feet ahead of you because some fool decided to cross the road suddenly I guess.

Coming at 20 kmph and quickly but .. the pic speaks for itself

[Shanksta]

First Tata Nexon crash! A biker passing by was injured in the accident. It looks like the Nexon rear-ended the Tractor's trailer. SOURCE

SILIGURI: A car and a tractor collided head-on today in Peeprithan area under Kurlakote Police Station, injuring one traveller.
According to sources, a Tata branded car coming from Siliguri collided head-on with a tractor loaded with sand. The Tata branded car was brought from the company’s Mumbai-based head office for the purpose of advertising the new car.
The tractor loaded with sand was heading towards West Bengal when it suddenly hit the car after losing control. The collision was heavy as the Tata car suffered severe damages. The travellers in the car narrowly escaped from suffering serious injuries.
However, a person standing near the road on his bike suffered from injuries during the head-on collision between the two vehicles.
Locals rushed the injured to Thakurganj Hospital to treat the injuries. After receiving news of the accident, Kurlakote Police Station personnel arrived at the spot and took control of the situation.

MODS did not know whether to post it in this thread or the Nexon thread. Hence posting it in both.

[RajeVenu]

Originally Posted by audioholic

I suspect the windshield was not the OE windshield that came with the car compared to the age factor since glass doesnt age.

I would just like to clarify your statement regarding glass doesn't age. Glass is an amorphous solid so all amorphous solid have a tendency to flow, though very slowly. Hence, glass is considered as a super cooled liquid. That is why the glass windows and doors become slightly thicker at the bottom than at the top with the time.

[Thad E Ginathom]

I don't know that it is relevant, as I'm sure that a bike aimed at a windscreen fast enough can break through it but... technical term or not, yes glass ages. My windscreen has lots of little dings and craters. Each of those be the weak point that becomes a crack or worse with a heavier impact.

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

.... but... technical term or not, yes glass ages. My windscreen has lots of little dings and craters. ....

These are not signs of the glass having aged; these are the result of normal wear and tear. If your car had been standing permanently in a garage the glass would never develop dings and dents (due to ageing).

[sajo]

In an unfortunate incident , a Pune biker wearing full safety gear was killed when he flew off the Paud Road flyover and fell below. He was riding a new KTM and was in full safety gear.

PUNE: A 38-year-old professional biker from Kothrud fell to his death from the Paud Phata flyover in the early hours of Monday after his new high performance motorcycle crashed into the guard wall.
The impact of the crash was such that the biker, Ashutosh Dattatreya Phadke of Vijayashree Society in Kothrud, was tossed into the air. He fell about 40 feet below onto Karve Road in front of two policemen deployed at Paud Phata. On hearing a loud thud around 12.50am on Monday , the cops rushed to the spot.

Full News

I wont be surprised if he was a Bhpian too, given his fondness for all things automotive. Sad, and may God give his family the strength to overcome this loss.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by anupmathur

These are not signs of the glass having aged; these are the result of normal wear and tear.

from the standpoint of 60-plus, it feels like much the same thing to me!

If your car had been standing permanently in a garage the glass would never develop dings and dents (due to ageing).

Oh right, point taken. Like rubber and stuff ages even if the car is never actually used. Now I see what you mean. But, cars, except to show-pieces, do get used, and do get wear and tear.

[binand]

Originally Posted by sajo

In an unfortunate incident , a Pune biker wearing full safety gear was killed when he flew off the Paud Road flyover and fell below.

Is it just me, or is there indeed a surge in the number of cases where people/vehicles fall off a flyover? This is the second one this week (the Delhi kids on Monday was the other).

Does it say anything about the (lack of) safety features on our city flyovers?

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by binand

...
Does it say anything about the (lack of) safety features on our city flyovers?

Does it say anything about the complete absence of sane/safe driving sense among our youth?
Flyovers can not be built with guard rails that will keep a speeding car from breaking through! No system is idiot-proof.