[deetee]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Hope the guy is ok, but he had no need to go so close to the beast.

As per the longer version of the video (that I searched for on Youtube), he didn't survive. The buffalo head/horns might have dealt a shocking blow to his heart, he flickered for a minute or so and passed away - eerily like a fish out of water.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by deetee

As per the longer version of the video (that I searched for on Youtube), he didn't survive...

That's sad to know. A very bad thing for the young woman tending the buffalo too. I'm very sorry.

Yes, it was a very narrow lane, hardly a road at all, but if he had kept to the far left none of this might have happened. Of all road users, bikers are the most vulnerable, and yet the least likely to keep safe distance from anything.

[UD17]

Originally Posted by Sarvodaya

Lungi Dance gone wrong

My stomach is aching now after seeing this few times. He although has a good intention to make his friend feel special in his wedding.

Its appalling that everybody in the scene was just enjoying "Lungi Dance' and no body bothered to help him. This brave soul had kept his composure with his lynching feet. Hats off bro!

[ts75]

Originally Posted by drsingh

This is just tragic.

https://m.tribuneindia.com/news/punj...hes-car-431297

The accident can be attributed to the recklessness of the trailer. The white car eventually bore the brunt and had a loss of 3 precious lives. But was left wondering as to whether the impact of the accident could have been mitigated. So, just had a frame wise look at the video:

The pick up van (green circle) is in right most lane but appears to be shifting to the left (warning of a vehicle or some issue at the median). Maybe he has slowed down due to an approaching intersection as also the vehicles at the median.


The white car (red circle) attempts an overtake from the left.


The white car is faster than the pick up van on the right.


While the pick up van has slightly veered to the left (which is a subtle but obvious danger signal), the white car is parallel to it.


The white car realises the impending danger a tad too late.


The white car attempts to salvage the situation.


The white car is unsuccessful in its evasive manoeuvre.


The white car takes a hit.


The white car (red circle) is crushed under the trailer and 3 valuable lives are gone too soon.


I just ask myself as to whether anything could have been done by the driver of white car to save its occupants?

Notwithstanding the stupidity of the trailer, the white car driver could have perhaps done better by
(i) slowing down near an intersection,
(ii) reduce speed when the pick up van is hindering full view ahead, particularly of the median,
(iii) take a clue from the slight left veering of the pick up van.
May be the accident could not have been avoided in toto but the lives may have been saved.

This accident reinforces that defensive driving with anticipation should always be our motto in Indian highways.

[sunikkat]

Originally Posted by ramki.grandhi

Accident at Chikballapura, in today's news. Few people lost their lives.
Skip 15 seconds.

https://www.Youtube.com/watch?v=PBHjCT5-ZDI

This is one of the most depressing ones. The cars are well parked in a private place and still not safe enough

[PGA]

Originally Posted by ts75

The accident can be attributed to the recklessness of the trailer. The white car eventually bore the brunt and had a loss of 3 precious lives. But was left wondering as to whether the impact of the accident could have been mitigated.

I have seen a lot of discussion of this accident on other media as well and everyone blames the trucker. Yes prima facie he seems to have taken that turn which caused the accident but have a look at the videos / pics again. Why did he not slow down if he was to take the turn he did. There is a white car blocking his side and a mini bus is inching ahead as well leaving him no space in between. It is probably carrying close to 25 ton material and cannot be stopped like a car.

Probably the trucker was late to notice obstruction ahead and realising he will not be able to stop his vehicle took that turn, maybe instinctively. I feel that car chap and the bus guy are equally to be blamed for this accident. The bus guy doesn't even stop after the accident but quietly scoots away.

I feel driving on our roads require 100 percent concentration and attentiveness and what i see on the roads so regularly is that its been taken away by mobiles. Almost every other person is chatting or even texting away to glory while on the steering.

[Yash390]

Originally Posted by ts75

Notwithstanding the stupidity of the trailer, the white car driver could have perhaps done better by
(i) slowing down near an intersection,
(ii) reduce speed when the pick up van is hindering full view ahead, particularly of the median,
(iii) take a clue from the slight left veering of the pick up van.
May be the accident could not have been avoided in toto but the lives may have been saved.

This accident reinforces that defensive driving with anticipation should always be our motto in Indian highways.

Completely agree with your points. May the deceased rest in peace.

People may blame the truck for turning too fast and toppling as much as they want, but as a driver, your life and the lives of the passengers is completely in your hands. As much as I empathize with the family of the deceased, the car driver(as well as the other drivers in the clip) SHOULD have slowed down at the intersection, which could have possibly saved them. I wish Indian drivers start giving importance to human life and come to understand that being a driver is not as simple as knowing how to release the clutch and not stall their vehicle.
Having a penchant for speed does not mean going fast on every stretch(includes highways) you find. I have seen people die in gruesome accidents right in front of my eyes which have sent shivers down my spines.

In my city, when out on night drives with sparse traffic, the traffic signals are not functional and no matter how empty the roads seem to be from all sides, I come down to an absolute crawl and give a courtesy honk. As they say, better safe than sorry.

I have come to terms with the fact that Indian roads are far too dangerous to have fun on. One needs to be at his 200% alert state at all times, be it your residential colony by-lanes, city roads, access controlled expressways, there are no exceptions. There is a mantra I keep in mind while driving (and in many other aspects of life) - Expect the best, prepare for the worst.

On a similar note, what do India's rule books say on the concept of right of way ? Could anyone throw some light on this with the help of some intersection examples ?

Cheers, drive safe !

[Dry Ice]

Originally Posted by PGA

There is a white car blocking his side and a mini bus is inching ahead as well leaving him no space in between. It is probably carrying close to 25 ton material and cannot be stopped like a car.

+1.

I think the bigger culprits are the stationary white car and the truck behind it, which have essentially blocked a highway carriageway. The 18-wheeler trucker had no space left for any sort of evasive manoeuvre except the break in the median.

[Meph1st0]

Originally Posted by ts75

Notwithstanding the stupidity of the trailer, the white car driver could have perhaps done better by
(i) slowing down near an intersection,
(ii) reduce speed when the pick up van is hindering full view ahead, particularly of the median,
(iii) take a clue from the slight left veering of the pick up van.
May be the accident could not have been avoided in toto but the lives may have been saved.

This accident reinforces that defensive driving with anticipation should always be our motto in Indian highways.

I think in this scenario anticipating such a maneuver by the truck is difficult. Only defensive driving (slowing down at the intersection) could prevent this accident provided one has slowed enough to stop in time but even then one could get rear ended.

This also highlights poor intersection design. The car (in yellow) for instance has blocked most of the high speed lane, the bus (in yellow) has blocked a 1.5 lanes.
One should never be allowed to cross a highway. This means one would be allowed to take either left turn or u-turn on the highway. In such a design, the truck would not be able to take right turn (which caused the accident) or there would no car or bus (in yellow) blocking multiple lanes.

[ts75]

I did consider the possibility of trailer not being at fault.

At 0:02, the trailer driver did have the occasion to see multiple vehicles cross the intersection. He ought to have slowed down if the vehicle required greater braking distance / control.


At 0:08, the trailer could see that the road ahead was dangerous and was kind of getting blocked. After that, it took hardly 3 seconds to make the turn. May be it was too late to break.


Since I don't drive heavy vehicles, cannot really comment on it. But in view of the screen grab at 0:02 seconds, I felt trailer driver ought to have taken defensive action.

Another aspect is that the white car crashed within 2-3 seconds of coming into the video (0:12) and eventual crash (0:14). Just shows that one cannot afford to have a momentary distraction.

[gabrielthomas]

Originally Posted by ramki.grandhi

Accident at Chikballapura, in today's news. Few people lost their lives.
Skip 15 seconds.

https://www.Youtube.com/watch?v=PBHjCT5-ZDI

This one is haunting me.
At 7:42:23 - There is a family
At 7:42:24 - A family wiped off the face of the earth

Not able to digest it...

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by drsingh

This is just tragic.

https://m.tribuneindia.com/news/punj...hes-car-431297

https://Youtu.be/9z9E_fDCCfo

There's so much dangerous driving in that short clip, beginning with the stationary sedan nonchalantly blocking an active highway lane!

The unfortunate car's driver had no business driving like that at a highway intersection, even if the trailer hypothetically didn't exist. Any number of other things could've happened: the sedan may have tried to cross, there might have been a biker on the blind side of the stationary sedan that decided to dart across, or the little pickup could've swerved dangerously.

As a driver, if you attempt a pass, it's your responsibility to make it stick. The difference between a near miss and a fatal incident is often fractions of time & distance, the difference between anticipatory and reactive driving, and too many people attribute near misses to their driving ability rather than sheer fortune, until one day the fractions don't fall their way.

P.S. As it transpired, the two-wheeler right ahead is extremely fortunate. If the car was going faster and somehow managed to clear the trailer by some miracle, he'd probably have wiped out the slow two-wheeler in the far left lane just ahead, or swerved dangerously to avoid them, potentially lost control and gotten into an accident all by himself.

[sandsun7]

Originally Posted by gabrielthomas

This one is haunting me.
At 7:42:23 - There is a family
At 7:42:24 - A family wiped off the face of the earth

Not able to digest it...

Looks like the family did survive. May have had serious injuries though.
2 dead as per media reports- The bike rider whom the canter hit just before losing control and the hotel security guard who was hit by the canter as it drove into the hotel parking.

reports here:

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...w/94275435.cms

https://www.etvbharat.com/english/na...51251891891671

[chaitanyakrish]

A bus couldn't brake on time and moves over few bikes and a van.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrU05ACsHgU

[sunikkat]

Originally Posted by chaitanyakrish

A bus couldn't brake on time and moves over few bikes and a van.

https://www.Youtube.com/watch?v=YrU05ACsHgU

The audio in that clip mentions it as a brake failure. But the way in which the bus calmly went and hit those vehicles, looks more like driver losing concentration.
Luckily the bus was not very fast to cause bigger damages in that busy road.