[lejhoom]

I think the advice to move out of a vehicle parked on the shoulder is because very often, especially on unlit roads, there’s a tendency to follow the red parking lights of the parked vehicles by tired drivers. It happened to me once while driving late in the night. I was already behind the wheel for a considerable time and my faculties were not functioning optimally. So, when I spotted this pair of red lights from afar, somehow I was gunning toward them. Of course much before I reached that vehicle I became aware of the situation and afterwards for some time my mind was occupied with this thought of the serious repercussions of such eventuality.

[binand]

Originally Posted by locusjag

Assuming that this particular highway lacks rest areas, that's a valid point.

The Dinamani article says the accident occurred at Chinnagoundanur on Sankari bypass (which falls between Salem and Bhavani). This place has a (unpaved) service road separated from the main carriageway by a (not built-up) drainage canal. There are also earmarked truck lay-bys, large floor-area petrol pumps / large frontage restaurant complexes and in general ample space on the side of the road for a trucker to park and rest without creating a hazard.

It is the most important road in this part of the country; carrying practically all the traffic from Chennai / Bangalore / rest of India to Coimbatore / south Malabar / central Kerala and vice versa.

[arundeepbv]

Originally Posted by Arwin07

https://Youtube.com/watch?v=6V-yXGUh...BNQrFTNX3lXLW9

The truck was parked on a busy highway- major culprit.
Carelessness on the part of Omni driver to avoid the truck- either the truck did not have reflective lighting and so appeared to the speeding Omni driver at the last minute or the Omni driver was not paying attention to the road ahead.


The truck did not have rear under-run bars. The Omni completely got buried under the over hang of the truck due to the collision leaving no chance of survival to the occupants.

In India, it's commonly perceived that the larger vehicle is always at fault in the event of an accident, regardless of the actual circumstances. However, as evident from the photos, the truck was parked on the roadside shoulder and was situated in a well-lit area, posing no obstruction to the flow of traffic. Furthermore, this was not an expressway where stopping is explicitly disallowed. In this particular instance, the fault clearly lies with the car driver.

As far as parking on the shoulders, the Indian Motor Vehicles Act does have guidelines about stopping or parking vehicles on roads, including road shoulders. While the Act does not outright prohibit stopping a vehicle on the road shoulder, doing so without good reason or in a manner that obstructs traffic can result in penalties.

Generally, the rules suggest that no person should park a vehicle:

• In a manner that causes obstruction to other vehicles or pedestrians
• On or near a bend, hill or slope
• Opposite to another parked vehicle
• Near a traffic signal, pedestrian crossing, etc.

[anjan_c2007]

Originally Posted by Arwin07

https://Youtube.com/watch?v=6V-yXGUh...BNQrFTNX3lXLW9
6 people died on the spot. RIP.

The ghastly mishap is another among the lakhs where we have such fragile cars from unconcerned carmakers (they only haggle to reach the top slot saleswise) who have been playing with precious lives. Only the C pillar of the Omni was visible post the crash, whereas the A and B pillars and also beyond B were consigned to history. Even a car with a FIVE STAR safety would have crumpled under such impact, but we could have had some survivors though with serious injuries.

Coming to the fixing of culpabilities, any such parked vehicle on a highway needs to be affixed with reflective stickers ( compulsory for all moving and parked transport vehicles as per laws) and the hazard warning lights needed to be put on during low visibility as a matter of caution. The reflective red triangle could also have averted this mishap. Not sure about reflective stickers affixed on the killer truck, but hazard warning lights weren't surely on. Yes, an under run, safety bar at the rear as already pointed out could have saved lives. Moreover, post the accident, the driver instantly starts his engine and flees the scene which aggravates the offences already to be registered against him. With this instant escape, it also is evident that the driver of that Eicher truck was seated on his driver's seat. There is no reason as to why he did not put on the hazard warning lights while parking.

And coming to the Omni driver, either his eyesight was not 6/6 or he couldn't foresee what was ahead or was in a relaxed driving mode failing to spot that grotesque truck parked ahead. His driving was also at an unsafe speed and he was also reckless as the video shows.

A very shocking loss of lives indeed !

[deathwalkr]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

And coming to the Omni driver, either his eyesight was not 6/6 or he couldn't foresee what was ahead or was in a relaxed driving mode failing to spot that grotesque truck parked ahead. His driving was also at an unsafe speed and he was also reckless as the video shows.

A very shocking loss of lives indeed !

Maybe the omni driver dozed off? No reason otherwise for such speeds on the shoulder when the highway seems to be pretty low in traffic.

As for truck driver moving on, it's what is usually done to avoid being thrashed by mob. Not humane by any means. But sadly it's a selfish world no?

[locusjag]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

In Britain, it is illegal to stop on the hard shoulder of a motorway except in emergency.

The same rule applies in the US as well. Whenever I've had to stop on the shoulder of the interstate, which was always because of my crying daughter, I've broken into a sweat. One - I didn't want cops to intervene. Two - I've explained below.

Originally Posted by lejhoom

I think the advice to move out of a vehicle parked on the shoulder is because very often, especially on unlit roads, there’s a tendency to follow the red parking lights of the parked vehicles by tired drivers.

When humans look in a direction or at an object in particular, we somehow gravitate towards it sometimes - popularly known as the target fixation principle. So, if I were parked by the highway and a passing driver visually latches on to me or my car for whatever reason, there's a high chance I'm toast:

https://www.idrivesafely.com/defensi...rcycle-problem

This principle comes true on the highways when passing drivers see a parked car/truck or whatever by the side, sub-consciously they veer towards the thing they're gawking at. Rubber-necking by passing drivers often causes target fixation and crashes - something that cops in the US are always in fear of, when conducting traffic stops by the highway, or when they're working on clearing a crash scene. So many cops have been killed by rubber-necking drivers. Here's one example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sS3BVVK9V-A

Yet another example of target fixation - motorcyclists train themselves to see where they should exit a curve, rather than at any other point of the curve; if they follow the latter course, they'll simply overshoot and crash.

Lastly, from personal experience, I believe soccer strikers twist this phenomenon to fool goalkeepers and hit goals by looking in a direction while kicking the other way; the moment the 'keeper sees the striker intently looking one way, they launch themselves in that direction because we typically also kick where we look.

[theabstractmind]

Preach Alert!

Regarding the Omni Accident - I don't know what the rules in India say about parking the vehicle on the shoulder. I avoid it to the best possible extent and i always try to find the unpaved road when it is a must needed stop. But, the Omni driver is solely responsible in this case.

We can give mamy reasons like Target Fixation, or fatigue. Both are caused by human error. And if the driver was awake, it is pure reckless driving. I see many such morons on NICE road overtaking from the extreme left using the shoulder. I don't have any sympathy for such folks as they have decided to put multiple lives at risk. If only we can stop justifying such behavior to ourselves saying we had no choice, we can bring down the number of such deaths by a great extent.

Some of us promote defensive driving on this thread. It doesn't mean we never falter. Or that we are weak. It is just that we stop justifying bad behavior and are keen to reduce risks involved for ourselves, and others. We do get angry. But we make effort to recover from it.

There's always rules, and sensibility. Rules define what you are allowed to do, Or not allowed to do. Sensibility determines whether you should be doing it at all. Follow rules, but let sensibility prevail.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Well said!

Originally Posted by theabstractmind

We can give mamy reasons like Target Fixation, or fatigue. Both are caused by human error.

And fancy names like "target fixation," however real it may be (accidents are real too) is not an excuse. It's just another round of stuff like the car lost control: no, it didn't, the driver did.

[locusjag]

So there are proponents for not building safety walls on terraces (analogous to not parking on the shoulder)! We want people to not fall off ledges (analogous to not veering onto the shoulder) by decreeing that they should stay away from them.

Builders at least do not ride atop this moral high horse and value lives above all else (by building safety walls) instead of issuing statements on what people should be doing.

We'll meanwhile continue to lose lives on the shoulders of our highways because we love this horse of ours. It's a pretty pony too, judging by its many admirers. Will it re-phrase Oppenheimer anytime soon - "I am become death, destroyer of entire swathes of lives, one car at a time..."?

[theabstractmind]

Originally Posted by locusjag

So there are proponents for not building safety walls on terraces (analogous to not parking on the shoulder)! We want people to not fall off ledges (analogous to not veering onto the shoulder) by decreeing that they should stay away from them.

Builders at least do not ride atop this moral high horse and value lives above all else (by building safety walls) instead of issuing statements on what people should be doing.

It is over interpreting. There is no better safety wall than the one we build for ourselves. When it comes to driving, the safety wall is being alert and jeep your vehicle in your control.

Nobody is absolving the truck driver. But if a driver cannot take the blame for what they put themselves and others into in these circumstances, well..., use whatever expletives you want here.

Elaborating the Omni case - The Omni was no more supposed to be on the shoulder as much as the truck - not at the visual speed at which it was. The shoulder is basically an emergency run off and if anyone is really entitled to use it, it must be an ambulance. One can easily forgive the truck driver because he was not in the driving lane causing obstruction - which is one of the primary rules. And, If we are talking about rules here, do not overtake from left is one of the first lessons in driving. How conveniently people forget that and then blame someone else, dont they? And, If the driver was asleep, he anyway would have bumped into the truck or the pavement and still crashed.

[electric_eel]

Originally Posted by theabstractmind

It is over interpreting. There is no better safety wall than the one we build for ourselves. When it comes to driving, the safety wall is being alert and jeep your vehicle in your control.

Nobody is absolving the truck driver. But if a driver cannot take the blame for what they put themselves and others into in these circumstances, well..., use whatever expletives you want here.

Elaborating the Omni case - The Omni was no more supposed to be on the shoulder as much as the truck - not at the visual speed at which it was. The shoulder is basically an emergency run off and if anyone is really entitled to use it, it must be an ambulance. One can easily forgive the truck driver because he was not in the driving lane causing obstruction - which is one of the primary rules. And, If we are talking about rules here, do not overtake from left is one of the first lessons in driving. How conveniently people forget that and then blame someone else, dont they? And, If the driver was asleep, he anyway would have bumped into the truck or the pavement and still crashed.

I think there is not much point in saying who is (more) at fault. I have seen many using the shoulder as an additional "overtaking lane" particularly rampant when you drive on L&T road from PKD-COM. This is mostly done by two wheelers when the traffic slows down in this dual carriage road but you will see one or two "enterprising" vehicles do this stunt. Once I had a thar using it to overtake me with two wheel outside the road (off road).

I have also seen buses stopping on the shoulder to pick passengers (often immediately after a junction) instead of getting to the service road where the bus stop actually is. It is inevitable that such accidents will happen.

[itisK]

In the Omni-Truck accident, the van driver is obviously at fault. That's not for discussion. If you're driving a vehicle, you should have it under control.

But I don't understand the logic behind saying that the Truck was parked inside the margin, therefore the truck driver wasn't at fault. Since when has it become acceptable? The truck didn't break down. There was no emergency whatsoever. The driver simply decided to rest on the side of a busy highway. And that's unacceptable.

Why do we even have guard rails? Because it's given that driver will make mistakes. Yes, we are humans and we can make mistakes.

But if someone is making a mistake, we shouldn't have other factors contributing to enhance the damage. And that is what the truck driver did here. The Omni driver made a mistake, and the truck driver amplified it disproportionately.

Like the police said in the above case, the truck driver should rightly be booked for parking there.

[binand]

Originally Posted by electric_eel

L&T road from PKD-COM... this dual carriage road

Sorry, which road is this? PKD I assume is Palakkad from your profile. What is COM?

[electric_eel]

Originally Posted by binand

Sorry, which road is this? PKD I assume is Palakkad from your profile. What is COM?

Sorry if it was not clear I meant Coimbatore. My bad. The Salem-Kochi highway has a stretch of about 30 odd km which is dual carriage and it gets pretty busy with lots of cross junctions.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...w/49073458.cms

This is the stretch I am talking about.

[binand]

Originally Posted by electric_eel

Sorry if it was not clear I meant Coimbatore. My bad. The Salem-Kochi highway has a stretch of about 30 odd km which is dual carriage and it gets pretty busy with lots of cross junctions.

Oh OK. The Coimbatore bypass. It is single carriageway, though (the roads on either sides - coming from Salem and Kochi - are dual carriageway, but the bypass itself is a single carriageway).