[impala]

Originally Posted by Rodie09

Bus driver was driving in his lane, cant comment on speed but the blunder was made by the oncoming truck driver in the wrong lane.

Bus is too fast for such roads. If the driver was driving slower, he will have been able to stop the bus safer. From the video, it looks like the bus tried to take the opposite lane and tried to swerve left noticing the second truck. From the video no visuals or sound indicating hard braking is apparent too.

Regarding the truck driver overtaking; people would have to overtake on such roads. An idealistic scenario of do not overtake where there is continuous white line is not practical on such roads where one would have trucks moving at 10-20 kmph. As much as one can make out from the video, the second truck was stopped; the first truck driver had no other option other than overtaking it irrespective of the road conditions.

[MT_Hyderabad]

Originally Posted by impala

it looks like the bus tried to take the opposite lane and tried to swerve left noticing the second truck.

Buses are not hatchbacks. They need a larger area to turn. Whenever this honking is heard, everyone on the opposite side stops and allows the larger vehicle to pass. This is the reason why there is 'blow horn' sign near every such turn.

These bus drivers honk hard to stop others from entering the right lane, probability of someone still appearing on that lane is still high.

Probability of a heavy vehicle coming from the left lane from the opposite side is may be 1 in 1000. This was that 1 in 1000 event.

[Rodie09]

Originally Posted by impala

Bus is too fast for such roads. If the driver was driving slower, he will have been able to stop the bus safer. From the video, it looks like the bus tried to take the opposite lane and tried to swerve left noticing the second truck. From the video no visuals or sound indicating hard braking is apparent too.

Regarding the truck driver overtaking; people would have to overtake on such roads. An idealistic scenario of do not overtake where there is continuous white line is not practical on such roads where one would have trucks moving at 10-20 kmph. As much as one can make out from the video, the second truck was stopped; the first truck driver had no other option other than overtaking it irrespective of the road conditions.

Being in the other lane on a blind turn was a recipe for disaster. This is for the truck that was in bus' lane. One cannot at all justify overtaking around a blind turn, no matter what. Even if the other truck was standstill/broken down, the overtaking truck's driver and cleaner should have taken the right measures - the cleaner standing ahead on turn and warning on coming traffic. They took a big big chance there and failed miserably. Everyone else apart from them got entangled including the poor biker.

[anjan_c2007]

A brand new facelifted Tata Nexon tipped over into an open field with a ditch, while moving on a rural road. It has it showroom generated ribbons intact. The link states that the sub 4 m SUV tipped over, but noone was seriously hurt. The location snd other details as usual on many such newslinks and YouTube videos, is unknown. Villagers came in the tens and the Nexon was put back on its wheels. But it refused to start as the newslink says and as can be seen in the next video, where villagers are manually towing it with a rope.

The toppling could be the due to a new driver behind the wheel. Or else, sometimes this is due to a first timer on a SUV.

https://youtu.be/VrrTrTymVew?feature=shared

The toppled Nexon showing damage to its bodyshell.

https://youtu.be/3kx3k25t1R4?feature=shared

Villagers to the rescue

The newslink:-
https://www.cartoq.com/brand-new-202...it-back-video/

[TorqueyTechie]

Today I was a bad driver resulting in an accident that left me with a banged-up bonnet and a bruised ego.



After dropping my kids to school, was returning in my usual route and was behind a school bus. I was maintaining a safe distance from the school bus in front but as they say familiarity breeds contempt. I got slightly distracted watching something through the driver-side window for a second and the next thing I knew was my wife shouting at me to apply brakes. I saw that the bus had slowed down for a speed breaker which I had missed seeing. I applied brakes but the momentum of the car meant that it did hit the bumper of the bus. Result = the above damage to the car and the bus with a cracked bumper.

Parked the car to the side, while gesturing for the school bus driver to park aside as well. Glad that there were no kids on the bus. Talked to the driver, took responsibility for the accident, and assured him to transfer the amount we negotiated as I had not carried my phone (and no cash on me).

Went home, immediately transferred the amount to him, and then took the car to the service center. I would get the approximate amount after they check the car when the insurance surveyor visits them which is maybe tomorrow.

Lesson learned - Never take driving for granted and take your eyes off the road for a second also. Always be alert.

P.S: This may also be apt for the bad driver thread.

[krishnakumar]

Originally Posted by TorqueyTechie

Went home, immediately transferred the amount to him, and then took the car to the service center. I would get the approximate amount after they check the car when the insurance surveyor visits them which is maybe tomorrow.

Happens to the best of us, hang in there. Good of you to compensate him for the damage.

Regarding the damage to your car, I think it is not major and something that a good body shop can fix easily. I'm not sure if Maruti service centers have good body shops, but my experience with service center body shops have been extremely bad. Looks like some denting work and repainting/paint correction at the most.

I'd suggest checking out at a good body shop as well since there are 2 I know of in Bangalore run by TBHPians themselves (one of which I can swear by). The quote outside could be cheaper if Maruti is opting for a bonnet replacement.

[SS80]

Originally Posted by TorqueyTechie

Today I was a bad driver resulting in an accident that left me with a badged-up bonnet and a bruised ego.

Attachment 2536534

P.S.: This may also be apt for the bad driver thread.

Any driver who accepts his mistake and realises how to avoid it in future, in my books is good. It happens, even to the best of us. But the way you handled it, paying for damage etc was setting a good example. Pat yourself and all the best, for future drives. Don't worry, the car will be back with a fresh coat of paint on the Bonet.

[sumwit]

Originally Posted by TorqueyTechie

Parked the car to the side, while gesturing for the school bus driver to park aside as well. Glad that there were no kids on the bus

I am glad nobody got hurt. From my recent experience of selling my car, I realized that replacing metal parts of the car (in your case bonnet) could bring down the resale value drastically. I also suggest you to get the bonnet fixed at a good body shop if not at a Maruti service center.

[Ravi Parwan]

This happens to the best of us. I had a similar incident a couple of months ago, although I was able to get away with much less damage (bent numberplate) as I could brake more.

I do believe that the bonnet will need to be replaced here. it is a curved metal piece with a backing plate inside which will not allow the dent remover to hammer out the metal properly from the inside. You will end up with a misshaped bonnet filled with filler which will look really bad one year down the line, when the filler starts to crack due to engine heat.

Please push for a bonnet replacement from the insurance. All the best.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by TorqueyTechie

I would get the approximate amount after they check the car when the insurance surveyor visits them which is maybe tomorrow.

Originally Posted by Ravi Parwan

Please push for a bonnet replacement from the insurance. All the best.

+1 to that,

Even if Insurance does not approve a new bonnet, let them pay the painting cost and you bear the cost of the bonnet, it should not be more than 5k IIRC. The surface finish will deteriorate over time even if it looks good immediately after repair and will be an eyesore.

[The Rationalist]

I had a similar experience in 2013, I was driving by Thrissur where I did my pre-degree and was looking at a place called Rozario bakery which used to have nice hamburgers and there was a junction immediately ahead and I ran into under run bar of a truck! The truck didn’t even notice, my car had radiator broken and other damages, cost me ₹25,000! Had to tow the car to a FNG. Have I become a better driver, a bit I guess. We all have momentary lapses, don’t know whether it is fully avoidable. I think going ahead, ADAS and all other tech will help in reducing the chances of similar mishaps.

[kiranknair]

As long as no one is hurt, everything else is secondary. As stated by many others, it happens to the best of us, probably a slight oversight is enough to get into an accident. I would personally have done exactly this - had damaged a bumper of another car due to my carelessness a couple of years ago. Apologized immediately and transferred the money by Google Pay.

At the end of the day I believe that we are not street fighters and have to act against the declining civility that we see around today. And as some one said - "to err is human, to admit it is superhuman".

[shabih]

Call it providence or whatever, something similar happened to me on my office commute today. I was driving to work, taking my usual route. I crossed a village lady who was standing next to the street with a few street dogs around her feet and it seemed like she was helping them cross the road. I found this a very nice gesture and I looked into my RVM to see this sight. As soon as she disappeared from my left RVM, I looked ahead and oh my God, I was about to slam into the back of a huge Fortuner, thankfully my reflexes worked and nothing happened. No offense meant but I am petrified of huge SUV drivers and shudder to think of the aftermath of offending them :P

[TorqueyTechie]

Thanks everyone for the kind words. A change that I can see in myself post the incident is that I have become more sedate and leave a larger gap with the vehicle ahead. Hopefully, I continue the same.

I spoke with the SA at the service center and they are replacing the bonnet and the bumper. The insurance survey is completed as well and they have procured the parts. Should have the car ready by Saturday.

[Redex]

A good driver always admits their mistakes. We can all learn from mistakes. We can all be better drivers.
A bad driver thinks they are the best driver on the road. They always blame everyone else, but never themselves.
It's very easy to be distracted by something, we need discipline to use full concentration at all times and never take anything for granted. As a car driver and motorcyclist I always assume everyone and everything is trying to kill me !!!
My pet have at the moment is the increasing use of infotainment screens, they are even more distracting than mobile phones.
When I started driving a tv screen or similar display screen that could be seen by the driver was illegal.
Drive safe everyone. Never rush around, just allow a few more minutes for your trip. Chill and enjoy the drive.
Regards Neil