Team-BHP - Accidents in India

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Originally Posted by Nalin1 (Post 4756373)

Just ridiculous driving by the lorry driver!. Can't believe when I see reports of drivers dozing off. How can someone fall asleep when doing something as involving as driving?
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Nobody would deliberately want to sleep/doze off while driving - I am sure all drivers know the perils of this - but believe me, this is a very real and highly probable danger. Starting from driver fatigue, to momentary lapse in concentration - there can be N number of genuine reasons (I am not including the reasons caused by DUI / having medical conditions etc.)

I have driven extensively in the highway - both night driving/day driving. In spite of stringent precautions against me dozing off, I have on few occasions found myself nodding off, even if it is for a few seconds.. Thankfully, nothing serious occurred during those lapses.

I will never ever consider dozing off while driving lightly - even the most experienced professional , sane and prudent drivers can also very easily fall victims of this.

The consequences can be devastating. The guilt of living with this is itself nightmarish.

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Originally Posted by Rohit_Quad (Post 4757658)

My brothers dash cam caught this. I see such 2 wheeler's all the time, on the roads these days :Frustrati. Thank god to Bluetooth in most new cars AV systems, or else, it used to be the same for car drivers as well (still see a few though).

People don't seem to realise that when you brake with just one hand on the handle, the handle is going to tilt towards the other end and they will lose their balance. It's seems to obvious and yet so many people commit this mistake. I can't count the number of times I've seen people like this on activas. Just because there isn't a clutch lever to be pressed doesn't mean it's not necessary to hold the handle at both ends. Bike riders fare better here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rohit_Quad (Post 4757658)

He clearly kept holding the phone through the fall and let go of the Activa. Clearly shows he loves the phone a lot more than the Activa!

Such people not only risk their own lives but also that of others - need to be strongly dealt with by the police. What stops police from fining them based on CCTV footage for using cellphone while driving?

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Originally Posted by Nalin1 (Post 4756373)

How can someone fall asleep when doing something as involving as driving?

Here's a fact that an omnibus driver candidly revealed to us in Sivagangai (note: intercity private luxury buses, as opposed to rickety government buses, are referred to as omnibuses here) - when driving through at night, they have a habit of locking their elbows straight as their arms grip the steering wheel tightly. As they see a straight stretch on the highway, they allow themselves to drift off to sleep for the duration of a few winks. Through sheer willpower and habit, they wake up in time to negotiate the next turn. Or maybe the cleaner has the job of alerting the driver on time...

And is this any more shocking than the fact that these omnibuses serve as training vehicles for unlicensed cleaners (who are drivers-in-waiting)? Once the bus has begun its journey and has cleared the city limits, the driver hands over the wheel to the cleaner. He ploughs the vehicle through the night for the first few hundred kilometers as the driver guides him along.

Somehow many of us make these journeys uneventfully and many of these drivers go on to have decades-long careers. The driver who shared these insights had been driving for 25 years at that point. In small towns, good relationships being the norm, we heard what he shared out of his trust in my uncle, who held an important government job in the town.

If this comes into force, it may help in getting a better driving experience.

https://www.newindianexpress.com/sta...c-2108003.html

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In a major move to fix accountability in cases of road accidents, the Madras High Court on Monday said the NHAI would be held liable to pay compensation to victims of accidents caused by bad roads. The Division Bench then directed the highways authority to ensure roads are re-laid strictly as per standards fixed by the Indian Roads Congress.
The Division Bench comprising Justices M Sathyanarayanan and R Hemalatha was hearing a suo motu public interest litigation petition on bad condition and improper maintenance of National Highways-4 between Maduravoyal and Wallajahpet. Assistant Solicitor General G Karthikeyan, on behalf of NHAI, filed a compliance report on measures being taken to improve the highway stretch. When the Bench raised a question over “belated/ tardy progress on the part of the contractors”, Karthikeyan submitted that NHAI has to approach very many agencies for getting very many clearances from the State government.
He sought a direction from the court to put in place a single window agency comprising various stakeholders so that all clearances can be obtained without any loss of time. The Bench then observed that it was time a single window agency was created by the government to help NHAI get clearances from various stake holders.

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Originally Posted by swissknife (Post 4757938)

If this comes into force, it may help in getting a better driving experience.

https://www.newindianexpress.com/sta...c-2108003.html

And if the NHAI pushes this on to the contractor maintaining the roads. But it's a long asking order to see the light.

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Originally Posted by JithinR (Post 4757429)

Don't remember this one posted here.:Shockked:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B8plGhtJ..._web_copy_link

This is a common problem with Indians, both 2 wheelers and 4 wheelers. When you see an obstacle, don't stop or slow down, just move across the obstacle, even if it means moving into someone else's path. I face these kind of riders every day. Just as I'm about to overtake a slow driver, they move across into my path because there is some pothole or bump on the road. They know that you don't really need to check your mirrors before moving across, because mirrors are basically just for show.

Quote:

Originally Posted by swissknife (Post 4757938)

If this comes into force, it may help in getting a better driving experience.

https://www.newindianexpress.com/sta...c-2108003.html

I’d want the courts to cover poor road designs to this clause too. For example, Having an intersection at the bottom of a curving and descending 6 lane highway without any kind of even a warning sign is almost a crime in my opinion. But we do see all kind of poor road and traffic design in our highways which causes accidents.

When accidents happen at the same spot frequently, the engineers need to look at the root cause and address it, not place warning signs and barricades like it’s done currently.

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Originally Posted by shajoshi (Post 4757815)

Yes, they do endanger everyone on the road. Imagine that scooter sliding on to an oncoming two wheeler. I guess, they do fine if they have the evidence. But, it comes down to the owner paying those fines. You must see the people on the rented scooters. :deadhorse

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Originally Posted by Yieldway17 (Post 4758086)

I’d want the courts to cover poor road designs to this clause too.

I do not want to see anything which takes responsibility away from the driver, notwithstanding the many, many examples that could be raised such as your

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... Having an intersection at the bottom of a curving and descending 6 lane highway without any kind of even a warning sign is almost a crime in my opinion. But we do see all kind of poor road and traffic design in our highways which causes accidents.

Maybe bad road design and/or condition might be separately legislated, although it, along with all our existing traffic rules, is all pie in the sky if it is not enforced.