[cooljai]

Wild buffalo jumps onto a running car! Happened near Kumily, Kerala on the National Highway. The passengers were en route from Karukachal to Bangalore when a wild buffalo grazing at a nearby coffee estate tried jumping across the road, coming right onto a running car. Passengers escaped unhurt and so did the buffalo it seems. News report in Malayalam here

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by locusjag

If you rear-end a car, the cops start with the assumption that you're at fault. This assumption is held true until the time evidence surfaces that the car in front braked unnecessarily ...

I disagree. The assumption is always true, for whatever stupid reason the car in front stops.

The only mitigating reason I can think of, pointed out to me by a T-BHPian, is if the car "in front" has suddenly cut in, but that is not really running into the car in front.

[jarpit96]

Had a minor accident today on electronic City flyover (for those who don't know, it's a 8km toll flyover). It rained heavily sometime back and then stopped raining. Speed limit is 60, I was driving at 60-65kmph. It's two lanes, I was driving on the right lane, close to the median. I noticed a puddle of water little late and didn't have enough time to change lanes. Ended up driving over the water, which threw ungodly amounts of water on the windshield, the entire windshield was covered, even the passenger side person was not able to see anything. We were blind for a good 3-4 seconds, intial 1 sec, I didn't understand the gravity of the situation and expected to regain visibility (as there no vehicle in front of me in close vicinity). But post that I started panicking, but didn't do very hard braking, as it was a 2 lane flyover, where people zoom past on 100-120kmph. By the time, I was about to stop, I ended up bumping into the crash guard/divider on the median (which was kind of a metal sheet). Got away with a dent and long scratches on the panel above the right wheel well of my Nexon.

Lesson learnt today : never to take stagnant water lightly.
Anything else I could have done differently? Is this something everybody driving on highways who are already aware?

[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by locusjag

This assumption is held true until the time evidence surfaces that the car in front braked unnecessarily (e.g., coming to a full stop abruptly just because you've missed a turn) or in a manner that was deliberate or unsafe (e.g., brake-checking in anger).

I will agree with locusjag, although it is expected to maintain a gap for an X number of your length or X seconds based on your speed if someone in the front stops when he has no reason to stop & you hit him from the rear; in US/ Canada, the guy who stopped in front of you is considered at fault.

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

I disagree. The assumption is always true, for whatever stupid reason the car in front stops.

You are implying to drive cautiously considering the remote chances of someone in front of you braking for whatever reasons, and you must not hit. I think those days are gone even in UK/ Europe.

[adisan]

Originally Posted by jarpit96

Lesson learnt today : never to take stagnant water lightly.

On the same flyover, several years back, I had a large amount of water splashed on my windscreen by a truck. Unlike rain water which falls directly, splashed water can be muddy and can make visibility very poor. Immediately used the wiper to clean the glass.

[SideView]

Originally Posted by jarpit96

Had a minor accident today on electronic City flyover

Wont fault you completely, same thing(completely blinded) happened to me couple of years back(pre-covid) it is due to poor drainage from the flyover. Was really a heart in the mouth moment. Luckily there was no vehicle behind or beside me and could avoid any accident , as i was travelling early morning. Imagine if a bike was nearby.

From then on whenever I see a puddle in the flyover I slow down.


Seen many accidents that too in the mornings especially the long distance taxis as they are not prepared for this scenario.

Originally Posted by adisan

On the same flyover, several years back, I had a large amount of water splashed on my windscreen by a truck. Unlike rain water which falls directly, splashed water can be muddy and can make visibility very poor. Immediately used the wiper to clean the glass.

True that, especially the long distance volvos. Completely blinds you that too from the other lane when we are least prepared. Most of the time we can avoid because usually we can see the splashing long way away due to other vehicles.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

You are implying to drive cautiously considering the remote chances of someone in front of you braking for whatever reasons, and you must not hit. I think those days are gone even in UK/ Europe.

I'm doing much more than implying that: I'm stating it. To me, it is a given fact of driving: if I hit the guy in front, my fault.

There are always tailgating idiots, everywhere.

As far as I am aware, a rear-end collision is still considered to the the fault of the rear-ender, in UK, and it is still stated that one should allow ones stopping distance between vehicles.

Are British drivers perfect? Do they always do that? No, of course not. But allocation of fault is easily done.

[whitewing]

Originally Posted by jarpit96

...
Lesson learnt today : never to take stagnant water lightly.
Anything else I could have done differently? Is this something everybody driving on highways who are already aware?

I can relate to the situation you were in, I have been in a similar situation, and was lucky to get away without incident.

I think you did the right thing once you landed in the situation you were in. Your good fortune that there was no one tailgating you or was trying to overtake you like they do on that road.
The ecity expressway (and many tolled NHs) have excellent road surface (encourages speeding) but very poor water drainage design. In the exity expressway, don't understand why they have not corrected the pooling of waters that remains for hours after a rain.

Preventive steps that come to mind would be
a) Stick to the middle lanes, the leftmost and right most lanes tend to get flooded. Driving on the the rightmost lane also runs the risk of getting drenched by a speeding truck/bus on the opposite lane.
In case of a 2 lane road, like the ecity expressway, try to be towards the middle of the road. This has the least possiblity of wading into deep water.
b) Run with tires with good tread depth. Bald tires and wet roads don't get along well :-)
c) Slow down

If one lands up in a situation like you did - near complete loss of visibility on the front. Very little that can be done, apart from drawing up on experience. I suppose you reacted well and got away without major damages.
a) Turn on hazard lights, increase wiper speed.
b) Look into the rear view mirror.
c) take the foot off the accelerator (if at high speed), do not engage the brakes, (consider periodically tapping it lightly to turn on the break light indicator, if there are vehicles behind).
d) Coast along in a straight line. Familiarity with the steering position helps. If the situation allows, try keeping the view on either the left window/right window as a reference (only possible if drenched by an oncoming vehicle).
e) If the car runs into a trough on one side, likely the car gets pulled slightly in that direction. Try to compensate, but this is very hard since we are not trained to drive blind.

Most important don't panic!

The above should be reflex actions, and happen smoothly and quickly. Helps if we remind ourselves that such a situation can occur and run through the next actions as a mental checklist. The mind is reacts better when such a situation occurs.

[StopUnderrides]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

You are implying to drive cautiously considering the remote chances of someone in front of you braking for whatever reasons, and you must not hit. I think those days are gone even in UK/ Europe.

Those days are not gone in India. Not just for legal reasons but for your life. There have been innumerable cases where fast moving cars have underrun trucks when the trucks braked suddenly.
The result is usually a fatality or serious injury to the car occupants.
Two celebrity deaths in the past year due to this type of accident:
- Deep Sidhu
- Kathi Mahesh

[sarathlal]

Originally Posted by jarpit96

Had a minor accident today on electronic City flyover (for those who don't know, it's a 8km toll flyover). ..

Lesson learnt today : never to take stagnant water lightly.
Anything else I could have done differently? Is this something everybody driving on highways who are already aware?

Had the exact same experience on the exact same road two weeks back. This particular road is well laid out but got very poor rain water drainage system. The right lanes from both sides have water pooled up. There is also added challenge of water getting thrown onto our vehicle from the opposite lane traffic as well.

• Best way is to reduce the speed according to visibility/condition and drive in anticipation.
• DONOT drive with hazard lights ON. Use it to warn others during such extreme situations alone.
• Primarily use left lane only and use the right lane only if you are very sure. Apart from water pools, there could be also debris on the right track.
• DONOT overtake a larger vehicle on the go, as there is a higher risk of water being splashed onto the windscreen from that vehicle.
• Finally, try not to panic and if one is not comfortable to drive ON, take rest at nearby petrol pump or restaurant for that heavy spell to subside.

[chaitanyakrish]

Originally Posted by jarpit96

It rained heavily sometime back and then stopped raining.

It happened to me few days ago on the same Electronic City Flyover . Video from Dashcam below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4Zkf5cjIOs

Luckily, I was able to manage well but will be careful from next time. Things I followed are, I maintained same speed and didn't panic brake.

Need some tips on how we can identify puddles on a poorly lit highway ?
Note : On the day on which i faced the puddles on ECity Flyover, Highway Lights were not turned on as it is still not night They should make them automatic according to outside light.

Lessons Learnt :
1. ECity Flyover has road banking towards the median, so there is a greater risk of water stagnating there.
2. Take Left lane and observe how vehicles ahead are moving. They will be the first indicator of a puddle ahead.

[SS80]

On my way back from Mulbagal saw this blue Nexon, with a severely damaged front part, right in the middle lane, opposite to Volvo factory gate. A huge crowd had gathered and we were trying to move it to the corner, too much glass debris was everywhere. Might have rolled multiple times before coming to rest on this side of the road.

[manchandap]

I have observed increase in traffic volumes post pandemic, especially that of two-wheelers and cars. This might be due to the fact that people might be avoiding public transport and have started using private vehicles. This doesn't necessarily means that people have bought new vehicles: It can be that people have started driving/riding more (increase in use of existing vehicle) or have bought used vehicles.

An interesting side effect of this is new drivers adding more chaos to our chaotic roads. This has resulted in all types of incidents on roads, from near misses to fatal accidents.

I have seen lots of youngsters riding two-wheelers at break neck speed and without any basic safety gears like helmet. Their only safety net is consistently blowing the horn like an ambulance or fire brigade vehicle. Similarly, horn-blowing cars trying to cut lane and squeezing in, hoping other vehicles to 'accommodate'. (This is not a new behavior, however the number has increased)

This is my hypotheses based purely on my observations of driving in and around Delhi NCR. Would be happy to hear different thought process on this.

[adisan]

Bus rams median near Chengam, over 20 injured (report in The Hindu)

More than 20 passengers were injured after a Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation bus rammed the median on the Krishnagiri-Tindivanam Bypass Road (NH 45) at Chengam, near Tiruvannamalai, in the early hours of Sunday.

The police said the bus was heading to Tiruvannamalai from Bengaluru with the full capacity of 55 passengers. Driver failed to notice the newly built concrete median on the narrow bend of the stretch.

[sunikkat]

Originally Posted by jarpit96

Had a minor accident today on electronic City flyover (for those who don't know, it's a 8km toll flyover). It rained heavily sometime back and then stopped raining. Speed limit is 60, I was driving at 60-65kmph. It's two lanes, I was driving on the right lane, close to the median. I noticed a puddle of water little late and didn't have enough time to change lanes.

There are mainly 3 or 4 sections (each way) on the flyover where there will be puddle of water. During heavy rain always try to drive on the left hand side of the road, as much as possible. The puddle of water will be on the right hand side and when its dark its very difficult to spot them. And not a right place to apply sudden brakes.
I have once seen an i10 losing its traction completly (on my opposite side of road) and hitting the railings. And guaging from his speed, he would have been hardly in 60 or 70.