[A M]

That was close!! Thank goodness nothing untoward happened.

Originally Posted by audioholic

At the same time this popup came and by the time I declined it and looked back, a small girl was already 1/4th in my path.

Mobile phones are a big distraction while driving. I appeal to everyone not to use the phone in any which way while driving. If you are using it to navigate, please use the voice commands.

If you miss a turn the phone will re-route but things can turn ugly if you miss a fellow road user. The pop-up on the phone can be attended to later as well but what pops-up on the road in front of you can lead to a disaster.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by lamborghini

See 13-15 seconds, on the right most lane - blink and you'll probably miss it;

I had to go full screen and watch several times as well as not blinking.

Yes, those who use headlights that way are nothing short of potential murderers.

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

Unmarked speed-breakers are not a good idea, irrespective of location and intent.

Yes, Speeds often need to be controlled and they often need to be controlled when people do not want to be controlled. They have to be effective and unavoidable and... safe in themselves.

Unmarked humps? Unlit barriers? All this stuff is like putting a foot out to trip a runner!

Originally Posted by A M

Mobile phones are a big distraction while driving. I appeal to everyone not to use the phone in any which way while driving. If you are using it to navigate, please use the voice commands.

Wow. I never before understood any good reason why I should talk to my phone.

Now I do. I'm not sure how I can take on board this culture shift, but you have given me a good reason to try!

[arvind71181]

Cross posting from my ownership thread:

I just about escaped having 2 serious accidents, videos below. The learning, after seeing the videos is: Always be alert, surprises can creep up anytime.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62pEO5YLkKA

Noticed these bikes at the very last moment, extremely lucky here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOxft5SoVfo

In this video, I saw the lady standing but did not expect her to run after the bus passed.

[luvDriving]

Originally Posted by arvind71181

In this video, I saw the lady standing but did not expect her to run after the bus passed.

That was very close indeed ! Kudos to the quick reaction from you.

Had the lady been a little quicker or your reflexes a little slower, it would have been a really messy story.

She was just waiting for the long line of big vehicles to pass without having a look at the other side. This was not even a road with a divider in between. One can only hope but most of the times its

[hemanth.anand]

This happened Last October on the Hyderabad highway.
My daughter was watching some car videos on the mobile phone.
I heard the screeching noise and thought it was from the mobile.
After I saw something very close in ORVM, I realised that I missed something bad by a few inches.

http://youtu.be/qui2sC_51_g

[Santoshbhat]

This happened yesterday on the Hubli Dharwad bypass when we were returning to Bangalore.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTLm...ature=youtu.be

This two lane stretch of 27 kms is one of the most accident prone stretches I have encountered. I myself have had more than a few close encounters which has made me drive extra carefully on this stretch.

I was just about picking up speed when I subconsciously seem to have dropped speed due to the sight a vehicle stopped by the side. A truck passed by followed by a WagonR. Right behind the wagonr was a woman (who seemed to have alighted from the halted MUV) hidden from my view , who just put her head down and darted across the road straight into my path .

Seconds before I was doing 120 to 115 kph and for some reason I was doing only about 90 +kph when she first came into my sights. I stood on the brakes and calculated that I could beat her to the edge of the road and swerved left. From the video it seems like the sound of screeching brakes alerted her about my car and she too seems to have 'braked'.

First the truck, then the wagonr ensured that both of us did not spot each other. But how can one run across the road like that without clear visual?

THings could have gone horribly wrong, if my attention was diverted, or if I decided to go behind her and she froze or did a panic turnaround.

Looks like the guy on the bike was waiting to pick her up. Thank heavens he wasn't standing right at that spot and was a few meters ahead. If he was, I think all three of us were goners.

35 secs : Me crusing happily at 115 kph



36 secs : I slow down for some unknown reason



36.5 secs : She comes into my field of view. By now she is already accelerating



37 secs : I brake hard



38 secs : We are headed for a collision course. I decide to swerve left before she gets there.



38.5 secs : She seems to have hit her brakes too



38.75 secs : Look at her position on the road!



39 secs : She is raising her hand against me. Doesn't look like she is thanking me!



44 secs : Thank god this guy wasn't part of the mix back there!



Animated GIF (for those who cannot access youtube):

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

I think I would rate this as the scariest moment of my 20 year driving history. It has left me a bit shaken. I think I was lucky I spotted her at the right time. I am yet to recover from it even after 2 days. Chills still run down my spine every time I think about it.

Horrible horrible.

Precisely why have fit in Roots Megasonic and use it whenever I think I should.

Believe me, its really stressfree as its the loudest I have come across, may not be the best option out there, but...can't help.

Driving in the hills is pretty stress free, in fact is a stress buster.

[arvind71181]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

This happened yesterday on the Hubli Dharwad bypass when we were returning to Bangalore.

Your anticipation and luck saved you. A similar incident on the same road, mine is posted a few posts above yours. I dont understand this running towards the other side without looking at both the sides of the road.

[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by Sheel

Horrible horrible.

Precisely why have fit in Roots Megasonic and use it whenever I think I should.

Believe me, its really stressfree as its the loudest I have come across, may not be the best option out there, but...can't help.

Driving in the hills is pretty stress free, in fact is a stress buster.

I don't think honking was an option here. I had to hit the brakes without wasting even a millisecond. The X3's brakes are pretty phenomenal and I could've possibly continued braking, but I felt by veering left I could avoid her easily, so I let go of the brakes and took that path. ABS, EBD, DSC and all sorts of abbreviations helped I suppose in keeping the car under driver control.

Originally Posted by arvind71181

Your anticipation and luck saved you. A similar incident on the same road, mine is posted a few posts above yours. I dont understand this running towards the other side without looking at both the sides of the road.

People are simply ignorant about the dangers of the road and more so how the margin for error is so thin on the highway. She probably is not used to seeing beyond 10 meters while crossing the road in her home street and she applied the same principle here.

On two lane stretches I always drive with my headlights on to make myself as visible as possible. DRLs alone are not enough. A lesson learnt that on two lane roads, oncoming vehicles create blind spots and speed can be your enemy.

[megazoid]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

This happened yesterday on the Hubli Dharwad bypass when we were returning to Bangalore.

Phew! That was mighty close.That section is getting terribly dangerous. Is there something preventing that part being four or six laned?

[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by megazoid

Phew! That was mighty close.That section is getting terribly dangerous. Is there something preventing that part being four or six laned?

https://www.quora.com/Why-the-Hubli-...imum-of-4-lane

We may have to suffer that two lane for 6 more years.

[sudeepg]

Phew! That was darn way too close! But I loved the way you darted out of her way, but if she had continued without slowing, she would have most likely ended up hitting the fender or the doors. Just goes on to show that even 100 KMPH can be dangerous with stupid people on the road.

In the second last image it looks like she is pointing out as though its your fault?

[giri1.8]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

I don't think honking was an option here. I had to hit the brakes without wasting even a millisecond. The X3's brakes are pretty phenomenal and I could've possibly continued braking, but I felt by veering left I could avoid her easily, so I let go of the brakes and took that path. ABS, EBD, DSC and all sorts of abbreviations helped I suppose in keeping the car under driver control.

Looking at how smooth you drove, I don't think electronics had to kick-in too much.

Similar incidents happen very often when I ride my bike, guess what they all do when I confront them for their mistake? They just face down and just smile in embarrassment, as if they have done something very silly, little they understand it puts everyone's life in danger. We Indians are hated for a reason globally.

[turbodude]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

35 secs : Me crusing happily at 115 kph

Sir, this is a single lane road. Even 80 kmph is borderline for a disaster. 115 kmph is too much for such open road. IMHO you need to take care. Streets are filled with brainless people (courtesy: CEAT tyre television ad ).

In India, people are not able to judge the speed of oncoming vehicle, that's why there are so many deaths on railway track due to speeding train. So keeping our speed a bit low is the only solution for safe driving.

I am not blaming you in any way but bhpians have brain and we have to take the responsibility of road safety on our shoulders.

[NiInJa]

That was close ! That was luck and the driver's action both working together !

My dad has hammered this into my head in my early years of driving: NEVER exceed speeds above 75-80 kmph on two way roads like these, and I have adhered to it since then. I've been involved in such cases and came out safely so far only because my vehicle's speed was within manageable limits. Your brain gets a lot of time to process the information of the road ahead and braking hard at 80kmph is safer (for small cars without ABS or other electronics)