[locusjag]

Originally Posted by Moto$apien

In yesterday's News. XUV700 accident.
....
No car is invincible on Indian roads, always drive safe

For someone to run into a stationary object, they had to have been driving at high speeds indiscriminately for long. When we drive like that, there comes a time when our brains stop telling apart moving objects from stationary objects.

Those that drive with care would normally invest time and energy to perceive objects on the road ahead and adjust their speed or direction accordingly; and in order to have the needed reaction time, it follows that safe drivers control their speeds, in order to earn those extra moments of reaction time.

How else does one hit a stationary object? My respects to the deceased but the blame belongs, inexorably and inevitably, to such rear-ending drivers. When darkness, fog, rains or something else plays a role in such collisions - even then the responsibility and culpability falls upon the driver in my books.

[Arjun Reddy]

Originally Posted by Moto$apien

In yesterday's News. XUV700 accident.

Attachment 2328901

No car is invincible on Indian roads, always drive safe

I think he is a BHPian and he stays in my area. Did not get to meet him before nor do I know his handle. My son mentioned it as he has seen our Team BHP stickers on his cars. Really sad. All four from the family passed away. RIP.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by Rahul Rao

The caption reduce speed and watch out for tailgaters is wrong.
The truck was at reasonable distance behind the Etios, the Etios suddenly reduced speed while in water, and the truck could not manage it...

Then the truck was not at a reasonable, or safe, distance.

[balenoed_]

Originally Posted by Moto$apien

In yesterday's News. XUV700 accident.

The car is reduced to pulp.







But whereas the truck damage is just the front grill which didn't even crush and windshield after causing such a horrific crash. May be much more damages inside, but still.

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Then the truck was not at a reasonable, or safe, distance.

Nor at a reasonable speed. If the Etios kept speeding, he might have stayed the bike or even forced the rider off with the deluge. Also the Etios might have aquaplaned and the truck might have ploughed into it

The truck should have slowed down earlier.

[binand]

Originally Posted by Rahul Rao

the Etios had no business braking without looking in the mirror

Originally Posted by MT_Hyderabad

It was clearly the scooty's fault.

Two times in two days that absolves the tailing vehicle and puts the blame squarely on the leading vehicle?

Originally Posted by MT_Hyderabad

he maintained a straight line. It was the scooty which came in its way.

Please look at the video closely and orient yourself to the lines of the zebra crossing - I think the scooty was in a straight line and it is the bus that strayed.

Btw, that truck+Etios video is old. It has been reported here at least twice that I remember.

[chaitanyakrish]

Originally Posted by balenoed_

The car is reduced to pulp.

From the second pic, XUV700 hit the first stopped truck on left, does it indicate that, the stopped truck broke down on fast lane ?


Similar incident without any accident is caught on my dashcam few days ago on NICE Road. A truck was broken down on fast lane.

It could be disastrous at night as there is no emergency red triangle kept on road, and they kept a tree branch.

https://youtu.be/ENlPnad-37g

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Happened to see this video in my random YouTube feed.

This is from my Youtube Channel. That video was shared by my friend, who use this in his driving trainings.

Yes, I had posted this earlier on the forum too.

[tbppjpr]

Originally Posted by chaitanyakrish

It could be disastrous at night as there is no emergency red triangle kept on road, and they kept a tree branch.

You know what? I had a tire burst incident during a highway drive in night in January this year. I somehow managed to park the car at extreme left side of the four lane highway and put the red triangle on the road in direction of the moving traffic.

Luckily there was a tire repair shop nearby, I walked to the shop to call the guy to help replacing the tire.

When I returned back, I did not find the reflector there, my father who was standing with the car told me that a vehicle came from wrong side of the road in speed and destroyed the reflector.

Lesson learnt is that you have to have reflectors in both directions since nobody cares about right or wrong side driving in our country.

[MT_Hyderabad]

Originally Posted by binand

Two times in two days that absolves the tailing vehicle and puts the blame squarely on the leading vehicle?

Please look at the video closely and orient yourself to the lines of the zebra crossing - I think the scooty was in a straight line and it is the bus that strayed.

If the leading vehicle is moving away from the trailing one and then decides to move back, it is the leading vehicles fault.

Just see the video two three times more from the extreme starting.
The scooty first moves away from the bus, most probably due to the bus honking. Then it moves back in a circular fashion.
The bus driver thought that it had cleared the path as the scooty moved away. He would have never thought that it will move back in its lane.

[Porcupine]

Originally Posted by balenoed_

The car is reduced to pulp.

That is horrific. This goes to show that no matter how safe the car is, whether its loaded with airbags or getting the maximum stars in safety tests, beyond a certain point its a machine and under maximum stress loads will crumple up like paper. One must always be careful and controlled.

[bejoy]

Originally Posted by chaitanyakrish

From the second pic, XUV700 hit the first stopped truck on left, does it indicate that, the stopped truck broke down on fast lane ?

Yes, this was the case as per the reports. The container truck was parked on the fast lane, on a "S" curve, in a rainy night. The XUV hit the truck, mostly on the left corner of the truck. The car was still driveable and apparently he was reversing when the trailing truck rammed the car and the container truck.

[Fx14]

Originally Posted by balenoed_

The car is reduced to pulp.

But whereas the truck damage is just the front grill which didn't even crush and windshield after causing such a horrific crash. May be much more damages inside, but still.

The trucks have a heavy load bearing chassis which extends to both the front and rear ends. The body is constructed over this chassis.

There are no crumple zones but the rigid chassis of both the trucks between which the car was sandwiched resulting in the outcome.

[balenoed_]

Originally Posted by condor

Both were on a converging path - neither looked to have swerved inwards to the other vehicle.

Originally Posted by MT_Hyderabad

It was clearly the scooty's fault. No matter what the driver did, he danced, he slept; he maintained a straight line. It was the scooty which came in its way.

Not really. Scooty's fault was he was too close to the bus and both not wearing helmet.

Originally Posted by balenoed_

but a closer observation it is seen that the bus driver lost his focus for a fraction of a second while waving (guess it is not a hand signal) at someone through his window and slightly got swerved to nudge the biker.

Originally Posted by binand

Please look at the video closely and orient yourself to the lines of the zebra crossing - I think the scooty was in a straight line and it is the bus that strayed.

Yes, That is true. On closer look, zoom and slow, it can be seen that the bus driver waving and looking at someone through his window, that's when the bus swerved very lightly and nudged the bike.

[StopUnderrides]

Originally Posted by ajmat

The truck should have slowed down earlier.

Valid point. The reality is however that such unloaded trucks will not slow down. How to make them slow down? Perhaps using hazards when you are reducing speed suddenly due to road conditions?

Originally Posted by bejoy

The container truck was parked on the fast lane, on a "S" curve, in a rainy night. The XUV hit the truck, mostly on the left corner of the truck.

What must one do in such situations?

This must have happened on the right hand turning part of the S curve. If the curve was sharp visibility would have been just 20-30 m. The recommended practice according to “Roadcraft” is to “flatten the curve” by moving into the middle lane or outer lane as you enter the curve to get more visibility.

Thad and SSTraveler are experts in this area-what do they recommend?

[binand]

Originally Posted by StopUnderrides

Perhaps using hazards when you are reducing speed suddenly due to road conditions?

It doesn't seem advisable that when one is in a sudden brake situation, one should allow the demand for locating the hazard switch and turning it on vie for one's attention.

In any case what is the guarantee that the tailgater will notice one's hazards, when they aren't watching one's brake lamps?

I think commercial vehicle drivers / professional drivers / all drivers must be required to undergo some basic physics course and pass a test, with periodic retests to ensure the learnings aren't forgotten. Topics like friction, laws of conservation, inertia, slosh, centrifugal force etc. could be covered to the extend they influence the dynamics of vehicles on the road.