[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by StopUnderrides

Please be careful. Studies have shown that glances off the forward roadway even for 2 seconds increase the likelihood of rear ending a vehicle many fold.

It doesn't takes two seconds to look in all three mirrors, and your vision is not far off ahead.

Being careful is having as close to 360-degree awareness as possible (I know, I'm not super-human either, but that is the ideal) and a safe distance ahead.

Use those mirrors!

[sinharishi]

Originally Posted by androdev

I developed a habit of doing a fake/pilot braking few seconds before real braking to alert absentminded drivers behind me.

I do have a habit of looking at the rear view mirror before braking abruptly, in this case this guy rammed at full speed on a 4 laned highway. Worst part is, mine was the only car the intersection and he had 3 more empty lanes to dodge/drive.

No wonder he admitted his mistake the moment he got down from the car.

[androdev]

Originally Posted by StopUnderrides

Please be careful. Studies have shown that glances off the forward roadway even for 2 seconds increase the likelihood of rear ending a vehicle many fold.

I get your point and obviously it is a good advice. Most of the members who post on this thread (accidents) are more educated/enlightened drivers than an avg driver on our roads. We also drive cars with better braking power/tech than an avg vehicle on the road. To put it crudely, I run a higher risk of being rear-ended by someone compared to me rear-ending some one. I don't say this out of arrogance, I have had many instances where my stationary car was hit from behind at signals, toll stops, etc.

Another important factor is that in western countries the guy who rear-ends you is liable for damages, so you can rest assured that the guy behind you fears the consequences (that is the motivation for the study you are referring to). In incredible India, I have to be lucky if I am not manhandled for being in the more expensive car, no matter how reckless the other driver was.

This encouraged my survival instinct to watch my back and sides always. In general, I consider it very important to alert other drivers about my intentions even if it seems like an overkill.

Originally Posted by sinharishi

I do have a habit of looking at the rear view mirror before braking abruptly, in this case this guy rammed at full speed on a 4 laned highway. Worst part is, mine was the only car the intersection and he had 3 more empty lanes to dodge/drive.

No wonder he admitted his mistake the moment he got down from the car.

I feel your frustration. I would rather face a 3-4L gearbox failure than a 50K fender-bender. It really hurts to see my car damaged in an accident. Being rear-ended is others guy's fault 99% of the time no matter what the circumstances are. One could think of so many evasive actions in hindsight but it is just bad luck and we have to accept the risks in life and move on.

[StopUnderrides]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

It doesn't takes two seconds to look in all three mirrors, and your vision is not far off ahead.

Being careful is having as close to 360-degree awareness as possible (I know, I'm not super-human either, but that is the ideal) and a safe distance ahead.

Use those mirrors!

Agreed. As general advice. However given the context below I asked them to not compromise attention on the forward roadway. Especially near signals where vehicles ahead of you can brake hard.

Sometimes I worry that I am not focusing enough on what is ahead of me due to my preoccupation with RVMs

[Nalin1]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

It doesn't takes two seconds to look in all three mirrors, and your vision is not far off ahead.

Being careful is having as close to 360-degree awareness as possible (I know, I'm not super-human either, but that is the ideal) and a safe distance ahead.

Use those mirrors!

Originally Posted by StopUnderrides

Agreed. As general advice. However given the context below I asked them to not compromise attention on the forward roadway. Especially near signals where vehicles ahead of you can brake hard.

Both are right . In other words, do not focus so much just looking ahead and forget about other directions nor be so obsessed in trying to avoid a rear collision and end up rear ending .

360 degree awareness distinguishes the good drivers from the average/not so good ones.

[BoneCollector]

I'm sharing an old rear ending incident just to highlight the fact that why it's important to take a glance in your rear view mirror when you are coming to an abrupt halt in moving traffic.

This happened in December last year. The video doesn't show the actual speed with which we were hit. The car suffered extensive damage to the boot end as well as the front. The impact may feel like a gentle one but it was good enough to leave me with a pain along the seat belt region for a few days. 4 adults, all belted and my son was in a child seat. So no injuries. Luckily, the rear glass didn't break otherwise we would have some injuries. I have this habit of looking into my rear view glasses when I'm in moving traffic and am aware that there is some vehicle behind me. I saw the truck coming too close in IRVM and I removed my leg from brake pedal. I feel the damages may have been more including shattering of rear glass plus some injuries if I had not released the brakes. Due to this, the car didn't oppose the push by the truck and was pushed into the Scorpio in front leading to extensive damages in engine bay which was not visible till I removed the bumper next day. The car took all the impact without any of us suffering any injury.

https://youtu.be/-8Sqy26jW34

The hatch door as well as rear cross member were bent and damaged. Tail lights were gone.


Front shows just damage to bumper.


Actual damage without bumper, damage to radiator.


Intercooler was also damaged.

Car was repaired and is back to its original glory.

Situational Awareness is the key everywhere.

[harry10]

Originally Posted by sinharishi

I do have a habit of looking at the rear view mirror before braking abruptly, in this case this guy rammed at full speed on a 4 laned highway. Worst part is, mine was the only car the intersection and he had 3 more empty lanes to dodge/drive.

No wonder he admitted his mistake the moment he got down from the car.

Read your complete ordeal in your thread.
So glad everyone is safe as cars can be repaired but lost lives can't.
Loved that Safari guy owned upto his mistake. In most cases people start blaming the front car of braking abruptly causing them to rear end. I am quite sure he had dozed off or his attention was somewhere else for a split second when that happened. Anyways, it's always great to handle these accidents amicably rather than getting authority involved.

I have been rear ended couple of times. Once it was at a red light when an elderly guy in a Santro couldn't apply brake on time. He apologized and seeing his age I didn't say a word. Another time my driver was driving and he had to brake suddenly due to an idiot biker jumping ahead of him and an Indica without ABS as his wheels jammed smashed into the rear. Damage was extensive and both boot and bumper had to be replaced.

I have never rear ended anyone until this Year. In May just after lock down ended I was in a hurry to reach office. There was panic braking by 4-5 vehicles ahead of me and I miscalculated the braking distance between me and the car in front. Mine was Honda City and the car in front was a brand new Mahindra Thar.

The family were coming directly from showroom after taking delivery. Thankfully there was no damage to their vehicle and I apologized as well for not braking in time. We shook hands and parted ways. Though the hit wasn't a big one City's front grill and bumper had to be replaced. Since that day I am extra careful of maintaining more distance.

[RohaNN_kWh]

Somewhere in Mumbai.

Seems like a Harrier Dark Edition

Source: limitless_sjp.

[sierrabravo98]

Originally Posted by RohaNN_kWh

Somewhere in Mumbai.

Seems like a Harrier Dark Edition

Source: limitless_sjp.

Attachment 2221792

Attachment 2221791

Attachment 2221790

What's with all the Harrier's and Safari's clipping the divider so frequently? Is this attributable to the extra sensitive steering at higher speeds that Tbhp reviews have repeatedly pointed to? IIRC, most of the accidents I see of these cars are in someway or the other related to the driver losing control due misjudgment of steering placement. Even the Tamil actress who crashed her Harrier said the same thing (or maybe she was drunk/high, who knows).

Chances are that I am completely wrong but the frequency of these incidents makes you think.

Originally Posted by BoneCollector

One of the possibilities I can think of is people graduating to Harrier or Safari from a hatchback/ sedan which has a lower width compared to them. They could easily misjudge the width and clearance especially on left side leading to clipping of divider or some obstacles. Something similar had happed to a Ford Ecosport owner and you may find more examples here on forum.

Originally Posted by RohaNN_kWh

Fellow BHPians who've driven the car can answer better !!

To me these accidents seem like nothing more than coincidence

Probably just inexperienced drivers having fun driving their big new SUV upgraded from a humble first car.

Inexperience with a relatively large vehicle (Harrier/Safari are wider than most full size SUVs in India) can indeed be a very plausible explanation. Just that the higher percentage of a certain type of accidents happening to the Tata twins (relative to other vehicles of similar size) struck me as odd.

[BoneCollector]

Originally Posted by sierrabravo98

What's with all the Harrier's and Safari's clipping the divider so frequently?

One of the possibilities I can think of is people graduating to Harrier or Safari from a hatchback/ sedan which has a lower width compared to them. They could easily misjudge the width and clearance especially on left side leading to clipping of divider or some obstacles. Something similar had happed to a Ford Ecosport owner and you may find more examples here on forum.

[RohaNN_kWh]

Originally Posted by sierrabravo98

What's with all the Harrier's and Safari's clipping the divider so frequently?

Fellow BHPians who've driven the car can answer better !!

To me these accidents seem like nothing more than coincidence

Probably just inexperienced drivers having fun driving their big new SUV upgraded from a humble first car.

[ecenandu]

Originally Posted by RohaNN_kWh

Probably just inexperienced drivers having fun driving their big new SUV upgraded from a humble first car.

True. I had minimal experience driving SUVs before owning Jeep Compass, and the car-like driving dynamics made me drive it like a sedan during the initial ownership period.

After fixing the roof rails on the Compass, I wanted to test whether it made wind noise at higher speeds. So, I took it to the highway and floored it; on Linea, I comfortably took expansion joints at 100-120Kmph, no problem, but on Compass, it unsettled the car so much that ESP had to intervene and save it from a crash.

It was scary, and I could feel the car applying brakes to the front wheel to make it go straight. Maybe the drivers of the vehicles shown here weren't lucky as me that day.

[Gansan]

Remember the thin two foot flagpole like rods fixed at both extremities of the bonnet of Tata (Benz) trucks during 70s-80s? They were called cat whiskers or something. Many truckers used to adorn them with colorful ribbons and such, but they were actually an aid for the driver to judge gaps in relation to the width of his truck.

Probably new drivers of SUVs should fix something like that for a while till they are comfortable with the size of the car.

[dbs09]

Originally Posted by RohaNN_kWh

Somewhere in Mumbai.

Seems like a Harrier Dark Edition

This is in Bandra BKC - just outside Jio Garden. Saw this vehicle in this shape early morning 8:30 am.

My immediate thought was - this MAY have happened during one of those late-night high-speed drives.

This has happened at a T junction - one has to take either a LEFT or a RIGHT heading into this junction. The car was pointing towards the RIGHT.

My take (pure assumption) - high speed approach to the T, taking the corner at high speed, the car oversteers, the back end has run into the divider wall (potentially even the front end has hit the wall, which explains the front left tyre / axle damage).

There is also some road concrete work being undertaken right in the middle of the junction, which is visible in some of the pictures' background. That may have contributed as well.

Interestingly, the car was in the same spot / shape this morning as well!!

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by sierrabravo98

What's with all the Harrier's and Safari's clipping the divider so frequently? Is this attributable to the extra sensitive steering at higher speeds that Tbhp reviews have repeatedly pointed to? IIRC, most of the accidents I see of these cars are in someway or the other related to the driver losing control due misjudgment of steering placement.

The car a person drives is the car they drive. It is 100% their responsibility to know it it steers, how it stops, ie how to drive it. Whether the steering is light or heavy, as speed increases, so should attention and correct hold on the wheel. At high speed, a small steering movement has a big effect, and it is not good to find that out the hard way. It is certainly not right to blame the vehicle.