[arun_josie]

Here are the last updates on my previous car,

- During last week of January the buyer of the car paid me 3.2L and towed the car to bangalore.
- By 3rd week of February Royal Sundaram paid me 1.84L.
- Both payment together was the IDV value.


Here is the last pic, the buyer is from Shivaji Nager, Bangalore. I was very sad to see my car off this way. I was behind the car for a couple of KMs before parting ways.

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

Meanwhile, I have taken a decision on my next car and yes I will be shifting base from Maruti to Fiat. Its Fiat Linea Emotion(Diesel).

Here is my Ownership thread on Linea MJD,
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...linea-mjd.html

[arun_josie]

Update:
My dad had filed a RTI request some time back to find the number of accidents on the intersection where I met with the accident. Last week we received a response for the same with the number standing at 39 accidents during the last 4 years. This count is based on the FIRs filed. Most of the time, FIRs are filed only when there are casualties. So, the actual number of accident could be much higher.

Since this intersection has lot of irregularities and toll is collected for usage, we will be proceeding with a legal notice to NHAI.

[D C]

I had a similar experience last year on my way from Chennai to Palakkad. The most important things we need to be alert about, while driving through rural Tamil Nadu:

- Two Wheelers (especially, TVS 50), they always behave against commonsense
- Local people, dogs & cows might show up from the bush in the median, while on the fast lane
- Tamil Nadu State Transport interstate buses, we never know when they change lanes
- Local trucks (not the interstate trucks), they normally decide to take the U turn while on the left lane and could come right across the lanes to the right
-When you are in any of the above scenarios, slow down more than you normally do and be prepared for any unexpected behavior

Fortunately, my experience was not as bad as arun josie. I was on the fast lane on the 3 lane highway and this man in a two wheeler was waiting to cross on the left side of the road. It was a straight road and I could see him from a distance, but I wasn't sure if he will wait for me to pass. I honked to alert him from a distance that give him enough time to cross. He thought about for a few seconds and decided to cross the road. I reduced my speed giving him more time to cross. To my shock, he began pushing the bike across the road sitting on it. That was unexpected, I was thinking he will drive across and was prepared for that. By the time I realized he wasn't driving, I was pretty close and he was already on the center lane, I floored the brakes. He saw me coming close and panicked and stopped in the middle of the center and right lane. With the brakes floored completely, I did an inverted C cut between the biker and the gap in the median and came back to right lane crossing the biker.

That's the day I fell in love with the Verna's stability and braking system. The car cut through the gap steadily like a boss, and it was a real life scenario and not a test condition. Ever since, I will always debate if someone talk against Verna's stability.

[arun_josie]

One year passed in no time since I met with this unfortunate accident. And now, the Dzire has been sold by the scrap dealer, not in bangalore though. Its around 200+ Kms away. So, spotting it again will be difficult. I am not sure in what condition it was sold.

Ever since this accident, I am very particular to follow Sign boards, Speed limits etc. But in my opinion, I have seen many Sign boards/Speed limits placed in illogical locations or the speed limit is just too slow to be followed. Adding to this, we have misplaced speed breakers/barricades etc as well. So, in the end it all boils down to our individual road/traffic sense and last minute calls to be safe on the Indian highways. And as advised by team-bhp, go for a car equipped with all the safety features or at the least,a car with ABS/Airbag.

Some of the idiotic sign boards that I would like to mention here,
- 80Km speed limit board just next to a speed beaker (On Bangalore - Hyderabad highway)
- 100Km speed limit just before a intersection (On Madurai - Kanyakumari highway)
- Intersection sign board exactly at the intersection (On Madurai - Kanyakumari highway)
- Sign boards at intersections blocking the eye view for people crossing the roads and for the drivers on the highway as well
there are many like this along the highways.

Notice to NHAI:

We sent a legal notice to NHAI since this intersection has lot of irregularities and toll is collected for the road usage, but we didn't get a satisfactory response from them. We have submitted all the evidences to the consumer court. however, it looks like they may ask us to approach the High court as they feel this case is outside the scope of a consumer court. We plan to proceed as per the court's directive which we will receive within a week from now.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

And as advised by team-bhp, go for a car equipped with all the safety features or at the least,a car with ABS/Airbag.

It is high time now that this becomes a mandate for cars be it any size or cost to have front airbags and ABS as standard. Music player, mud flaps, mats can be the 'Extra's'.

Originally Posted by arun_josie

Some of the idiotic sign boards that I would like to mention here

Oh you'll find a million boards like that have no relation to the speed mentioned versus the road it is put on.

I have seen a 50 kmph limit board on the 8-lane ORR. People are actually doing 120 kmph on that stretch.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

Ever since this accident, I am very particular to follow Sign boards, Speed limits etc. But in my opinion, I have seen many Sign boards/Speed limits placed in illogical locations or the speed limit is just too slow to be followed.

I don't know that any speed limit is too slow to be obeyed. I'm not saying I obey them all, I'm human too, but when we don't we are breaking the law.

I once learnt a hard lesson about speed limits: the speed limit is not necessarily the safe speed.

It happened to me on a British road. I saw a 50MPH limit sign, and reduced my speed accordingly. Seconds later, an old guy in an old car chugged out at the crossroads ahead, and stalled right in front of me. The collision might not have been inevitable if I had slowed a little more.

(By the way, it was not a serious accident: only cars, not humans, were damaged, but neither vehicle was drivable afterwards.)

[arun_josie]

Two years passed now but still we continue to hear about accidents on this exact intersection. Latest being 2 school kids run-over by a car. One main issue for people crossing this road is the height of the wall which connects the gap between two minor bridges. This wall blocks the view of any shorter vehicles like cars coming on the highway. As per regulations this wall should be shorter.



We had filed a case against NHAI in high court(Public-Interest Litigation) about the irregularities on this intersection. Two months back court ordered NHAI to fix the irregularities on this intersection. But unfortunately, NHAI is yet to take any action.

There is also a case filed in Consumer court, which has not proceeded much..

[aeroamit]

@ Arun
Looks like your vehicle was repaired and sold in Chitradurga as per information from Karnataka Govt. RTO page ( http://164.100.80.164/vehiclesearch/ ).

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by aeroamit

@ Arun
Looks like your vehicle was repaired and sold in Chitradurga as per information from Karnataka Govt. RTO page ( http://164.100.80.164/vehiclesearch/ ).

Thanks for this link!

I found the current owner detail some time back through RTO. Since this car was repaired by a local workshop, I am sure that they would have skipped the Airbags and sold the car to a unsuspecting customer in Chitradurga.

[bblost]

Reminded me of this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjxM9chAe1k

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

We had filed a case against NHAI in high court(Public-Interest Litigation) about the irregularities on this intersection. Two months back court ordered NHAI to fix the irregularities on this intersection. But unfortunately, NHAI is yet to take any action.

There is also a case filed in Consumer court, which has not proceeded much..

Finally, after some delay despite court order, NHAI has taken some action. They have reduced the height of the wall to some extent so that people crossing this road have some visibility of the oncoming vehicles(especially shorter vehicles like cars). But again, it looks like a shoddy, incomplete/unprofessional work. Initially they denied that, safety aspects on this intersection is as per norms.

Now, this will help our case in consumer court.

Here are two pics after reducing the height of the wall,

[motorhead16]

The golden rule in India is to never stray confidently beyond 80. If you are going beyond 80 you are taking an unnecessary risk of a crash. While most modern cars feel slow at 80, its quite practical to keep your acceleration in check. Dont rush through corners and intersections and keep your ego in check and dont race other cars/bikes/buses.

[Manoj2268]

I concur with the previous statement. I rented a Figo from zoomcar in January while travelling to Rajasthan and limited myself to 85 kmph(app showed that I crossed 90 just once, while overtaking). Driving was never so enjoyable.

[naveenroy]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

Finally, after some delay despite court order, NHAI has taken some action. They have reduced the height of the wall to some extent so that people crossing this road have some visibility of the oncoming vehicles(especially shorter vehicles like cars). But again, it looks like a shoddy, incomplete/unprofessional work. Initially they denied that, safety aspects on this intersection is as per norms.

Now, this will help our case in consumer court.

Here are two pics after reducing the height of the wall,

Appreciate you following up on this diligently. Hopefully they will raze the walls down and prevent more accidents at this site.