[arvi86]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

I don't think this is going to stop any time soon. Drivers are always willing to take risk just to save a minute or two. Even well educated professionals don't mind to take the wrong lane in NH to save some time. I have seen this several times in front of A2B(Near Krishnagiri and Thoppur) which is in Bangalore-Salem highway.

Originally Posted by r_devakumar

I was crossing this section at around 11 a.m. yesterday from Madurai to Chennai (couple of hours before the accident). I came across 4 vehicle between Madurai to Trichy coming in the wrong lane, where i was forced to move to the next lane to avoid them.

Instead of going additional one or two KMs and take the U tern, these people come in the wrong direction. That too, they use the fast lane (the right side one, close to the median). Because of this, when ever there is a curve which turns right and blocks the view, i used to move to the left lane just to make sure someone not appearing suddenly in front. It is one of the best road to drive, but you have many such risks.

. Having driven to Coorg and Trichy from Chennai over the past month, I can relate to both of your views as I too experienced this in the very same stretches. What's the use in roads and cars improving to international standards when people and their mindsets doesn't change? Nothing can be done except exercising utmost caution from our side.

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

Maybe the panels of the bus were ripped open after the accident to gain access to rescue the passengers.

Your point could be true but even then when 13 people in the TNSTC bus have lost their lives compared to 1 in the private bus, I doubt that would be the case. The private bus would have literally torn the TNSTC bus apart.

[bala80]

I drove to trichy last month and i encountered quite a few tipper lorries travelling on the fast lane on the wrong side. I mean, I have seen instances where vehicles travel on the wrong lane, but then they do so in the left most lane and not on the fast lane. I see this behaviour only on the NH 45 and not on the other one's.

This to me is a definite recipe for disaster and we have had so many instances in the recent past, but the mindset just doesnt seem to change.

Originally Posted by arvi86

. Having driven to Coorg and Trichy from Chennai over the past month, I can relate to both of your views as I too experienced this in the very same stretches.

[arvi86]

Originally Posted by bala80

I drove to trichy last month and i encountered quite a few tipper lorries travelling on the fast lane on the wrong side. I mean, I have seen instances where vehicles travel on the wrong lane, but then they do so in the left most lane and not on the fast lane. I see this behaviour only on the NH 45 and not on the other one's.

This to me is a definite recipe for disaster and we have had so many instances in the recent past, but the mindset just doesnt seem to change.

Absolutely spot-on bala80. I have experienced vehicles traveling in the opposite lane many times but they were all in the left most lane. And yes, this time in NH45 I encountered a 407 LCV bang in the fast lane next to the median. And this, when I was overtaking a SETC bus. Luckily, there was some distance and I was able to stop. Normally, I don't become a victim of road rage but this really got over me. I stopped the car and shouted at the 407 driver who was staring as if I was blocking his way.

[cruiser@0523]

Originally Posted by arvi86

Absolutely spot-on bala80. I have experienced vehicles traveling in the opposite lane many times but they were all in the left most lane. And yes, this time in NH45 I encountered a 407 LCV bang in the fast lane next to the median. And this, when I was overtaking a SETC bus. Luckily, there was some distance and I was able to stop. Normally, I don't become a victim of road rage but this really got over me. I stopped the car and shouted at the 407 driver who was staring as if I was blocking his way.

Drivers like these deserve a lot more. Call it road rage or whatever, whenever i encounter such a truck/bolero pickups etc on the road, i stop right in front of them, without changing any lane, once i made a pickup turn around and go back the right way.

[singleton]

Originally Posted by cruiser@0523

Drivers like these deserve a lot more. Call it road rage or whatever, whenever i encounter such a truck/bolero pickups etc on the road, i stop right in front of them, without changing any lane, once i made a pickup turn around and go back the right way.

I have also done this many times, especially against auto drivers. I just stay put on my correct lane and wont move, then wait till they switch to their lanes. And yeah, the peace of mind that you get after doing this is worth mentioning

[selfdrive]

Originally Posted by arvi86

Absolutely spot-on bala80. I have experienced vehicles traveling in the opposite lane many times but they were all in the left most lane. And yes, this time in NH45 I encountered a 407 LCV bang in the fast lane next to the median. And this, when I was overtaking a SETC bus. Luckily, there was some distance and I was able to stop. Normally, I don't become a victim of road rage but this really got over me. I stopped the car and shouted at the 407 driver who was staring as if I was blocking his way.

Originally Posted by cruiser@0523

Drivers like these deserve a lot more. Call it road rage or whatever, whenever i encounter such a truck/bolero pickups etc on the road, i stop right in front of them, without changing any lane, once i made a pickup turn around and go back the right way.

Originally Posted by singleton

I have also done this many times, especially against auto drivers. I just stay put on my correct lane and wont move, then wait till they switch to their lanes. And yeah, the peace of mind that you get after doing this is worth mentioning

I hope you guys ensured that the first thing done when stopping in the right lane is to put on your hazard lights to warn other vehicles behind you that you are not moving.

While it is fine to ensure these guys follow rules, it should not be done by increased risk to our own safety.

[arvi86]

Originally Posted by selfdrive

I hope you guys ensured that the first thing done when stopping in the right lane is to put on your hazard lights to warn other vehicles behind you that you are not moving.

While it is fine to ensure these guys follow rules, it should not be done by increased risk to our own safety.

Couldn't agree more selfdrive. In nervous cases like these, our safety goes for a toss as we take some split-second decisions to avoid hitting them thus putting ourselves in danger's zone. This time though, I did turn on the hazards however before I vented out my feelings on the 407 driver.

[speedsatya]

Its not only this stretch ,but almost everywhere on the GQ that one comes across such idiots driving on the wrong side at high speeds.

But then ,accidents like this can be avoided .Please remember the rightmost lane ( fast lane) ,is only meant to be used when you want to pass a slow moving vehicle or when you want to take a right hand turn.And ,no matter how fast one drives,the driver is supposed to overtake and then again move to the left lane in a 4 lane highway or to the middle lane in a 6 lane highway .

But what happens in most cases is that people drive only on the right lane and fast moving vehicles overtake from the left .

Driving continuously on the right lane is also very dangerous as one can ram into someone crossing at the intersection or one can crash head on into another vehicle which could lose control from the opposite direction .In such cases ,driving on the RHS gives less scope for evasive action.One could also crash into some idiot who has parked his /her vehicle ( for numerous reasons- flat tire,engine problem ....accident )on a blind corner on the RHS .Here also ,most drivers would have no chance to avoid these vehicles even at moderate speeds.

I have seen morons having parked their vehicles on the RHS in the UK only to be rammed from behind by an unsuspecting driver .This sometimes leads to a pile up !!

And in India or some places in Asia ,one has also to take into account drivers driving on the wrong side .


Also if you watch accident videos on youtube,we do notice that headon collisions on 4/6/8 lane highways always take out drivers driving closest to the median
So ,to be safe ,always drive on the middle/left lane and use the RHS only for overtakings .Probably the driver of one of these buses could have avoided each other had he been driving on the left side

[mayankk]

Very unfortunate, but kudos to the lady.
Much respect.
I hope she is treated with fairness for being civic, if not anything else.

Times of India Publications

Text:
Biker killed by car,woman driver held

[SIZE=1]TIMES NEWS NETWORK [/SIZE]

New Delhi: A 35-year-old engineer was killed after his motorcycle was hit by an Alto car in the Cantonment area on Tuesday evening.
Vibhu Kanchan was taken to Safdarjung Hospital where he was declared brought dead.The woman,an executive in a private firm who was driving the car,has been arrested.
We received a call around 5.45pm about an accident on NH 8.We reached the spot and took the victim to the hospital.We have arrested the driver of Alto and registered a case of rash driving and causing death by negligence against her, said a senior police officer.
Cops said Kanchan,who used to work at Punj Lloyd Company,was going to his office in Gurgaon from his house in Sarita Vihar.He was hit by the car from behind on the stretch between Mahipalpur and Dhaula Kuan,lost balance and fell on the road.The bike was badly crushed.The police added the woman did not try to flee the spot and helped take the victim to hospital.
A traffic jam ensued.It could be cleared only after the vehicles were removed from the spot a hour later.

[speedsatya]

Originally Posted by arvi86

Absolutely spot-on bala80. I have experienced vehicles traveling in the opposite lane many times but they were all in the left most lane. And yes, this time in NH45 I encountered a 407 LCV bang in the fast lane next to the median. And this, when I was overtaking a SETC bus. Luckily, there was some distance and I was able to stop. Normally, I don't become a victim of road rage but this really got over me. I stopped the car and shouted at the 407 driver who was staring as if I was blocking his way.

If you stopped on the right lane to talk some sense into the 407 driver ,you were putting yourself and others following you at risk !!You could have been rammed from behind .

.Hazard lights on or not ,sorry to say ,but that was really stupid !

[speedsatya]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

Maybe the panels of the bus were ripped open after the accident to gain access to rescue the passengers.

More pics on this :

Volvo B9R - Page 160 - India Travel Forum, BCMTouring

[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by speedsatya

More pics on this :

Volvo B9R - Page 160 - India Travel Forum, BCMTouring

Oh Boy! THAT DOES NOT LOOK GOOD.

Amazing that both buses continued in their path and have overlapped almost upto the rear wheel of each other.

Most of the victims in this accident would have been occupying the right side seats, while those on the left seats would have escaped with injuries. Although the severity of the impact suggests that one (or both) were going at very high speeds , and at such speeds even the passengers on the left would have been thrown out of the seats like a bullet from a gun. Seat belts would probably have saved them. But that's expecting too much from the service provider in India.

It is for this reason that my first preference is always for the seats on the left. Provided its not too far back, compared to the middle or front located seat available on the right! There you go. Convenience once again has its say over safety!

[arvi86]

Originally Posted by speedsatya

If you stopped on the right lane to talk some sense into the 407 driver ,you were putting yourself and others following you at risk !!You could have been rammed from behind .

.Hazard lights on or not ,sorry to say ,but that was really stupid !

I agree with you, but the fact was I was forced to do that. Remember I was overtaking a SETC bus in full speed when I saw this idiotic 407 coming right before me. I slammed the brakes and there was enough time for me to stop. I could have still overtaken the bus and quickly made a move to the left lane to allow the 407 but I didn't want to disturb the bus. So all I did was stopped right in front of him, he couldn't move to the left because bus was coming there, I just stopped for a moment shouted at him, forced him to take a detour and proceeded in my way.

[speedsatya]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

It is for this reason that my first preference is always for the seats on the left. Provided its not too far back, compared to the middle or front located seat available on the right! There you go. Convenience once again has its say over safety!

This again depends on which route .If its the GQ or 4 lane highways ,then the LHS seats are equally dangerous as most accidents these days are buses ramming into stationary vehicles or slower moving vehicles.The LHS takes the hit most of the times.

For me ,no matter which route ,its the LHS front for the view and for the leg room.

And if you have drivers like this Accident Pictures Of Airavat | Karnataka RTC Blog – Everything About Karnataka RTC you arent safe anywhere !

[Spitfire]

Couple of years back I remember yelling at a KPN Driver when he was trying to get on the wrong side of the road while coming from Coimbatore.

The worst part is the passengers were egging the driver on against me.

So when the passengers in these buses do get killed by their stupid drivers. Some of them do deserve it.

Its alarming to note that passengers do not complain at all. What sort of cowards travel on these routes?