Pics: Accidents in India

[luvDriving]

I viewed the video by slowing down the speed by 50%. I think there was enough space on the right of the Creta to pass without jumping on the divider. Also, the driver turns the steering to the right as soon as they are parallel to (or have almost completed overtaking) the Creta.

The only reason for this could be either the Creta or another car pushed them or else the driver lost control. Until the maruti met creta, it was being driven maybe fast but not rashly.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by chevyman

The Creta first appears at 0:55.
From 1:04 to 1:14 recording is paused.
After 1:14 the Maruti 800 is moving significantly faster than earlier.
Creta appears again at 1:45 and the Maruti seems to be in a hurry to overtake it and looks like the Creta is begrudgingly trying to block it. Mysteriously the Creta slows down significantly, almost stops as the M800 approaches it.

Was it road rage?

The recording was not paused, looked like a network issue. The audio is still streaming and is flawless. But of course, the timeline shows that after the first encounter with the Creta, it looks like the Creta accelerates and goes way ahead of the 800. After a long time, the 800 manages to catch up with the Creta. The first houl from the 800 driver doesnt look like it was done in shock, but to tell his friends he has passed ahead of the Creta. And this is when things go out of control. But the 800 had passed ahead of the Creta by the time this started. The driver of the creta did clear the lane for him to pass seeing his approach. If he was trying to create road rage, it would not have been so. The only doubt I have is if the Creta driver tried to scare the 800 by suddenly moving right, which would have started the whole mess.

I have seen such morons on the highways who consider it an achievement to overtake a bigger vehicle. This looks typically so. There are times when people in Eeco pass me at a breakneck speed and the driver stares in the mirror as if they have achieved something. I just back off and let the madness continue.

Towards the end of the video, the sudden silence and the soft wail(presumably from an occupant) is just bone chilling to see the way so much of noise gets muted in one second.

[centaur]

Originally Posted by chevyman

Creta is begrudgingly trying to block it. Mysteriously the Creta slows down significantly, almost stops as the M800 approaches it.

Was it road rage?

Creta has a vehicle in the same lane a few meters ahead of it. So it was but natural for the Creta to brake. He doesnt stop either IMHO. Its the 800's speed combined with the slowing down of the Creta which makes it feel that way

[JediKnight]

Originally Posted by luvDriving

I viewed the video by slowing down the speed by 50%. I think there was enough space on the right of the Creta to pass without jumping on the divider. Also, the driver turns the steering to the right as soon as they are parallel to (or have almost completed overtaking) the Creta.

The only reason for this could be either the Creta or another car pushed them or else the driver lost control. Until the maruti met creta, it was being driven maybe fast but not rashly.

I think the Maruti had already passed the creta when it hits the divider. Moreover there is enough space for the maruti to pass easily. Looks like the driver either got distracted and went too much right ( chatting with friends ? ) or may be a tyre burst?

[luvDriving]

Originally Posted by JediKnight

Looks like the driver either got distracted and went too much right ( chatting with friends ? ) or may be a tyre burst?

Distracted ? I don't think so because as soon as the camera pans to the driver, we can see him turning the steering wheel clockwise (purposefully) at least by 90 degrees. This means that he needed to avoid hitting someone or something (as honeybee stated earlier), most probably the car in front of the Creta. Also, maybe the driver turned the steering without touching the brakes and as a result the car flipped on the divider causing a much stronger impact.

[VKumar]

Pics as received over whatsapp, a Ciaz rear ended a Grand i10 and this is what was achieved:




Looks like either the front impact beam is just for the namesake or the front crumple zones are more or less made out of paper.

Here is the CCTV video footage of the same:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4-MJO-fLLM

[honeybee]

Originally Posted by VKumar

Looks like either the front impact beam is just for the namesake or the front crumple zones are more or less made out of paper.

Crumple zones are meant to crumple. If the bonnet hadn't crumpled, you would have seen the impact on the i10's boot and any rear seat passengers, possibly serious back / spinal injuries resulting from a whiplash.

The impact was pretty strong as the i10 was pushed forward a few feet from where it had stopped. The Ciaz managed to hit the rear bumper which probably has the rear cross member directly after it, so the Ciaz would receive most of the visible damage, while the i10 must have had a very bad whiplash. Even with a belted up driver, the neck can suffer damage. It's sheer good luck if the i10 occupants escaped completely unhurt.

Just for the record, the i10 stopped as a roadside tree fell almost on it, and the Ciaz following it rammed into it.

[IshaanIan]

Every rear-ending story is the same. I was once rear ended in my Wagon R by a Camry at relatively low speeds and guess what? The Camry looked worse off. It's the same story in every instance. At higher speeds, while the back of the car might look fine, one will still have to check if the boot opens and shuts properly, check the frame, if locks are fine etc.

[balenoed_]

Whoever follows this thread would never ever want their car to be featured here. The same was mine too, but there was something else in store coming in. Just consoling myself that it wasn’t anything major.

I was in fact privileged to get a chance to rehearse this before the actual incident took place.

Aug 7th - Rehearsal day

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4a7IX4VeN_4

It was a curve, slippery and drizzling day. So was not sure how the car would respond to brakes, hence swerved away to be safer. Lucky that the speeds were less and there was some space off road. Moved on.

Like mentioned earlier, as if the above one was a rehearsal, here comes the real take. Did the rehearsal helped me to be instinctual to repeat the same and swerve away? Maybe!

Aug 15th - D-Day

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EczCMLZO2IE

It was again a slightly curvy road, drizzling and slippery. Was again not sure if the brakes would have helped to stop the car without colliding head on, also was not sure whether that guy would have braked in time, as I noticed him to be frozen and skidding all along seeing me. Though I managed to avoid a head on, this time I was not lucky enough. The Omni scraped all along the side of the car starting right from ripping the RVM.

This was the damage:-



I was expecting a much more damage in terms of the under body frame, pillar bulging in, or something severe and perhaps a breakdown. Nothing as such happened, but this was good enough to cause a heart break for someone who was caring the 13 year old car so much to the extent of having the username kept after it

Both happened on a Bangalore-Kerala stretch at almost closer places with a gap of a week.

I was sure the damages can be repaired easily without a trace of it showing up, hence was not too much worried. As I was getting out of the car, I was sure that all is captured in the dashcam and that it would be easy for an argument or discussion with the Omni driver and the bunch of local resident who are about to come. Hence I was at ease, but to my surprise, the Omni driver instantly agreed that he is at fault and was thanking me in saving his life or life threatening injuries and the car by swerving away. That made things easy and as there were no injuries to anyone or no more disputes, and also I had to drive further 300 odd kms, I took his number and drove away. Luckily the door was opening and closing and no other issues in continuing the driving. Driving without RVM was a pain though.

Took it to a body workshop in Bangalore the next day and had to leave the car for about a week to get back it in its original state.

Here it is now:-



Waiting for the front door black molding part to arrive. With that black strip on, it should be back to its charm.

Sent the dashcam video to the Omni guy later on and forwarded the repair bill, and he was kind enough to acknowledge again his mistake and generously agreed to pay for the expenses.

Having said that, I would not want to blame the Omni driver entirely for this, as I could have also played a part to avoid this accident. I noticed in the video that I “slightly” went on to the oncoming lane (just the right side tyres) before approaching this curve and that reduced the visibility of both of us in sighting each other early enough. Also a defensive driving at curves anticipating anything, could have helped to brake earlier or reduce the speed. So the key take away – Drive defensively.

The thought of what could have happened if it was a “head on” keeps perturbing me.

[chevyman]

Originally Posted by balenoed_

Aug 15th - D-Day

Congratulations that you came out of this unscathed. Wish you many more happy and safe road trips.

I would humbly want to submit that if I was in your place, at 0:1 (or even earlier) in the video when the Maruti van guy did not leave any space for the oncoming vehicle to pass, I would have braked hard because I think that would have forced him to brake hard or swerve to his left and hit the mini van. Since you were coasting along he too thought its ok to keep going.

My 2 cents.

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by balenoed_

Aug 15th - D-Day

Holy smokes! That guy had a deathwish.

You handled it really well

I can understand that the small truck in front of him might have caused a blind spot, but this is exactly why you have to be extra careful when overtaking and pick the right time & place!!

In most other developed countries, a curved section of road like this would have had a solid line (indicating no overtaking).

Originally Posted by chevyman

I would have braked hard because I think that would have forced him to brake hard or swerve to his left and hit the mini van.

Some braking might have helped, but honestly in this case I think the outcome was excellent.

Braking could have also made things worse by leading to skidding (especially considering it would be panic braking by one or both parties AND the road was wet). Note that the centrifugal force of the turn was also pushing the oncoming car further into Balenoed_'s lane. Skidding (due to hard braking) could have increased the chances of a head-on collision.

Even a small head-on collision could have been disastrous, given that the other car was an Omni!

[balenoed_]

Originally Posted by chevyman

Wish you many more happy and safe road trips.
I would have braked hard because I think that would have forced him to brake hard or swerve to his left and hit the mini van.

Thank You!

I don't think that would have helped here. Like I said, he froze and was skidding. In fact I have braked at 0.2s in the video, was hoping till the last second that he will swerve back to his lane, but he didn't, and then I had to.

Originally Posted by Rehaan

Braking could have also made things worse by leading to skidding.
Even a small head-on collision could have been disastrous, given that the other car was an Omni!

Exactly. With head on to "Omni", it would have been a totally different story all together. May be injuries and my car too would have suffered super expensive damages and probably a break down, towing, and what not hassles.

[Chetan_Rao]

Don't be harsh on yourself. Defensive driving in our head and in real life hardly ever turn out identical.

To walk away from that situation with no injuries to either party and only cosmetic damage to the cars is commendable.

You could do better next time, but you did great this time too.

[Divya Sharan]

Received the following pics over Whatsapp about a Fiat Punto Abarth having a nasty crash at super high speeds (150+ as per the message) somewhere along NH-2 on Sunday.

The driver thankfully is alive and escaped with minor injuries.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by Divya Sharan

Received the following pics over Whatsapp about a Fiat Punto Abarth having a nasty crash at super high speeds (150+ as per the message) somewhere along NH-2 on Sunday.

The driver thankfully is alive and escaped with minor injuries.

Nasty Crash --> Yes, a real bad one this is
High Speeds --> Indeed it would be, looking at the mangled remains
150+ --> Waiting for another wonderful debate to start with details like speed at the time of accident and during the time of impact .