[racer_m]

Originally Posted by msdivy

From the news article,

It is a possibility that they banged their heads against the ground, rather than the dumper ran over their head.

Well earlier, a member had posted the pictures which tragically showed the heads crushed, and skull and brain pieces scattered around.(removed by Mod now)

I doubt any safety device would have helped in that case.

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by msdivy

It is a possibility that they banged their heads against the ground, rather than the dumper ran over their head.

Though speculative, from the pics shared initially and also based on news reports which mentions severe head injury it looks that the truck did ran over the victims.

[DRIVE_ADDICT]

What a tragic end to the young souls.. RIP.

Without a Helmet on a two wheeler is a welcome disaster. If anyone says, i'am a cautious and low speed rider and helmet seldom required for me, just read further.

I'am here to write this because of a full face helmet. 3 years back, I got myself hit on a pole with my jaw first and fell down on the street banging my head. I just got back with bruises. Two things saved me from this incident, one i was very slow say 30 km/h, two the Full face Helmet.

Late in 90's I lost my cousin brother on a road accident in Noida. He was damn unlucky, that he does wore a Helmet and at parking speed, He just start moving his scooter on a signal and he lost his balance as the adjacent vehicle comes very close to him and touched the scooter's kick starter and he fell off on the road, a military truck coming from behind stopped exactly before rolling over his neck, but did enough damage to his neck. He was in critical care unit for 3 days on coma and couldn't survive.

Helmet is like a pole for the tightrope walker, a very basic piece of security equipment.

[Pheonix]

Originally Posted by racer_m

I doubt any safety device would have helped in that case.

Originally Posted by DRIVE_ADDICT

If anyone says, i'am a cautious and low speed rider and helmet seldom required for me,

I can always vouch for the protection offerred by a helmet to a very large extent as i have personally witnessed some incidents similar to one quoted by DRIVE_ADDICT.

Yes a skull can very much shatter if banged against the road as i have seen a young man being hit by a bus at a measily speead at a signal and with such momentum that he hit the floor and his skull just shattered. Cannot add any further gory details.

Another instance where i have seen an old man wearing a helmet fell down and his head came under the front wheels of the car which hit him from the rear but the round shaped helmet infact provided so little resitance against the tyres that his head actually kind of slided him away from the tyre and actually preventing him from getting run over. Infact there have been many instances of such.

Its like trying to place a football under the tyres of an oncoming truck which slides off

That said these are all my personal experiences though there is very less scientific proof to support the theory.

But bottomline being "Please do use helmets as long as you are riding with your head on your neck"

[Jignesh]

Drunk mini truck driver losses control of his vehicle killing 4 people & serously injuring several others.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/c...w/27560521.cms

The incident happened at Kadavalloor, near Kunnamkulam at approx 9:30 pm on Tuesday (17.12.2013) night. The driver of the lorry, lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a tanker and then uprooted several streetlights finally hitting several people.

Thanks,

[akshay4587]

Originally Posted by Pheonix

I can always vouch for the protection offerred by a helmet to a very large extent as i have personally witnessed some incidents similar to one quoted by DRIVE_ADDICT.

Yes a skull can very much shatter if banged against the road as i have seen a young man being hit by a bus at a measily speead at a signal and with such momentum that he hit the floor and his skull just shattered. Cannot add any further gory details.

Another instance where i have seen an old man wearing a helmet fell down and his head came under the front wheels of the car which hit him from the rear but the round shaped helmet infact provided so little resitance against the tyres that his head actually kind of slided him away from the tyre and actually preventing him from getting run over. Infact there have been many instances of such.

Its like trying to place a football under the tyres of an oncoming truck which slides off

That said these are all my personal experiences though there is very less scientific proof to support the theory.

But bottomline being "Please do use helmets as long as you are riding with your head on your neck"

I can vouch for a helmet.
I have had two crashes on a 2 wheeler till date,and today i am writing this post,just because i had my AGV lid on.
On both the instances,it was the head that touched the ground first,and thanks to the good helmet,i survived with minor bruises in both the crashes..
I never ride without a helmet,even if i have to ride 100 meters.

[Venkat_Figo]

Driving without a helmet is inviting death to play a game of hide & seek. 4 yrs ago I was riding my bike without a helmet with the same logic that I drive slowly & safe. Well I was totally wrong & what happened thereafter is something I can never remember.

I don't know what happened but I woke up in the hospital with my face all bruised. I don't know what speed I was traveling at nor the location of the accident (later on I did come to know of the location as the police constable who called the ambulance told me).

The doctor asked me to recollect the incident but I was not able to do it. He then told me it was short term memory loss. There is still a small scar (the point of impact when i fell down) on my forehead as result of the accident. I only thank god that I am alive & nobody else was hurt during this accident. This sound crazy but I have been through it & I still can't remember it. From then I wear a helmet even when I am the pillion.

[ad3952n]

I am an avid believer of safe and sane and in-lane driving like my fellow bhpians are. On road now days the traffic has increased pan-india and simultaneously the driver's temprament have changed too from bad to worse. I recollect a sight of a month back where a pizza delivery guy was rushing and admist the traffic halt at a signal near to my sector he just crossed all cars like a snake and finally when he tried crossing the road a Chevy Spark struck him at a good speed and actually the car was crossing at its signal it was biker's fault all the way. The bike was t-boned and the biker fell and banged his head on divider. So his impatience costed him alot.

thanks

AD

[binand]

Originally Posted by ad3952n

I recollect a sight of a month back where a pizza delivery guy was rushing and admist the traffic halt at a signal near to my sector

These pizza companies also contribute to the general chaos on the road. Both the big ones - Dominos (delivered in 30 minutes or free) and Pizza Hut (if the pizza is not hot it is free) - deduct the cost of not meeting their delivery promise from the delivery guy's pay. I guess even one such case in a week would cause a serious dent in his income that he's forced to cut corners on the road.

[drmohitg]

On my recent highway trips, I have started noticing this one new trend. The truck drivers wait till the very last moment before overtaking the vehicle in front of them. And in the process most of them do not check for any oncoming faster traffic in the right lane and just switch lanes leading to unnecessary high speed braking by your car. One reason for the above that I could think of is the addition of power steering in almost all trucks today. This has made maneuvering such a huge vehicle a child's play for them and with just a slight turn of your hand you can make the whole truck change lanes. Earlier it was a painful process and hence they were extra cautious and alert while doing so. Do you guys agree?

[ad3952n]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

The truck drivers wait till the very last moment before overtaking the vehicle in front of them. I could think of is the addition of power steering in almost all trucks today. This has made maneuvering such a huge vehicle a child's play for them and with just a slight turn of your hand you can make the whole truck change lanes.

Actually Sir you are very true. Power steering has made their job lot easier and it becomes a major reason for uncalled situations often. Its just like a saying goes "Give knife to a criminal he will commit crime and if given to a Doctor it saves a life" similarly these truck drivers often lack the sense of sane driving and just randomly do such useless things which endangers the rest of the traffic. This technique is given for safe driving but they misuse as obviously they lack traffic sense.

thanks

AD

[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

On my recent highway trips, I have started noticing this one new trend. The truck drivers wait till the very last moment before overtaking the vehicle in front of them. And in the process most of them do not check for any oncoming faster traffic in the right lane and just switch lanes leading to unnecessary high speed braking by your car. One reason for the above that I could think of is the addition of power steering in almost all trucks today. This has made maneuvering such a huge vehicle a child's play for them and with just a slight turn of your hand you can make the whole truck change lanes. Earlier it was a painful process and hence they were extra cautious and alert while doing so. Do you guys agree?

Yes I've witnessed a few truck drivers doing this, but mostly from quite a distance behind, always imagining what if I were adjacent when they decide to jump lanes like that! Some of them change lanes like cars, but most of them their intentions very clear. I only hope they are watching their mirrors when they do this.

The problem is the speed differential between slow trucks and fast cars can be so high that within a few milliseconds a car in the mirror will be adjacent to them. Sadly most car owners don't realise this. Getting overtaken by another vehicle that is doing almost 100 kph more than your speed is scary. Rarely happens to us car drivers, but it is very common if you are a truck driver.

Mostly I find truckers to be most well mannered drivers on the highway. They are the only ones who are predictable . I watch so many passenger buses and cars harassing the life out of them. Honking excessively, overtaking from the wrong side, squeezing into non existent gaps and the poor truckers have to apply sudden brakes or change their line which is not easy for them considering all the mass that they carry.

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by john doe

Actually, I dont think any helmet in the world would have saved the heads of these 2 girls from the dumper driving over them.
Death was assured, helmet or not.

In this case, if the dumper ran over any other part, then yes.

I will illustrate a very practical example of what a helmet can do & any of you can try this.

Try banging your head against a wall. What speed you would be hitting the wall at? 5 kmph? What speed do you ride your motorcycle/scooter at? Definitely over 25 kmph. Do your maths.

Thank you.

[john doe]

Originally Posted by Sheel

In this case, if the dumper ran over any other part, then yes.

I will illustrate a very practical example of what a helmet can do & any of you can try this.

Try banging your head against a wall. What speed you would be hitting the wall at? 5 kmph? What speed do you ride your motorcycle/scooter at? Definitely over 25 kmph. Do your maths.

Thank you.

Sir, I have been wearing a helmet since I was 17 and on a M-80 ( That too a full face helmet).
I wouldn't ride 10 feet without wearing a full face helmet.

But if you had seen the photos posted a few days ago of the girls and seen how they did not have a scratch below the neck but their heads were crushed with brain matter scattered across the road, then you might not have argued with my statement that no helmet would have saved them in this instance.

[F150]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

Mostly I find truckers to be most well mannered drivers on the highway. They are the only ones who are predictable . I watch so many passenger buses and cars harassing the life out of them. Honking excessively, overtaking from the wrong side, squeezing into non existent gaps and the poor truckers have to apply sudden brakes or change their line which is not easy for them considering all the mass that they carry.

Truckers are the most disciplined drivers today on the Indian highways. The only way to overtake them safely is to flash the headlights from 1km and start honking, to alert them that you are passing.

I have faced problems with them only in Rajasthan, where the truckers sometimes wantonly block you by changing lanes at the last moment, just to stop you from a easy overtake. I have only had this issue twice.

All other users on the road, will either occupy the right most lane at 60kmph or zig zag at high speeds.