[simplyself]

One prefers to travel on right most lane or fast lane because the left or slow lane is not always clear what with two wheelers, pedestrians, cattle etc. That's why vehicles prefer to travel on the right and overtake from left. It's an issue to be mulled over by the road designers and the authorities.

An immediate idea that comes to mind is the 6 lanes roads. But the cost increases by 50 %. And then there is no guarantee our folks and cattle behave.

While being on the topic, I do feel that a service road is mandatory, abutting the highway. And an underpass every half kilometre or so to allow cattle, farmers, farm equipment etc to cross over to the other side. This may well prevent cattle and people travelling between villages from coming on to the highway.

Without provision for local populace, any number of lanes doesn't solve the problem.

[for_cars1]

Originally Posted by locusjag

...I always stick to the median when in my car. .. I love the median and stick to it.

...I have tended to hug the median there too as far as I can remember.

..

Constantly driving near the median implies the right side wheels being just a meter or 2 meters max away from the median it poses a tremendous risk for the vehicle occupants.

A modest cruising speed of 80 km/hr amounts to about 22 meters distance covered per second.

At 22 meters/second, all it would take is a small undulation of the road (bump or crater) or a minute nudge of the steering for whatever reason for the front wheel to slam into the median divider with catastrophic consequences.

Hitting the divider could happen within 1/20th of a second (50 milliseconds), which is far less than an average human reaction time of 200 milliseconds.

Better to complete that overtaking manoeuvre using the right most lane and return to the middle or left lane and continue cruising or just follow that bullfrog if you choose to Safety takes precedence.

[locusjag]

Originally Posted by simplyself

While being on the topic, I do feel that a service road is mandatory, abutting the highway. And an underpass every half kilometre or so to allow cattle, farmers, farm equipment etc to cross over to the other side.

Without provision for local populace, any number of lanes doesn't solve the problem.

You nailed it! Access-controlled highways such as NICE road, or elevated expressways with underpasses (such as the Delhi-Agra expressway) are what we need to evolve to.

Originally Posted by for_cars1

Constantly driving near the median implies the right side wheels being just a meter or 2 meters max away from the median it poses a tremendous risk for the vehicle occupants.

Better to complete that overtaking manoeuvre using the right most lane and return to the middle or left lane and continue cruising or just follow that bullfrog if you choose to Safety takes precedence.

Well, everyone gets to learn something new everyday. I never thought about it like that. And we did have a scare like that once, when my brother-in-law was at the wheel en route from Chennai to Bangalore and we were close to the median. He took a swill of water from a bottle with one hand and his other hand on the wheel moved a bit; in just a wee moment we almost climbed the median...you're right. There's very little tolerance for any sort of deviations close to the median.

[Yieldway17]

Originally Posted by locusjag

In 4-laned urban roads separated by a median (i.e., 2 lanes proceeding in one direction), I always stick to the median when in my car. The left-lane is fraught with vehicles that stop or behave erratically - share-autos, slow vehicles, buses etc.

No lane is safer in India in my opinion. Ever since couple of incidents when a large cow and a monkey jumped from the bushes into the right most lane I was driving in, I stopped hugging the right most lane even for smaller period of time.

On the cow incident, I had to swerve and brake because of the absolute tiny reaction time I had. I still count my lucky stars that I was driving moderately slow (75kmph), the left lane was occupied only by a 2-wheeler and my vehicle EBD worked. I was shaking head to toe once I stopped and took few minutes to return to normal.

Since then, I decided to reboot my old habit I acquired learning to drive in a Western country to drive in the furthest lane from the median as possible unless it is occupied in which case I overtake and move back to left. Yes, slow moving vehicles and vehicles joining blindly from side roads are a risk but at least in most of the cases, they are predictable unlike the animals.

[NowNew7]

Originally Posted by dark.knight

The bikers la-la land is called the lane lines...

EVERY biker sticks to the lane lines on every road.. and as a result they consider both lanes as their own and assume that their movement should happen freely and without contest either to the left or to the right.

As a fellow resident of Bengaluru, I'll have to say this behaviour is by no stretch of imagination limited to 2 wheelers...

I see EVERY single variety of vehicle driving as if the concept of lanes was non-existent.

Sticking to lanes and adhering to signals is a sure shot recipe to be shouted upon and honked at.

[tstlnt]

Originally Posted by Yieldway17

No lane is safer in India in my opinion. Ever since couple of incidents when a large cow and a monkey jumped from the bushes into the right most lane I was driving in, I stopped hugging the right most lane even for smaller period of time.

Well said! One of my collegues, met with an exactly similar incident, with his Fiat Palio, in Chennai Trichy Highway, near Perambalur. It happened in day light.

As the bull jumped from the bushes in the median, almost close to the bonnet, he applied the brakes swiftly. Still, impact was such that the car over turned and skidded to the left. Thank god, all the three escaped with some bruises , thanks to seat belt and there were no vehicles in the left lane. Thereafter, he stopped owning and driving any car.

After hearing this, I stick to left lane only, in laned highways, as you have aptly briefed.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by for_cars1

It is scientifically and practically proven worldwide that if all motorists (2,3,4+ wheelers) resist from changing lanes and continue to drive in their own lane even if they see a gap in their adjacent lane, they will reach their destination at worst at the same time as it takes by changing lanes (carries higher risk of collisions and is highly stressful) or they will reach significantly faster compared to lane changes. ... ... ...

It may be so. What I see is that the worst of the weavers are perpetually "fighting" to get past the vehicle straight in front of them. It is my theory, and I don't have any studies to offer in support, other than personal experience, that the greatest contributor to good progress is reading the road ahead. It contributes to safe driving too.

[VKumar]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Not Mathematics time: common-sense time.

Dear Thad, looks like you got me wrong, let me try to put everything in one line:
"Both the parties are equally wrong, but I blame the Terrano guy for the reason that neither he did try any evasive maneuver, nor did he stop. Additionally it is stated by the eye witness that he was already driving in a rash manner and had a few near misses before too"



I completely agree that the biker has made a grievous mistake, but an alert car driver could have probably averted this accident.

If a vehicle pulls out across a faster overtaking vehicle, and thinks that hand, or light, or horn, or god-sent signals is going to save them, then they are an idiot. And probably won't live long.

Dear Thad, if we directly go by this philosophy and remove the part called 'sensible people' from the equation; then you will be looking forward to choked roads because of wrecked vehicles and dead bodies lying around.



This is just a mishap where two ignorant idiots were at the same place at same moment. But yes, when I go fast; I start anticipating more and drive more defensively being more alert - in fact even if I sense something wrong or say a mirage one kilometer away from me; I start slowing down. Heck, don't you ever observe the things like:

• Somewhere people are crossing
• Somewhere every vehicle is braking os swerving even a kilometer ahead of you
• Somewhere you see a big gap in median with some people standing

An alert driver takes care of such things and hence manages to return home alive after every journey, no matter how long it is and no matter how dangerous the road is.

Attitude: the whole world has to give way to an arm waver.

I wave my arm when I see a heavy vehicle following too close by nullifying my scope of braking and slowing down, it works for me always. But yes, as I already mentioned in the bad driver's thread; the rule is:

• Step 1) Indicate
• Step 2) Check around (Most important step)
• Step 3) Turn

Bikers didn't follow step 2 and they paid the price.

Expectation: others will brake from 100kmph to , well, 0, if necessary, because... Because.

As I said, idiots are everywhere and it is because of some responsible and sensible people that they manage to stay alive.


Let me recite a small example of simple anticipation and alertness:
While passing at around 60 kph through a empty stretch in a wide colony road, my chauffeur noticed that a tennis ball (that fluorescent color Cosco ball) has just crossed the road and ended up in some bushes.

• Anticipation: A kid will soon come on the road running behind the ball
• Alertness: Murphy law there!! Being ready for the situation and slow down
• Action: Slow down and see if a kid comes

While the car was decelerated to around 30 kph, it was not a kid but a proper adult, probably in his 20's who ran swiftly across the road to collect the ball.



Now what you say Thad? Shall I simply say that he doesn't deserve to live because he was ignorant? Nopes, another party was alert and the accident was averted.


In the incident being talked about, the biker was definitely an idiot, but so was the car driver who was doing relatively high speeds but still wasn't being alert.



Many BHPians on this forum may have many times averted such situations (Dash cam thread has them all), they could have hit the other paty and simply would have come up with a hundred reasons over how they were right.



But the thing is, reasons can be a million; action is always one. You pray the other party always do the latter any time something similar happens again.

What the media would say: A speeding car hit biker from behind...

That's a flaw of media and this thread is not the place to discuss that.

Ever been to a newspaper office? You'll find a lot of bikes parked outside!

Ever been to a Govt. Hospital? You'll find many proofs of negligence and lack of anticipation or alertness there!

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by VKumar

Dear Thad, looks like you got me wrong, let me try to put everything in one line:
"Both the parties are equally wrong, but I blame the Terrano guy for the reason that neither he did try any evasive maneuver, nor did he stop. Additionally it is stated by the eye witness that he was already driving in a rash manner and had a few near misses before too"

I am sorry to have put you to the trouble of such a long post, when plainly we are on the same side about most if not all things. Sometimes I should be a little less forthright in my expression!

I'd say that if a person has been driving rashly, an accident that happens to them could still be somebody else's fault. I would not blame the Terrano driver for what happened there, but, and a big but...

--- defensive driving can avoid accidents which are the fault of others. This is the whole point of defensive driving.

--- not allowing for idiots, is not only not practising defenceless driving, it is a kind of arrogance

I really don't know if the Terrano driver had time to avoid that accident: if your view, from the video, is that he did, I won't argue that. I would also agree that to notice any hazard ahead and not, at least take foot off accelerator and cover brake, is wrong... and yes, you then have two drivers driving as if the rest of the world must make room for them.

But that biker: he is driving just as he might on a town street, where he would drive just as if he, and all other road users, were pedestrians who can stop or turn on the spot, and, anyway, collisions don't even hurt. And we have millions who drive like that.

That's a flaw of media and this thread is not the place to discuss that.

I think it is relevant because, just like the advertising and the film stuff, it all becomes part of the psyche of the readers and watchers. Thus, that 2-wheeler accidents are always the other person's fault has become embedded. Hey, sometimes they are, and cruelly so, for instance when a biker is literally mown down by another whilst stopped at a signal.

Ever been to a Govt. Hospital? You'll find many proofs of negligence and lack of anticipation or alertness there!

Well, yes. But I do think it makes a difference that it is [probably] bikers writing that stuff.

Equally, I don't think it is fair to call bikers thugs and the like. Of course: mostly they are people just like us. Simply, it is an effective and low-cost method of city commuting, and certainly the vehicle of choice for those who have to go out and about and maybe reach a customer or incident quickly.

Indeed I don't hate bikers. I'm not a 2-wheeler rider, but, in my experience, those that are good riders have even less tolerance for the antics of their fellows who are not, because they better understand the risks those people take. I will never say that anybody doesn't deserve to live. Bad driving is not a capitol crime. But I can predict that some drivers may well be heading for serious injury or worse. When I have talked to such people, rather than shouting, I prefer to point out that car paint work is replaceable, but legs and lives are not. They usually agree, but agreeing and taking action are not the same. "You are right... but I am late," as one guy said.


"Where there is a ball, a child will probably follow." Long been one of my driving mottos: shake your driver's hand for me.

I heartily agree with the poster who wrote that he wants to be happy on the road, and wants everybody else to happy, and alive, and uninjured too.

[sparky@home]

Incident at Kuthiran on the Thrissur-Palakkad National Highway

Panic gripped Kuthiran on the Thrissur-Palakkad National Highway early on Thursday after a tanker lorry carrying phenol turned over. The tanker lorry carrying phenol overturned around 1.30 a.m. The driver lost control over the vehicle after it collided with a container lorry. The lorry was transporting phenol from the Kochi-based Hindustan Organic Chemicals to Mumbai.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nationa...le24049985.ece

[tharian]

Originally Posted by selfdrive

The ridiculous part is that after getting up he pointed to the Omni van (?) as if to blame that driver for his stunt.

.

I think he panicked and hit the front brakes when he noticed that the Omni who at first looked like he was going to pull over, accelerated and moved back to his line, the same time the scooter was about to overtake him.
If you watch the slo-mo part of the video, the movement from left to right of the Omni can be noticed.

Wouldn't blame the two wheeler entirely , but yeah, he has people praying for him.

[ecenandu]

Originally Posted by ecenandu

An anecdote, people from this part of Kerala tend to help the accident victims without much hesitation. See, in this case the victim was moved in to a car in under a minute.

A biker lost control and fell down, after going over a pothole right in the middle of the road. The biker couldn't spot it as he was following a car. Luckily there were no vehicles behind him, I reached the spot few minutes after the accident.

By the time I parked my car and went to see his condition, he was sitting in a chair in front a small shop. He had quite a deep wound on his hand, elbow and knee. He was finding it difficult to put weight on his right leg. Luckily, he was wearing a helmet.

No one has called for an ambulance, so, I asked him whether is it okay for him if I take him to the hospital. He said okay, took him to the nearest hospital. While waiting for the X-ray to arrive, his friend and a relative came. I left the hospital after that. All in all, just under two hours spend.

This is the third accident in the past few months, where I offered a helping hand. All the three involved bikes, well, coincidence or not all of them fell down after losing balance. No other parties involved, but this was the first time I took an accident victim to the hospital.

After seeing a lot of accident videos online, I do not want to be a mute spectator anymore.

[GTO]

Even a luxury car with a 5-star Euro NCAP rating and all the safety bells & whistles cannot be enough sometimes. Drive safe, guys.

From Rushlane.com:

Priced over Rs 1 crore, Mr Katariya was heading home in his Range Rover Velar from his native village. It is during this time that the car skidded and went off the road. It then ended in a ditch after rolling over. All 6 airbags of the cars inflated. The accident took place near Vanthli town of Junagadh district.

The car got badly mangled. Somehow locals managed to get Mr Kataria to a nearby hospital in Junagadh itself. His family rushed to the hospital and got him transferred to a private hospital in Rajkot. But due to multiple injuries, Mr Kataria could not be saved.

[Hammer & Anvil]

Kolkatta today
Driver no more.
Passenger was a little girl. Heard she's in hospital. Status unknown.

[dailydriver]

Accident:

An unfortunate incident that happens unexpectedly and unintentionally, typically resulting in damage or injury.

A crash involving road or other vehicles.

Source

Just a few minutes ago, I was involved in one such unfortunate incident that was unintentional on my side and carelessness on the part of the perpetrator.

I was riding my bicycle near the Sringar circle in my city. As is my won't, I was on the left most side of the road and was about to turn left towards Hanumanthappa circle when all of a sudden I heard a crash and I was thrown off my ride. The first thought was that of a tyre burst. I regained my balance and saw that a boy in college uniform riding a black Dio (that was what it appeared to be in that flash of a moment) had hit me from the rear. Before I could gain a clear picture, he accelerated and sped off, knocking down the bicycle once again. With a bent handle and bruised ego, I could only stare into the oblivion.

I am not injured as I didn't actually fall down; my bike is also largely undamaged.

Asking around, I found that the boy is a PU student of the MES College - clearly underage. He was not even wearing a helmet. I am in two minds whether to approach the head of the institute and complain. But the momentary sight of the boy and his vehicle would certainly be an impediment in identifying him clearly.

Alternatively, I could lodge a complaint with the police. But since there is no damage to person or property, I am sure they will just brush it off.

I have seen a number of such accidents caused by clearly underaged, smart phone toting, helmetless riders - most of them students. About two years ago, after one such incident, the traffic cops had started apprehending lawless riders. But the drive slowly petered off. As many of you visiting Chikkamagaluru have noticed, the police are now a days interested more in checking and penalising outstation vehicles rather than keeping their own city in order.

Note to Self: Stick to your car. An overweight dailydriver is any day better than a dead or a maimed one .