[ashbhat2]

Photos of an accident that happened this morning in Bangalore ORR at the Underpass for BEL circle.

Two trucks involved. Its likely that the 18 wheeler hit the other truck carrying the iron rods from behind at good speeds to have toppled it.

No information on casualties though.

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by ashbhat2

Photos of an accident that happened this morning in Bangalore ORR at the Underpass for BEL circle.

Two trucks involved. Its likely that the 18 wheeler hit the other truck carrying the iron rods from behind at good speeds to have toppled it.

No information on casualties though.

High chances of the smaller truck stopped on the fast lane for some reason and the bigger truck driver not noticing it in the early morning twilight. hope the driver survived.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by ashbhat2

Photos of an accident that happened this morning in Bangalore ORR at the Underpass for BEL circle.

And now wonder there were at least 1000 curious onlookers standing atop the underpass on BEL Circle and I kept wondering if there was a movie shooting in progress. I passed this place around 0630 today above the underpass but could hardly make out as to what was the reason behind the crowd.

There were a lot of vehicles parked haphazardly at the circle too that made things very suspicious.

[rjstyles69]

Originally Posted by ashbhat2

Photos of an accident that happened this morning in Bangalore ORR at the Underpass for BEL circle.

Two trucks involved. Its likely that the 18 wheeler hit the other truck carrying the iron rods from behind at good speeds to have toppled it.

Happened as early 5:00 am today and the driver of the trailer wasn't in good shape. Unlikely that he might have survived. When I reached the spot the driver from the canter was being pulled out. So my guess is that it might have just happened.

It was me who called for the ambulance. The cops in the Hoysala sent out a wireless message and were checking on the driver of the 18-wheeler.

I offered my bottle of water to be given to the co-driver in the 18-wheeler. Dint have the heart to go and check on the driver. The ambulance reached in less than 5 minutes and there was 2 of them.

The fire force guys arrived and went straight to the job. Pulled out their metal cutters to retrieve the driver out of the cabin. I stayed around for another 15 minutes and left.

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

High chances of the smaller truck stopped on the fast lane for some reason and the bigger truck driver not noticing it in the early morning twilight. hope the driver survived.

Nopes . The canter hadn't stopped , rather was being driven slowly on the extreme right lane. The 18-wheeler exited the underpass curve at full throttle and rammed into it . I got this from a truck driver who witnessed it from the opposite lane.

[rjstyles69]

From the same accident this morning. I will refrain from posting the gory ones.

[kannan666]

Originally Posted by rjstyles69

From the same accident this morning. I will refrain from posting the gory ones.

Gory Ones ? Meaning somebody died, lives were lost ?

[Thad E Ginathom]

I read, this morning, about loss of lives by two very young bikers on the Chennai bypass. They were racing.

But what struck me was the mention of the speeds involved: 120kph. My calculator tells me that is 75MPH: just 5MPH over the British national speed limit. That is, a speed that grannies will regularly do on British M and dual-carriageway roads.

Leave aside, for now, the matter of legality. What really struck me about this is that these youngsters could not control their vehicle (lost control; hit median) at what, internationally, is really no speed at all, let alone [allegedly] racing speed.

I don't recall any more details from the short news item, and I don't know the speed limit at the location where the tragedy took place. Anyway, this post is not about law*: it is about the sense of responsibility, to themselves, first, let alone others, of doing stupid stuff when it seems that they could barely drive at all.

Sad. there are some stupid mistakes that don't give second chances.


*of course, road racing, by anyone in/on any vehicle is rightly condemned by forum rules.

[tharian]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

But what struck me was the mention of the speeds involved: 120kph. My calculator tells me that is 75MPH: just 5MPH over the British national speed limit. That is, a speed that grannies will regularly do on British M and dual-carriageway roads.

Leave aside, for now, the matter of legality. What really struck me about this is that these youngsters could not control their vehicle (lost control; hit median) at what, internationally, is really no speed at all, let alone [allegedly] racing speed.

On an Indian road, on a two wheeler, 120 kmph is high speed. I guess you know by now why it is.

Even in a car, I have a mental limit of 100 kmph when driving, doing a 100 for me was a big deal in any mode of transport on land since I was a kid and that has stuck in my head. Not that I don't go above that, but it is like a threshold and on Indian roads, with all the upgrades and modernization, a safe speed is the ton IMO.

Originally Posted by rjstyles69

From the same accident this morning. I will refrain from posting the gory ones.

Did the driver escape being killed?
From the pictures, it seems the Bharat Benz cab has not crumbled fully, it is shifted from the chassis since it was a corner hit. Probably would have been worse if it was a full hit with the lcv.

[perty]

Originally Posted by ashbhat2

Photos of an accident that happened this morning in Bangalore ORR at the Underpass for BEL circle.

That location is a real black spot.
A wide 3 lane road enters a dingy underpass and takes a sharp, almost 60 degree turn to the left, while coming from Gorguntepalya and going towards Hebbal.
Truckers who would have been frustrated at the railway crossing a few minutes earlier will push the throttle when they enter the wide road before this underpass.
The sharp turn and the dark underpass reduces visibility of what lurks beyond the curve. Add early morning sleepiness to the mix and its a deadly combination.
This is the second time I have seen an 18 wheeler meeting with an accident at the exact same place.
On the previous occasion, the trucker couldn't slow down enough in time at the turn and had toppled, blocking the entire underpass.

[landcruiser123]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Leave aside, for now, the matter of legality. What really struck me about this is that these youngsters could not control their vehicle (lost control; hit median) at what, internationally, is really no speed at all, let alone [allegedly] racing speed.

75 MPH or 120 KMPH is a common speed in the US as well. That's the speed only on freeways/motorways with access control and grade separated interchanges.

We have poorly planned highways. The road quality maybe good, but there's no access control to speak of, no fencing, too many junctions etc. Hence our average speed also suffers. A video (refer post 22307) which was there a few posts ago is the perfect examples of poor planning- The place seems to have a lot of people. The government should build a flyover with space under the flyover for the busses, trucks, bikes, bullock carts to enter town.

There's a lot we can point out about our poorly planned infrastructure, but we should adapt- anticipate and reduce our speed according to situation. Changing the infrastructure takes time, but changing ourselves only requires will power.

Most of us know- a lot of things can happen on our unpredictable Indian roads:

• A dog/cow/bull jumping from the median
• A vehicle suddenly appearing from a perpendicular road
• A truck driving at 40 kmph in the fast lane
• Someone driving in the wrong direction

and so on..

Also, many Indians really don't learn to drive/ride properly. That is a huge factor.

Considering all these factors and the traffic density on the highway, I either try to drive at 95 KMPH (~60 MPH) or 110 KMPH (~70 MPH)

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by tharian

On an Indian road, on a two wheeler, 120 kmph is high speed. I guess you know by now why it is.

Indeed I do, and I have never hit that speed here, not even on the best roads.

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

75 MPH or 120 KMPH is a common speed in the US as well. That's the speed only on freeways/motorways with access control and grade separated interchanges.

We have poorly planned highways.Also, many Indians really don't learn to drive/ride properly. That is a huge factor.

... ... ...

Considering all these factors and the traffic density on the highway, I either try to drive at 95 KMPH (~60 MPH) or 110 KMPH (~70 MPH)

Sure. You are driving with wisdom, and probably many years more experience than these youngsters had.

I'm not even sure of the road, but if it was the one I think it is, then it is (subject to some of the things you mention) a fantastic stretch of clear, clean tarmac. They couldn't handle it.

Hey ho, I'm making a lot of a small news item, and assuming a lot --- but the principles apply to so many accidents.

[landcruiser123]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Sure. You are driving with wisdom, and probably many years more experience than these youngsters had.

I'm a little more than 1/3rd of the retirement age at the government offices in India, but my dad gives me a lot of knowledge of the mistakes he made when he was an inexperienced driver.

... a fantastic stretch of clear, clean tarmac. They couldn't handle it.

As I said above, people don't learn to drive properly.

[rjstyles69]

Originally Posted by kannan666

Gory Ones ? Meaning somebody died, lives were lost ?

The drivers right leg was dangling from the mangled cabin and dint look like he was in good shape. This was in the morning when I was there. The driver was motionless when the fire-force guys were trying to retrieve him.Pictures taken later during the day had a lot of blood stains.

Originally Posted by tharian

From the pictures, it seems the Bharat Benz cab has not crumbled fully, it is shifted from the chassis since it was a corner hit. Probably would have been worse if it was a full hit with the lcv.

From what I could see, the cabin had taken a solid hit on the drivers side. Maybe the pictures dont reveal the complete impact. On my way back home, only front axle was on the road and the folks were clearing that too. I dint bother to stop by and ask about the drivers condition.

What beats me is the level we humans have stooped to. An accident scene and people around pulling out their phones and clicking pictures . This even the educated lot from the company cabs that had slowed down/stopped .

[jpcoolguy]

Yesterday night around 8:35 PM, saw an accident, where an Autorickshaw and couple of bikes involved, under the Vandalur overbridge. I was travelling towards Tambaram and the accident was on the opposite side and a lot of people gathered there and an ambulance was already nearing the spot (it just overtook me and took a U-turn under the overbridge). Not sure about the details - anyone has any info, here, on the incident?

And today morning while travelling to office, I witnessed a biker going down due to skidding during hard braking before a hump. Luckily nothing happened to him as he soon stood up and recovered the bike with a few people gathered around. It is raining consistently from the morning here and that might have caused the skidding of the bike, under hard braking. BTW, the rider was not wearing the helmet , lucky that nothing untoward had happened.

[KiloAlpha]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

I read, this morning, about loss of lives by two very young bikers on the Chennai bypass. They were racing.

But what struck me was the mention of the speeds involved: 120kph. My calculator tells me that is 75MPH: just 5MPH over the British national speed limit. That is, a speed that grannies will regularly do on British M and dual-carriageway roads.

...

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

...
We have poorly planned highways. The road quality maybe good, but there's no access control to speak of, no fencing, too many junctions etc. Hence our average speed also suffers. A video (refer post 22307) which was there a few posts ago is the perfect examples of poor planning- The place seems to have a lot of people. The government should build a flyover with space under the flyover for the busses, trucks, bikes, bullock carts to enter town.

...

These posts reminded me of a minor accident that I had witnessed on the Whitefield-Hosakote stretch of Old Madras Road before it was widened to a 4/6 lane divided highway.

The road was in excellent condition - smooth surface, all proper markings etc. It was also quite wide for an undivided highway - about 3 lanes wide.

At dusk, 2 bikes were racing each other and passed me on my left. Almost immediately, they were startled by a farmer ambling along on his scooter on the wrong side of the road. In their inexperience, both of them made panicked moves (which were not totally warranted, as the farmer moved off into the trees as soon as he saw them), skidded and fell down. Road rash was the worst that they suffered.
I stopped to help, but seeing a police car also stopping to see what happened, they declined all help, denied everything, and went on their way.

I am speculating here - could this be the cause of the accident in this case as well?

p.s. -> I was once driving my scooter at 20kmph in a small lane near a school. Kid runs out in front of me. I brake hard, avoid the kid, fall down, and dislocate my right shoulder. Injuries due to 2-wheeler accidents are probably a lottery?