[sudev]

One word describes her reaction - freeze.

Lots of people freeze when something unlikely happens. Likely she just did not take her foot off the accelerator when, after first avoidance steering to left, the car hit bushes, ditch etc. Worst could have been stomping on accelerator instead of brake - like someone already mentioned.

Happens to best of us.

[binand]

@ RajaTaurus

I don't think we have to make this a gender-specific thing. There is probably a general misconception among all drivers (with insignificant highway driving experience) that highway driving is easier than city driving.

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

You are guessing. Here's my guess: if that car had been at "high speed" the pole would have been in the cabin. Do try to understand the implications of hitting something very narrow/sharp.

Agree broadly with you but IMHO the hit has been fairly hard. I dont think there exists a library of images that catalog the hit that a car will get at 10 / 20 / 30 /... kph which would be in line with your statement that it was not a high speed impact. If there is, please do share for our learning. I do believe the car went out of control at a high enough speed considering the ditch it traversed to get to the pole. Now whether the impact velocity with the pole was high? I don't know.

Originally Posted by aneeshtn

I agree this. Even in this case, she is not comfortable driving in hectic Bangalore traffic. But in highways she drives for 50 odd kms everytime they go home. The thing is, maintaining 70 plus speed on a road with limited traffic would seem very easy. But like it happened yesterday, something unexpected happened and she just froze.

Actually, this is a very interesting point. I learned from a typical driving school. After 2/3rd of the course, the instructor took me through congested bylanes of Lajpat Nagar in Delhi. His logic was that if you can keep calm and maneuver in the madness of choked inner-city lanes then your senses are super alert and you can drive anywhere. I would tend to agree with that now.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

... Now whether the impact velocity with the pole was high? I don't know.

Most unlikely: there is no damage to the pole.

However, I emphasise my use of the word guess, and I am continuing to guess, as is the case in most of these accident-photo post-mortems.

[RajaTaurus]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Actually, this is a very interesting point. I learned from a typical driving school. After 2/3rd of the course, the instructor took me through congested bylanes of Lajpat Nagar in Delhi. His logic was that if you can keep calm and maneuver in the madness of choked inner-city lanes then your senses are super alert and you can drive anywhere. I would tend to agree with that now.

That is misleading. Highway driving needs different range of focus and extra alertness for unexpected events. You must be seeing at least 50 meters ahead of you panning right to left 180 degrees while frequently watching all 3 RVMs. Expect the worst to happen, expect every vehicle in front to make mistake and be prepared to act well in advance.
If you drive good in congested traffic that only means you have 'control on your car'. If you drive good on highway it means you are 'in control of the situation'.
While taking driving test in Kuwait, I failed twice on road test only because I braked late while approaching a traffic light & a roundabout.

[dark.knight]

Originally Posted by RajaTaurus

If you drive good in congested traffic that only means you have 'control on your car'. If you drive good on highway it means you are 'in control of the situation'.

Agree, hardly anything happens in choked roads.. I love to drive in congested roads as the traffic is relatively more disciplined when it comes to keeping lanes and speed. In contrast, Saturdays are almost always known as the day when the maximum number of illegal overtakings and overall indiscipline is reflected in the traffic.. simply horrible.

Highway driving is another ball-game altogether, and its almost always down to luck even if the most experienced drivers are at the helm, because of the speeds involved. I personally avoid highway driving completely, not because I'm inexperienced (I have over 75k kms done & dusted), but due to the inexperience of others not to mention the dangerous heavy vehicles plying all over and they simply don't even use the mirrors.

Whenever I do take the highway I'm much more alert than ever and keep my vision peeled for 50-100 meters ahead and slow down substantially when there's a lane crossing ahead. If anyone thought the highways are a free jolly ride where one can keep the throttle pressed and simply enjoy the drive.. he/she are terribly mistaken. Also, anyone who doesn't understand the limits of his/her vehicle in terms of steering response, braking, acceleration and gearing, should keep away from driving altogether leave alone highways.

[IronH4WK]

We're driving to Talakad yesterday morning and as we were approaching Kanakapura township, saw a rather large crowd gathered on the road, both sides. As I was passing through, got a glimpse of the vehicle involved in the accident - it was a orangish Alto K10. It had been t-boned on the left side and a friend who was riding with us said that the front was smashed too. There was debris all over the road. Didn't see what caused that damage.

When we stopped for breakfast at Kanakapura, heard from the locals that five people died in that accident.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by IronH4WK

When we stopped for breakfast at Kanakapura, heard from the locals that five people died in that accident.

Today's Deccan Herald reports two casualties and I presume that is referring to the same accident.



Source

[IronH4WK]

Originally Posted by aneeshtn

Today my friend and family met with an accident on Kanakapura road around 65 km from Bangalore.

IIRC, this stretch is between Kanakapura and Malavalli (from what I can make out from the road behind and what you've described).

We frequent the Kanakapura road when we're heading for a ride and believe you me, you can get yourself severely injured (or worse, meet your maker) if you're not careful of your riding/ driving. You have to keep scanning your path at least 100-200mts out because everything from chickens, dogs and cows running across to speeding Boleros and KSRTC buses will make things really unpleasant for you.

Besides this, you've quick turns, dip and turns, sharp turns over a crest and what not to catch by surprise. Kanakapura Road with traffic can be a nightmare for the uninitiated.

My two cents: I think the lady froze and went off the road; I don't think she floored the gas pedal, else the damage would have been substantial. Like Thad said, if it were a high speed accident, the pole would have been in the cabin. Besides, Etios ain't exactly a tank.

Thank God everyone is safe.

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Today's Deccan Herald reports two casualties and I presume that is referring to the same accident.

Attachment 1572315

Source

Looks like it's the same one. Maybe the locals were exaggerating the fatalities.

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Agree broadly with you but IMHO the hit has been fairly hard. I dont think there exists a library of images that catalog the hit that a car will get at 10 / 20 / 30 /... kph which would be in line with your statement that it was not a high speed impact. If there is, please do share for our learning. I do believe the car went out of control at a high enough speed considering the ditch it traversed to get to the pole. Now whether the impact velocity with the pole was high? I don't know.
.....

What is 'fairly hard'? And you are right there is no 'library' of images showing what exactly happens to each and every make and model of car when it hits a tree at different angles and speeds. But is this enough reason to say that intelligent and educated guesses cannot be made? This is essentially an application of forensic science. Science, not art.

My opinion is that the broad and shallow ditch providentially slowed down the car to a speed much less than what it was doing and thereby prevented the pole from entering the cabin. I would not presume that it 'flew' across the ditch.
What we learnt at college about force per unit area is sufficient to make me believe that the pole would have been in the cabin (if not the boot) at anything akin to a high speed impact.

[IronH4WK]

Just to illustrate, this dent was created on my car's hood when a BMTC bus rolled backwards slowly while waiting at a signal, a distance of about 5-7ft, and kissed my car.



Don't think the Etios was doing great speeds; maybe 40-50kmph max.

[adidac369]

A 5-7 feet back roll is
Bus drivers train specially to master this and are failed in the test if they roll back a feet even on an incline.
Trucks/lorries on the other hand, well, lets not open that can of worms.

[FORTified]

Yesterday, at around noon, while travelling from Hyderabad to Bangalore, We saw an accident. After crossing the toll booth and reaching Ananthapur [10km away], where road is straight and plain, this Honda city went out of control, swerved to left, jumped a 15-feet wide, 10 feet deep trench, landed on its roof, did another flip and landed on its four, in reverse direction facing the toll booth it just came thru. Car is banged in all directions. Ceiling collapsed

BUT.....both driver and passenger walked out scratch free. I AM YET TO MEET MORE LUCKY PEOPLE THAN THEM. Now, Driver couldn't tell what happened. He only remembers that car wobbled and took off.

The car is in such a location that retrieving it itself may be quite a task, due to the ditch between it and the road. Strangely, the skid mark that I saw was leading towards the culvert wall. Wall has no impact signs, car front bumper has not hit marks, no tyres were blown, no dead animals on the road. No nothing.

The only reason being given by locals is - It is a Sunday, mid noon and Amavasya

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by anupmathur

But is this enough reason to say that intelligent and educated guesses cannot be made? This is essentially an application of forensic science. Science, not art.

My opinion is that the broad and shallow ditch providentially slowed down the car to a speed much less than what it was doing and thereby prevented the pole from entering the cabin. I would not presume that it 'flew' across the ditch.
What we learnt at college about force per unit area is sufficient to make me believe that the pole would have been in the cabin (if not the boot) at anything akin to a high speed impact.

Hate to go down this rabbit hole but either it is our gut feel, or there is science. Science has to be evidence based - ergo the request for the sources basis which the judgment was made. I don't have any solid analysis to inform my guess - but I don't claim it to be anything more than a guess basis my gut feel.

Agree on the providential escape courtesy the ditch though.

[for_cars1]

Originally Posted by aneeshtn

...The road is perfectly straight. According to locals, accidents are a common sight there.
.....There was no skid marks or any other vehicle involved. She just remembered steering to the left to not hit an auto which slowed down abruptly.
...

Whatever happened in this incident has got nothing to do with gender.

An arrow straight road with very sparse traffic is a perfect scenario where any driver (even those with lots of experience) can let loose their alertness level and start taking things easy.

One can tend to keep driving staring casually at the (almost) empty road straight ahead and maintain a particular speed. Monotony builds up and this can drastically bring down the response time of a driver to react(brake/stop/steer/honk) when something sudden happens such as the vehicle in front abruptly stopping on the road without any warning/indication what-so-ever (as is the commonly the case on our roads, people just stop wherever they want on the road abruptly, cross the road when they like without looking).

These straight empty roads are very deceptively dangerous in making drivers lose alertness level. That could explain how a consistent pattern of frequent mishaps have happened on the same stretch as observed by the locals.

One needs to be aware of this deception and in fact drive on such roads with extra alertness and caution and not take it lightly.

In fact, roads with variations (be it traffic, curves and other aspects) are a lot safer and keep the driver engaged and more alert to better deal with sudden situations.

Originally Posted by honeybee

A more experienced driver would have been able to stop in time, maybe off the road, but not into the pole.

I expect all types of sudden braking scenarios, try to anticipate them and adjust my speeds accordingly.

As you've rightly pointed out, years of experience bring in these finer perspectives and they become a sub-conscious part of driving.

A lot about driving is about anticipating what all can happen in the next few moments and constantly making the right moves and being prepared for it and using the vehicle controls intuitively and almost autonomously/sub-consciously. With practice and experience, the hands and legs get trained (like muscle memory) like a reflex action to do the right thing on time, especially when the time available to react is very short.