[electric_eel]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

I haven't touched a car with with AT for nearly twenty years. Could I drive one tomorrow? Sure, I could. But I would have a few confused moments for a day or three. Hopefully no-one would come to harm because of my confused moments in my car. For starters, I don't usually have more than one passenger.

Yes I too had a few confused moments for the first few days of my transition to EV but the worst that happened to me during the transition was that I kept press the non-existent clutch as I come to a stop and clearly this does not create any problem as I am on the brake.

May be the driver in question had a bad braking technique, namely clutch first and then brake which many of the older drivers trained on underpowered cars do. This would not have been a problem on an MT even if they had confused the A and B pedal. On the other hand on an EV if the were pressed the non-existent clutch first and then pressed the A-pedal thinking that it is brake, the bus would zipped through. The lack of drama of the electric drive train then might have further confused the hell out of him.

Needless to say there should have been a few training sessions which includes sessions on panic braking before some one moves to a different drive train.

[Fx14]

Originally Posted by electric_eel

May be the driver in question had a bad braking technique, namely clutch first and then brake which many of the older drivers trained

Or like some heavy vehicle drivers who additionally use engine braking by accelerating to RPM match the downshift before applying the brakes, he attempted to press the non-existent clutch first and pressed the A-pedal to RPM match a non-existent downshift before wanting to brake.

[GeeTee TSI]

Originally Posted by humyum

I saw the Best Bus video on twitter, looks like he was accelerating when he started the HIT.

Maybe its the manual guy driving an Automatic thing with him hitting the accelerator in panic?

A footage I saw had the bus thundering through the frame like a high speed train (with all the momentum).

ATs in general are unforgiving if one presses the A pedal by mistake in place of the B pedal. The transmission kicks down in earnest providing the highest level of acceleration 'as commanded'. With an EV drivetrain it is probably compounded by little or no lag.

Trained drivers with muscle memory of the right manoeuvres and emergency reactions are what tens of citizens travelling in good faith in a public transport vehicle deserve.

[jomyboy]

It has happened only once in my life, but the first year after I got my driving license I was on a crowded street in Andheri and pressed the accelerator instead of the brake pedal. The car was anyway very slow about 10-15ish and I went over somebody's leg. I had the habit of pressing the clutch and brake together and had I not had such bad braking habits, my life would have been very different. After that no matter who says what, I always kept pressing the clutch with brake remembering that one episode.

[hardihoodchaser]

This is stupid. Any good driver can readjust from Manual to Automatic transmission with a basic knowledge of how each is different to operate. What “training” has each of us here who have migrated from manual to mostly AT over the years received when we made the switch?

Trained drivers with muscle memory of the right manoeuvres and emergency reactions are what tens of citizens travelling in good faith in a public transport vehicle deserve.

Agree, experience develops muscle memory. And especially, as a person grows older, adaptability gets reduced.
May be this could be a reason.

It has happened only once in my life, but the first year after I got my driving license I was on a crowded street in Andheri and pressed the accelerator instead of the brake pedal.

Same here,
During learning phase, after practicing MT, I encountered same situation in AT but in a controlled environment.

[IamNikhil]

The workforce of drivers/conductors on BEST buses now mostly consists of contractual employees; only a fraction of them are full-time employees on BEST payroll. There are 4 agencies which have been contracted by BMC/BEST to provide buses on wet lease along with the manpower needed to operate the fleet. While a full-time employee driver undergoes rigorous training before being given the reins to operate a bus on the road, a contractual employee gets barely a week on the said bus. Also, many of these newbies have prior experience of driving mini-tempos etc, and not adequately epipped for manning a 12-metre long BEST bus.

[swoosh]

Scary accident on Chennai Bangalore Highway, near sriperumbudur.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vroe...wIndianExpress

[krrisdrive]

Originally Posted by swoosh

Scary accident on Chennai Bangalore Highway, near sriperumbudur.


https://www.Youtube.com/watch?v=vroe...wIndianExpress

This is scary and unimaginable in any way. A bystander is trapped first below bus and then truck. Hope he escaped.

Looks like a heavily loaded speeding truck unable to stop quickly due to the bus taking U turn in a shorter median.

Also, that street light pole took the entire shock still stood straight!

[xenon0025]

Originally Posted by swoosh

Scary accident on Chennai Bangalore Highway, near sriperumbudur.


https://www.Youtube.com/watch?v=vroe...wIndianExpress

I saw this video on Instagram yesterday and had to watch the video a couple of times to make sure it is real. I just could not believe it. The frequency and severity of the accidents these days is so high and in most of the cases it is because the drivers miss to follow the basic traffic discipline.

Right policing needs to happen at national level otherwise I see this going further downhill. Wrong side driving, jumping red signals, hogging lanes etc. has become very normal on our roads.

[UD17]

Originally Posted by swoosh

Scary accident on Chennai Bangalore Highway, near sriperumbudur.

I am worried about the pedestrian, who try to cross the road. How he took the impact of bus or might have crushed under the tyres of the truck. Any news on this?

In the limited view of CCTV, its looks like the mistake of bus to me. Just my speculation, The bus suddenly came in the frame and got hit by the truck who could not react within time.

It seems, the gullible Innova also took quite a brunt from the bus hit.

[electric_eel]

Originally Posted by jomyboy

It has happened only once in my life, but the first year after I got my driving license I was on a crowded street in Andheri and pressed the accelerator instead of the brake pedal. The car was anyway very slow about 10-15ish and I went over somebody's leg. I had the habit of pressing the clutch and brake together and had I not had such bad braking habits, my life would have been very different. After that no matter who says what, I always kept pressing the clutch with brake remembering that one episode.

If you continue to do the simultaneous brake + clutch, you will have a similar problem as the driver of the BEST bus when moving to EV/AT. Plus it is not the right technique for modern cars. May I suggest the following for braking.


1. Start by taking off the leg from the A-pedal and moving to the B-pedal. Many a times this would be enough and you will never need to engage the B-pedal.

2. When you need to slow down further start by depressing the brake gently gradually increasing the pressure on the B pedal.

3. Never press the clutch unless it is necessary (for eg you need to stop at a signal). In other words press the clutch only if the car would stall otherwise. Pressing the clutch too early in the braking process means that you are losing out on engine braking.

4. As a corollary for (3) do not try changing gears during braking.

The above is for normal/anticipatory braking. One needs to separately train for panic braking so that one presses the brake and not the accelerator in panic situations.

[sudanmohit]

Originally Posted by Fx14

Or like some heavy vehicle drivers who additionally use engine braking by accelerating to RPM match the downshift before applying the brakes, he attempted to press the non-existent clutch first and pressed the A-pedal to RPM match a non-existent downshift before wanting to brake.

Another angle to the accident. Eyewitnesses say he was enjoying the ride.

https://zeenews.india.com/india/mumb...s-2830184.html



I don't know how, when and if we'll ever know the truth behind this incident

[self_driven]

Originally Posted by UD17

In the limited view of CCTV, its looks like the mistake of bus to me. Just my speculation, The bus suddenly came in the frame and got hit by the truck who could not react within time.

Exactly my thoughts. It seems that there is an adjacent street from where the bus driver was trying to merge on the highway. Just before the bus enters the frame, a white car exits the highway to enter this smaller road. This can be confirmed with map coordinates of this location of course.

Drivers of the two vehicles (truck and bus) were probably used to such reckless driving behaviour with cars and two wheelers on the road. But as the saying goes, there's always a bigger fish. Unfortunately their learning came at the expense of innocent pedestrians and bus passengers. Reminds me of a similar accident from a few months back that involved multiple trucks and an unlucky biker.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by jomyboy

After that no matter who says what, I always kept pressing the clutch with brake remembering that one episode.

Please rethink this. It is very wrong. It is wrong to the point of being potentially dangerous. If you press the clutch when braking, and you have no "engine braking" and the dynamics of the car are altered such that it may be less stable (I'll have to ask someone else to explain this bit).

For example, in an emergency stop, the last thing you want is foot-on-clutch.


In practical terms, it is easy: right leg does both going and slowing. Left leg works with left arm for gear changing. Right leg, accelerator or brake. That's it.

(And if you find yourself in an AT car, tuck your left leg back near the seat, until it has got completely used to having no job to do. Then you can't "put your foot on the clutch." As I did once.)

Please take the no clutch-with-brake-thing seriously. It is not just a style, it is correct and safe driving.

Originally Posted by electric_eel

Plus it is not the right technique for modern cars.

It is not the right technique for any car, as far as I know. I'm sure my father would not have done it: that's going back, my lifetime, to 1950s; his lifetime, 1930s!

[electric_eel]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Please rethink this. It is very wrong. It is wrong to the point of being potentially dangerous.

[snip]

It is not the right technique for any car, as far as I know. I'm sure my father would not have done it: that's going back, my lifetime, to 1950s; his lifetime, 1930s!

Coming to think of it you are probably right. It might be worse on an old car (I have no way to tell because I have not driven a very old car). Lack of engine braking (clutching during braking) means more work for the brakes which means

1. More possibility of wheel locking (no ABS in old cars) and the related complications

2. More possibility of brake failure. Brakes were probably much more fragile in older cars.