[apachelongbow]

Originally Posted by Raghu M

I am sorry but I don't get this point. When there is heavy downpour and the visibility is just around 10 to 20 meters, isn't it a good practice to drive with hazard lights on? How are you going to warn the oncoming vehicles of your presence? The hazard lights have pretty good visibility even in fog like situations.

You need to check your basics of driving. Hazard lights are to be used when your vehicle is posing a hazard to other users; such as occupying a narrow single lane road, broken down in middle of a road, stopped at the road side etc. Driving with hazards on is purely an Indian jugaad which is meaningless.
For more reference: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.car...all-along/amp/

[poised2drive]

Originally Posted by Raghu M

I am sorry but I don't get this point. When there is heavy downpour and the visibility is just around 10 to 20 meters, isn't it a good practice to drive with hazard lights on? How are you going to warn the oncoming vehicles of your presence? The hazard lights have pretty good visibility even in fog like situations.

I understand your predicament as this is the most common blunder many drivers in India commit during the Foggy Mornings . This is the most common sight for me on my winter morning highway drives.

But actually, this is dangerous.

When you use hazard lights during movement, the other motorists would find it impossible to understand if you're changing lanes.

Also, if you brake, it would be difficult for others to differentiate the red light from orange which will increase the chances of accidents.

Further, if you feel that the visibility decreased so much that your car lights cannot be detected and you need to use hazard lights by the oncoming traffic, then pull over and halt and then switch on the hazard lights.
https://www.firestonecompleteautocar...hazard-lights/

[binand]

Originally Posted by Raghu M

When there is heavy downpour and the visibility is just around 10 to 20 meters, isn't it a good practice to drive with hazard lights on?

Nope. Under such circumstances the right practice is to park your vehicle safely and not drive it at all.

[balenoed_]

Originally Posted by AdityaDeane

Have been to Jalori Pass couple of times in my Triber, and other official vehicles, and it really requires skills to drive your vehicle due to both the steep ascent and descent.

Originally Posted by sunilch

This steep downhill road is very tricky to come down on. I experienced this myself when I was rolling down on the same route on a motorcycle. I wasn't aware of this problem and had to stop the bike and get down 2-3 times during my descent, for the brakes to cool down.

Just curious, where exactly is this spot, can you please mark in gmap and share the link and if any link of a video in youtube of this particular stretch. Just curious to see the terrain.

RIP the victims of that accident.

[AdityaDeane]

Originally Posted by balenoed_

Just curious, where exactly is this spot, can you please mark in gmap and share the link and if any link of a video in Youtube of this particular stretch. Just curious to see the terrain.

RIP the victims of that accident.

The location of Jalori Pass is this:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/ThsFUCZZD8hdesyn6

They probably were on the way down from the pass towards Jibhi

Hope my video helps:

https://youtu.be/bHXKXCUvKos

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by balenoed_

Just curious, where exactly is this spot, can you please mark in gmap and share the link and if any link of a video in Youtube of this particular stretch. Just curious to see the terrain.

This video will give you some idea

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZQO2EGxvbA

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

This video will give you some idea

https://www.Youtube.com/watch?v=BZQO2EGxvbA

Although the state of the road isn't as bad as the video makes it to be. There were a few bad patches and several more potholes spread across the single lane highway. But overall the road condition was pretty decent on both sides of the Jalori pass back then.

Attached image is of November 2019. I guess that's about 8 months after your video was taken.



No idea what is the current state of the road now.

Edit: just saw @adityaDeane's video which seems to be of 2021, so that's definitely more accurate to what possibly might be the current state of the road. But back then in 2019, even with the decent condition of the road, I remember I literally had to be maintaining extremely slow speeds while not over-braking on the downhill. Thankfully the brakes on my Himalayan did their job well.

[n13tzsche]

Originally Posted by jarpit96

Lesson learnt today : never to take stagnant water lightly.
Anything else I could have done differently? Is this something everybody driving on highways who are already aware?

Happened with me around 2 weeks back in Central Bangalore area. A heavy vehicle on the other side of road drove past in decent speed and splashed on my windshield making visibility zero.

I immediately switched on the warning lights and put a brake on my vehicle because i was about to cross a junction. A car tailgating me ( although at slow speed) also hit brakes and hit my car a little to cause minor scratches.

[chaitanyakrish]

Originally Posted by n13tzsche

A car tailgating me ( although at slow speed) also hit brakes and hit my car a little to cause minor scratches.

Unfortunate, this can happen with anyone. This video has some tips on how to handle the "SPRAY" from heavy vehicles.

There is little we can do, but maintain sufficient distance from heavy vehicles as they can spray a lot of water.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX9hbBPAH6g

[Meph1st0]

Originally Posted by jarpit96

Lesson learnt today : never to take stagnant water lightly.
Anything else I could have done differently? Is this something everybody driving on highways who are already aware?

I had a similar experience, cross posting my post from another thread (Your near-miss experiences on the road). In my case, I was lucky that there was no one tail gating me and I did not panic. Maybe better to stick to the middle lane in the case of a 3-lane highway or the slower lane in the case of a 2-lane highway as this will avoid water splashes from the opposite direction.

A truck was approaching from behind on the adjacent lane and was driving faster. Just before the start of the flyover, there was a big puddle of water, and the truck driver did not realize it and went over it. The water splashed from the wheels of the truck and blinded me for a couple of seconds but I felt much longer at that moment. Never knew so much water could be splashed from wheels. I instinctively braked and since the speed was very less and the road straight, I could stop safely, and luckily no one was tailing closely. http://Youtu.be/KUP6KSuQBQw (ignore the date, dashcam keeps messing it up).

[DriverR]

Originally Posted by AdityaDeane

Have been to Jalori Pass couple of times in my Triber, and other official vehicles, and it really requires skills to drive your vehicle due to both the steep ascent and descent. Moreover, as written in the news, very few locals drive there in the night, because all these passes are considered dangerous at night, and especially for tourists, driving downhill with engine braking is tough, and it takes a toll on the brakes of the vehicles as well, with clutch heating and brake fails a common phenomenon.

My condolences on the tragic passing of such young lives.

As a person who has driven across the hill roads of NE India across 2 decades, I have a rule of not driving on hills after dark. Have done so several times and it is draining to maintain the level of alertness with the turns, road condition and constant fear changes. I had experiences one instance of brakes overheating and failing and it is not a fun thing to experience. These days many main hill roads are better than what they were over 10 years back but the lesser travelled roads are still dangerous even in day time for those not used to driving in hill terrain.

[adisan]

Hazard lights are to be used when your vehicle is posing a hazard to other users; such as occupying a narrow single lane road, broken down in middle of a road, stopped at the road side etc. Driving with hazards on is purely an Indian jugaad which is meaningless.

In some States, the police were planning to penalize drivers who were found using the hazard lights other than as prescribed. Not sure whether it was implemented.

Originally Posted by chaitanyakrish

There is little we can do, but maintain sufficient distance from heavy vehicles as they can spray a lot of water.

True, when the vehicle is ahead of us. But heavy vehicles can spray water even across the median when coming in the opposite direction, or onto vehicles below from above a flyover. Need to be careful of that too.

[sidd.tech]

Originally Posted by jarpit96

Had a minor accident today on electronic City flyover (for those who don't know, it's a 8km toll flyover). It rained heavily sometime back and then stopped raining. Speed limit is 60, I was driving at 60-65kmph.

Glad you were driving at 60-65 speed. If you drive above 80 over water, you could experience hydroplaning. And believe me it's a really scary experience. Steering, brakes, clutch everything stops responding & car starts gliding on its own. Always try to drive below 40 in a puddle, it keeps water from splashing wildly saving you and everyone driving or riding around you.
@MODS: It's my first ever post, please suggest if any scope of improvement is there.

[Bibendum90949]

Originally Posted by jarpit96

I was driving on the right lane, close to the median. I noticed a puddle of water little late and didn't have enough time to change lanes. Ended up driving over the water, which threw ungodly amounts of water on the windshield, the entire windshield was covered, even the passenger side person was not able to see anything. We were blind for a good 3-4 seconds,

It has happened to me too recently after a heavy downpour, it was still drizzling. In my case, it was the bus in the opposite lane that splashed enormous amount of water onto my windshield in a jiffy that blinded me for a second. This is despite me driving on left lane. Having had similar experiences on highways, my wiper was running at the highest speed which sort of salvaged the situation. It can be really unnerving and can lead to a potential mishap. It's even more tricky if it's a rainy night.

On E-city flyover it's always safer to stay on left lane during or after heavy rains and to keep your wiper running at full tilt. That way one won't get into deep puddles(as the slope is towards the right lane) thereby preventing hydroplaning nor get bigger splashes on windshield from vehicles in opposite lane.

[NG_EV]

Originally Posted by Raghu M

I am sorry but I don't get this point. When there is heavy downpour and the visibility is just around 10 to 20 meters, isn't it a good practice to drive with hazard lights on? How are you going to warn the oncoming vehicles of your presence? The hazard lights have pretty good visibility even in fog like situations.

If the visibility is poor, turn on the headlights (in low beam) which will also turn on the tail-lamps allowing other vehicles to see your vehicle. Even then if you do feel that the visibility is not sufficient, then kindly pull over and then turn on the hazard lights, which will allow other road users to see your vehicle.
The light from the hazards is any way not sufficient enough to light up the road ahead or behind you, if you are driving at decent speed.
Please do go through the pinned threads in the Road Safety sub-forum for more driving tips in adverse weather.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/road-safety/