[athanedar]

Originally Posted by rjalihal

Yes
I will give you a classic example. 3 years ago, I was rear ended by a BMTC bus at that Bishop Cotton School junction. My cutie pie Zen suffered big time. I had to shell out 10k from my pocket, that's my money to get it fixed for no wrong of mine. I felt like killing the driver of that bus but he went away just smiling after a minor argument. I felt super pathetic. But today, if my company car gets hit/hits another vehicle, I do not spend a single rupee as it is all taken care off. I will not even get out of the car to inspect. Get my drift?

So end of day I get a free driver/car with free maintainance and free of worry. Hell, I even get a monthly fuel allowance sufficient for daily home-office-home runs. This is the first time EVER in my life I have got this kind of perk/benefit and whether you like it or not, I am going to make full use of it. Abuse it if I have to. After all you only live once, so make it large!

Rohan

I think due to your zen accident experience and the virtual threat felt by you that someone would take away your privilege of free "driver/car" your better sense and judgement is getting clouded.
Dont worry mate if your company feels you deserve the privilege then enjoy it. But be safety conscious.
I would also like to bring this up that please delete the above post in which you have used the word of "abuse" company privilege. This is public forum anyone can read the post including your boss.

[PRADEEP KUMAR]

Originally Posted by athanedar

I think due to your zen accident experience and the virtual threat felt by you that someone would take away your privilege of free "driver/car" your better sense and judgement is getting clouded.
Dont worry mate if your company feels you deserve the privilege then enjoy it. But be safety conscious.
I would also like to bring this up that please delete the above post in which you have used the word of "abuse" company privilege. This is public forum anyone can read the post including your boss.

Accidents damage the vehicle and many times the occupants as well irrespective of whether its your car or companys.
Safety is PRIORITY.

[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by rjalihal

I dont care if he hits a vehicle on the road when I am not in the car. I don't care if he gets a parking fine. I mean, why would I? Its not my own car. I don't pay him. I don' even drive that stupid car, even on weekends. It's my company's headache.

Thats an incredibly indifferent attitude to have. Imagine if you are driving your own car on a weekend or on a hoilday and some driver, driving some other company cab is drunk and bangs into YOUR car. Or if everybody things like that and asks their co. cabs to park in no parking zones.

We need to be a little more responsible as citizens than that

[scopriobharath]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

The issue here is not drunken driving but of the driver not wearing a seat belt. When you are travelling in a bus or a minivan would you insist that the driver wears his seat belt?

If the driver is your own employee then I can see the logic in making the driver wear the seat belt for his own safety, which you are indirectly responsible for. But in public vehicles, you really think its practical to do that?

I really would not care to educate a 3rd person. Even educated Joes with years of working experience behave in a cheap way, shout and abuse when you instruct to wear seat belts in front seat.

[noopster]

This is appalling. Any vehicle you travel in, whether self-driven or otherwise, has the potential to kill and injure people and destroy property if not driven safely. As a responsible member of society it is your DUTY to ensure that it is being driven carefully.

I disagree that the buck stops at buses/minivans/other public transport. Why? If I am in a vehicle, ANY vehicle, that I feel is being driven in a way that endangers myself and others, I will certainly call the driver's attention to it. Perhaps he may choose to disregard my advice, in which case I will at least have the satisfaction of having made an effort. If I deem the danger too great, I may even disembark and find another mode of transportation.

How callous have we become as a society that we don't even "care" about precious lives and conveniently make it our company's "headache"?!!

[mayankk]

most people who get in my car know about an accident I had, and know that without a belt, I would have been dead, or at the very least, maimed.
Those who dont receive a quick education as to why I am asking for belts.
It comes on pretty quick after that.

To the OP:
Even a loose CD on your dash can be fatal in case of an accident, you want to consider a human body floating around?
One guy in 4 not wearing a seatbelt basically negates the the other safety conscious people wearing one.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by scopriobharath

I really would not care to educate a 3rd person. Even educated Joes with years of working experience behave in a cheap way, shout and abuse when you instruct to wear seat belts in front seat.

I don't think there is much we can do about one-off-journey cab drivers. However, a company-provided car is different. If a manager in a company sees an employee doing something dangerous, isn't it their duty to prevent it? Isn't a regular driver like a junior employee? Shouldn't we try to make the roads safer places?

last point:rjalihal, were you wearing your seatbelt?

This is not about accidents. The mods only tolerate so much off-topic in this thread. We should probably move on, or talk elsewhere <Blush>

[bejoy]

The Innova car of malayalam film actor Jagathy Sreekumar crashed into a divider this morning at 5:45am. The accident occurred on NH17 in Kerala, opp to Calicut University. The actor is injured and undergoing surgery.







Looks like the chauffeur driven car blindly hit the divider at high speed. There is apparently no braking attempt. The divider looks unscientific and unusual in construction.

[drmohitg]

From the pictures it looks like a lot of force would have been transmitted inside that Innova's cabin. And incase the passengers were not wearing seat belts they must have got injured severely.

But this just shows our Govt's apathy. There are countless such dividers on our roads that appear all of a sudden on highways and city roads. A regular commuter still might be aware of them but for a newbie its a death trap. They should atleast put some reflectors to ensure that people see them in the night. Really make you sad to see total disregard for life.

[IronH4WK]

^ yes, lack of reflectors on medians and dividers cause a jot of accidents, specially in the case of people new to the area or new to driving. there are so many places in Bangalore city itself where dividers just don't have reflectors and more often than not, there is no street lighting in these area or are dimly lit. two out of five times driving at night i would find someone stuck on the divider in such areas.

i guess reflectors are placed when these dividers are constructed, but then when they get broken (due to accidents or someone removing them), they never get replaced.

[sandsun7]

Just saw the news on the accident. It seems the divider did have proper reflectors and traffic was thin at the time of accident. The road also seem to have good lane and median markings in white as is evident from the pics.
So in all probability, the driver would have dozed off for a second or two before ramming into the divider at top speed!!

[raj_5004]

Originally Posted by sandsun7

ramming into the divider at top speed!!

Top speed? Nah...

Looking at the damage on the Innova & knowing Innova's body strength, this is certainly not a high speed crash.

[sandsun7]

Originally Posted by raj_5004

Top speed? Nah...

As per most of the reports, the car presumably was at good speeds! May be not at its top speed.
This stretch from Ramanattukara to Valanchery/Puthanathani is probably one of the most dangerous stretch of NH 17 (now NH66) in Kerala, notorious for many accidents! The roads does look inviting with very good tarmac, but a lot of blind curves makes it very dangerous to do high speeds!
The spot where the bus accident with the most fatalities in history of Kerala happened- Pookkiparamba- is also on this stretch! Just checked the date of that accident and to my surprise, it was March 11, 2001!

[mac187]

Originally Posted by bejoy

The divider looks unscientific and unusual in construction.

The dividers' identical cousin sits just before a large toll booth when travelling towards Tumkur from Hubli. There were many skid marks near the divider, I am sure many cars would have scrapped it.
I wonder what those people at NHAI smoke........

[Anand123]

Popular Malayalam actor Jagathy Sreekumar was seriously injured in a road accident at Panambra near the Calicut University at Thenhipalam in Malappuram district early on Saturday.
The police said that Jagathy, sustained multiple fractures and injuries on his head, chest, and abdomen and also had a minor cut on his liver. The car in which he was travelling rammed into a median while negotiating a dangerous curve on the National Highway No. 17 at around 5.45 a.m.
The driver of the car also suffered injuries in the accident, the police said. Mr. Sreekumar and his driver were admitted to intensive care unit of the Malabar Institute of Medical Sciences in Kozhikode city. A team of doctors attending Jagathy has subjected him to an emergency surgery.
He is out of danger but his condition was critical. His was a case of polytrauma, a spokesman of the hospital said.
The injured actor and his driver were brought to the hospital from the accident site in another car. He was conscious at that time but soon his condition worsened. He was then put on a ventilator, he said.
Mr. Sreekumar has acted in more than 1,100 Malayalam films especially in comedy roles. He has won the State government’s award in different categories four times.

Source- The Hindu : States / Kerala : Malayalam actor Jagathy Sreekumar injured in accident