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News reports show this CCTV footage of a truck crash in Jammu this month.
I don't know what caused the truck to 'lose control'
https://youtu.be/P5O1lKDUCow
I can only imagine the fear in the eyes of the black car passengers as they watch the truck crash into them - so scary. The momentum of the crash is huge.
Apparently the bike rider was injured. Not sure if any other injuries occurred.

Poor people in the car, literally passengers in the incident. The car seems to slow down to a complete stop, but the truck's going too fast and there's nowhere to go.

The frame isn't wide enough to show the aftermath, but it appears the truck caught the car at a point & angle where it pushed it away instead of running into/over it, also helped by the truck driver probably trying to steer away (as the truck falls over on its RHS post-impact). Occupants may have whiplash injuries but as long as they were belted up, hopefully nothing fatal.

Another overtaking gone wrong? Right side of the Crysta seems to be gone completely.









https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...type=3&theater

I'm uncomfortable with the words "overtake going wrong," in the same way as I am with "losing control."

It is very likely that an overtake gone wrong which leads to a collision with an oncoming vehicle started wrong.

Yes Sir, What you said is correct. It is like saying Brake Failure (instead of failure to brake). I travel almost 70-90 kms daily on a two wheeler in Bangalore City. People doing stupid things like reckless overtaking from left, talking and driving, thinking their two wheeler is a 50 tonne truck to name a few. The stupidity levels drastically increases with alcohol influence after 11.00 PM. It will be very hard to change peoples mindset and these scenes will continue.

Meanwhile - Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) is saying - The vehicle mix on the road (in US) is changing and our side impact test will soon follow suit. We are planning a higher impact speed, and will use a heavier movable barrier that better represents today's SUVs and pickups.

https://www.iihs.org/news/detail/iih...ide-crash-test

This change in vehicle mix towards heavier and higher SUVs is happening in India too.

Was it an overtake?

I travel many such roads in MH KA border area, and in Konkan region.
Due to branches taller vehicles cannot keep completely to the left, and drive with RH wheels on the center line. There is enough space for on coming cars to cross at reasonable speed. Many times drivers who are not used to this do not give way and drive fast lights flashing, and the truck / bus moves left scraping the branches and still both vehicles scrape their RHS sides. When two taller vehicles have to cross one has to stop and let the other pass, at such there are some people who try to overtake, and create a mess.
Looking at the trees this looks like one such road. If you zoom first pic completely the bus is not fully on LH side, yet it is touching a branch near LH second window.



Rahul

An interesting blog on reducing your risk of automotive death (US centric but good points) https://peterattiamd.com/the-killers...omotive-death/

Quotes that I liked:

• If I die in the next 10 years, the most probable “murder weapon” is my vehicle or another vehicle on the road. Is there anything I can do to lower the chances of dying in a car or from a car?
• There are more drivers killed in intersections (20%) than on freeways
• At an intersection the driver who is hit sideways is vulnerable. Who is most likely to be at fault when a fatal driver crash occurs at an intersection? It’s often the driver that dies who is the one not at fault.
• Speeding is the biggest related factor, involving an estimated 30% of all drivers killed

And these 2 rules

• Rule #1: Do not drive with alcohol in your system, even if you are (or think you are) below the legal limit. Do not speed. Do not text and drive. Do not get behind the wheel if you are sleep-deprived.
• Rule #2: Assume others are not adhering to Rule #1. In particular, assume one person awoke today with the explicit instruction to kill you with their car. If you knew this, how vigilant would you be? How much more closely would you pay attention to each other driver around you? That person swerving around or braking too late? That person looking at their phone? That person speeding up behind you? Look for the killer. Be vigilant at all times, and make sure today is not his day.

I think most of us subconsciously follow rule #2 at all times on Indian roads - that is the key to surviving - defensive driving and observing traffic and letting these "would be" killers pass by.

I think that not enough of us think like this. And that very many (hint: often, but not always, small number of wheels) place the entire responsibility of their lives on other drivers. That's about as far removed from defensive driving as it is possible to get.

Very well said, sir!

Though I am inclined to be a bit more tolerant to the second part - ie, "losing control". This can happen do to factors which are not in the direct control of the driver/rider (eg: oil on road, tyre blow out, unexpected distractions, etc.etc.)

But no way should "overtaking going wrong" be tolerated. Overtaking is a deliberate processes and people doing that should jolly well ensure that it doesn't go wrong. If one is in doubt, abort overtaking - sky is not going to fall down if an overtake was not performed!!

Without being personally present at the impact site, I would not like to comment on what could have happened. I visit this thread more often than any other as every accident I look at is a learning. From this one the key takeaways for me would be

1. The tall vehicle and tree branches factor forcing the larger traffic to drive towards the center of the road as somone rightly pointed.
2. In single lane traffic conditions, wherever possible, make way for the larger traffic - especially if the oncoming traffic is on a down-slope. Trucks/buses cannot be controlled like cars no matter what.
3. The 'ego' factor. May be it is only me who feels this but off late the way I see the Innovas and the Fortuners being driven, it is a disaster waiting to happen.

Thank you! I am not so tolerant about the "losing control" claim. One should be able to maintain control in most of those situations. Invisible oil on the road is an exception. Well, ok, invisible anything is an exception! But oil is a real killer as it cannot be expected. At least with ice we cannot claim not to know that freezing was likely.

How well we can handle whatever the road may throw at us is down to our training, practice, learning, attitude. None of us know it all, and it is necessary, especially when pontificating as I am now, to recognise that any day might be the day we meet the test we fail. The biggest thing we have to be able to handle is our own mistakes: I practise that most days!

Quite. It is going over the edge, into the danger zone. And it is not a right!

Did the airbags deploy or have they done their usual Toyota thing and waited for a harder impact?

Thats what I Said (overtaking gone wrong?). Without actual facts it is not possible to tell what happened.

The 'ego' factor. Not only Innovas and Fortuners, I have seen other vehicles. "Why should I slow down, you give way" and it is a disaster waiting to happen.
Many drivers (Idiots) don't realise buses and trucks, other big vehicles have huge blind spots and it is best to keep safe distance. Seldom it is practiced.

The 'ego' factor is so huge on Indian roads. Be it any size of vehicle and not limited to just vehicles. The sense of yielding for others is not only absent, it is gone to the other end of the spectrum, where folks look for how to snatch away others right of the way, lane or a given space even if that may lead to an accident for the other.

Unfortunately, in this very forum, sometimes we find members engaged into in-gear acceleration discussions, not for any other reason, but to snatch that little space available ahead or to beat the next road-user to dust or how impatient they feel because of the 'slow' drivers ahead. Sometimes you won't be even able to figure, if we are discussing about driving on public roads or racing tracks.

We have gone inconsiderate (in general and to other road users in this context) beyond repair and it is an "eye for an eye" most of the time on Indian roads. And if you are one of those who try to be considerate and yield for others, it might start affecting your personality, as you may very soon start feeling like a spineless fool or a novice driver who can't fight back for his right of the way (or ego) and every other chap who is outsmarting you on the way. Most of the time other users won't realize that you are yielding for them, they would rather feel like a great driver or rider, who smartly took away that piece of space with their great driving/riding skills.

I don't know how it is in other cities, however, that is how it feels sometimes in the city of Bangalore.



From,
a driver - feeling low on Bangalore roads.