[landcruiser123]

Originally Posted by TSIVTEC

A tipper truck sideswipes an alto 800 in Kerala. The occupants of the alto got lucky!

*Crouching to avoid the brickbats*

While the truck driver is abusing his "right of way", it seems like the Alto driver tried accelerating (from 0:13 in the video) while being overtaken. Rule #1 of being overtaken: ease off the throttle to allow the overtaking vehicle to safely complete the maneuver.

I may be wrong though.

[balenoed_]

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

[b]seems like the Alto driver tried accelerating (from 0:13 in the video) while being overtaken

This is very true. I think there was an ego clash in play here. Alto clearly tried accelerating at 0:13 onwards in an intent to not let the tipper pass but not enough juice to clear off. And the enraged tipper driver wanted to show what he can do. Sad if that was the matter. If not, I stand corrected.

[PrasannaDhana]

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

*Crouching to avoid the brickbats*

While the truck driver is abusing his "right of way", it seems like the Alto driver tried accelerating (from 0:13 in the video) while being overtaken. Rule #1 of being overtaken: ease off the throttle to allow the overtaking vehicle to safely complete the maneuver.

I may be wrong though.

Even if the alto driver did not want the truck to overtake, he isn't in the wrong here. You overtake the vehicle before you only If you have enough pace and space and there isn't an oncoming vehicle for sufficient distance to finish the overtaking maneuver.

The alto driver was at the left most of his lane. He is unfortunate to have that lorry behind him and mighty fortunate that there were no injuries.

[TrackDay]

Originally Posted by TSIVTEC

A tipper truck sideswipes an alto 800 in Kerala. The occupants of the alto got lucky!
https://Youtu.be/W118JwuiNdY

That is really a close shave or what I would call a miracle. No point blaming anyone after getting wedged/sliced between those two tippers. As for who is right or wrong there are two factors in play here :

1. The tipper starts and does most of the overtaking on the continuous white line stretch, which is clearly a violation, but I don't think they are aware that such rules exist.

2. The alto should have slowed down or let the tipper pass. It is not a matter of who is right or wrong, but rather to avoid confrontations. In the end the alto was subject to a pit maneuver.

[locusjag]

Good drivers have two rules they play by -
1) You should anticipate the other drivers intentions; if possible, let them have it their way, and,
2) Your actions and intentions should be predictable to the other driver

The Alto's driver failed on both counts:
1) He/she failed to observe that the truck was desperate to maintain its momentum and needed the Alto out of the way or to speed up;
2) He/she initially pulled a bit to the left of the lane at the start of the video, as if to signal intent to allow the truck to pass; and then inexplicably, when the truck did begin to overtake it, the Alto began to speed up!

[saisree]

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

Rule #1 of being overtaken: ease off the throttle to allow the overtaking vehicle to safely complete the maneuver.

Originally Posted by locusjag

Good drivers have two rules they play by -
1) You should anticipate the other drivers intentions; if possible, let them have it their way, and,
2) Your actions and intentions should be predictable to the other driver

+1

Totally agree with both the statements. Ideally this is expected from both the vehicles. Respect each other on the road regardless of the size and shape of the vehicle.

I doubt whether the members in the car, which, had this rear dash cam and the alto are related. Alto did not want the truck between them and could be the reason why he sped up.

[landcruiser123]

*quoting in reverse order*

You overtake the vehicle before you only If you have enough pace and space and there isn't an oncoming vehicle for sufficient distance to finish the overtaking maneuver.

I'm not saying that the truck driver isn't at fault. The truck probably was expecting everyone to give him space in this case.

Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana

Even if the alto driver did not want the truck to overtake, he isn't in the wrong here.

Sorry, I disagree. This is wrong in principle. The person being overtaken DOESN'T decide whether he/she should be overtaken.

My dad taught me in India that I should not surprise drivers by increasing speed while being overtaken. The drivers manual across US states teach you to maintain speed or ease off the throttle to reduce speed(if practical) when being overtaken on an undivided 2-lane highway.

If the driver of the Alto actually accelerated (seems like it from the video; I may be wrong), he is exposing the truck to on-coming traffic for longer and endangering himself, the truck driver, and everyone else on the road.

[Thad E Ginathom]

I don't know if there is any law against it, but it is certainly not polite to accelerate while being overtaken. Polite thing to do is to facilitate the person overtaking.

[PrasannaDhana]

To me, the alto driver doesn't seem to accelerate while the lorry tried overtaking. Why is it OK for a heavy load vehicle to attempt overtaking in such a dense traffic? Even after the crash you can see vehicles piling up in the opposite lane.

Or is it a rule(or etiquette) for smaller vehicles to just be bullied by lorries and give in whenever they try overtaking, irrespective of the traffic ahead? I don't think so, and that is my opinion. We can agree to disagree.

[vb-san]

If you are driving on the state highways in Kerala (country roads in other states/countries), it is always good to move to left / slow down to give way to those killer tipper trucks. The guys who operate those beasts are always on a mission to clean-up whatever comes in front of them - big bullies indeed!

[ManneAtWheelz]

Originally Posted by TSIVTEC

A tipper truck sideswipes an alto 800 in Kerala. The occupants of the alto got lucky!
https://Youtu.be/W118JwuiNdY

While everyone, alright most of us here feel Alto shouldn’t have increased the speed and slowed down allowing the truck to pass by, the only scenario I see why Alto did it that way is because there isn’t enough room for the truck to overtake Alto keeping in mind the oncoming truck at the same time. In fact, Alto tried to do a favour to the truck which the truck driver didn’t even think off.

And yes, the Alto guy is damn lucky �� to survive here without even any minor injuries.

Also clearly it’s the truck guy who is at fault here legally.

[RavSam]

My observations:

The Alto driver was letting the truck overtake it. I felt that the truck took way longer to complete the overtake and hence looking at the oncoming traffic the Alto driver might have felt that the truck might not be able to make it and hence it's better to get ahead of it but wasn't successful.

Yes he could have slowed down but we don't know the conditions on road.

It also happens with me sometimes that the overtaking car just runs parallel even when I let go of the throttle for reasons only known to them. With trucks it's more stressful and I hold my breath till they pass ahead.

What I do on single laned roads when I see a fast approaching truck behind is I check the mirrors, move to the left and if there are no cars behind then I almost let it go far from me. I don't even want the dumper truck's micro sized gravel falling on my car windshield!

[Thermodynamics]

Originally Posted by TSIVTEC

A tipper truck sideswipes an alto 800

The tipper driver had to handle two vehicles during this maneuver. His calculations went wrong due to unpredictable speed of Alto and unpredictable trajectory of oncoming Auto rickshaw. In order to avoid a head on with Autorickshaw, he quickly swerves to left and nudged Alto that has now slowed down.

IMO, all three drivers (Truck, Alto, Auto) have played their part to cause this accident. I think smartest driver in this scene is the one capturing it with rear dashcam. He has got a 360 degree Hawkeye watching all that hungama happening behind.

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

I don't know if there is any law against it, but it is certainly not polite to accelerate while being overtaken. Polite thing to do is to facilitate the person overtaking.

YES!! I wish more people appreciated this simple rule.

I even sometimes ease of the accelerator pedal to facilitate being overtaken quicker. After all, the sooner someone completes the overtaking move, the safer it is for BOTH parties.

[raghuram.cg]

Originally Posted by Axe77

YES!! I wish more people appreciated this simple rule.

I even sometimes ease of the accelerator pedal to facilitate being overtaken quicker. After all, the sooner someone completes the overtaking move, the safer it is for BOTH parties.

If you have noticed, seasoned long distance truck drivers always do that. I've learnt to pay forward that gesture