[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by for_cars1

I purchased the below product couple of years back.

Compact Keychain size and specifically designed to shatter glass windows and cut through seat belts.

The device would function in the same way as an automatic centre punch. My automatic centre punch is one of my favourite tools. I bought it when I was a hobby jeweller, and it has centre-punched many materials from gold to concrete. Steel, no problem; car glass, it wouldn't even notice.

I was made aware of its car-glass-breaking ability when mentioning it to a colleague, who said, "don't carry it in your pocket: police might think you are a car thief!"

Originally Posted by for_cars1

The device would only be able to break through the side windows or rear window. In fact the weakest part of the side window ....

I don't have that device, but, in principle, see above. The glass would not be weaker in the corners, it would be better-supported in the corners.

I'm actually tempted to keep an automatic centre punch in the car. I am so used to using it that it would take no thought at all. Just... I never got around to it. I do have one of those little hammers.

Big advantage of the auto centre punch, or device with same mechanism: no thinking about how hard to hit! Just push: when the mechanism trips, it will always deliver the same punch.

[BenjiRoss]

Three drivers from Chennai die as car rams tree near Vaniyambadi | Chennai News - Times of India https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...w/68170538.cms

I'm not sure how this happened, but I don't think the passengers were wearing seat belts.

[deepakdsk]

Happened on 01/03/2019 Coimbatore - Salem NH near Neelambur.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T2g9KDqbrA

[balenoed_]

Originally Posted by deepakdsk

Happened on 01/03/2019 Coimbatore - Salem NH near Neelambur.

Look, where he is coming from. Cannot fathom what want went wrong. (tyre burst?)

[self_driven]

Originally Posted by deepakdsk

Happened on 01/03/2019 Coimbatore - Salem NH near Neelambur.

Around 0:34 in the video, it looks like an occupant was flung out from one of the vehicles!

[Yieldway17]

Originally Posted by deepakdsk

Happened on 01/03/2019 Coimbatore - Salem NH near Neelambur.

The other car didn't do anything other than being there at the wrong time. Really scary.

[shaktisarangi]

Clearly a case of not wearing seat belts. The car has suffered minimal damage and all airbags have deployed, yet the driver did not survive. If you look at the picture carefully you can see the blood splatter on the windshield from the victim's head hitting it.

https://www.google.co.in/amp/s/india...-5608522/lite/

[locusjag]

Originally Posted by balenoed_

Look, where he is coming from. Cannot fathom what want went wrong. (tyre burst?)

Reminds me of the Swift which I saw go berserk recently. It was overspeeding, went over a broken patch at high speed, swerved at 90 degrees to to its right for no apparent reason, hit the median and rolled over.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/road-...ml#post4540692

In any case, I don't know what to say about this one. What can you do if you're caught facing a hurtling projectile from the other side like this? The closing velocity of the two cars could have been as high as 140 Kmph at the very least.

I really hate our unhelpful medians dividing our National Highways. For instance, the Swift that I referred to above would have killed schoolgoing kids on the other side of the road if there hadn't been a raised concrete median. We badly need raised medians.

To be fair, I know of people who have died even in a developed country like the US because of a variety of similar causes despite having vastly better dividers on their highways - like a detached truck wheel bouncing in from the opposite lane, a heavy dumbbell that crashed in through the windshield, or a really fat mattress that just fell off a truck in the front, etc. But these are really freak occurrences and cars hurtling at oncoming traffic just doesn't happen over there.

[Durango Dude]

Originally Posted by deepakdsk

Happened on 01/03/2019 Coimbatore - Salem NH near Neelambur.

Looks like he was on the service lane came on to the highway and then crossed over to the other side.

[shubhodeepdas@g]

Originally Posted by deepakdsk

Happened on 01/03/2019 Coimbatore - Salem NH near Neelambur.

Have seen a slightly longer CCTV footage of the same. The white swift appears to be overtaking an auto from the left at a high rate of speed. At this point either he brakes and looses grip on his left wheels due to sand or simply brushes the guard rail turning him towards the right. Rest is clear from here on in the video, it just crosses over to the opposite lane and collides with the brown vehicle. One of the occupant is thrown out of the car when it rolls. The engine from the brown car flies and lands in the middle of he road, could have spelled disaster for any two wheeler in its path.

Having guard rails on the median would have surely avoided this accident for the brown car.

[arvind71181]

https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities...share=d086df8a

Is the truck driver at fault? I see umpteen speeding attempts by parents to drop their kids in school. RIP the kid, just 7 years old :(

[shaktisarangi]

Originally Posted by arvind71181

https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities...share=d086df8a

Is the truck driver at fault? I see umpteen speeding attempts by parents to drop their kids in school. RIP the kid, just 7 years old :(

On reading the description of the accident it is evident that the two wheeler rider is entirely to blame in this case. Trying to overtake a heavy vehicle going uphill on a narrow road is a recipe for disaster. It is appalling to see the kind of risk parents put their children through while traveling on two wheelers.

I am not saying that children should not travel on 2 wheelers l, but utmost care needs to be taken while driving and precautions in the form of a helmet should be compulsorily adopted. Truly sad to see a young life snuffed out in this manner.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Britain has high-tech barriers, both steel and cable, designed to bounce a vehicle back to its own side. But nothing is perfect and they can be beaten. And they are not so high that they can stop a car that has taken to the air.

There is a huge difference between that effort and simply building a low wall. But at least India is doing that. It's a start.

Maybe though, our medians are built simply to discourage wrong-side driving. Sometimes they seem to do the opposite!

[sparky@home]

Yesterday there was an accident on the main Thrissur/Kunnumkulam road at Muthuvara, wherein an over speeding bus knocked down and ran over a biker. The poor chap was killed instantly. The whole thing was caught on a camera, and it can be seen in the attached video (local news channel) between 05:23 to 05:43.

https://youtu.be/QbBI6bgMae0

[balenoed_]

Originally Posted by sparky@home

The whole thing was caught on a camera, and it can be seen in the attached video (local news channel) between 05:23 to 05:43.

Sad, what a way to lose a life.
What the heck with that car that is parked over there with its boot projecting into the road. Even that has silently contributed to this accident IMHO; If at all the biker wanted to pull to left, that car was an hindrance there.

Having an eye on the rear view always is as important as looking ahead.