[KL01toKA03]

Originally Posted by Bibendum90949

A tragic mishap in Kerala that killed two on a bike. May the two young souls RIP.

The wayward driving of the KSRTC bus driver clearly appears to be the cause of the accident.

https://Youtu.be/31zYb-DpUsI

This is one of those rare incidents where there all three vehicles could have driven better. The bus driver is obviously in a hurry to complete the overtaking maneuver, and the truck is moving slow in the fast lane. The person controlling the bike chose a risky place to drive the bike. The bike should have been in the middle of the left lane (idealistic case) or in the middle of the right-side lane (practical case, where another vehicle driving at a similar speed was present), so that the rider would have space to move to either side in case of any emergency.

I can understand why people choose to drive on the extreme left, but that too is risky especially at night. On multi-laned roads, I always keep my vehicle in the center of the lane in which I am driving. If anyone has to overtake, they are free to use another lane. If there is a vehicle moving at the same speed as I am moving, I usually slow down or overtake them so that I do not block traffic. Two vehicles in one lane is inviting trouble.

[jpcoolguy]

Met with a minor accident on last Friday, 4th Feb, while travelling from Chennai to our hometown near Nagercoil. Around 40 Kms before Trichy, somewhere near Padalur, I had just overtook a bus when I suddenly see a dog came running across the road and got hit by the car. It happened in a split second that even though I saw it but couldn't do anything but hit the dog. Car must have been travelling at ~100 kmph and at that speed couldn't swerve either side, as on the right side there was a median and on the left side, the bus was just behind us.

Unfortunately, the dog is killed (checked my RVM and saw it was down, but not sure though) and the car's radiator is damaged and the coolant was leaking. So stopped the car at the road side and called the Hyundai RSA for help. They transferred call to their partner towing company (Allianz Assistance) and assured me to send the tow vehicle immediately, after the online payment of INR 1770. However, it took longer time for the recovery vehicle to reach us since it has to come from Trichy which is around 40 Kms away.

The accident happened around 9:30 AM, but the recovery vehicle reached us only by 12:30 PM and our family (wife, 2 kids and both in-laws) were stranded in the middle of nowhere. I called up one of my friend and colleague whose hails from Trichy and luckily he was in Trichy instead of Chennai and he offered to come to the spot. So, once the recovery vehicle arrived, our car was secured in the vehicle (with all our luggages) and I was asked to take the driver seat with windows down. My friend took my family in his car and followed us till the nearest Hyundai Service Center in Trichy (Oxina Hyndai, which was around 45 Kms from the accident spot).

The journey took around 90 mins and once arrived the SA checked the vehicle and told that the radiator, AC condenser, H frame and couple of hoses have been damaged and would take around 8-10 days and will take the vehicle only if I am fine with it. Since there was no choice, I asked him the accept the vehicle. All the luggages have been transferred to my friend's car and the SA gave me a quote of approx. 56K for repair charges. I have raised the Insurance claim (from Acko) and got the information from SA that the Surveyor has visited and approved the claim. The co-payment amount is yet unknown which will be provided only after the car is ready, now waiting for my car to be delivered.

Dashcam footage of the accident

https://youtu.be/tw629W4niTk

Visible Damage of the car

[goandude]

Originally Posted by jpcoolguy

Met with a minor accident on last Friday, ]2269839[/ATTACH]

Thank God you are all safe. Could have been horrible if you had swerved or lost control. I had a similar accident in my Swift Dzire where the dog took out my horn, indicator lights and a large part of the bumper. It happens so suddenly that there is nothing one can do in that split second. This is one of the reasons I keep to 80/90 on our highways.

[GeneralJazz]

Originally Posted by Bibendum90949

A tragic mishap in Kerala that killed two on a bike. May the two young souls RIP.

RIP. What a terrible way to go! Initial reports said that the bikers crashed into the lorry and went under the wheels. I guess it was this dashcam footage that revealed the involvement of the bus.

Originally Posted by deathwalkr

What a ghastly way to go :(

We had a thread discussing about slow moving trucks on the fast lane and this video could be an indication of the dangers that can arise because of that.

Agreed. In that thread there was a lot of discussion on how cars zig-zag dangerously around lorries on highways. In KL, buses do the same too, and as seen here, its far more dangerous. I've lost count of the number of times I've been forced into the shoulder or off the road due to these maniacs.

Also wish the bikers were on the extreme left which would have allowed the KSRTC to pass them by.
Then again, KSRTC should have waited for a clear chance to overtake them and ultimately the poor bikers paid the price.

Even if the bikers were on the extreme left, the bus would have overtaken in the gap anyway. But yeah, if only they had moved to the extreme left/should when they saw the bus approaching, it might probably have saved their lives.

Originally Posted by KL01toKA03

This is one of those rare incidents where there all three vehicles could have driven better. The bus driver is obviously in a hurry to complete the overtaking maneuver, and the truck is moving slow in the fast lane. The person controlling the bike chose a risky place to drive the bike. The bike should have been in the middle of the left lane (idealistic case) or in the middle of the right-side lane (practical case, where another vehicle driving at a similar speed was present), so that the rider would have space to move to either side in case of any emergency.

From this frame, it seems like the bike was driving on the centre of the left lane, and the bus tried to overtake both the lorry and the bike from the extreme left. If that is the case, its nothing new. Have seen many many times before. If there are 2 vehicles in 2 lanes, buses will overtake from the extreme left, even off the road, to get ahead. I've seen them doing it to a traffic police vehicle with no repercussions. What chance does a common man have?

[krishnakumar]

Originally Posted by GeneralJazz

RIP. What a terrible way to go! Initial reports said that the bikers crashed into the lorry and went under the wheels. I guess it was this dashcam footage that revealed the involvement of the bus.

Yes, in the video the reporter recalls the initial report as overspeesing bike crashing with a lorry and coming under the bus.

I also want to point out the reason (what I think is) for these judgemental speculations. Is it just me or does that bike look like a KTM RC? If yes, then it explains why even though there was no fault on the bike, the biker was blamed purely because it was a KTM. I have seen this a lot.

Thanks to the dashcam, the real culprit will be caught and punished. Yet again, within a few days, we see another video of how a dashcam became the saviour. The earlier one exonerating a trucker and this one pinning down the villanous KSRTC driver.

[sunikkat]

May the departed souls RIP.

No offence but Kerala has the worst of highways (or no highways) and worst driving sense. Driving fast is one thing (which most people do), but what you see in Kerala are dangerous overtaking and lack of sanity while driving. Most of these buses, container trucks, mini lorries and many others are so selfish and doesn't even think about others on the road. Looks like we need a separate thread only for Kerala accidents.

[Mohan Mathew A]

Originally Posted by Bibendum90949

A tragic mishap in Kerala that killed two on a bike. May the two young souls RIP.

The way the bus swerved back so abruptly is not normal (even by KSRTC bus standards) because, forget the bike, it was coming into the path of the truck. I suspect there could be more to this than meets the eye and it could be a potential road rage (intimidation, whatever you call it) incident gone wrong.

[N.A.GTC]

Originally Posted by Mohan Mathew A

The way the bus swerved back so abruptly is not normal (even by KSRTC bus standards) because, forget the bike, it was coming into the path of the truck. I suspect there could be more to this than meets the eye and it could be a potential road rage (intimidation, whatever you call it) incident gone wrong.

I agree! It looks more like an act of murder in the heat of things rather than just an accident. The-"how dare you not give way to me when I honked at you, here now have this!"-instinct.

[balenoed_]

Originally Posted by krishnakumar

Thanks to the dashcam, the real culprit will be caught and punished.

With KSRTC, it is never going to happen my friend.

That guy mostly might be put on some forced vacation and then back to duty. I know this first hand where an overspeeding KSRTC bus rammed head on to my sisters Ciaz (reported several pages before in this forum) and nothing happened to the bus driver. He is still driving the same route. The worst "official drivers" on earth could be this bunch.

[venkyhere]

Originally Posted by Bibendum90949

A tragic mishap in Kerala that killed two on a bike. May the two young souls RIP.

The wayward driving of the KSRTC bus driver clearly appears to be the cause of the accident.

"Wayward" is a gross understatement.
Murderous rage is apt. The guy swerved intentionally, to scare-squeeze the biker. Probably the biker might have held up the bus for some duration before the video begins.

[Candy$Cars]

Originally Posted by GeneralJazz

RIP.

Attachment 2269858

From the image, it looks like the biker was riding in the middle of the lane. The bus must have tried blowing horn (or maybe not) and then decided to overtake from left.
In a fit of rage to teach the biker a lesson and intimidate him, the bus driver swerved right intentionally as it can be seen that the bus could have completed the overtaking with the space it had.
Unfortunately, his rage-boosted swerving got out of control and the poor biker paid the price.

Just a hypothesis, extremely sad! RIP!

[krishnakumar]

Originally Posted by balenoed_

With KSRTC, it is never going to happen my friend.

As much as I hate to say it, yes you are probably right. And I speak this as someone from KL01.

However, in this particular case the issue is picked up by media. It'll be very tough for the police to not take an action with the evidence so widely circulated and the union to back a driver who seems to have intentionally squeezed the bikers to death.

Or probably it's just my wishful thinking.

[Yieldway17]

Originally Posted by Bibendum90949

A tragic mishap in Kerala that killed two on a bike. May the two young souls RIP.

The wayward driving of the KSRTC bus driver clearly appears to be the cause of the accident.

https://Youtu.be/31zYb-DpUsI

This is not an accident, this is pure blooded killing by the KSRTC driver. The driver should see jail for a long time. He didn’t respect the rider on the left lane and still went ahead intimidating the riders and killing them.

[bsdbsd]

Seems like there was a gory accident in Bellur Cross Toll gate. Does anyone have any updates? I am in possession of the video (someone sent me over WA). Its too gory to be posted here and I am very upset having watched it and planning to give up driving (long drives).

[Jerryaj]

Originally Posted by Bibendum90949

A tragic mishap in Kerala that killed two on a bike. May the two young souls RIP.

It is such a tragic mishap may the souls rest in peace. I noticed two things in the video; 1. the brake lights are on in the two-wheeler indicating probably either he was trying allow the overtake or either he was brake checking the bus 2. if you see the video at 0:15 there is a lorry parked on the shoulder, the bus probably way to fast to complete the overtake on the shoulder. As a result he veers to the right, believing the two-wheeler will yield.

Whatever, the reason, I've noticed in general that a good percentage of government bus drivers don't bother about other road users. Easily avoidable mishap, had the bus driver pressed the brake lever for 1-1.5 seconds.