Team-BHP - Massive Polo GTI accident in Hyderabad

Sorry to read this. I have noticed here in GGN: places with better roads, people drive worse and are way more careless. High speed (read death inducing) driving is rampant, and people are basically morons + idiots. Like last week, one fool wanted to overtake at the 56 sector underpasses. Average speed was ~45-50. I gave him way, he passed only to be stopped by a slower vehicle in front. He started to muscle in, to again overtake from the lane I had moved into. Is that sanity?

I 100% peg the blame on that GTI driver. In Indian cities 100+ speeds are stupidity irrespective of the vehicle.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bblost (Post 4698936)

I had recorded this using an action camera on my motorcycle, a couple of days back.

Thanks for sharing this video. One can clearly make out that there are umpteen undulations on the surface and bikes are actually bobbing up and down. One undulation is enough to throw a speeding car, with all safety features, out of control. This flyover has so many of them. And yes, the speed was excessive.

We may blame authorities for all we want. And lets say in an ideal case, the turn was not as sharp as this one and the road was made of asphalt. In such a case, a driver who is even more reckless and with a more powerful car will try taking the turn at 200kmph and with the same result. We should stop blaming authorities for everything without even an iota of care from our end. In this case, it is 100% the driver's fault.

Good that the flyover is closed now for 'traffic control' measures which I am sure is about adding speed breakers to control these speed junkies.

May the souls lost RIP as well as those injured recover quickly.

My take on contributing factors:
1. The GTI was well over the tracked speed
2. Possibly racing with the crossover (BMW X?) which appeared on the footage immediately afterwards.
3. Concrete surfaces are rubbish unless perfectly laid. On a curving flyover it can be very very bumpy
4. The camber on that road (from what I can see) is missing or just wrong
5. Add in a momentary lapse of concentration as well.

And the results are catastrophic and akin to manslaughter.

A very unfortunate incident. Feel very sorry for the innocent person who got killed. Better roads and lack of driving discipline is always a recipe of disaster.
This made me remember a similar turn in Bangalore. There is the airport entry ramp from City end which goes through a sharp curve and I have seen many people speeding that curve at 100+ speeds which can result in something similar. There are enough sign boards telling reduce speed and showing the safe speed limit but very few cares.

Quote:

Originally Posted by itwasntme (Post 4698984)

2. Possibly racing with the crossover (BMW X?) which appeared on the footage immediately afterwards.

The cars that follow the GTI are a Creta and a Verna. The Creta appears to be doing high speeds as well by the way it is bouncing up and down and the speed at which it passes the Verna.

While this may be an extreme case of over-speeding and a major accident as a result of that, one can't rule out the existent factors that are a recipe for disaster

Wide three lane uni-directional flyover
Long stretch of road allowing cars to build up speed
Concrete, bumpy surface
Sharp S Curve

Unless they find effective ways of making people slow down at that curve, there is a high possibility of more vehicles hitting that wall if not falling over it.

Give a long wide open stretch to motorists in any of our high traffic density cities and I am sure you'll find drivers racing one another. Just take our ORR or NICE Road for example. The pent up frustration of being stuck in traffic jams just makes people do silly things the moment they see an open stretch.

I feel ashamed to say this, but just imposing speed limits doesn't work on us. Our traffic needs other forceful measures like unscientific speed breakers or Police barriers. Ironically the most effective speed control measure in our cities are our traffic jams.

On youtube one can watch the video in slow motion one can make out the car tilts on it's left wheels and due to inertia fly's over the railing and into the crowd below. It's horrific to see the polo crumple starting from the rear in slow motion. Something like below should slow vehicles down and must be installed before the curve.

Massive Polo GTI accident in Hyderabad - Falls off a flyover!-images-1.jpeg

Quote:

Originally Posted by BenjiRoss (Post 4698924)

I know that this may have been mentioned before - but what is the legal speed limit on the flyover and has the necessary signage about speed limit been posted appropriately on the flyover.

40, as can be clearly seen in bblost's video. The limit, and the curve, are clearly marked.

But it doesn't really matter. What matters more is that the driver was so totally unable to actually take the corner.

I won't lecture on speed limits, it will be hypocritical, but one should never get anywhere near as close to such a catastrophic loss of control during what was, after all, simply driving around a corner.

I wonder how long he had been driving this car? It is like somebody flooring it for the first time, and being instantly out of their control zone.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat (Post 4699015)

I feel ashamed to say this, but just imposing speed limits doesn't work on us.

Doesn't work on anybody. Just see how Highway-code-educated Brits observe the speed limit except where they know there are cameras, cops, or surveillance.

The driver, Founder CEO of India's 'first' AR gaming company, with potential connections in higher echelons, virtually in all rungs of society. Possibly a phone call away from skipping through legal tangles and potential punishment(?).

My heart goes out to family of the mother who lost her life and the 23 year old daughter that had witness this horrific loss. The loss would magnify disproportionately if this driver walks away free or even with minimal punishment. Add to that the distrust in social frameworks for observers like us.

The dimensions of speed limit signs in the US is 24"x30" (much larger on freeways). The ones seen on this overpass is easy to miss especially at high speeds. I couldn't find any speed limit signage on right lanes, although I could be wrong (as I was walking through frame-by-frame in the earlier video posted).

Regardless, I would like to think that road networks, overpasses are designed with specific limitations (weight, height, speed etc) and the signage should be understood from a design stand-point as well.