Team-BHP (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/)

-   Road Safety (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/road-safety/)

-   -   Your near-miss experiences on the road (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/road-safety/42155-your-near-miss-experiences-road-52.html)

In my opinion, the biker is the only one at fault in this incidence. Yes, you were in the middle lane, but considering the very short distance between the end of the barrier and your turn, I do not see that you had much of a choice. You also did switch on your indicator well in advance giving the biker ample time to react.

Everything what you should not have done you did it here.

1. There were barricades visible much before. Should have been spotted. Yes. They probably should not have been there. But it looks like it was meant to block the left most lane due to the narrowing lane ahead due to a bridge. There was a barricade which was perpendicular a few meters before.
2. You tried moving from right most lane to the left most lane squeezing in between the bus and the Swift - there wasn't enough space and time. The traffic conditions were slow and congested requiring patient driving. Especially with a nearing toll plaza.
3. You didn't even have a clear line of sight on the left most lane even if someone needs to sympathize.
4. Left most lane overtaking is the most dangerous one - not to mention the common sense which applies that do not overtake from left. That's one of the first driving lessons.

The barricades were just a foot note. I may not get into anyone's good books for this post. Certainly not yours. But the fact remains that the move was unwarranted.

I would say at best you could have tried merging a few meters earlier but the result would have been nearly the same. The distance between your turn and the barricades wasn't too much and you had switched on the indicators even before crossing The barricade. The biker was impatient to have not spotted your signal and to attempt the overtake. And he was right behind you, not in the right most lane.
So he was at fault 100 percent.

By the way, did you check if your rear indicators were working?

No issue there. I wouldn't argue or justify that either. The only message I put out was what you have mentioned, ie the barricades must not have been there, and that the car behaved really well during the evasion. Normally I'm wary of parked vehicles or other obstacles while switching lanes without clear sight, but in this case traffic was flowing smoothly and at a decent speed which made me believe the path was clear, except for this barricade which was exactly the problem. Issue with me is I'm really not a defensive driver or an overcautious driver to be honest, and would not be one until my reflexes start weakening :D

These kind of biker antics is at greater display on roads, every now and then even after indicating the turn well in advance, these bikers always squeeze on the turning side.

Its like people who speed instead of slowing on yellow. Let me quickly squeeze through.

This happened two days back.
Watch the S-Cross cutting from the right to overtake.

https://youtu.be/s4h1_9_8j8s

Dear friend. You are an outlier to be driving on Indian roads. Ideally in Indian driving conditions you should have cut through the gap between the auto on the right lane and the two wheelers in front of you. Possibly honked to the end of limits to get your right of way, too.

https://youtu.be/nqFAw4hCTCU

Auto rick driver moved to the extreme right side with no lights etc. I have no clue what he was doing there without any indicators on. I almost drive into him thinking the road was clear only to brake on seeing his vehicle on the wrong side of the road.
(First 10 secs only).

The barricade to your right was a golden opportunity, where you had nobody to your right, and turning right there would not have affected anyone else. Since you knew where you were going to turn, some better planning was needed. Glad he didn't hit you, or worse, you didn't knock him down, both of which were possibilities in such a scenario.

Not very wise of me to overtake from left. Intuition and bit of luck helps me avoid an accident. Could later see that the truck driver was busy talking on phone in one hand, and would have been oblivious to my horn sound or to keep an eye on his ORVM.
https://youtube.com/shorts/8LViKz2hOT8?feature=share

Not wise at all. Do please, just don't do that!

From your position, you have no idea if and why the driver might need to pull to the left, and it is his right to do so.

Honestly tired of bikers doing this. PLEASE don't do this! I had close shaves in traffic with bikers constantly cutting me from the left. I get really scared to drive in traffic sometimes with antics like this.

While you have to be extra careful on Indian roads as a biker, the very least you can do is following the rules. Drive safe, mate :)

Am glad you are safe and realize your folly too. You come in from a blind spot and appear on the mirror only at the last minute during such situations. Even if had his eye on the ORVM, he would not be able to make you out on the mirror until the last minute.

Lokmat Times issue of 01.12.2022 features three images of two wheeler riders who could create near- miss experiences on the road. Such apathetic and callous driving is a common sight in many locations in India.

Hi All the Bhpians, today morning when I was driving to work I had a close shave with one of the homeless people walking on the eastern expressway. Thankfully car stopped in time so did not hit him, and also by gods grace I did not get rear ended by someone else. So in all a very happy situation.

But would like to know if I had hit him? Whose fault it would have been? Need honest feedback.

Thanks,https://youtube.com/shorts/2QEeOYuPKSw?feature=share

Prats

You didn't slow down when the bus was indicating. This was your only fault.

Always maintain distance from the vehicle in front, these incidents reduce drastically if we do.
In this incident, the distance saved you and the person walking ahead.