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-   -   Massive Polo GTI accident in Hyderabad - Falls off a flyover! (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/road-safety/215936-massive-polo-gti-accident-hyderabad-falls-off-flyover-11.html)

We always blame infrastructure/enforcement but biggest problem we've is selfishness. When it suits us, we tend to forget rules. Be it speeding/driving wrong side to avoid a U turn / jumping signals because there are no cars /....and the list goes on.

If each one us commit to following rules, irrespective of how frustrating it's to watch rule breakers getting ahead or making situation worse, hopefully things will improve. Sounds too idealistic but unfortunately I don't see any other way.

So to prevent this accident (and such accidents) we need flyovers rated at 104kmph (65 miles per hour), with right banking, taller/stronger guard rails and other paraphernalia, so that the endowed folks can safely enjoy the G forces for few seconds within city limits.

The Polo GTI has Traction Control. Don't know if it has ESP as well. May be the manufacturers should now plan to tune these features for Indian road and traffic conditions. Or may be this particular situation was well beyond the cars electronic capability to shed the speed.

Well, he wasn't inside the speed limit neither did he stick to his lane. At least what I suggested would have kept the car inside the flyover and not killed an innocent life.

You seem to be forgetting me accepting that the driver is in the wrong in the opening sentence of my post itself :Frustrati

All I am saying is that it is interesting to note that the rear wheel lifts off the road in the 36 second mark of the video. Investigation into why that happened could prove crucial in ensuring safety in the future.

Anyway I feel this thread has taken a turn into mob mentality if someone says flyover might be poorly constructed, several others chime in to remind that person that the driver was over-speeding like as if that is not already known. Shall end my posts on this subject for now. I simply thought it was interesting to note the car lose contact with the road surface at the 36 second mark several moments before it under-steered, hit the barrier and fell off the flyover.

Not an architect, but the gradient transition from the up-ramp to the flat section appears too abrupt. What makes it worse is it's right in the middle of the sharp right turn, so at higher speeds, you lose traction for a crucial moment. It would be bad in a straight line too, if one was panic-braking. This happens all too often on Bangalore flyovers with horribly designed expansion joints.

None of this means one should be driving like crazy (like this chap was), but a surface correction should be done for that section, on top of whatever else is done to correct the barriers.

Honestly I'm aghast at some of the responses here trying to shift blame away from the person doing 106 in a 40 kph zone, losing it and then killing an innocent bystander. I know we're all keen drivers here, but we ought to hold ourselves to a higher standard.

While in this case the driver is undoubtedly guilty of over-speeding - most often than not there are multiple reasons contributing to accidents like these. Curiosity is also high as this was a very capable car make and the accident happened to be captured so that its there for everyone to analyse, otherwise I am sure this is not the first time a high speed manoeuvre has gone wrong. Some of the reasons might have more influence and some might have slightly less. However, a healthy discussion is good as we all get to learn something new. (I honestly learnt that I need to take heed on concrete surface than regular asphalt while cornering). There is a lot of takeaways and viewpoints that make sense. Isn't that the entire reason we are discussing this, because otherwise what is done is already done ?

No point in blaming the road surface or the way the flyover is designed. If you look across any city you will find umpteen examples of poorly laid/ damaged roads, badly positioned dividers, barriers, culverts, untrimmed tree branches, hanging wires, unscientific speed breakers etc... all of which have cost lives at some point or the other. The list could just go on and on.

Yes the authorities have a lot to do and we have a long way to go. The driver here simply overcooked the corner and lost control. He was going way too fast for the conditions present. Let's imagine if the road surface was perfectly smooth and grippy. Even then it is possible to overcook the corner and lose control and crash. Car's like these are capable of much much higher speeds than the 105 to 120 kph speculated in this case. Who or what will we blame then? There is an outer limit that any man or machine can handle in a given circumstance. If that limit is breached, the result is a bad crash no matter what.

I received this video on WhatsApp just the day before I was to embark on a solo drive for 400 kilometers. I drove slower than I usually do and knowingly slowed down to let rash drivers pass me. My heart goes out to the innocent victims and I keep wondering what if it was me or anyone I knew? I wonder what a potential victim can do to be saved from such mishaps.

No matter how poorly designed the infrastructure is, we must remember the famous saying that 'A bad workman blames his tools'. An elderly cousin once said to me, that if you are not sure, then don't do it. This could be performing an overtake or taking a corner fast. I have been almost always adhering to it since I started driving.

Hyderabad: Panel formed to inspect Biodiversity flyover

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/.../72231410.cms?

A four-member committee was formed on Monday to study the Biodiversity flyover and suggest measures for safe travel. Members of the committee drove on the flyover as part of their inspection and said that a report will be submitted in 10 days.

One JNTU Expert Engineer has suggested fitting a rolling barrier to fixing issues at blind curves.


https://interestingengineering.com/t...lions-of-lives

W-beams are cheaper, absorb maximum energy by flattening out or crumpling, slow down the vehicle and prevent flip over. They are most widely used worldwide and easily available.
https://www.indiamart.com/proddetail...907339573.html
http://www.metalcrashbarrier.com/blo...r-or-supplier/

In comparison, the rigid (Jersey type) barrier used on this flyover are acceptable only where speeds are very slow. They do not absorb energy, cause tires to ride up the slope, and there is high likelihood a smaller vehicle will flip over.

Correction accepted!
And I am wondering how many more pages we can fill, saying the same thing over and over.

It's a shocking incident, with one person standing out as the guilty person, but it is good that other aspects have been talked through too. Road design should include margin. Whether it should include such a large margin is moot (and we have been mooting it!) but certainly, there should be margin beyond the envisaged speeds demands.

I wonder why those CCTV cameras were there at all. If they can calculate the entry speed and exit speeds, why cannot they be used to fine every speed limit breach?
I wondered about this when U-turn movie was released(Kannada)
The traffic police there use CCTV footage to solve a mystery. Why not use the same and not fine every offender?
I am sorry to say that until rules are enforced, people will not follow them. Forget accidents, the sheer stress that our roads give us are silently killing more people. Unfortunately, we cannot produce footage for that