[tharian]

Originally Posted by A350XWB

According to reports, the drivers of both vehicles and a woman passenger in the bus received serious injuries and were admitted to Kottayam medical college. Last I heard was that they are responding to medication and on the way to recovery.

I was surprised there were no causalities looking at the aftermath, which is good. The trauma of the Xylo driver and passengers will last a bit for sure.
It was also a good thing that there was no service going on at the church.

[Bhargav7]

Originally Posted by krishnakumar

The legal speed limits for motor cars on a state highway road in Kerala (as per MVD website) is 80kph.

On a different note, I wonder how that road can handle vehicles at 80 kph. Much better roads in Karnataka have speed limits far lesser.

Also, I guess it is time we stop calling two-lane undivided roads as highways, be it state or central. Our infrastructure improved a lot over time and we deserve a better definition for a highway.

[MT_Hyderabad]

Originally Posted by Bhargav7

...
...
Also, I guess it is time we stop calling two-lane undivided roads as highways, be it state or central. Our infrastructure improved a lot over time and we deserve a better definition for a highway.

There is an image posted above which mentions the road as "Main Eastern Highway".

Call a spade a spade. Changing names doesn't change anything.

[fiat_tarun]

Originally Posted by SuperGirl_Dad

...
Here the Xylo driver sees he is driving into a wedge between an oncoming bus and stopped cars. Starts to brake - puff of smoke on rear wheel.
Attachment 2428321

Xylo goes straight as expected in non-abs vehicle, starts swerving. See front wheel truning.
Attachment 2428322

Car still slides and collides with Bus.
Attachment 2428323

Thanks for these images and it is clear the Xylo driver braked well in time and this 'accident' could have been avoided with ABS. You can clearly make out from the second image that the steering is turned to the left but the Xylo is just sliding straight for the bus. Such instances truly highlight the power of active safety systems like ABS & ESP.

If the vehicle had ABS, the driver would have avoided the bus and carried on probably not even knowing such a system saved him !

[McLaren Rulez]

Originally Posted by A350XWB

More details - the bus did not have GPS and speed governor was cut out. KSRTC to investigate and submit a report.

The solution is simple. The driver should be in jail and banned from driving for life.

Do it to ten drivers and miracle of miracles, the remaining will start driving safely.

[Bhargav7]

Originally Posted by MT_Hyderabad

Call a spade a spade. Changing names doesn't change anything.

Probably yes. My intention was to have better infrastructure for highways - not renaming roads which solve no purpose.

[airavat@22]

Meanwhile something from last weeks , KSRTC going downhill from Munnar overturns , sound like overspeed . A tourist travelling in the bus captured the video clip.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ugn9...ist=LL&index=1

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by binand

Has anyone found a way to blame the church wall for the accident, yet?

Wait... They will!

Originally Posted by Bhargav7

On a different note, I wonder how that road can handle vehicles at 80 kph. ...

This, from the images is a winding urban road. One lane each way, no median. To call this a road that is suitable for 80km/hr is absurd, whatever its designation. It is also wrong to suggest that people should not drive slowly on it. It's a city street.

[tharian]

Another angle of the crash ;

https://youtu.be/246vWxW5VxU

[Nalin1]

That is one of the most frightening accidents reported and one of the worst overtaking acts ever in the history if Indian roads .

A driver with even 1% sense or ability will not attempt a blind overtake at that speed on a curve encroaching the opposite lane, just riding on luck that the opposite lane is empty and he will emerge victorious .

The bus could have easily toppled the way he crashed into the wall!.

As for the Xylo, if he tried his best to avoid but could not, then nothing much to be said.

Better to take your foot off the A pedal at any loss of clear path or any hint of uncertainty on our roads. It does 3 things. Slows down, foot is off the accelerator hence ready to brake, and mentally ready for an emergency.

And by the way, the church wall can be blamed if this accident is an act of God!.

[anjan_c2007]

A Maruti Ertiga with members of two families totalling 13, were travelling from Sambhajinagar (Aurangabad) to Shegaon (a holy place with the Gajanan Maharaj Temple ) and met with a serious accident in Mehkar Tehsil in Buldhana dist killing six occupants, incl the driver, four ladies and a kid. The driver's body was found with the fastened seat belt that he had worn according to a news report. Six occupants were injured. They had started their journey at 6.00 am on 12/03/23.

The killer expressway is the same Samruddhi Mahamarg opened in December 2022 for traffic. The point worth taking notice of is that no other vehicle was involved. The Ertiga went out of control and somersaulted. Another news report of The Times of India says that the Ertiga veered to the right, hit the road divider somersaulting a few times till it was found in this condition. The onlookers helped extract bodies of the injured and deceased before the police could arrive, yet another report said .

Six, including minor, killed in accident on Samruddhi Mahamarg in Maharashtra's Buldhana | Pune News - Times of India https://m.timesofindia.com/city/pune...w/98578843.cms



The last sentence of this above report says that this is the fortieth accident ever since this expressway was opened in December 2022. The statistics about lives lost is not mentioned, but going by the frequency of accidents "40" could be a reality, as every other day we read about or see such fatal and gory mishaps happening on the media.

It shows that once let loose, our animal instincts in such cases come alive and the phrase 'might is right' automatically takes control of the mindset of such drivers. They risk the lives of their Co-passengers too with their unsound and handicapped mindsets.

It also shows that though these expressways have increased mobility and are convenient to commute through, but at the same time these come with lots of riders for road safety. And such, it's evident that these types of accident-prone drivers are giving a damn to such road safety riders.

[MSAneesh]

Originally Posted by tharian

Another angle of the crash ;

Horrific accident, may the injured have a speedy recovery.

The state bus drivers must be punished, not just when they cause an accident, but at every instance they blatantly break the rules.

On a side note, I wonder what joy does this news channel get by adding sound effects to a visual they sourced from CCTV? Can't they report such a fatal accident as true as it happened?

Shame on our news channels, they can't live without dramatising everything.

[Turbohead]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

A Maruti Ertiga with members of two families totalling 13, were travelling from Sambhajinagar (Aurangabad) to Shegaon (a holy place with the Gajanan Maharaj Temple ) and met with a serious accident.
..
And such, it's evident that these types of accident-prone drivers are giving a damn to such road safety riders.

While I do agree that most Indian drivers have questionable/ terrible skills, blaming it all on the driver doesn't work anymore in the age of new age infrastructure.

Here are a few questions -
1) Wasn't the car overloaded? Were no concerns raised at the toll booth?
2) Were the tires in good shape?
3) Were the tires able to handle the additional load of 5 passengers?
4) Did the driver fall asleep?
5) How was the car driven?
6) Did a team of experts analyse the causes and submit a report for prevention of such accidents?

A point to note here is that the driver was belted and yet he died. Pretty sure passengers at the back weren't belted properly. Unless point 6 isn't done for fatal accidents, we will continue to have large amounts of casualties.

[AutoNoob]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

The killer expressway is the same Samruddhi Mahamarg opened in December 2022 for traffic.

I strongly disagree with this characterization by media till a serious design flaw is highlighted that makes this expressway 'a killer'.

In most cases, its the road users that are the killers for others and themselves.

[KiloAlpha]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

...

The killer expressway is the same Samruddhi Mahamarg opened in December 2022 for traffic.
...
The Ertiga went out of control and somersaulted.

Sir, if the phrase "killer expressway" is your own words (i.e., you aren't quoting someone else), then I am very deeply disappointed with you, and saddened by it. The expressway is not a killer. It did not rise up and smite the car down.

I also think that all of us really should stop saying "car went out of control" - drivers lose control of the car, cars don't just lose control.

Both the above phrases are indicative of our collective, cultural attitude towards safety. We are busy shirking all personal responsibility for safety. It is time for us to emphasize the basic fact of life, the same fact of life that every living organism except Homo Sapiens seem to understand.
You and you alone are responsible for your own survival and continued existence.