[bhargav_dave]

Mine happened in May 2019. It was on our trip to MP in the Hexa that I had just bought. I was on the Ahmedabad - Indore highway and had just left Ahmedabad. The road was really brand new with a smooth surface. I must have been doing somewhere between 80-100. The highway was a 6 lane with a divider in the middle.

There were hardly any vehicles on the road. I was in the middle lane on this particular stretch and there was an auto Rikshaw in front of me about 5-600m away in the left/slow lane. I was slowly approaching him as he was also going on a decent speed. Not sure what happened but the guy decided to make a complete U turn (without any indication of slowing down or lights/gestures). This made him face me with less than 100m distance left between us. This was going to result in a complete head on collision had I not been able to slam the brakes on and swerve the car to the left lane. The Rikshaw was full with at least 5-6 passengers and it still gives me a chill thinking what if I was not able to stop or if the car did not do a good job in stopping. Needless to say the Rikshaw guy ran away and I could not drive for next 10 minutes as I was completely shaken. This has been the worst close call I have had in my entire driving career when I was the driver.

[chaitanyakrish]

This happened near Bommasandra yesterday.

I noticed that, the truck was trying to merge at the median gap, but truck driver was waiting, as there is heavy traffic.

Just when I was about to reach the median gap, he started moving and I had to take an evasive action immediately and join the middle lane back after crossing the truck.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7I8HrvQkVGI

Please Ignore the quality of the dash cam video. The CPL filter was misaligned when I gave car for service, and I had fixed it today after reviewing this footage.

[MT_Hyderabad]

Had an extreme close call today.
I was at around 60km/h and this guy crossed. I braked and swerved right in my non ABS car and he managed to survive this ordeal.

He was having phone in one hand and didn't bother to see what's coming from the opposite side before making a turn.

I saved a lot of advocate expense today.

https://youtu.be/GP-sLTYCoDM

Note to mods: The post above this one is a day old and I cannot merge it.

[Meph1st0]

Originally Posted by MT_Hyderabad

Had an extreme close call today.
I was at around 60km/h and this guy crossed. I braked and swerved right in my non ABS car and he managed to survive this ordeal.

That is a very very close shave, you have good reflexes.
Mobile phone addiction is such a common problem. Whenever I see a slow-moving car these days, most of the time the driver is checking the phone and I feel like an idiot for not honking and patiently following the car.

[StopUnderrides]

Originally Posted by MT_Hyderabad

Had an extreme close call today.
I was at around 60km/h and this guy crossed. I braked and swerved right in my non ABS car and he managed to survive this ordeal.

New level of stupidity on part of the biker. First he blindly tailgated the red car and then took a sharp turn right into your path.

I was reminded of a video on this portal where a 12 wheeler truck rolled over in trying to save a moron biker who suddenly merged onto the highway.

These are the kind of morons which kill other people. It was a two way narrow road and fortunately for you there wasn’t a truck or bus on the oncoming lane when you decided to swerve.

Easy to say since it’s almost a reflex action but it’d be better to brake in a straight line in such cases and do the best we can instead of swerving. I wonder if enough driver training can produce the legally and logically right response.

Eg: I know as part of training for commercial license, drivers hauling large semis in US are trained to brake in a straight line in such situations.

Finally the red car entered slightly into your lane and then went back. Ideally you should have slowed down from 60 and “covered” your brakes at that point anyway.

[Raghu M]

You were able to react because you were doing normal speeds. The roads are full of these kind of jokers. The road doesn't warrant speeds beyond 50 kmph.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by MT_Hyderabad

I saved a lot of advocate expense today.

You saved much more than that - probably your car & life (or potential serious injuries).

Kudos to your driving control for not veering into the opposite lane/traffic - you wouldn't have been in the wrong if your reflex action veered your car into the incoming traffic. There have been enough videos on the accident thread where vehicles have (out of reflex) gone into opposite traffic/lanes and causing accident, while avoiding the lone pedestrian/two-wheeler who jumped into their lane.

[VikramCS]

Thank God you saved yourself from a lot of hassles. Dashcam is an absolute must-have to save ourselves from such 'abusive-word' careless, selfish 'abusive-word'.

You were able to successfully come-out of this near accident since you were doing limited speed, had good reflexes; anyway, this road is 50 kmph road.

Thank you for sharing as well - many times, even the experienced drivers get carried-away, or, are in jovial mood and drive little freely without much concentration (has happened with me before)..such videos underline the importance of following road-rules, adhering to speed-limits, and, most important of all: anticipate all the time.

I don't understand why people resort to such irresponsible driving on roads that endanger their-own and other road user's life. Lot of fundamental changes are required to reduce such incidents in future.

Mods: Kindly note that i have deliberately used the word 'abusive-word' in quotes since i was very angry at the biker just watching him over my laptop screen. If it violates the TBHP rules, i apologize in advance.

[chaitanyakrish]

This is near Nandi Hills. As i just crossed the railway crossing, I was on slow speeds and hence, got enough reaction time.

Look at the tractor.

https://youtu.be/1UTKR7MpUck

[krishnakumar]

Originally Posted by Meph1st0

That is a very very close shave, you have good reflexes.
Mobile phone addiction is such a common problem. Whenever I see a slow-moving car these days, most of the time the driver is checking the phone and I feel like an idiot for not honking and patiently following the car.

This is SOO true!! I see you're also from Bangalore, so maybe this is particularly a problem in Bangalore?

Every single slow moving, lane hogging car I've seen, the driver is on the phone. Not talking, but chatting. Unbelievable.

I expect to find an old person getting used to the traffic or someone who's learning to drive with a worried face. But nope, most of the time these are well-dressed educated looking folks with their face down (not even looking ahead) on their phones and taking a few second glances to the front and moving at a snail's pace.

And they are absolutely oblivious to the surroundings. They are going at 15kmph on a 40kmph zone, sticking to the middle of the road (splitting lanes) or hogging the fast lane, creating terrible bottlenecks during peak traffic. Such inconsiderate drivers should be banned from driving for life.

I've never understood what's preventing them from stopping the car if the text is really that important.

[gypsyFreak]

Here's mine. It happened during my ride to MM Hills from Bangalore. I was cruising at 70 KMPH on my 2021 Himlayan, enjoying the greenery.

On a blind up-hill, out of nowhere this Bolero pickup comes on to my lane, completely blocking me. At first, i thought i will raise my hand and yell at him, but soon realized the gravity of the situation, i did not have enough stopping distance.
The driver did not back down or give me space, he still kept moving forward.
So, i had to take evasive action, braked hard and got off the slightly steep road edge and on to the dirt. The dual ABS worked fine and the bike responded flawlessly. The bike did not skid anywhere and i was able to maintain balance and get back on the road.
I thought of chasing the bolero and giving him a strong piece of my mind, but decided against the rage, thanked my stars and rode on.

https://youtu.be/0SyAPVG2CFc

[chaitanyakrish]

Originally Posted by gypsyFreak

On a blind up-hill, out of nowhere this Bolero pickup comes on to my lane, completely blocking me.

On undulating roads, where there the road dips, its better to avoid overtakes.

The Bolero might not have seen you at all, until you both are on the peak.

Here's similar example on Nandi Hills, this can go to Bad drivers thread but posting here.

We can see some old remains of a car on the right, it could've been a victim or the cause, no idea.

We can see a bus slowly moving up on the undulating road and a van tries to overtake it and notices a car suddenly and brakes.

https://youtu.be/wkKkdtyxl_Y

[akkosetto]

Hello all, this is my first post in Team-BHP and it is both a major near-miss and a minor accident.

Last Friday, I was travelling to Technopark, Trivandrum in my car, and to my horror a BRV going opposite way swerved into my lane. To make things worse, there was a pedestrian on left side of the road - trapping my car in between.

I was able to manoeuvre through this without hitting the BRV. Pedestrian though got a slight knock by my Left RVM, on realising this I stopped the vehicle. She was shocked, but was OK and not injured. The BRV fled the scene though.

It shudders me to think that few inches spared her from being sandwiched between my car and the metal fence.

I would like the BRV driver to be charged with Negligent / Rash driving for this, but since this is not an accident / hit and run as such, is that even possible? If possible, should there be a police complaint or reporting to MVD somehow is enough?

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by akkosetto

...I was able to manoeuvre through this without hitting the BRV. Pedestrian though got a slight knock by my Left RVM, on realising this I stopped the vehicle. She was shocked, but was OK and not injured. The BRV fled the scene though.

... If possible, should there be a police complaint or reporting to MVD somehow is enough?

That was close, and glad that you and the pedestrian came out of the situation without any damage.

You could've called the police helpline immediately - they would've handled it.

I've had two experiences with Kerala Police for similar incidents. The first one a few years ago, a Santro (or an i10?) was being driven extremely rash on the NH544 somewhere near Chalakkudy. Called the police and reported it - provided the number, mentioned the rash driving and also told them that it could be a DUI. They actually intercepted the car at Koratty and called me back asking if we were alright. Apparently they had received a complaint from someone else as well. Turned out to be DUI.

The second one is more recent - a taxi returning to Kochi after dropping some expat somewhere near Palakkad was being driven rash. Cut us off and wouldn't let us pass by straddling lanes and driving slow. We were near Alathur, so drove into the police station which was just a km off the NH544. They stopped him a little ahead, while we were waiting in the police station and they put him on the phone. At first the driver tried to blame us, but we were ready with the dashcam footage and pics, so he had to eat his words quite soon. At our insistence, the cops let him go with an apology and not a case. Not sure if he was fined though.

[ankushgarg]

Originally Posted by MT_Hyderabad

Had an extreme close call today.
I was at around 60km/h and this guy crossed. I braked and swerved right in my non ABS car and he managed to survive this ordeal.

He was having phone in one hand and didn't bother to see what's coming from the opposite side before making a turn.

I saved a lot of advocate expense today.

https://Youtu.be/GP-sLTYCoDM

IT happened with me earlier this year (March 2022). I was driving my car, and suddenly a lady took a right turn and came in front of my car..
She never bothered to stop or slow down or even look on to her left before crossing the road. Not sure why people cannot drive sensibly..

Luckily it was captured on my dashcam - sharing the footage:

https://youtu.be/-7PjtN8eQgs

Drive safe, stay safe

Thank you..