[i74js]

Originally Posted by Explorer_Jassi

As per media reports they were streaming this whole speeding thing on facebook live and police has registered a case against the truck driver who, probably, lost his job due to these idiots. Such is the law of land.

The truck was plying on wrong side.

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by MT_Hyderabad

This expressway could be different. All four lanes have max speed marked: Right two are at 100 and left two are at 80 km/h.
As I am already at 100, there is no point someone can overtake me without breaking that rule.

To my mind, this is a wrong approach. Just because you’re at the max limit doesn’t mean you cruise in the right most lane. This is my understanding at least.

Right most should be left empty for overtaking.

[BoneCollector]

Originally Posted by i74js

The truck was plying on wrong side.

If there was a diversion, then we cannot say who was on wrong side. But yes, the BMW was over speeding and the driver may have lost control after going through a rough patch or undulations on the road surface.

[Vipin Kumar]

Originally Posted by Explorer_Jassi

He was not driving on the wrong side, one side of the road was closed and the traffic was diverted to the other side.
https://www.indiatoday.in/india/stor...429-2022-10-17

The Times of India reported what the police said about the movement of the particular truck.



The last paragraph says this. But it could be true that there was diversion at that point. Diversions usually will show up more vehicles coming from the other side.

Originally Posted by i74js

The truck was plying on wrong side.

Trucks, tractors, trolleys, two wheelers and Vikrams moving on wrong side are a common sight everywhere on UP highways. Even on the correct side, these vehicles move without any rear lights etc and cause serious problems to themselves and others on NHs. Expressways are no exception. Even on the Agra-Lucknow Expressway, you can spot police patrolling vehicle moving in the wrong direction at times.

Yet, everything said and done, what is the point when a high class BMW is driven at 230 kmph?!

Hyderabad ORR is under strict monitoring and speed restrictions, I suppose. This is not exactly the case in the Agra-Lucknow Expressway and the Poorvanchal Expressway though there are speed warning systems etc installed. Yamuna Expressway is a little different in this because it is maintained by Jaypee Group.

[John316_WRC]

On 3rd October I met with an accident. There were 4 people travelling in the car, a 2012 Honda city. Two in front and 2 at the rear. We were rear ended by a crowd control police van - Tata 407. The accident happened in Purulia WB. I was at the rear with my friend and all of us were wearing our seat belts. Call it divine intuition or God's grace, but both of us at the rear decided to wear our seatbelts. (I don't usually wear it if I'm sitting behind)

The incident: There was an auto and bike parked bang in the middle of the road next to a petrol station, so my friend gradually bought the car to a halt. After 8-10 seconds there was a loud bang and jerk. After 2 seconds another loud bang and jerk. During the first impact I honestly couldn't understand what was happening and I thought we had run over something. Just before the second impact I turned back and saw the 407 just about to hit us again. The second impact was lesser in intensity. I am guessing we were hit at around 40-50km/hr from the rear.

The driver of the police van was drunk and so were half the crowd control cops that came out of the van. Clearly he couldn't stop in time or he didn't see us at all. After an ordeal of 5 hours (WB cops were not willing to file an FIR because their police van was at fault) they compensated a small amount and we left the spot. We were on the way to attend a funeral and didn't have much time and our minds were already elsewhere.
The pictures don't do justice to the impact and it doesn't look that bad but I am truly grateful that we escaped scratch less. This City is a tough tough car!

Three key takeaways from this.

1. Always wear your seat belt, even at the rear.
2. Build quality and safety are important for you and your family. (I am glad we were using the City and not my Dzire that day)
3. Rear headrests are truly a life saver.

Hats off to the strong build of the 3rd gen City. Needless to say I have put up my Dzire for sale and I am looking for a safe replacement.

[akg7091]

I have no sympathy for the bmw occupants. What they did could have killed innocent road users. It's high time something is done to ensure getting a driving license is extremely difficult and only the truly worthy are able to get one. Also, vehicles found speeding more than 150kph on any expressway must be impounded and only allowed to be returned with a court judgement. Make it very expensive to drive rashly. Also, any heavy vehicle found in the right / overtaking lane for any reason must be fined an obscenely high amount.

Having to deal with so many idiots on the road makes even sane drivers like me who drive at cruise set at 5kph less than speed limit lose patience sometimes. We need everyone to follow the law so the roads become better for everyone.

[kaps454]

Originally Posted by CarNerd

The most shocking thing is that the one driving was a Doctor! According to news article: "Dr Anand Prakash, a 35-year-old professor in a private medical college in Bihar's Rohtas, was apparently at the wheel when the BMW hit 230kmph amid the excited chatter of his co-passengers in the background, police said."

How on earth can a Doctor do that? His profession was to save people's lives! This is unbelievable.

Why are you so shocked? A doctor is an ordinary next door guy, they are not the epitome of righteousness. Or are other professions staffed by lessor people and doctors are on some pedestal in your opinion?
I am of the opinion that neither money nor what degrees you have earned make you the person you are. They are a very small part of it. And I am a doctor.

regards kaps454

[bordeaux]

Originally Posted by MT_Hyderabad

This expressway could be different. All four lanes have max speed marked: Right two are at 100 and left two are at 80 km/h.
As I am already at 100, there is no point someone can overtake me without breaking that rule.

Wrong. It is not for you (as a road user) to decide whether other road users follow the rules or not. Our responsibility as road users is that we must follow the rules ourselves and rule strictly says that one must use the high speed lane (or the right most lane(s)) only for overtaking other vehicles and once the overtake is done, s/he should move back to the left/slower lane.

What you have just said is exactly what people in USA follow and what I just described is what people in Europe follow. Driving on European highways is a pleasure while it's a pain on the US freeways with people blocking the overtaking/fast lanes just because they are going at the limit and you can't pass them on the wrong side.

Also, what if you get distracted and an emergency vehicle must overtake you. They don't have any speed limits. In this scenario, they will end up overtaking you using the wrong lane.

[venkyhere]

Originally Posted by John316_WRC

The driver of the police van was drunk and so were half the crowd control cops that came out of the van. Clearly he couldn't stop in time or he didn't see us at all. After an ordeal of 5 hours (WB cops were not willing to file an FIR because their police van was at fault) they compensated a small amount and we left the spot. We were on the way to attend a funeral and didn't have much time and our minds were already elsewhere.

Just reading this, my blood boils. Should have taken photo/video and sent them to TV channels. The least we can do to rowdy govt employees smug in their job security, is to shame and insult them in public.

[gupta_chd]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Oughtn't this to go to the Accidents thread?

In any case, without mincing words, this kind of speeding is simply asking for it. The occupants though deceased should be charged with rash and negligent driving.

No reason to charge the container lorry driver. And yes there should be an investigation on the road conditions and all as a matter of course, but, in this case, all the prima facie evidence points to sheer over-speeding.

Truck was plying on wrong side as reported in media. Due to which it was head on collision. Truck driver should be held accountable if it is true. It's a menace on Indian roads due to which hundreds of people lose lives every year even if they have no fault of theirs. Though here both parties seem to be the reason for occurrence of this accident.

[supremeBaleno]

Nothing mentioned here takes away from the fact that the rightmost lane is intended for overtaking, not cruising at the set speed limit. If you want to cruise at 100, do so on the 2nd lane & if there's someone driving at 90 on it, you overtake him from the right & get back on 2nd lane.

Originally Posted by MT_Hyderabad

Found the rule, sorry for repeat posts.

[MT_Hyderabad]

Originally Posted by bordeaux

Wrong. It is not for you (as a road user) to decide whether other road users follow the rules or not.

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

Nothing mentioned here takes away from the fact that the rightmost lane is intended for overtaking, not cruising at the set speed limit. If you want to cruise at 100, do so on the 2nd lane & if there's someone driving at 90 on it, you overtake him from the right & get back on 2nd lane.

Different state roads have different rules. ORR has its own set of rules. First the rules, please have a look at the link. https://ctp.gov.in/orrpp.htm

Faster moving vehicles should move in Right Lanes (Lane 1 and 2) and slow moving vehicles should move in Left lanes (Lane 3 and 4) within the above speed ranges. Heavy vehicles should move in Lane 3 or Lane 4 only

We are free to drive in any of the lanes. There is no overtaking lane on ORR.

Some images of speed limits on ORR and other expressway attached.

[bordeaux]

Originally Posted by MT_Hyderabad

Different state roads have different rules. ORR has its own set of rules. First the rules, please have a look at the link. https://ctp.gov.in/orrpp.htm

Faster moving vehicles should move in Right Lanes (Lane 1 and 2) and slow moving vehicles should move in Left lanes (Lane 3 and 4) within the above speed ranges. Heavy vehicles should move in Lane 3 or Lane 4 only

We are free to drive in any of the lanes. There is no overtaking lane on ORR.

Some images of speed limits on ORR and other expressway attached.

You misinterpreted it again. If you are driving above 80 KMPH, you are to drive in Lane 2 and not Lane 1. Lane 1 should be used for passing the slower (but still doing more than 80 KMPH) vehicles which should ideally be driving in Lane 2. Similarly for Lane 3 and Lane 4.

Freedom to do something is not usually the most optimized solution. As I mentioned in the earlier comment, you can keep driving in Lane 1 and nobody can stop you from making other people's lives miserable like they do in the USA. Or we can learn to co-exist peacefully and move to the slower of the two lanes (i.e. Lane 2) after overtaking and everybody will live happily ever after.

In a scenario, when the traffic is heavy (like during peak hours between Gachibowli and Airport), both lanes are going to packed anyway in which case you can be wherever you want to and it won't matter.

Also, the emergency lane marked in the image is not for Emergency vehicles. It's for you, me or anyone else to use when we have an emergency and we must halt our vehicle.

Quoting from the same website.

• All vehicles which have to make emergency stop for human or mechanical emergency will compulsorily take the following precautions

  • Park on the extreme left i.e. service lane
  • Switch on hazard lights/Parking Lights/ All lights to indicate to other vehicles
  • Put up reflective signages/cones for emergency about 5 (five) meters on the rear of the vehicle and also in front of the vehicle.

PS: You won't believe I have had the same debate with my American colleagues. And they were like it's our constitutional right to be in the fastest lane when we are doing the limit. And I was like, "so are guns"

[The Rationalist]

I don't understand the surprise in people thinking how can a doctor drive like that! I'm a doctor by profession and I'm coming from this society. So a doctor can be as good as the best person in the society or as bad as the worst person of the society he comes from. Doctors can be sincere, caring, genuine, honest, cunning, unethical, cruel, rapists, murderers and what not.

Most of us doctors become doctors just because we had the opportunity to get good education. If I was born in a poor family with no exposure to competitive exam coaching, I wouldn't have become a doctor. There is no criteria that only those with good characters would be allowed to become doctors. As any other profession, the doctors also mirrors the society they come from. You can't expect all doctors to be Harishchandras when the society they come from isn't.

Please don't give unnecessary respect to us doctors. We are working in a profession just like any other professional. We don't deserve anything extra. Every profession is dignified, the one's doing that may be good or bad depending on their upbringing.

We lost 1.5 lakh citizens last year on roads. The only way out is to educate the school going children about the perils of stupidity. It will take a generation to change our madness on roads. I'm not preaching, because I'm also part of the mad ones out there.

[locusjag]

I know that our folks call for a maximum speed limit which the Government should enforce upon all vehicles sp that yet another high-speed crash won't occur.

I came across this video where a speed limited pair of trucks in the US were holding up a mile of car traffic precisely because of their limited speed. Granted, the overtaking truck should've let go of his ego and let the hundreds of hindered cars pass; but overtaking is a legitimate maneuver which everyone should be able to undertake with minimum effort.

https://www.facebook.com/boneheadtru...2065004675104/