[Thad E Ginathom]

Thanks to those that have mentioned the falling cable, which I did not notice. It seems to be a very likely cause.

[bharatbits]

I had been in this situation today and want to ascertain who was at fault. I was driving the car and since i had to take a U turn i did not take the flyover and instead took the single lane road on the left for a U turn which is under the flyover. At the U turn there are some autos that are parked there all the time. However, they park in just one lane. Today, a moron auto guy did not find space to park his auto so he chose to park his auto parallel ly in the second lane thus making just one lane usable for vehicles taking the U turn. Illustration 1

I was heading towards the turn and there was a biker behind me. I was ahead him by a considerable distance. I usually take the second lane to turn right because i know there are autos parked in the first lane (innermost lane) always. Since, i was ahead of the biker i see there's a moron auto parked in the 2nd lane and hence i inch bit more forward and take the 3rd lane to turn right. Seeing the gap, the biker behind me tried to squeeze into the gap between my car and the second lane not knowing there's a auto parked in 2nd lane. I take the turn in 3rd lane and the biker turns into the 2nd lane and was surprised to see the auto in the middle of his path and quickly tries to move to the third lane. By then, my car was almost 90% ahead of the biker. Ideally should have been 100% but since he tried to squeeze in the gap he came beside the rear fender of my car. The biker had no option but to brake hard and stop. But, he decided not to. Probably because of weak brakes or considerable speed he was in or he wanted to squeeze his way through and he turned into my lane. His bikes' leg guard brushed against the rear fender of my car and he fell down. Illustration 2

I think:
1. He was behind me while approaching the U turn so should have been so even while taking the turn. I shed speed as i was nearing the U and probably he didn't.

2. Before taking the U turn he should have slowed down and turned only after getting a clear view of the road ahead.

3. He should not cut lanes randomly just because there's a obstacle in his way.

What are your thoughts? Who was at fault?

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by bharatbits

I had been in this situation today and want to ascertain who was at fault.

The only gap assessment in your story is the gap assessment by that biker!

No matter how careful you are while taking such turns and always ensuring that each second the ORVM is checked so a 2 Wheeler rider there doesn't see the smallest of such gaps as a red carpet invitation to squeeze, there are way too many who will simply force their way and most of the times end up rubbing into the fenders or running boards!

[Akash.D]

Originally Posted by bharatbits

He should not cut lanes randomly just because there's a obstacle in his way.

IMHO this applies to you as well . So to be fare, both are at fault, albeit by different percentage; the biker 80% and you 20%. Drive safe.

[JithinR]

Originally Posted by Akash.D

IMHO this applies to you as well . So to be fare, both are at fault, albeit by different percentage; the biker 80% and you 20%. Drive safe.

How is it applicable to the OP? He didn't cut into the third lane after entering the turn into the second lane rather he moved forward and took the turn in the third lane itself.

Originally Posted by bharatbits

Since, i was ahead of the biker i see there's a moron auto parked in the 2nd lane and hence i inch bit more forward and take the 3rd lane to turn right.

[bharatbits]

Originally Posted by Akash.D

IMHO this applies to you as well . So to be fare, both are at fault, albeit by different percentage; the biker 80% and you 20%. Drive safe.

He should not cut lanes randomly just because there's a obstacle in his way. Randomly is the keyword there. If there was another obstacle or a vehicle in the 3rd lane too i would have slowed down or stopped if i am in control of my vehicle. I'll not go and hit that moving vehicle or obstacle. There was no vehicle there so i inched a bit ahead and took the 3rd lane.

There was no lane switching on my part.

Originally Posted by JithinR

How is it applicable to the OP? He didn't cut into the third lane after entering the turn into the second lane rather he moved forward and took the turn in the third lane itself.

That inching forward and taking the turn created the gap which the biker tried to squeeze into and then be surprised by the obstacle in his path. A car (Linea in this case, 4560mm length, 1730mm width and the long wheelbase) needs atleast thrice the space a regular 100cc bike( the bike in this case) needs to take a turn. I had factored that in while taking the turn. A lengthier car say a Skoda Superb or a S Class will need even more space to turn thus creating even more gap for bikers to squeeze into.

If the hit were on the front fender i'd like to admit it's my fault but here the hit was on the rear fender which i have no control over. The biker must stay clear from other vehicles on the road as well as maintain safe distance from the vehicles ahead.

After the biker fell i went ahead some distance and parked the car on the left carefully trying not to cause any obstruction to the traffic. Then the biker tries to make it appear like a HIT AND RUN case. I was irritated and
upset my car had a small dent for no fault of mine and told him it's a HIT AND FALL case.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by bharatbits

What are your thoughts? Who was at fault?

Biker 100%. Typically, refusing to see what is going on and going for a non-existent gap. Just one or two seconds would have seen him safely on his way. Did you interact? Did he try to blame you? I hope you denied completely.

edit: now I saw...

After the biker fell i went ahead some distance and parked the car on the left carefully trying not to cause any obstruction to the traffic. Then the biker tries to make it appear like a HIT AND RUN case. I was irritated and
upset my car had a small dent for no fault of mine and told him it's a HIT AND FALL case.

Nicely said.

Originally Posted by Akash.D

IMHO this applies to you as well . So to be fare, both are at fault, albeit by different percentage; the biker 80% and you 20%. Drive safe.

As already mentioned: absolutely no. bharatbits was using the available road space correctly; the biker was not.

[BoneCollector]

Yesterday morning, there was a car crash at Cyber city in Gurgaon. A speeding Ford Ecosport being driven by a minor hit the divider after the nut behind the wheel lost control and it toppled onto the other side crashing over a person riding his bike. Although the news item says it's a Ford Figo, the image says it's an Ecosport.

Details here.

He was an avid biker as well as a good runner. Om Shanti.

[Nalin1]

Actually there was no need for an illustration. We can easily visualize the scenario as we read through .

This is so typical of some moron riders who only look at the gap in front of their front wheel only and not beyond that.

Yeah, I can understand we all fill gaps in front of us regardless of the size of the vehicle, but we need to know if the gap ahead gets smaller or bigger as we proceed or if there is any obstacle much ahead that will make filling this gap meaningless or dangerous.

Why only two wheelers? I once saw a car trying to squeeze into a similar gap when a huge truck was taking a U-turn and ended up scraping it as the gap obviously gets narrower when the truck completes a U-turn!.

Feel bad to know about the damage to your car, good to know that it was not more serious.

I had been in this situation today and want to ascertain who was at fault.

[bharatbits]

Thank you. Appreciate your reply and the concern. Fortunately, not much of a damage. 1.5 inches wide and maybe one or two mm deep. No paint loss. Visible only when seen keenly. But, don't we all like keeping our cars scratch free. Will get it restored soon.

[WhiteSierra]

Originally Posted by BoneCollector

Yesterday morning, there was a car crash at Cyber city in Gurgaon. A speeding Ford Ecosport being driven by a minor hit the divider after the nut behind the wheel lost control and it toppled onto the other side crashing over a person riding his bike.

Over the weekends, starting from friday nights, I see loud super bikes, sports cars and super cars and even normal cars with modified exhausts driven pretty rashly at very high speeds on Golf course road - that entire stretch is a paradise for these racers. If you reside anywhere between sector 27 or DLF phase-1 to sector 56, you will hear these exhaust sounds. On seeing these expensive vehicles, even normal road users tend to get excited, especially youth and they'd consider their normal cars to be sports cars and loose control quickly. Heck, even cab drivers also try to emulate their style sometimes. I once had to remind an uber driver that it is a swift dzire not a ferrari. He felt insulted when a scorpio guy cut him off. I don't know where to start and where to end, but the more we talk about road safety and accidents like these, more of them keep happening. Even if it isn't our fault, we have to pay price for someone else's mistake. Same happened with the biker here. 49 is certainly not the age to die. Being a CFO, this guy was at peak of his career. May god give his family strength. Rest in peace.

[Candy$Cars]

RIP Alok Gupta!

Life is so fragile on Indian roads. One second you are happily cruising on your Harley and the next a minor who doesn't even have a DL, has no right to be on the road behind the wheels of any car, hits you and you are done, gone just like that. All your aspirations, dreams, your wishes, your career, sacrifices, your talent and academic excellence, lost! All thanks to a minor, it is just so sad.

Would proper parenting or aware parents had avoided this? I guess we will be having conflicting views on this.

This is the reason why I am scared to ride two wheelers on Indian roads and why my parents had not allowed any of us siblings to buy a bike even with our money. You can be all careful but there's always some moron on the road risking you life and his.

Once again, RIP man.

[RoadMonkey]

Slightly OT:

My observation from reading this thread and in general through my experience on Indian roads is thus : that just being adequately skilled at driving, being reasonably cautious is not enough. You could follow good driving practices and still experience close calls. Indian driving conditions call for something extra - anticipation.

Anticipating other drivers' possible reactions, especially expecting the worst. My father has a habit of pointing out if a lorry or a truck moves ever so slightly into the other lane. I *always* cross 2 wheelers on a highway with the expectations that they will mess up and I've to be prepared. With two wheelers, I practice extreme levels of caution and stay prepared to hit the breaks at all times. As mentioned in an incident above, the propensity of 2 wheel drivers to squeeze into any little sliver of space is a pervasive one.

Here are a couple of close calls I've faced -

1) The road is open, it's a 4 lane with sparse traffic so you'd be forgiven for being a little lax on the concetration. I was driving at 80, and the dividers have been planted with 4-5 feet high plants. Suddenly a two wheeler came over from such a divider and I had to sverve to the left lane. Thankfully it was empty and I'd applied the brakes a bit before. Two wheelers cross dividers using bricks (which also pose a risk in the right lane) and they're not visible thanks to the plants. It was not an intersection.

(Similar scenario is possible with cows, my dad keeps warning me about that).

2) I was driving at 50, it's a highway but it's a two lane, the time was early morning and I was talking to my father so I preferred to go a bit slow. I like to enjoy driving more in terms of experience than the adrenaline rush of speeds. There was a tractor going in front of us - there was a bit of distance but I was closing in and soon would've overtook him, but suddenly its front right tyre came off and the tractor went haywire while there was oncoming traffic. I let out a sigh of relief as I soon would've tried to overtake it, who knows what could've happened.

Tl;dr : Anticipation of the worst is necessary to prepare yourself for any eventuality, so that you can suitably react.

[Amity]

Originally Posted by RoadMonkey

......the propensity of 2 wheel drivers to squeeze into any little sliver of space is a pervasive one.

With the lockdown and reduced/negligible public transport, the number of people travelling to and from work on two wheelers has increased manifold. People are travelling more than 180 Kms in a day on two wheelers and are always in a hurry.

On Friday (21.08.2020), while travelling from office to home in the evening, I had a small incident with such two wheelers. I was travelling on rightmost lane on Mathura Road (near Okhla Tank) at around 40-45 Km/Hr with a water tanker travelling just ahead of me on the middle lane. There was some gap between my car and the tanker. A biker travelling behind the tanker was inching closer towards the gap to overtake the tanker. I noticed this movement and was cautious about the same. However, suddenly a biker came from behind and he tried to squeeze in between my car and the first biker. Right at that moment, the first biker decided to act on his overtake and both of them collided with each other. As I was cautious about it, I immediately applied brakes and thankfully managed to avoid hitting them. However, there was another biker following me who was tailgating me and he rear ended me as he was unable to apply brakes on time.
The left side hinges of rear bumper gave way. I went to the FNG directly and got it repaired.

[COMMUTER]

Originally Posted by RoadMonkey

Tl;dr : Anticipation of the worst is necessary to prepare yourself for any eventuality, so that you can suitably react.

I wholly agree with that, In addition to this, the best way to shake the two wheeler rider in to reality of his true capacity will be via a few blips of an extra powerful, diaphragm ("jeep-style") horns. It must not be a sustained blast which will end up pricking his ego sometimes.

When we are not able to see the whole scenario, it is best to assume the worst. For example, if I am taking a blind curve, I will always assume a container lorry to have got broken down in the middle of the road.

Even with all that, it is ultimately by the grace of God that one reaches the destination.