[wangdu]

Originally Posted by n.devdath

The biker wasnt at fault here. He was at a very slow speed, had indicated his intent in advance and let a couple of other 2 wheelers pass before he crossed the road, it is the Etios which was being driven by a driver who assumed he was on a race track piloting an F1 car.

Amongst other things we forget when driving through small towns is that the overall pace of everything there is slower than our metros, and driving is no exception.

It is upto us to be dynamic and alert.

I think there's one fault of the biker which we see in urban settings too. He didn't completely stop on the left and watched the following traffic. Yes he was indicating and saw 2 bikes (while controlling his bike with difficulty at slow speed) but had he stopped completely, seen all the vehicles and waited for all clear, such situation could have been avoided.

Totally agree on driving/riding with slower speeds through small towns.

[longhorn]

Originally Posted by soumobakshi

Did both the cars turned turtle? The roof areas are completely gone

Looks like one of them went over the divider, turned turtle, and unfortunately landed on top of the other.

[shubhodeepdas@g]

Originally Posted by MercFan

3 die in a Duster and City accident in Telangana state.

Here are some more details on the accident https://telanganatoday.com/telangana...ollision-kodad, The car indeed went over the divider and landed upside down on the Honda City and another car. Everyone in Honda survived. According to the report, there were a total of nine individuals in the Duster.

Would request Mods to blur out the image of the Duster Driver in the original post.

[Vasuki]

Originally Posted by shubhodeepdas@g

Here are some more details on the accident https://telanganatoday.com/telangana...ollision-kodad, The car indeed went over the divider and landed upside down on the Honda City and another car. Everyone in Honda survived. According to the report, there were a total of nine individuals in the Duster.

Would request Mods to blur out the image of the Duster Driver in the original post.

Just saw the link mentioned above. Image is too horrific. Don't know why these sites show such graphics?

Small correction. There were 4 persons in duster and not nine persons as mentioned in above post. In total the numbers of persons involved in the accident of 3 vehicles is Nine.

[strawhat]

Originally Posted by shubhodeepdas@g

Here are some more details on the accident https://telanganatoday.com/telangana...ollision-kodad

RIP.

On top of my head I can list out two possibilities.
* The tyre may have shown signs before the journey began. Either it wan't detected or plainly ignored.
* The tyre may have hit a big, sharp object creating cracks. The occupants unaware of this development proceeded ahead. The cracks deteriorated and finally the tyre bursted.

Don't think the second case merits any discussion. Their luck has run out and they have paid their dues. I may be a little harsh but that's how I would like to view it.

But if it is the first, then I entirely blame the knowledgeable parent or someone involved for not taking ample measures. I know of quite a few people who do not take the safety aspect seriously. Some of them haven't changed their stock tyres even after doing some 60k kms. Reason they keep blurting, lack of money. Affordability when safety is concerned never exists. Who is to blame if, God forbid, something unpleasant happens?

[prkiran]

So many incidents where the cause is tyre burst. Could it be possible that the tyre burst after hitting the median at speed? At least in situations like these where the vehicle ended up upside down on the other side of the road, I think this is a more probable cause than losing control after a tyre blowout.

[locusjag]

Originally Posted by strawhat

RIP.

On top of my head I can list out two possibilities.
* The tyre may have shown signs before the journey began. Either it wan't detected or plainly ignored.
* The tyre may have hit a big, sharp object creating cracks. The occupants unaware of this development proceeded ahead. The cracks deteriorated and finally the tyre bursted.

I know of quite a few people who do not take the safety aspect seriously. Some of them haven't changed their stock tyres even after doing some 60k kms. Reason they keep blurting, lack of money. Affordability when safety is concerned never exists. Who is to blame if, God forbid, something unpleasant happens?

The loss of life from such tyre-related accidents is so harrowing. I can totally relate to being unaware of issues that crop up with one's tyres. I'm guilty of it too. I can tell you that so many things can and do go wrong with tyres.

I try my best to inspect my tyres regularly and have even been surprised to discover embedded nails during my routine checks. I would get them patched up promptly.

But I was horrified to discover that this little guy had played a cruel trick on me recently:


This is the pin that regulates air flow into and out of the tyre. This guy was defunct and was constantly leaking air. I had blissfully driven through a 600 Km roundtrip and made the discovery that I had only 19 psi in my front left tyre! The local tyre repair shop spent a long time hunting for a leak before zeroing in on this pin. With a new pin screwed in and Rs.50 later, I'm all set.

But my learning from that episode is to check the tyres not just once every month, but also before and during any long roadtrips when i take my regular breaks. I used to mentally scoff at seeing taxi drivers and bus drivers religiously checking their tyres at every rest area. Meanwhile i always have a highly accurate tyre pressure gauge in the car at all times.

I have just 11 month old tyres on my car, and as much I hate to say it - I was a candidate for a tyre blowout, that too with an issue on the front wheel with "fat" 75 aspect ratio tyres! If it weren't a newer tyre, who knows...? I'm a thankful and wiser person now.

Hear ye, hear ye.
Thou of little respect for thine tyres!
Pray I do have a story to tell...

[sridhu]

Originally Posted by locusjag

...
But my learning from that episode is to check the tyres not just once every month, but also before and during any long roadtrips when i take my regular breaks. [/i]

Another option is installing Tire Pressure sensors. Sure it costs a bit of money (anywhere from 3k at AliExpress to 7.5k for our own local brewed Sensairy) but it is well worth it as it monitors it during the drive as well. Will help avoid preventable blowouts.

[longhorn]

While filling air in the tyres, please make sure to watch the pre fill readings i.e. the first reading when you just start topping air. If one particular tyre is way off the mark compared to the others, that should set the alarm bells ringing. This is the best bet to help you figure out if a tyre is losing air.

I recently figured this out when one tyre was showing a much lower reading than all the others. The culprit - a previous patch had started leaking. The patch was plugged over with a new patch and all is looking good now.

Another way to identify loss of pressure is to read the steering behaviour. Of course that can happen only on a vehicle you are used to driving regularly. It is easier to detect loss of pressure in the front wheels because that will lead to a change in steering behaviour. Rear wheels are the most difficult to detect, and unfortunately, is also the most difficult to control in case of a tyre blowout.

[shubhodeepdas@g]

Originally Posted by strawhat

On top of my head I can list out two possibilities.
* The tyre may have shown signs before the journey began. Either it wan't detected or plainly ignored.

Originally Posted by prkiran

So many incidents where the cause is tyre burst. Could it be possible that the tyre burst after hitting the median at speed?

I do not think modern radial tubeless tyres blow out. I have had 2" plus cuts and yet the vehicles were drivable. One of them was a rear tyre at higher speeds.

Originally Posted by locusjag

This is the pin that regulates air flow into and out of the tyre.

Its a good practice on highways to kick your tyres and feel the bounce back. If it is off by a bit, get it filled up.

Coming to the car toppling over, it could be a plethora of different circumstances. The toppling of the Hyundai Creta from a few posts back is a simple example of how hitting the median can just send the car somersaulting in any direction. No tyre damage required. And we have plenty of stuff sticking out of the median ready just for this purpose. The best ones are the blocks removed and left on the right lane so that the locals can cross over with their bikes.

[anjan_c2007]

Originally Posted by MercFan

3 die in a Duster and City accident in Telangana state.

It's quite surprising to note as to how the 'A', 'B' and 'C' pillars of these cars crumple during such impacts. The other safety gizmos and features though working, stronger 'A', 'B' and 'C' pillars would ensure survival and or/ lesser injuries to the occupants.

[Rahul Rao]

Originally Posted by strawhat

* The tyre may have shown signs before the journey began. Either it wan't detected or plainly ignored.
* The tyre may have hit a big, sharp object creating cracks. The occupants unaware of this development proceeded ahead. The cracks deteriorated and finally the tyre bursted.
I know of quite a few people who do not take the safety aspect seriously. Some of them haven't changed their stock tyres even after doing some 60k kms. Reason they keep blurting, lack of money. Affordability when safety is concerned never exists.

In my driving experience which exceeds 10 Lakh km in 26 years, I have always used tires for more than 60 to 70 thousand km, but never more than 4 years. On occasions I have changed tires of a car that has run barely 15000 km, and has tires with 80 to 90% tread depth, just because they have crossed th 4 year mark. Opposing this I had completed 1 lakh in my Innova in just two years, and tires had about 4 mm tread remaining, they were changed due to it being July and a planned trip from Pune to Himachal where I would drive from 45+ temperature in Punjab to snow bound regions in a day, and return home to see rains.

A 5 year old tire hardened due to weather with only 10,000 km use is far more dangerous than a two year old tire close to showing its tread wear indicator.

Originally Posted by locusjag

The loss of life from such tyre-related accidents is so harrowing. I can totally relate to being unaware of issues that crop up with one's tyres. I'm guilty of it too. I can tell you that so many things can and do go wrong with tyres.
But I was horrified to discover that this little guy had played a cruel trick on me recently:
Attachment 1838371
This is the pin that regulates air flow into and out of the tyre. This guy was defunct and was constantly leaking air. I had blissfully driven through a 600 Km roundtrip and made the discovery that I had only 19 psi in my front left tyre!

I follow the procedure of checking the pressure a day before a long trip, and again the morning of the trip. Even if a tyre is loosing 1 psi it is thoroughly checked. Lastly I use my own gauge to check.


Another thing I follow monthly is to get all cars up on a ramp, and check inner side walls for damages which may not be otherwise visible.


Rahul

[for_cars1]

Originally Posted by locusjag

... to check the tyres not just once every month, but also before and during any long roadtrips when i take my regular breaks. ....[/i]

Tyre pressure should be checked and filled to the required pressure only when the tyres are cold. Its a safe practice to check and top-up the tyre pressure a day before a long trip.
Although not unsafe, its better to avoid topping up tyre pressure just before setting out on a highway drive, just to avoid chances losing pressure during the drive in case the valve is unsettled due to the check and leaks.

Visual inspection of tyres during regular breaks is alright, however it is extremely dangerous to check and top up tyre pressure on heated tyres during the middle of a highway drive. Doing so significantly increases the risk of a tyre blowout.

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by locusjag

....But I was horrified to discover that this little guy had played a cruel trick on me recently....
This is the pin that regulates air flow into and out of the tyre. This guy was defunct and was constantly leaking air......

I used to mentally scoff at seeing taxi drivers and bus drivers religiously checking their tyres at every rest area. Meanwhile i always have a highly accurate tyre pressure gauge in the car at all times....

I get chided and scoffed at constantly but every time I inflate tires, and a couple times a week, I do to all 5 tire valves what I've done since I've had tires to inflate.

Needs nothing more sophisticated than a bit of spit, and takes barely a minute or two.

Bubbles? Leaking pin.
No bubbles? Good to go!

Saved my bacon more times than I care to remember.

P.S. Buy yourself a valve pin remover the puncture repair guys use. Small tool and handy if the pin needs tightening in a remote location.

[for_cars1]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

It's quite surprising to note as to how the 'A', 'B' and 'C' pillars of these cars crumple during such impacts. ...stronger 'A', 'B' and 'C' pillars would ensure survival and or/ lesser injuries to the occupants.

A consistent pattern observed in case of SUV/MUVs crashes in this thread is that they almost always tend to flip/roll over very easily (due to their higher CG and lower stability) and when that happens, the last/C/D pillars of the vehicle gets crushed very badly (greatly reducing the survivability chances for rear occupants)

It looks like the rear pillars of most SUV/MUVs are weak and lacks the sturdiness required to withstand a direct hit when the vehicle flips and lands on its roof (a more common case for vehicles with lower stability). High time the C/D pillars are designed to be more sturdy than they currently are.