[rohittunga]

Witnessed this accident while driving on NH209 between Malavalli and Kanakpura today. Usually this route is preferred over the chaotic Bangalore-Mysore highway for those heading towards Bangalore from Ooty/Wayanad. There is this one particular turn which is quite bothersome because the turn angle itself is quite high and the road suddenly becomes very narrow which creates an ideal recipe for an accident.

Here a Ford Endeavor heading towards Bangalore rolled over many times and landed in a ditch several feet below probably by

1. Misjudging the turn by carrying too much speed OR
2. Tried to avoid an oncoming vehicle

No information about the occupants of the car.

This was the turn where the accident took place


The endeavor ploughed straight ahead where the Alto is parked and landed in the ditch












Knowing the authorities behavior, I suspect a set of new speed breakers being installed before and after the turn

[mooza]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

Tyre burst could be the reason for loss of control though it can't be said with certainty..I am so paranoid about tyres that I have a ritual before starting any long highway drive.

• Check all tyres visually for any cuts, nails or bulges
• Check cold air pressure of tyres with my own gauge. Increase pressure depending on the load that I am going to carry
• Check the inside sidewall of tyres by feeling them with my own hands. Tyres can bulge on the inside sidewall too and these are more dangerous as these are hidden from view

Very useful points there.

I also check the tightness of the wheel nuts.

People who install aftermarket alloys must ensure good quality nuts with the matching chamfer/profile are used, else they can get loosened over time. Read this somewhere on the alloy wheels thread, an important point.

[nkrishnap]

Originally Posted by rohittunga

Knowing the authorities behavior, I suspect a set of new speed breakers being installed before and after the turn

I have been on this route many a time and witnessed accidents all along the route till Sathanur junction. This route is often filled with traffic heading towards Muttatthi and back.

The drive on this route is enjoyable if people are more restrained than driving fast here for kicks.

[priyo]

I notice absence of any degree of banking on these curves . Cars approaching these curves even at 40-50 mph are likely to fly off since there is no banking.

[binand]

Originally Posted by rohittunga

Knowing the authorities behavior, I suspect a set of new speed breakers being installed before and after the turn

I have seen several accidents in this zone; so far nobody's bothered to install speed breakers. I hope sense prevails.

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by rohittunga

Witnessed this accident while driving on NH209 between Malavalli and Kanakpura today. Usually this route is preferred over the chaotic Bangalore-Mysore highway for those heading towards Bangalore from Ooty/Wayanad. There is this one particular turn which is quite bothersome because the turn angle itself is quite high and the road suddenly becomes very narrow which creates an ideal recipe for an accident

Thanks.

If one notes, the solid unbroken line is an indication of a turn - don't people slow down for that?

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

If one notes, the solid unbroken line is an indication of a turn - don't people slow down for that?

Soild unbroken line means don't overtake. It could be because of a turn or something else like sudden narrowing of the road. But no, most Indian drivers don't know the meaning of that since they never learned it in the first place.

In India we actually need a board on gates saying "don't park in front of the gate". In developed countries everybody knows one shouldn't park in front of gates, it is a well-known rule.

My son's speech therapy school is in a residential road with a divider. Most parents who drop and pickup their kids come in own vehicle. Many of them routinely park in front of gates, drive on wrong side and have no clue how to parallel park. I cringe every time see them do it. They are all well educated, articulate and smart people. But driving etiquette is simply missing. Just the other day I saw this woman on a scooty. She had her helmet on, and even her daughter had a nice fitting helmet. I was impressed until I noticed that the helmet strap on the kid was not fastened. Before I could get over that, the mom drove away, on the wrong side of the divider to save 100 meters of roundabout.

And I still get funny looks whenever I have to execute a parallel park, especially from the driver of the car with whom I draw parallel. They must think it is some kind of trick driving.

[A350XWB]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Soild unbroken line means don't overtake. It could be because of a turn or something else like sudden narrowing of the road. But no, most Indian drivers don't know the meaning of that since they never learned it in the first place.

Correct. I wonder how many people, even in a community like this, know what most of the road markings mean. I was regularly travelling through this route until about 3-4 months back. The reason I stopped taking this route is due to some jolly riders. Many of them are first timers and don't even know the road well, but still insist on driving fast and the results are evident. I have seen lot of accidents on this stretch, mainly concentrated in the area just after Kanakapura (going towards Malavalli) where the road reaches the top of the hill and then winds down. Here, the road becomes narrow, with trees on both sides, has bad camber and tricky turns. But more than the road, I blame the drivers who try do circus.

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by A350XWB

I was regularly travelling through this route until about 3-4 months back. ... But more than the road, I blame the drivers who try do circus.

I prefer this scenic road to the chaotic NH-7/NH-47 route while driving solo. I've found that there's no real advantage going pedal to metal on this route, because many others that overtake me in a flash on the straights (clearly doing 3-digits) end up puttering behind some truck or tractor in one of the village areas, while I maintain a constant moderate speed and catch up with them very easily. There are many tricky turns on this route, and a hint of overconfidence can be spell big trouble.

Originally Posted by A350XWB

I wonder how many people, even in a community like this, know what most of the road markings mean

There are a lot of people who join forums/communities just to brag about it, there's no dearth of armchair critics, keyboard warriors and self-proclaimed experts on vehicle and road design.

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Soild unbroken line means don't overtake. It could be because of a turn or something else like sudden narrowing of the road. But no, most Indian drivers don't know the meaning of that since they never learned it in the first place.

Precisely - my point is not about the theoretical meaning. I know what it means - overtaking not allowed. Question is - why is it there? what is the cue?

In open country with 2 lane roads, where you are otherwise allowed to overtake (broken line till that point), this line appears mostly when there is a turn/lanes narrow. I do not take it to mean - continue driving at the same speed as long as you don't overtake/stay in the same lane. I interpret it defensively.

That's what my post meant, not that I don't know the meaning of road signs, as some other posters wondered!

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Precisely - my point is not about the theoretical meaning. I know what it means - overtaking not allowed. Question is - why is it there? what is the cue?

In open country with 2 lane roads, where you are otherwise allowed to overtake (broken line till that point), this line appears mostly when there is a turn/lanes narrow. I do not take it to mean - continue driving at the same speed as long as you don't overtake/stay in the same lane. I interpret it defensively.

That's what my post meant, not that I don't know the meaning of road signs, as some other posters wondered!

You are looking for sense where there is non. In the west, when the line grows unbroken, it means "do not overtake" and its done due to various logical reasons.

In India, it mostly depends on the whims of the painter.
For example, there is this expressway called Noida greater noida expressway.
It has 6 lanes, 3 on each side.

At certain points the road narrows due to bridge. So one of the line starts going towards the divider and merges with the central verge!!

So if you are driving in low visibility following the lines, you will end up on the divider.

Road marking in India are truly comical.
There are spots on NH1, where a Kuchha village road comes from the side(hardly any traffic). They have put a big stop sign facing the main highway instead of the side road.

So do not look for logic where there is none

[rr_zen]

Originally Posted by dZired

Don't know if it has been posted earlier.
Got these ppics as a whatsapp forward. No further details available, but it indeed looks horrible.

Cant imagine the speed at which the mishap would have happened to result in the decapitated Swift. I am afraid if anyone survived such a horrible crash !

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by rohittunga

Knowing the authorities behavior, I suspect a set of new speed breakers being installed before and after the turn

More than installing speed breakers, people should learn to slow down while turning at corners.

[pratyush6]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Thanks.

If one notes, the solid unbroken line is an indication of a turn - don't people slow down for that?

No they don't - I do not think people even know this.

Originally Posted by A350XWB

Correct. I wonder how many people, even in a community like this, know what most of the road markings mean. I was regularly travelling through this route until about 3-4 months back. The reason I stopped taking this route is due to some jolly riders. Many of them are first timers and don't even know the road well, but still insist on driving fast and the results are evident. I have seen lot of accidents on this stretch, mainly concentrated in the area just after Kanakapura (going towards Malavalli) where the road reaches the top of the hill and then winds down. Here, the road becomes narrow, with trees on both sides, has bad camber and tricky turns. But more than the road, I blame the drivers who try do circus.

This route is in-fact very well marked in terms of overtaking zones and no overtaking zones. Having traveled on this for about a dozen times, I know the stretch very well. Honestly, if you just follow the traffic lines, you are set up well.
But on multiple occasions, I have found people overtaking me in no overtaking zones. There are two things, one they do not know what those lines mean and they are short on common sense.

[kicksperliter]

This Fatal Accident took place somewhere near Anantapur Dist in Kanaganapalli Hobli or PS limits.

There is a straight road (new Tarmac) with an incline for about 4 kms, while nearing the end of the incline you can't see opposite vehicles due to blind spot where the inclined road ends and starts to decline.

This vehicle, which was traveling at a speed between 60-70kmph came close to the end of the inclined road, only to realize the road is curved towards right. Immediately the driver realizes the road is towards right, and steers to right.

This is where the driver lost control of the car.

The car went about 40mtrs steering towards right and left (Driver was struggling to control the vehicle), during this point, the front left side of the axle paved way by breaking, due to which the car turtled 5 times until it finally came to stand still.

This is very remote place and traffic is very less, as these are the roads connecting to small villages.

There were 2 people in the car and unfortunately one expired and by God's grace, one survived without a scratch on him.