[ch.nathan]

Originally Posted by sbraj

I am assuming from the below posts that court was not aware that the other party did not have valid license.

Most probably. The other party was not even called to the court.
But the judge asked the Police why they were not summoned and he asked them to do so.
I didn't bother to follow-up. (Maybe I should have, maybe?).

Originally Posted by sbraj

Local police would have fabricated some details for the other party. It was a one sided FIR in the first place anyway.

Yes, the FIR only had other party's statement and not mine.
I think they didn't do it intentionally because I had given them more than what they could expect from the other party.
They are still going by the rule that 'the bigger vehicle is always at fault'.

Originally Posted by sbraj

Would the FIR itself be valid if one of the party does not have license?

Legal experts - please comment.

[MX6]

Sadly, FIR is an fir. It's always valid whether the other party has or doesn't have a license. It's all one sided in India.
He can only be charged for riding without a license. That doesn't mean that he's at fault while riding the bike which led to the accident. The FIR has messed up things here.
But the Insurance companies should go and rally for this fact against payment of third party insurance and damages.

[spkumar]

an eye opener kind of a thread. hats off to mr. nathan for handling the situation in a mature and sensible manner. the incident and subsequent developments shall always remind all those who read this thread to be ever cautious. very well summed up by mr. nathan indeed.

i must add here with a sense of sadness that some of the reactions here are no where closer to the spirit of the thread. what is the point in harping on the lack of road sense on the part of riders of two wheelers with not so pleasant adjectives?

the places where they travel originally belong to them and the vast expanse of road that surfaces from no where all of a sudden doesn't give them time to adjust to new and developing situations. the state doesn't bother about the need to educate/orient them to this new situation. they are left to learn on their own. they too have to commute in their own way in their struggle for existence. some learn faster and some learn through tragedies.
when it comes to irresponsible riding, i am sorry, it is not patented by village folks. you come across most irresponsible driving in the national capital as well and one should not be surprised to see the so-called educated and resourceful people resorting to such acts which are harmful to others.
very recently i have come across some urban youth riding/driving in ladakh area which can not be described as sensible in any sense of the term.
the key word is caution, as highlighted by mr. nathan and many others in this thread.
no point blaming the background or the type of vehicle used by those involved in the unfortunate incidents.

[blorebuddy]

Originally Posted by RGK

-Now a days all cars easily touch 100 and since it looks slow from inside (due to ac) drivers tend to go more.
- I enquired some of the villages about the expansion - they say to cross this road, i have to go to 1 or 2 km to take a U turn - what to do so we use short cuts and go in opposite direction.
- I saw a huge fight in all tolls when driving on NH45 during Sankranti vacation. No body stopped correctly behind and started to cut inside - all seems to be educated and looked decent and one lorry scratching a Swift dzire.
- Unless and until we learn and adapt discipline and patience and follow it

Well written!
- In our 4 Lane highways the speed limit is 80 KMPH, how many of us are following?
- We need to think about the villagers also who are uneducated
- Road safety can be possible only if all of the road users are willing to follow the rules

[GenuineOptimist]

First and foremost, I'm glad and happy to hear ch.nathan's family escaped unhurt.

I also wanted to share a few thoughts.

We team-bhp'ians are the most privileged of all the road users in India because
(a) all of us have cars and most of us have safe cars and
(b) most of us are educated, internationally traveled and 'know' what is good for us and our families.

I don't think any other road-user in India is as privileged as we are. And we can't blame others for it because its not a poor / illiterate guy's fault that he is poor and illiterate. Its probably the governments fault.

To be honest I don't like the general tone of postings here that looks at other class of highway users in a condescending manner. From a compassion viewpoint, the TVS-50/Luna user who cuts across dangerously, shifts lanes at will, probably does so because they are just incapable of appreciating the benefits of safety and discipline or maybe it doesn't help them in practical life. Maybe we would do the same thing if we were in their shoes. After all, if I'm earning 10k per month and struggling to pay for kids education or mothers medicall bills, a Rs. 1000/- bribe to get a DL would look like an unnecessary expense. If I live in a village beside the high-way, I'm sure I wouldn't travel 3 kms either way to take a U-turn whenever I visit my sister 4 kms away. The government needs to take the blame for planning highways so that two-wheelers use them and for allowing slow trucks in the lane meant for high-speed vehicles. And we all know how good our government is, leave alone traffic, in other life threatening areas like health or rail travel.

End of the day, as mature knowledgeable people, it is fully our responsibility to be safe and avoid situations that have a high probability of accidents. I agree with other posters who suggested driving at 80 kmph at all times in highways. God forbid, if we hit another vehicle at this speed, we might have seat-belts and air-bags, but the other guy may not and he will be the one who gets heavily injured. In all likelihood, we would just be worried about our discomforts in handling the police, mob, local illiterate villagers and so on, but the other guy might be worried about his life or permanent disability.

More travel just increases the probability of an accident exponentially. Probability doesn't fail, given adequate number of times, an accident will definitely happen. India is one of the most unsafe places in the world for travel in any mode. So please keep your travels to minimum and always drive at a sane speed, you'll be good. I realise the ironic conclusion I've given in a travel forum.

[blorebuddy]

Originally Posted by GenuineOptimist

So please keep your travels to minimum and always drive at a sane speed, you'll be good.

I agree with all your comments except this one .