[honeybee]

Originally Posted by balenoed_

I am trying to emphasize this point about the full time conductors taking a nap during the over night journey. I travel frequently in this particular route where the accident happened, and have seen almost every time that, after the conductor is done with his ticketing responsibilities and dinner, he sleeps and wakes up towards the end of the trip.

Well, he did his job and earned some shut eye, and the driver didn't do his job and got some shut eye. Result is the one who did his job is dead because of the other who didn't do his.

[Vasuki]

Originally Posted by treadmark

Shouldn't we blame both?

• The Duke rider for riding at a speed where he can't handle the vehicle on such situations?
• Since he couldn't brake on time at least he could have avoided the hit by aiming behind CBZ tail.
• The CBZ rider for taking a right without watching completely for an oncoming traffic (I know his eyes just grazed but then didn't noticed the fast approaching Duke until it was too late).
• Kid and him without helmet, hope now he would have realized the importance of head gear even for local errands and for the pillion too.

Cheers!

Also the CBZ rider did not turn on the right indicator. Typically behavior by many.

[saurabh2711]

Originally Posted by treadmark

Shouldn't we blame both?

Yes Definitely both, for the points you mentioned.
Additionally, looks like the Duke rider simply panicked looking at the vehicle "parked" in middle of the road.
There is a post on page 1707, post# 25597 by nikhn,. This is another such case of such poor braking maneuvers. No way he could have controlled the collision, once the rear tire lost the grip on the road & started skidding.
Simultaneous braking of front & rear wheels could have averted the collision or the impact could have been less if not avoidable. Does the Duke comes with Disk brakes at front wheel?
Another case of poor driving sense : not using rear view mirrors; in-stead, turning your head almost like an owl to see vehicles coming from behind> resulting in complete loss of the track of oncoming traffic & eventually braked in panic looking at a fast approaching vehicle towards you. I guess this is what made the Duke rider panic more.

Hope the kid is OK & senior(s) learned something out of this.

Just saw the VDO few more times to check if the Duke of Hazard was riding with his headphones on (though no relation to accident), Couldn't find something at this moment.
Everybody is pointing fingers or raising hands towards the Duke rider..
Triple seat riders at 00:18!!!!

[Chetan_Rao]

Even on a bike that has disk brakes on both wheels and dual-channel ABS, it will still be upto the rider to hit the brakes in time in an appropriately weighted manner front & back, while simultaneously control potential loss of balance due to sudden inertial weight transfer (swerving would make it trickier).

The irony is, most riders with that kind of emergency maneuvering skills will probably not be riding irresponsibly in the first place. Twisting the throttle to gain speed is the easiest thing to do on a bike, it's what comes after that catches most of these idiots on powerful bikes out, and endangers others around them.

[treadmark]

Originally Posted by balenoed_

Came across this accident report.
Pic courtesy and report in local language:

Did you also noticed the open letter to Kerala Chief Minister from a passenger who survived this accident.
He had mentioned the bus from Bangalore to Kozhikode through Gundulpet had covered 220 Kms in 3 hours, just imagine the speed he would have done on those undivided dual carriage way and not to forget those multiple speed breakers.

Cheers!

[Jr Godzilla]

Originally Posted by treadmark

Did you also noticed the open letter to Kerala Chief Minister from a passenger who survived this accident.
He had mentioned the bus from Bangalore to Kozhikode through Gundulpet had covered 220 Kms in 3 hours, just imagine the speed he would have done on those undivided dual carriage way and not to forget those multiple speed breakers.

Cheers!

This is common speed for these bus driver's.

I kept praying on a similar ride Pune to Hyderabad in 2011.

The Jxxxxx travel bus left Pune from Mobos hotel (wadia college) at 20:00 hrs ETD. On time. It dilly dalled until 23:00 hours covering a mere 5 or 6 kms until Hadapsar flyover to pick passengers.i kept on asking the conductor if we will reach Hyderabad at 06:00 hrs as I had to attend an interview at 10:00 am.

The conductor, Sirrr don't worry, uske pehle paunchayenge (we will reach ahead of time).

After 23:00 hrs this slug transformed to a cheetah.
It was super fast well over 100kmph
I could not relax or sleep.

Reached Hyd at 05:45 hrs

OMG that was the most wicked bus ride I ever had.

Cancelled the return ticket and travelled by train to Pune.

[Miel]

Originally Posted by ecenandu

If someone tells its not important to wear helmets for short rides, make them watch this video. Both of them knocked out cold, even though the speed was comparitively slow.

Well, somehow I am glad that these fellows knocked themselves out cold, rather than end up hurting someone else.

And looks to me like either the guy still was in his "trainer wheels" phase or was drunk. Or both. Hope they both learn a valuable lesson from this.

[shubhodeepdas@g]

Originally Posted by audioholic

Incidents like these are what results of gross carelessness and the typical Chalta hai attitude.

Actually the swing out doors on bus sides are not allowed in most countries. Bus bodies built by proper manufacturers will have a slide up door instead of a swing out door. It's the local replicas that will mostly have a "cheaper replacement" that will swing out and keep hitting people around.

The slide up door can also do damage, but much less in comparison to the other variety.

Similarly non footpath side opening tail gates, found in many cars. These are just plain cost cutting that eventually endanger a lot of lives.

[blackwasp]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

I always had a fear of running into such buses or trucks that had its Air filter cover open near the driver's cabin and damage my car but this accident is of a different kind that resulted in 2 deaths!

Most of these volvo buses have individual sensors on each doors that will give out a warning if they are left open. Once, while on a Mum-Pune trip in Shivneri, I could spot multiple warnings on the driver console (I prefer to sit just behind the driver). At the customary Lonavala halt, when the driver left, I glanced at the console and there were many errors just flashing one after the another.

Once the contract period / warranty of these buses is done, the companies just resort to the Indian jugaad in the name of maintenance. We frankly don't deserve such nice buses. Volvo should simply stop selling buses to organisations that don't do proper maintenance.

Also whats with wedging a water bottle in the rear engine cover? Do the people realise that the company has designed the bus and they know more about the ventilation around the engine that some guy who's probably using them for a year or more?

[honeybee]

These jugaads are often born out of the necessity to put the buses out on roads even when there are no funds to properly repair them.

Not trying to justify the risky practices, but the reason for them is not because the mechanics love to experiment, but because they seldom have an alternative.

[kannan666]

More details on the Verna Mysore ring road accident - https://starofmysore.com/three-stude...lli-ring-road/

[blackwasp]

Originally Posted by honeybee

These jugaads are often born out of the necessity to put the buses out on roads even when there are no funds to properly repair them.

If it were private buses, yes. But these are MSRTC (a govt. run transport company) operated ones and I expect them to not cut costs. Already they charge a bomb for their Shivneri and Ashwamedh (multi-axle) services between Mumbai and Pune. Eg. Shivneri fare is almost Rs 450, and the multi-axle is Rs. 520 or so,while the private players charge Rs. 300-400 for same.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by blackwasp

If it were private buses, yes. But these are MSRTC (a govt. run transport company) operated ones and I expect them to not cut costs. Already they charge a bomb for their Shivneri and Ashwamedh (multi-axle) services between Mumbai and Pune. Eg. Shivneri fare is almost Rs 450, and the multi-axle is Rs. 520 or so,while the private players charge Rs. 300-400 for same.

I believe some amount of lax attitude and sometimes corruption plays a role here. Instead of say going to Volvo to fix a broken latch, they will be fine with getting a latch from a furniture shop nearby and rivet it without a second thought. Similarly, they replace switches(or rather they go missing), lights and what not. All they need is a bill to file.

I had also read in newspaper on how BMTC used to source spares from Volvo from the outside market and how substandard these parts were. Same applies to KSRTC too. Not even the replacement windshields they use is from a reputed manufacturer. Why does this happen? Being a Government agency, they should just send the buses to the manufacturer and pay the bills rightfully. But where is the chance to cut deals under the table? Later, they claim that these buses are not serviceable and Volvo are not willing to touch the buses since they are tampered. This is how senseless the government bodies are.

It is an insult to these buses like Volvo, Scania which are built and engineered so well.

[saurabh2711]

Originally Posted by audioholic

Later...Volvo are not willing to touch the buses.....

+1,
Another reason could be the outstanding bill payments that such companies are to receive from Government. Everyone knows how "SWIFT" & "efficient" the system is when it comes to taking money from them.

Example but justifies the above. I have the same Bank account updated/shared for my income tax refunds (if I claim), since last 9 years. Last two refunds of few thousands were credited automatically. However, a refund of Rs 379 was send to me Via a Cheque. Call it what?, I have no Idea.

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by kannan666

More details on the Verna Mysore ring road accident - https://starofmysore.com/three-stude...lli-ring-road/

Tragic accident aside, a good reminder of the legal hassles involved while a car is changing hands and why sellers should exercise caution.

According to the news article, the owner of the car had handed it over to the used car dealer after filling out forms 29/30, who in turn lent the car to his nephew for the joyride gone horribly wrong. Needless to say, the actual ownership is now in question and could lead to headaches for the current registered owner as fatalities are involved.