[phamilyman]

Excellent blog in OD on the Truck - Bullet near miss by the ever prescient, Shumi
http://overdrive.in/news-cars-auto/f...ing-near-miss/


Worth reading for every driver / rider.

[PrasannaDhana]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Worth reading for every driver / rider.

And this one point that I say to myself often and to others to whom I teach riding/driving.
"Always look at the farthest that your eyes can see on the road ahead". This one habit can make you assess all risks that you might encounter.

That bullet rider clearly did not see far. If he did so, he could have noticed a pair of headlamps in the fast lane at 0:05 in that video.

[BenjiRoss]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Excellent blog in OD on the Truck - Bullet near miss by the ever prescient, Shumi
http://overdrive.in/news-cars-auto/f...ing-near-miss/


Worth reading for every driver / rider.

Swerving from one side of the vehicle to the other side and overtaking without a good look certainly doesn't give you the visual clearance needed for a complete overtaking procedure. It need not be a truck coming in the opposite side. Even a slow moving vehicle can cause a close call or accident. Reminds me of this video from quite a while ago.

https://youtu.be/_B6fk9urQK8

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by motorpsycho

This accident occured in Udupi, no other details have been shared.

1. Carelessness on the part of the bikers, when crossing the road.
2. Target fixation by the Innova driver?

Mistake is on both ends. But that was a wrong evasion by the Innova driver. He had enough space on the right side and could have easily avoided hitting the bike had he swerved right instead of left. There was close to two lanes of space even if there was another vehicle in the right which was not the case either. Instead he chose to outrun the bike and thought he could cross him, which points out to wrong judgement. Earlier when I recommended to attack the tail during such a situation, there was discussions on how appropriate it would be. But at least in this case, it would have been the safest way out.

[saurabh2711]

Originally Posted by motorpsycho

This accident occured in Udupi, no other details have been shared.

1. Carelessness on the part of the bikers, when crossing the road.
2. Target fixation by the Innova driver?

"Me first" is the filthiest attitude on the roads. Whoever it may be (2 Wheeler, 4 wheeler etc). Everyone is in a hurry (for reasons best known to them or unknown). This sheer arrogance is leading to significant accidents.
Everybody thinks that they have a proprietary ownership of the roads & its the other's who have to take care of the safety of both parties.

Definitely the four wheeler should have slowed down on crossing, however the biker should have been extra cautious while crossing, even if not at fault. Simply for the fact that his body is more prone to injuries, first thing that will happen in case of an impact is his body flying off the bike or getting trapped under it, resulting more damage. A 4 wheeler has entire body shell to reduce the impact & save "some (if not all)"injuries.
Bikers have to be cautious (extra & extreme).
Did the 4 wheeler flashed, or was he caught totally unaware (not concentrating & napping on junction)??
If at all he did, did the "Me First" attitude kicked in to the biker.
Its an infinite loop really, to blame it on one or both.

Originally Posted by BenjiRoss

.. a complete overtaking procedure...

Many thanks for sharing this.

The VDO you shared is an amazing example of lane discipline that the trucks have shown. All driving on the slowest lane. Those overtaking each other join the last lane again. Hats off. The footage till the accident happens is worth following & being taught to everyone as a mandate to follow.

[prithm]

Originally Posted by BenjiRoss

It need not be a truck coming in the opposite side. Even a slow moving vehicle can cause a close call or accident.

Beautiful example.

Makes one lament on their actions and opportunity to correct themselves.

Lessons learnt for me:

1. Do not tail a vehicle blindly if it is taller than your vehicle.
2. Safety gap between my vehicle and vehicle ahead of me should be at least thrice the size of my vehicle. Only then a proper Line of Sight is obtained and scope for course correction.
3. Watch and Remember the vehicles trailing you to take appropriate speed reduction maneuver. Heavier the vehicle behind you, flash tail lamps multiple times to alert that driver and closely watch their response.
4. Use indicator well before hand to show your intention/plan to other drivers.

Thanks for sharing this video.

[kutoos]

Originally Posted by saurabh2711

"however the biker should have been extra cautious while crossing, even if not at fault. .

I've mentioned this in the past as well, Gone are the days of Stop.....Look....Proceed.

I'd had a very disconcerting experience with a driving school instructor, who was teaching my wife. His advice to merge on to moving traffic is and i quote "First get half your vehicle in, dont worry about vehicles coming from behind, it is their duty to stop. Even if they hit you, you will not be blamed"

The above is not a joke, I've heard this from several taxi drivers as well especially the young and restless ones.

Hence till we bring back the old school, we can see such examples adorn our roads.

[dhanushs]

Not really a live accident pic in India, but conveys a strong message.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by prithm

1. Do not tail a vehicle blindly if it is taller than your vehicle.

The closer one is to a tall vehicle, the less one can see.

Not being a biker, I don't know if this is valid, but it occurs to me that a 2-wheeler actually has a possible luxury that a car driver can never have --- of being able to move to the left, (cautiously, of course: there can be dangers there too) and see along the left side of the vehicle.

A car driver can ask the passenger, but that depends on them being a "co-driver." I would never ask a non-driver. With due respect, I can imagine my wife saying "There were no vehicles: didn't think you would want to know about the roadworks!"

Although it was never safe, I'm guessing that the customary position for overtaking, being right on the other vehicle's right backwise, dates back to the days when the overtake might challenge a vehicle's power capacity. Overtaking should be as smooth a curve as possible, out and back in again. Not nipping sharply out.

(And if the vehicle behind takes up the space so the overtaker can't get back, then that driver is a potential murderer.)

[prithm]

The Tata Tiago and Tractror crash.

This image is going to be a poster image and moment of pride for TATA. A tractor cut in half by Tiago and coming out the other side with cosmetic damage with occupants safe.

I hope the tractor driver survived.

[chiranjitp]

Originally Posted by motorpsycho

This accident occured in Udupi, no other details have been shared.

1. Carelessness on the part of the bikers, when crossing the road.
2. Target fixation by the Innova driver?

Firstly I hope that the 2 guys on the bike survived the accident, quite a nasty accident. The fault mainly lies with the biker, one basic rule while crossing a road (while on foot or by vehicle) is to look out for vehicles . It seems that the bike rider didn't see the Innova or wasn't bothered by the Innova coming towards him. Many drivers/riders tend to believe that the guy coming from the opposite side will give way to them, while this might work in city speeds, this behavior can turn out to be suicidal in highway speeds.

Even the Innova guy is at slight fault here, he should have slowed down seeing an intersection. It is quite common in India that someone would be crossing an intersection without looking properly.

[motorpsycho]

Originally Posted by chiranjitp

Firstly ..

SNIP
....Even the Innova guy is at slight fault here, he should have slowed down seeing an intersection. It is quite common in India that someone would be crossing an intersection without looking properly.

In India, specially if a road is passing through a village, the villagers consider the road a part of thier village and tend to use it as such.

In this case, the biker should have conducted his due deligence prior to crossing. However, I would blame the Innova, he was speeding in a highly populated area, I am sure there are enough signs and indications to warn drivers of the same.

More details of the accident here, there were 3 of them on the bike...

NEWS LINK

[NetfreakBombay]

Originally Posted by motorpsycho

2. Target fixation by the Innova driver?

Looks like Innova is at fault. Crossing has a pretty broad zebra crossing, and all vehicles are expected to slow-down for zebra crossing.

[chiranjitp]

I just received these photos from a friend of mine, a massive head on collision between a KTM Duke & a Bolero. The accident occurred on the outskirts of Dibrugarh, Assam at the early hours of today. Sadly the guy on the bike didn't survive the accident, no idea about the occupants of the Bolero. The deceased was a Junior of my friend, so I guess he was in his early 20s.

According to onlookers the Duke was doing going in excess of 100 kmph, also by looking at the damage the Bolero suffered we can be sure that it was a high speed crash.

[longhorn]

Originally Posted by for_cars1

Look at the way the Innova is speeding at the junction. Without any anticipation that someone may dart across the road suddenly. It was in the Innova driver's hands to avoid this incident by being slow and anticipating that someone would cross recklessly.

The Innova is moving arrow straight on a four laned road. The biker is cutting across the highway like his dad owns the road. " We should expect this at junctions.." just does not cut ice. The biker got what he deserved. If you keep anticipating for every junction in India, you would reach your destination faster by walking. What the biker did was plain suicidal.

Originally Posted by audioholic

Mistake is on both ends. But that was a wrong evasion by the Innova driver. He had enough space on the right side and could have easily avoided hitting the bike had he swerved right instead of left.

Its not so easy to switch directions at highway speeds unless you don't mind going for a somersault with your vehicle. The Innova driver should has tried to hit the brakes earlier. I would never advice sudden directional changes at highway speeds.

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

Looks like Innova is at fault. Crossing has a pretty broad zebra crossing, and all vehicles are expected to slow-down for zebra crossing.

Ya right. Pedestrian crossings are for pedestrians. Not an excuse for morons strolling across the highway at 20 kmph on a bike expecting a one ton vehicle at much higher speed to stop for him to complete his buffonery.